A need for speed!!

Rich and I had the time of our lives this past weekend! He had purchased tickets for "A Racing Experience" a few months back, to use as sales incentives for his business. He just so happened to end up with a couple left over, so we decided to head out to Fontana Speedway to check it out.
To make a long story short...after a 45 minutes class and a couple times around the track in a van to get a feel for it, I drove 10 laps in a NASCAR while racing 9 other cars (all men) and went 155 mph. (Pheadra will love this...she loves going fast :). I think the toughest thing for me was making lane changes without signaling or checking my blind spot....not how it works in NASCAR apparently. It was insane!! It took me a couple laps to get the hang of it (and to breathe), but after that I was just getting warmed up when I saw the checkered flag.
Rich was next and was in his element! I think it came very naturally for him. He probably couldn't get over the fact that the person in the passenger seat was actually telling him to go faster...but I guess it would have been odd for that guy to have said, "Honey, slow down...you're not a race car driver."




In this picture, we are trying to tell if I need a different steering wheel or just a few cushions so I can see out of the windshield. Turns out I needed both. Hey you can't be to safe (or short) driving NASCAR right?


Rich is having his picture taken by the photographer before he takes off. They take one of you sitting in the window, one with your helmet on sitting in the car and one of you crossing the finish line. By the time we got out of the race car, the photos were developed, matted and framed. They turned out great too!



Here are the boys watching their daddy climb out of the #1 car. They were amazing and so patient all day. It was much longer than we had anticipated, but we only heard a few grunts and groans. Once they saw us in our race gear...they were pretty fired up. I do want to mention, that after I got out of the car, totally pumped at what I just did...Bryce said to me, "Mom, why were you going so slow?" WHAT?!? Apparently 155 mph wasn't fast enough for him. You can bet there wasn't a man on that track that was going to go home having let me beat them...so we'll just say I made them look fast.

Check out Brennen's homerun post below if you haven't already...

Until next time...

The "home run club"

On our way to one of Brennen's baseball games a couple of weeks ago, Brennen asked, "Mom, do you think I'll ever hit a home run?" I said, "well Brennen, it's not easy to do, but I'll bet someday you'll hit one." Then Brennen said, "What about the game ball mom, do you think I'll ever get that?" Okay moms, you know my heart was breaking just a little. I said, "Brennen you just try your hardest every game and I think you'll get it before the season is over." I knew the coach would make sure each child received a game ball, but if you know Brennen...then you know that he wants to earn the game ball...not just have it handed to him because it was time. Well, that game Brennen played his little heart out. He ran as fast as he could, made several great stops and throws. But this was not his time. Again, a little tug at the heart for mom...just knowing he was giving it all he had!
Last Wednesday, at the following baseball game, I was telling my friends Ashley and Heather this story about Brennen and his desires, and I said, "I just want him to feel good about getting the game ball." Just then my little man walked up to the plate and hit a line drive right.... Rich was 3rd base coach and told Brennen to "run Buggy". You know I was yelling! He was cutting it close, but Rich had him keep running to home plate as the ball was being thrown to the catcher. The catcher missed the ball, and Brennen was safe at home! Oh yeah, I cried. I ran over and gave him a big hug...and when I went back to my chair, my girl friends knew just what I was feeling, as they had tears in their eyes (for me I think). As you may have guessed by now...Brennen also got the game ball! As the coach handed it to him he said, "here's to the newest member of the home run club!" This was a great day for the Lenarth family! It's the little things that count sometimes...and that can bring so much joy to our lives. For these....I am thankful!

Until next time....

Celebrating 50 years!!

And we thought eleven years was along time. I guess it is in this day and age...but I think that as young couples we need to ask ourselves... are we making it count?
We went to Ramona this weekend to celebrate Aunt Della and Uncle Earl's 50th wedding anniversary. These two are amazing examples of what it means to "make it count." They are and have been a team in this life together. They were surrounded by so many who adore them and who hold incredible memories of times shared. It was an emotional day for all.

