2014 Year-end Wrap Up

2014: Year in Review

Time flies!  We spent all of 2014 in Canada (minus several trips to the United States) and we now have a few favorite places we like to go:

Cypress Mountain

Grandpa Keith took us up skiing for the first time in March.  The kids loved skiing even though it was a steep learning curve.  We have returned to the slopes in December and the kids always have a great time.  Laird is ready to graduate from the beginner slope and Lucy can now go down the beginner slope without assistance.  James is still in beginner classes, but will soon hit the slope.

With my Moscow hat in the Lodge with Levi

James cutting it up.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

We had some guests this year, so we decided to show them some of Vancouver's attractions.  The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a lot of fun.  Great park, great scenery.

With Steve and Kalina and crew (sad faces)

The Farm

The local farm is a great source of fun for Levi and James especially.

Favorite Things:

Music

Sheralie at her new piano

Lucy with her violin teacher

Levi wants in on the action

Lucy at performance with her teacher

Cousins

We had two cousin trips this year.  The first was in June when Clark and Lana came to town.

Old West style?

James and Clark

The second was in San Diego for the Monroe family reunion.  James is perfectly situated with many cousins his age.  Lucy enjoys a solid female following.  Levi will fare well in a couple years when he can play well with others.

James and Madeline

Individual Updates:

Jeffrey: Jeffrey had a big year.  He turned 12 and was ordained a deacon.  After a great season on the 6th grade JV squad in which he was voted "Most Improved" he made the 7th grade Varsity and is a starter.

He continues to excel at piano, accompanying the ward choir on occasion and playing regularly for priesthood meetings.

This year he has really come far on math - he scored 8th in a worldwide math competition for 7th and 8th graders (out of 5000 participants) and that further motivated him to pursue math.

Jeffrey is a terrific older brother; Levi regularly seeks him out.  He is a great example and a very good kid.



Laird

Laird is in 4th grade and really enjoys reading, Legos, and watching sports.  He did a basketball camp with his friend Aaron, and is very outgoing.  We finished reading The Lord of the Rings series together this year, and he continues to reread Harry Potter and other series voraciously.  He is also playing piano.

Laird has a great smile, and we are lucky to have him in our family.

Lucy

Lucy is our little princess.  She loves her ballet classes, and she is really getting quite good at violin.  She is also starting to dabble at piano, though Sheralie has resisted giving her formal lessons yet.  She has lots of friends at school, and she loves her teachers and her class.  We are currently reading the Narnia series together, and you could not ask for a more enthusiastic listener.  She is just the right age.

Lucy is a very doting older sister, and loves playing with/bossing James and helping Levi.








James

James is a bundle of energy.  Whatever he takes on, he does it with gusto.  He loves playing soccer, football, and baseball, even though he thinks he should be on a level playing field with his older siblings.  He can't wait to go to school next year.











Levi

Levi is an adorable 16-month old.  He is also a handful.  He almost needs a full-time person dedicated to making sure he stays out of trouble.  We love him though, and he is well worth the trouble.


Pete


I can't believe we are done with another year.  The time seems to fly by, and my kids are starting to surpass me in many ways.  My most memorable moment this year was the Tough Mudder, which can you read about in one of our three 2014 posts.  The road trip (coming up) was another big one.


Sheralie 

Sheralie is a tremendous mother, wife, musician, all-around person.  I honestly don't know how she does all that she does, especially with a 1-year old in tow most places.  She works in the Primary presidency at church, as well as the full-time organist.  She also planned the Christmas party and Christmas Sunday program, and is involved in almost every musical number at church.


The Road Trip

We took several trips in 2014.  We started the year in San Diego for a fun time in the sun at Legoland and the beach.  We came back a few weeks later for Sheralie's brother's wedding.  Easter we spent in Yakima, WA.  And a couple minor trips to Seattle for baseball games (A's lost, but Nationals won!).  But the big one was the summer road trip, a 3500-mile trip to San Diego and back.  The pictures tell most of the story:

At a dam on the Columbia River.  

Laird, obviously thrilled with the back middle seat

On our way to a Giants game with El Salvador friend Blaine.  The Giants lost to the White Sox in 10 innings, but a fun game, and the Giants eventually won the World Series (granted, if you don't know this already, you probably don't care).

Less than 24 hours later, we were in San Diego for a Padres game.  Padres beat the Rockies.

Feeding the dolphins snow balls at SeaWorld

We spent 5 days and 5 nights in San Diego with the Monroe family.  As might be expected, an action-packed affair!  Padres game, SeaWorld, beach, pictures, and more.  It was so fun seeing everyone and all being under one roof (more or less - some were outside!).

With my Grandpa Broadbent in Modesto.  We had a great visit with him.  He passed away the month after our visit.

Crater Lake Hike

With friends from Yakima, we did a hike around Mt. Ranier.  

