Halloween

Last year Jackie was a samurai babe for Halloween, an outfit that brought several strangers to our blog. This year her department decided to dress as characters from the movie Mystery Men. Jackie went as Casanova Frankenstein's mistress.

On Halloween night we went up to Midway to hang out with John, Beth and their kids. Jack was a cowboy and Lily was a cowgirl.

The kids had quite the entourage with them as they went trick or treating

At the last minute, Jackie and I decided to dress up. We decided to be Mozambicans. Jackie is wearing her capulana (skirt) and carrying her bag on her head. I got my sweet pants on and I'm walking around, trying to sell my batiks. I do this by saying English words like "beautiful", "yes", "blue", "Lion King", and "50 dollars".

Ultimate Frisbee

It's Ultimate Frisbee time again. Last year our team won the championship in Division 3. Most of us are back and this year we made it into division 1, the highest division. We had our first playoff game on Friday night and my family decided to come and hang out. They were troopers, it was both cold and wet but they stuck it out.

I think these are the two reasons my parents wanted to come

It wasn't long until Jack wanted in on the action. My Dad suggested John work with Jack on catching the frisbee, but John responded that he was starting with teaching Jack to keep his eyes open first.

Walking off the field at halftime, we were up 6-4. We ended up winning the game 8-6. We are now in the final four of the winner's bracket (double elimination) and our next game is against the BYU club team on Thursday. Yikes! We'll see how it goes.

Boy or a Girl

We should find out next week whether we'll be having a boy or a girl. Our appointment is set for 11:30 a.m. next Tuesday, the 3rd of November (my brother John's birthday). We're pretty excited to find out. Probably like most couples, I'm leaning towards a boy while Jackie would like a girl. Obviously, we'll both be excited with whatever comes our way.

Make sure you cast your vote on the left side of the page. Here are a couple of facts, not that they really say anything about the sex of our baby. I just thought I would get them out there.

Jackie had a dream a few weeks ago that we were going to have a little boy
My parents had a boy first (John) and so did Jackie's (Reg)
The baby's heartbeat is always a little faster than the average
So far the baby has been pretty content where it is, although the movement is supposed to pick up

Weekend with Michael and Jack's B-Day

Michael had a big party on Friday night. He invited over some old friends, a few new friends and told the story of his and Tashina's courtship. You can really see how they captivated the audience in the picture below. I had just seen the Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds the night before so I decided to yell out, "let's see a kiss from the happy couple!" They obliged.

See if you can tell who is looking at Michael and Tashina and then who is looking at Max Hall throw an interception against Utah State.

Earlier that day, the three boys took off school/work to go do some golfing.

Michael, showing us how it is done

John, looking good.

The following day was Jack's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese

Jackie and I tried to get a picture with the birthday boy but he wasn't having it. I'm going to stare straight down because if I can't see the camera, the camera can't see me.

We tried to get a solo shot but that didn't work either

Surprise attack!

Looks like Tashina and Michael didn't have much success either

Lily on the other hand...

...is just too kind. We could take pictures with her all day long

Dad showing son how it is done. John would actually go on to take the Crown. He had the highest score of anyone that day. We're trying to convince our Dad to buy one for the downstairs party room.

Jack showing Lily how it is done.

Jack cruising around Chuck E Cheese on his new bike. Watch out for that table!

Family Photos

Michael came to town for conference weekend so we took advantage of everyone being around to get a few family photos. Michael took advantage of the time to get engaged!

We took about 20 of these shots and there is not a single shot without at least 4 people closing their eyes because of the sun. I liked this picture though because Lily is just hanging there.

Michael and Tashina will get married on January 2nd, 2010. Congrats!

It won't be too long until another little baby can join this picture!

Fall Action

Peek-a-boo!

2nd Trimester

Jackie is 14 weeks today. That means we are entering into the 2nd trimester. 6 more months is a long way to go but I have a feeling that it will go fast. I just add the baby ticker on the left so no one will forget that we got a baby on the way.

"Emmettzinho" is what all of my Brazilian friends have been saying. It's just a way of saying "little Emmett

A Few Pictures from Lotoja

Lotoja this year was awesome. I decided to pass on the 206 miles and just do 45 miles on a relay team. I got to ride my segment with my aunt Shelly, and the only thing missing was sunglasses...

