Exercise is a integral part of our daily lives. John usually works out early in the morning before work. Amy typically starts her day at the gym right after the kids board the school bus. Saturday mornings are also filled with either long runs, bike rides, or both.

2008 was a great year for reaching our goals in exercise. Both Amy and I participated in varying lengths of triathlon events. Kyle and Natalie also participated in several team sports and their first kid tot runs. As the weather cools, days shorten, and the food filled holidays approach, we look back on milestones and anticipate new challenges in 2009.

While John had previously completed some triathlons, 2008 allowed me to extend my triathlon distance from Sprint to both an International and a Half Iron Distance. Amy reached her year goal of participating in her first Sprint triathlon in 2008. She did great! Both Kyle and Natalie completed their first mile race at school. Natalie finished in 9:40 (the fastest girl in the first grade).

During 2009, we both plan a series of multisport events. I plan to enter a few international distance tri’s in the he spring/summer, leading up to a longer 70.3 (Half Ironman) event in the Fall. Amy is hoping to tackle another sprint and perhaps even a International Distance race.

Here is a collection of sport pics from 2008….

This weekend we traversed to the North Georgia mountains with friends in search of good Fall foliage and scenery. Both the weather and colors were unbelievable. We hiked up to the top of Amicola Falls and back down to the base. The kids enjoyed hiking up as well as the 425 stairs needed to make the final ascent. Here are a few pics from our excursion.

On Halloween, our kids played Indiana Jones meets an Angel. We thought they picked costumes that fit their personalities spot on. Kyle is ever so curious and always finds things here and there to pick up from the ground (even to our dismay). Natalie is usually our little Angel (well, at least most of the time).

Our neighborhood hosts a pizza party and get together before the kids canvas the neighborhood in search of big bags of candy. Here is a snapshot from Halloween night.

While Natalie was off with her Brownie Troop watching “The High School Musical” play; Kyle, John, and Amy decided to pick up some pumpkins for Halloween. While at the Pumpkin Patch, we took advantage of a photo opp.

Friday was Hoedown Day at Shallowford Falls Elementary! The kids were allowed to dress up as cowboys (or girls), scarecrows or farmers. We chose the cowboy (girl) route. Kyle and Natalie enjoy taking advantage of every opportunity to dress up. The classes also participated in a pumpkin parade. Each class was given a faux pumpkin to decorate and then they were auctioned off at the school’s Fall Festival on Saturday. On Saturday we were able to go the Fall Festival and see the pumpkin auction. It was amazing to see how the pumpkins turned out.

The Halloween decorations you see in the back ground were little treats we made for our teachers.

Kyle first learned to ride a bike when he was 4 and since then, he has been a speed demon on his 16 inch mongoose bmx bike. We figured he had finally outgrown his mongoose when we saw his knees hitting the handlebars!

Kyle has been saving his allowance money (he earns for chores and work around the house) for over a year now. We told him when he had saved enough to pay for 50% of a new bike, we would pitch in the other 50% and buy him a new 20 inch model.

Kyle and I found a great bike this past weekend and we knew this was the one! Kyle has now graduated to a 20 inch Diamonback Cobra model with shifters (bike even has shimano shifters…Grandpa will be proud), and two hand brakes (no back brake on this model!). We took the bike out for several rides this weekend and he loves it!

See Kyle’s new ride below……going fast!

During the past two Saturdays, Amy and I competed in separate Triathlon events. A triathlon is an endurance event consisting of a swim, bike, and run (in that order). Amy completed a “Sprint” distance triathlon (400 meter swim, 15 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run), while I completed a “International” distance triathlon (1500 meter swim, 27 mile bike, 6.2 mile run).

Finding time for both of us to prepare was a challenge, but we ended up finding creative ways to train (i.e., early morning and late night). Kyle and Natalie were intrigued by our weekend excursions to the nearby lake for Saturday morning open water swims, as well as Dad’s fascination with his new Tri bike. They are already asking if they can enter a kids tot tri (very short distances)……perhaps next year

Here are a few pics from our events

August 11th was Kyle and Natalie’s first day of school. In our house we get really excited about the first day and try to do some fun things to commemorate it. A week earlier I had found a fun book at Borders called the “The Night Before First Grade”. Since they are both entering the first grade, I just had to get it. We read it Sunday evening and they really enjoyed it - especially because the girl in the story meets a set of twins. Monday morning came and we were up bright and early (6 a.m.) to catch the 7 a.m. bus. Out of all the days in the year, this is always the easiest day to get them up and going. If only every other day could be the same! When the kids returned home that afternoon, I had the special first day of school cupcakes waiting for them. Thanks to my sisters, this has become one of our family traditions too! (See the pictures below)

This year Natalie has Mrs. Davies and Kyle has Mrs. Kaplowitz. We love both of their teachers and think that this is going to be a great year! Their teachers have lots of fun things planned and seem to have a lot of great incentives to motive the kids.

On June 17th, Amy and the kids left Georgia behind for two weeks to visit family in Utah. Activities included visiting various water parks, Hogle Zoo, Temple Square and late nights playing games, talking and laughing.

John joined us on the 21st for the highlight of our trip - The Anderson Family Reunion at Snowbird. We really enjoyed being at Snowbird. The weather was beautiful! While Salt Lake City was at a steamy 100 degrees, we were enjoying a nice breezy 80 degrees.

The first day of our reunion the boys went golfing while the girls took the kids on a hike. On Thursday we ventured over to Park City and took a tour of the Winter Olympic Park. We were able to see a bobsled travel down the run at speeds of 70 mph and watched some skiers do tricks landing in an enormous swimming pool. It was really pretty amazing. By the end of the tour Kyle was pretty convinced that he wanted to become a bobsledder. On Friday we enjoyed an all day ride pass at Snowbird which included the alpine slide, zip line, rock wall, and a tram ride to the top of Snowbird. The kids loved the alpine slide. Kyle even made a couple of runs on his own! That night we celebrated Amy’s dads 80th Birthday.

Some Family Snapshots from our Trip

John and Kids at Temple Square

Amy and John at Winter Olympic Park

Amy and Kyle at Top of Snowbird

The summers in Atlanta are HOT….so much so that the city has been dubbed Hotlanta! To help keep the kids cool and improve their swimming skills, we signed them up for the neighborhood Swim Team. Most organized subdivisions have swim teams which compete against each other. The team provides the kids a great way to meet friends and learn how to swim.

School ends early here in Georgia (Friday before Memorial day), so daily practices started right away. The swim meets are every Monday….and have become a blast to watch.

Here are a few pictures of the kids and a video of their first swim meet. They have continued to progress throughout the season

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