Needless to say, I was not carrying three kids for very long.  What a view!

Other Events:

First Day of School

Halloween - Peter Pan theme

To all of our friends and family around the world:  we miss you and hope to see you soon!  May your 2015 be a good one!

Tough Mudder 2014

Way back sometime last year I saw Tough Mudder was coming to Whistler in June of 2014 and thought it would be a fun idea to sign up.  I convinced a couple guys from my church to sign up with me, and they brought in a few more.  We had six in all of varying builds and levels of athletic ability.

Brian, me (Pete), Joel, Sean, Joe, and Chris
The Before Picture

Sheralie and all the kids (except Laird, who had a birthday party) trekked up to watch the festivities.  The race day itself was a bit of a mob scene.  Not incredibly well-organized, we were under some delusion that our 11:20 team start time meant we would surely be leaving the starting gate at around 11:20.  We did not.  Fortunately it gave Jeffrey enough time to find me and give me my gloves, which I had misplaced.

At the starting gate, they give you a little pump-you-up speech, which was pretty cool.  Then we were off and running.  The uphill I expected, the gravel and rocks along the route I did not.  You really have to watch your feet on that kind of terrain.

Right out of the gate

Obstacle 1: Arctic Enema

After a 2k run, we came to the first obstacle, jumping in a dumpster of ice water, going underneath a barrier (forcing you underwater) and coming out the other end.  I jumped right in and was momentarily disoriented.  It is quite shocking.  The hard part was the people on the other end aren't moving as fast you would like them to.  Get out!  I'm freezing in here!

Right before the Arctic Bath

Right after the Arctic Bath

Obstacle 2: Glory Blades

First real physical challenge.  I mean, these walls are at an angle - unless you have some serious pull up skills, this one is going to require a teammate.  Two sets of walls to get over.

Team approach

Up and over

Obstacle 3:  Walk the Plank

This one didn't look all that bad from a distance, but it is really the equivalent of jumping from the high dive with all your clothes on.  The girl right before me wimped out and climbed back down.  I jumped out without thinking too much (thinking was not going to help matters).  The biggest surprise was finding it takes longer to come up when you have shoes anchoring you down.

Taking the plunge (Jeffrey in foreground)

From here on, we leave the spectators for a long while.  Jeffrey, Lucy, and James enjoyed a "mini-mudder" obstacle course many times over.  Glad they had something to do, because this course took a lot longer than I thought it would!

Chris's wife Mina was a big help with Levi

Obstacle 4: Hold Your Wood

They have several piles of wood here, and you pick them up and carry them about a quarter mile.  Mine was a good size for sitting on as a stump.  The wood came in all sizes, so you could pick how much challenge you wanted.  That wood did get heavy.

Obstacle 5:  Kiss of Mud

Here one needs to crawl under barbed wires over muddy terrain for about 200 meters.  I started off a little too high and snagged my shorts on the wire, so I went lower.  It was really tough on my knees, and the guy spraying people with water didn't help either.

Obstacle 6:  Berlin Walls

After a lengthy jog, we came to the Berlin Walls - 10 foot walls with nothing much to help you get up.  Here, teammates were critical.  Two sets of walls to traverse.

There was quite a bottleneck following Berlin Walls for the water and 1/2 banana.  I did not realize this would be the most nourishment provided for the 4 1/2 hours I would be on the course.

Obstacle 7:  Mud Mile

The most fun of all obstacles was the Mud Mile - just a lot of mud pits to traverse.  Some of our team intentionally went under, but you could get by only going chest deep.  It smelled terrible.

Post-mud mile

Obstacle 8:  Lumber Jacked

This one looked easier than it was.  There were several wood logs set up like fences as barriers.  They were waist-to-chest level high, so if you didn't get enough momentum on the jump you would just fall back.  Here a teammate was handy, though not essential.  I was beginning to tire at this point, so it was a little tricky, but not too bad.

Obstacle 9:  Trench Warfare

I was most dreading Trench Warfare, as the YouTube video made it look like it was a quarter mile underground on your belly.  Well, in reality, it was about 100 meters underground on your hands and knees.  It was a bit gross, but pretty easy.

After #9, There was a bottleneck through a narrow passage of land next to a kilometer posting "KM 12", and I joined a group of three Mexicans and explained to them that "nos falta siete!" (still 7 to go).  As we were running away, they called out to me "Joven!"  ("Young man!")  This surprised me, because I figured I was actually older than they were, but they did get my attention and asked me to take their picture as they were excited to find someone who spoke Spanish.  Tough Mudder does promote camaraderie rather than competitiveness, which makes for a more pleasant run.  Given the number of bottlenecks, things could get testy if people were really worried about times (no official times were kept).

Obstacle 10:  Prairie Dog

Up a metal pipe, using a rope to help you up.  I was small enough that I could get on my knees (further punishing them!) but some guys were too big and had to go up on their bellies.  Then another pipe you could basically slide down.  Then up a mud wall that wasn't too muddy.