I was afraid that I was going to have a perma-squint after 3 hours of struggling to keep my eyes open. It didn't help when a fly flew into my right eye.

Waitin' for my Pops to finish

There he is

Thanks to a speeding ticket, we were finally able to see John in action. Had we not gotten the ticket, we would have missed him on the section where the bikers get off the road and onto the bike path

Uncle Tom giving the cheese for the camera

We thought we might be coming up on John but it turned out to be Tom

My Dad and brother both received their 1,000 mile awards, having done the race at least 5 times. I still need to do it 2 more times so we'll see about next year.

Jimmy Got His Mission Call to...

Arizona, Tempe mission. He actually read it off as the Arizona, Temple mission but we're assuming he meant Tempe. His Grandparents and other relatives are in the Mesa area so it will be interesting to see if he ends up running into them sometime while he is down there. I'm hoping he'll be able to go to a Spring Training baseball game the next time we go. The Angels play in Tempe so we'll have to see.

Jackie is going to miss her little bro. Meanwhile, Jimmy is going to miss...

...the little baby growing inside of Jackie right now!

If we've run into you in the past month, we probably told you that Jackie is pregnant so it's not news to you. Jackie is 12 weeks today and we are just really excited. We had our first appointment with the doctor two weeks ago and we got to hear the little baby heart beat. It was awesome. I just got the biggest smile on my face and just couldn't believe it.

We're off to Logan for the weekend. I've never been this happy in the week leading up to Lotoja and I think it's because I'm not doing it this year! I'm actually doing the relay so I only have to ride about 50 miles and I just couldn't feel better about that decision right now. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

1,000 Warriors Bike Race

This past Saturday, Aug. 22nd, I participated in a 96 mile bike race from Park City, Utah to Snowbird ski resort. It was something I signed up for when I was still in Miami and at the time I thought I had a decent chance of getting in shape for it by the time it rolled around. Wrong! I had mentioned doing this race to John last year and thought about it until I realized it had already been sold out. John and I still road 100 miles that day and actually tagged along for a little bit with some of the riders. So, I decided to do the race this year on the sole fact that I kind of felt like I "discovered" this race before my Dad and brother and I couldn't let them do it without me.

Since it is no secret that I'm the slowest Emmett and that I was behind the last place guy in this race, I decided to do my race report in the form of my thoughts. Below is a picture of the elevation changes throughout the race. Yes, anytime that thing is going up, you can bet I was getting dropped by someone.



Pre-race thoughts:
I can't wait for this thing to be over. Maybe if I was out on my bike right now I wouldn't be so nervous...

John and my Dad seem to be taking care of support and SAG issues...hope they don't forget about me...

I arrive at John's house in Midway the night before around 9:30. Jackie and I are going to spend the night so we don't have to drive as far in the morning. I then realize I forgot my race packet, including my number. Idiot!! I knew I hated this race already. We drive back down to Provo to pick it up and I really just wanted to call it quits right there. I didn't so we drove back up to Midway and got there about 11:00pm. I tied to understand what we were doing about the support but I figured I'd be so far behind and that I'd stop at all of the neutral feed zones and fill up there.

Why do all these races have to start at such unfriendly hours. Honestly, give me a race with a 9:00 am start time and I'm there...

I hand off my water bottles to the neutral guy. They're empty. "Umm, did you want to put water in these?" "Uh, yeah, let's do that. I don't really know what I'm doing" We filled up the water bottles but I was never able to find that guy during the race so I kept the same water bottles the whole time (except for when I took my Dad's half empty water bottle at Sundance)

The Race
Mile 0.8 - Shoot, I'm already in last place...going to be a long day

Mile 1.3 - Old school, Dad put his tire on backwards. Taded! He's stopping to change it so at least I'm not in last place anymore.

Mile 6.2 - 7 mph up this hill, not a bad pace...not. Oh well, the other group will hopefully catch me just in time to go down this hill

Mile 9.0 - And here they come, team Larry H. Miller and team Xango. These guys probably won't mind if I stay back here out of their way. Another creech chilling in the back with me comes over and says "hey, I don't mind letting them do all the work. This is awesome!" I give him a nod and a smile but think, what a kook!

Mile 17.9 - I wish the whole race was like this. I just got to make sure I don't lose too much ground on this little climb coming up...It's going to be so nice when this climb is over...I've always wanted to bike down the canyon...

Mile 22.2 - Shoot, I'm losing them.