Here they are with their son, his wife and four boys. We grew up camping together as kids. It's hard to believe that we are all grown up and have kids of our own. I know mine had a blast this weekend!
The Dart and de Lachica kids together again. Can you believe I turned out girly with this bunch?
Aunt Jeni got a pretty good shot of us at Clint's house. Never know...you might see this picture at Christmas time. I always have the camera, so these photos are hard to come by :) My kids look relatively clean in this picture, but believe me...they aren't! Oh, and notice Bryce's "I'm so done with pictures" smile. Hey...I'll take what I can get.
These two could go on the road with their own comedy act. I had to get a picture of them together. They are both super blond, super dirty and super cute!!
Thanks to all the Darts for having us out. Sure hope it's not another 5 years before we gather again. So good to see all of you and your beautiful families. We'll have to get something on the calendar soon.

Until next time...

Check out more pictures below

Ahhh...sweet weekends

Spoiled much?

Hope you all had just as nice a weekend as the Lenarth boys!

Until next time...

Honeymooning in Hawaii

I want to say a very special thank you to my parents for all the help they were while we were gone. They handled the kids, school, homework, baseball, church, choir practice and Rich's business. The boys haven't stopped talking about all the fun that they had. Thanks mom and dad...for all you did. It sure made it easy to relax. You are a blessing and we know how fortunate we are to have you there for us.

So, Rich and I celebrated eleven years of marriage this past week on the beautiful island of Maui. This has been a dream of ours, actually since we took our first honeymoon. I don't want to down play the romantic drive to Colorado at 21 years old, leaving my parents standing in the driveway of my childhood home at 2 a.m, driving a U-haul truck full of my bedroom furniture, towing my "race car" (aka 1986 Toyota Camry) while frequenting truck stops to pee... and I should mention we were in a hurry to get there, as neither my new husband or I had a job or a dime to pay our new found rent, but....Hawaii was better. Yeah I know...it was a toss up for me too. We couldn't help but run into amazing views and awesome photo opportunities with every turn. This was our first evening venturing out...and more importantly where I concluded it was pointless to to anything with my hair out of the shower. Not a great hair place for me...but you can bet I got over that really quick. You'll notice my new hat in the slide show to follow.
I did a short run in the mornings (most) followed by the most incredible swim ever!! It puts any other open water swim I have done to shame...(gotta love red tide in HB). I was swimming just a few feet from the shore, the water was so clear and full of beautiful fish. Rich finally got over the fear that I would be eaten by a shark and stopped walking along side of me (after a couple days mind you). The upside? He got some great photos and people probably thought he was my coach...you know, minus the stop watch or instructions of any kind other than "Are you tired babe? Are you ready to get out?."
Here we are (my feet and I :) lounging at the pool. Rich was in the jacuzzi after a snorkel. We just couldn't get over how relaxed we were...but the two of us kept imagining how much fun the kids would have had on this trip too. They'll be on the next one for sure.

The Road to Hana was pretty incredible. It was an all day trip into the rain forests of Maui and the quaint little village towns on the island. We were amazed to see tiny shack like homes amongst what had to be multi million $$ homes on our excursion. These small villages bordered the shoreline and were occupied by generations of natives who are very proud of where and how they live. Banana bread, fresh fruit and hand made crafts were a big seller to tourists . The Food was delicious.
Like I said...the scenery was breathtaking, the sunsets setting the tone for a perfect night.
It was fun playing with my dad's little camera and ISO to get different versions of the same type of shot. I picked my favorites for the stills.
This was taken on our last night there. It was then that we decided it would be great to just have the kids shipped to us. All good things must come to an end...and this was great!
Right after I took that last sunset picture, I turned around to walk up the beach and saw this! The picture is pretty cool, but does not do this sight justice. We are so thankful and blessed to have taken this trip...to reconnect with no interruptions in a gorgeous place... to crack up laughing, to revisit that first honeymoon (that really was fun at the time), and to remember all the reasons the Lord has chosen us for each other. The rainbow really just summed up our trip and was the last picture on my camera. We are grateful and give Him the glory!!

Mahalo babe!
Until next time...Aloha!

Check out the slide show below

Hawaii Trip April 7-14th, 2008