Obstacle 11:  Ladder to Hell

Another bottleneck obstacle, as the ladder is only big enough to hold about six at a time, and some people are slow climbers and/or have fears of heights.  No problem going up and over.

We run about 1-2 km in between each obstacle and the elevation is constantly changing.  Lots of up- and downhills.

Obstacle 12: Warrior Carry

Here, a teammate is an essential part of the challenge.  One teammate carries another for 100m or so, then the other carries him.  Several girls were there looking for people to carry them (at least I'm pretty sure they were not offering to carry others).   My teammate Brian (weight: 190) carried me first, then he jumped on me (weight: 175).  He doubted my ability to carry him the full distance, but I did get some downhill, and lower body strength is my forte.  We made it easily.

Obstacle 13:  Devil's Beard

This is a giant mesh net set up so that you have to keep your hands over your head for the 200 m or so that you are underneath.  Wasn't bad.

After this obstacle we head back to the spectator's area, where they have been waiting for quite some time to see us again.

Obstacle 14:  Balls to the Wall

My nemesis.  It looks easy - a tall 20 ft wooden wall with a rope with knots to help you climb up.  Most people got up without incident, though I did notice a couple of falls while waiting for all of our teammates to show up.  I grabbed a spare rope and tried it without my teammates, and got about half way and realized the knots are far enough apart that you need to pull yourself up to get to the next one.  Otherwise your hands will just slip back the moment you reach up.  I jumped down after realizing this was going to be trickier than advertised.  After helping one of my teammates up and over, I make a second attempt.  On this try, I made it about 3/4 of the way, but then couldn't straighten up and grab the wall (my feet were on the wall but I was almost horizontal).  I fell this time and hit my head on the knotted rope.  At this point too I have been on the course for about three hours and am pretty tired.  Sheralie was worried.  I am off to the side of the climb when my teammates notice I haven't yet made it, so they come back around to help me over.  This time, with their encouragement and help, I am able to make it over.  Whew.

Notice that I am far too horizontal. This is probably attempt #2

Obstacle 15:  Log Jammin'

Over and under sets of logs.  Very easy after the trying wall climb.

Obstacle 16: Cliffhanger

This obstacle was really brutal.  Here we climbed from the bottom of the Olympic ski jump to the top - sans gondola.  At this point we are already parched and tired, but climbing up that incline was really taxing.  We were barely shuffling by the top.

Obstacle 17:  Funky Monkey

At this point I am feeling drained, and I seriously doubt whether I can do the monkey bars for the 50 feet required to get over a four foot pool of water.  But when I start, my monkey bar instincts kick in, and I am able to muscle through - with teammate encouragement of course.  Plenty of people fell in - our team had two casualties.  But I kind of envied them getting wet.

Obstacle 18: Everest

I knew this would be a problem.  It didn't help that it was located at the end of the race.  It was a half pipe like they use in skateboarding competitions - one needed to run up as far as possible then grab onto the side and pull oneself up.  Our more athletic team members could do it solo.  I knew I would need a helping hand, but fortunately made it on the first try.  Here weight was a major disadvantage, as grabbing onto someone at the end meant they would have to fully support your weight (there was no place for your foot to find purchase).  We finally got everyone up.

Obstacle 19:  Electroshock Therapy

Finally, after passing the KM 19 sign, we get to the last obstacle, danging cords with electricity coursing through them (at fairly low power).  We finally got the go ahead and made our way through.  While it could knock you over, I felt about 3-4 strong tweaks - basically like a really strong static electricity shock.

Finally, we were able to hydrate and refuel.  Some of our spectators were still waiting for us at the Monkey Bars area, since we had arrived there sooner than expected and had missed them.  Fortunately, Sheralie was there at the end with Lucy and James and Levi to take pictures and call the others.  They were real troopers waiting all the way to the end and cheering us on.

The after shot.  The orange headband denotes a finisher.

Happy Support Team - except Levi

with Sheralie

I ditched my shoes and came back to the car barefoot.  There were large piles of cast-off shoes.  After some chocolate milk and collecting my race t-shirt, we headed home.  A really long, fun day.

Lessons for next time:

1. Bring your own in-race fuel/hydration.  This was no marathon - they did not have nearly the supplies I have had previously.  Also will work with support team for gatorade resupply.

2. Team shirts - most teams had coordinate team shirts or at least colors.

3. Sunscreen - yes, that would have been smart.  We are all red as lobsters today.

4. Stay the night - Next time we will stay the night at the race location.  Driving three hours and running 4.5 hours - too much for one day.

5. The scenery was amazing - snowy mountains, beautiful forest.  If I wasn't so busy making sure I didn't turn an ankle, I could have enjoyed it!

6. More people next time.  Great teamwork exercise!