Mile 22.4 - Ya, they're gone...

Mile 24.7 - Gosh dang it, I don't think any of these guys have gone through 'Bob Emmett's School of Cycling Etiquette and Common Sense'

Mile 31.2 - There's John and my Dad! Hmm, looks like bike trouble. This could be my ticket out. I'll offer John my bike, tell him to hop on and go catch the leaders. This is perfect, I can get out of this race but almost in a noble way. I can take his bike back to his house and climb back in bed with Jackie..."Don't stop, we got it. We'll catch up with you!" Denied it! Dang it, I stopped long enough to lose the group.

Mile 32.3 - left to John's house, right to keep racing, left to John's house, right to keep...

Mile 40 - Dang it! They did catch me, just like they so assuredly said they would. Why am I so slow. Oh well, maybe I'll beat them someday...maybe...at least now I have someone to follow to the Sundance exit.

Mile 46.5 - I wish I could listen to music while I ride, then I wouldn't have all these thoughts slowing me down even more. Maybe I could do a post about my thoughts during the race...

Mile 53.5 - Hmm, looks like someone dropped their Optygen pills. Can't blame, I can't really swallow those things myself.

Mile 55.7 - So I passed 4 people on the entire climb, although, I should probably only count it as two people, since it was the same two people twice.

Mile 63.2 - Is this guy really introducing himself again to me? I just talked to him near the top of the Alpine Loop. He's from North Carolina and not used to this altitude, ya, I know that already. I won't make the mistake this time of telling him I've been in Miami and that I'm also not ready because it's my 6th ride of the year because when I told him that last time, he told me he was on his 5th ride of the year. I don't want him to one up me again.

Mile 71.9 - There is nothing worse than going 4.8 mph and having someone pass you on a bike going 4.9 mph. I wonder how long this guy is going to talk to me. Maybe I should try to speed up or slow down...I can't really speed it up though and I don't think I can go much slower so it looks like I'm stuck talking with this guy about his kids, house, and whatever else he chooses.

Mile 78.2 - Where is everyone? I can't see anyone a mile ahead or a mile behind me. Maybe I really am in last place? No, because those two people I passed near Sundance haven't passed me so I can't be in last last place.

Mile 78.5 - I shouldn't be spending my Saturday mornings on these 5-7 hour long rides. I should be going to that yard sale right there, that is what I should be doing. I could really use some barn style furniture...

Mile 79.1 - That's the third Optygen pill I've seen now. Should I go back and see if I can try to get it down. What's the "five seconds" rule with pills? You give most food 5 seconds on the ground until it's no good, but I'll definitely give Oreos a little longer than that, maybe like 30 seconds. I imagine pills stay good for quite a while...

Mile 81 - Hmm, it's 12:30 and I'm still a little ways from the bottom of little cottonwood canyon. I'll need at least an hour and a half from there so it looks like I won't finish before the cutoff time at 2:00pm. 15 miles to go but most of it uphill so it will take me somewhere between 2 and 3 hours. I'll see what Mom is up to...

Mile 83.9 - That shade on the sidewalk looks pretty nice. Ya, I think I'll go ride over there...

Mile 84.2 - I need to find some way to entertain myself on these rides...I got it...I'll ask all these spectators the same question..."hey, how many guys are ahead of me?" "...like 2, you're the third guy we've seen!" "..oh just one, go catch him!" Then I found the guy that couldn't lie, "to be honest, a lot. You're pretty far back.."

Mile 84.7 - That lady just told me to "Keep it up". Now what exactly does she want me to keep up? My 5 mph pace? My last place position? My tired legs? My upset stomach? I don't really want to 'keep up' anything about my current situation, why does she?

Mile 85.3 - Phew, Kristin is just down the road to pick me up. I'll stop at the church parking lot and find some shade while I wait. Then I'll proceed to leave my wheel in the parking lot after we have the rest of my bike in the car....

Well, I wussed out from finishing the race. It would have been nice to finish but I'm afraid I might have had to pull over to let the pros finish before me even after they gave me a four hour head start.

Bridge Jump

Jimmy and I climbed out over the rail to do the jump. I did it once, then decided to do it again so Jackie could film it. I jumped before she started the video so this is actually of my third jump. The first two went alright but I kind of landed weird this time and it sent a shock down my back. My bottom was very sore for the next two days as well after slapping it so hard several times.