Mile Swim

I swam again today. I swam mile in 27 minutes 39 seconds.

Indoor Swimming

I swam again today. Did 1 mile in 27 minutes 39 seconds.

31.6 miles

I left the house this morning at 6:30am headed out on a bike ride. Deni suggested that I ride into Springville and ride up Hobble Creek Canyon. I started riding into Springville and decided to ride into town. As I was riding into town, I called Deni and told her I was going to just ride into work as I was so close to Provo, but then realized I didn't have my wallet or my badge, which means I couldn't get into the building if I tried this early (nor would I have anything to eat for lunch.) So I kept riding. I rode into North Springville, then headed back and rode by Teresa's house. Teresa's house has a big hill next to it and on the way down I got going 37 mph without pedaling.

I continued on the Tour de Berger up Center street to mom and dad's house. They had their office door open so I yelled as I rode by. (no response at 7am) Next I headed into Mapleton. When I was leaving Mapleton, I was riding down hill on Main Street and resting a bit and getting a drink when I heard "LEFT". I looked to my left and there were 2 guys riding and they flew by me. I was riding at about 19mph at that time and decided to kick it up a little and catch them. I quickly caught them and rode about 18 inches off the back tire of them. It is amazing how different it is riding with someone and being able to draft off them. We rode for about 3/4 mile at 26mph.

As I turned back to Spanish Fork, having ridden about 16.5 miles, it began to rain. It was nice to have the rain while I rode. I finished by riding out to Highway 6, riding past the Spanish Fork Golf course down to Spanish Fork Main and then home. I was able to do 25 miles in 1 hr 29min and 45 seconds.

When I got home, I had ridden 28.6 miles. A good morning ride.

After work, Ryan wanted to go on a ride, so we took a 3 mile bike ride bringing my total to almost 32 miles in one day.

Of course, we watched the Tour de France highlights tonight as well.

2.5 weeks left until Spudman

Today I swam 3/4 of a mile in the Provo pool during lunch. Only 2.5 weeks left to the Spudman.

First bike wreck

Today I had my first official bike wreck on my road bike. I feel dumb as it shouldn't have happened, but it did. I left my house about 6:15am this morning and planned on riding up the canyon a ways. As I was leaving the neighborhood, I came to a stop sign. I slowed down to almost a stop and turned sideways a little bit. Just then a large gust of wind hit me and I didn't have time to react and get my feet out of my pedals. There I was, laying on my left side in a little pain from the fall but more embarrassed than anything. You would think at 6:15am there wouldn't be anyone around to witness this, but there was a car that drove by right as I fell.

I know the story sounds a little far fetched, but it happened. Every morning in Spanish Fork we have huge winds. I never thought they would be hard enough to cause me to fall over on my bike, but they did. I'm sure the wind gusts are at least 15 mph, if not more each morning.

Other than having a bad start to a bike ride, I had an enjoyable ride. I set off planning on riding about 15 miles, however I end up riding 25 miles. I went to Salem, UT and around Spanish Fork. I was wearing sleeves and pants as I left, but quickly had to remove the long sleeves about halfway through my ride as I was in Salem (with no wind) and the sun had finally made it over the mountains.

It felt good to get out early and ride in the morning.

A new leaf

Yesterday I decided I'd turn over a new leaf and start being a little more honest with myself. So I decided that I will wake up at 5:30am each morning and a few things.

1. Read the scriptures
2. Exercise (bike Tuesday and Thursday in the am)
3. Swim Monday, Wed and Friday.

Monday, Wed and Friday I'm going to work out in the yard or do some house work from 6am until 7am.

4th of July

I didn't have to work today. In the past, I've always worked the 4th of July. It's always nice to have extra money, but I decided I wasn't going to work this year. Instead of working, as a family we went to the Provo Parade down University Ave in Provo. Unless you sleep out the night before, you aren't getting a front row seat (with shade) to the Parade.

We showed up about 10 minutes before the parade and were able to find a great place to watch the parade in full sun.

The kids liked the parade. I enjoyed the fly over by the Air Force. There were 4 jets then a huge bomber plane. We left before the parade was over, but we were able to see quite a bit

Here is a pic of Ryan at the parade.

Here is a pic of Sydney at the parade.

After the parade we went home and got ready for the rest of the day. As a family (Berger's) we were all meeting at my parents house for dinner. We went over about 3:30pm and dropped the kids off and took a 25 mile bike ride. We left from my parents house and road up Hobblecreek Canyon about 12.5 miles, then turned around and came home. You would think the downhill ride would be fast and enjoyable, however the wind was blowing up the canyon and it was 100 degrees outside, so wasn't quite as fun or fast as I would have liked it to be.

On the way down a car came up beside Deni and the sideview mirror brushed Deni's arm. I think I would have kicked the car, if I could have thought that fast, but it wasn't me, it was Deni. The ride was good but the way too hot to be riding.

We ate as a family at Mom and Dad's then visited and the kids played with their cousins. We taught the adults a card game called No Peeky. It was fun to visit and play. After it got dark we went to a local school to light fireworks and sparklers for the kids.

Syd and her sparkler.

Ryan and his sparkler.

Ryan's Loose Tooth

Last night we stayed at the Hyatt in downtown Albuquerque, NM. The hotel was really nice, however it was in a "creepy" part of town (as Deni said).

We started on the second and last leg of our trip home to Utah.

We stopped in Moab, Ut for dinner and spent about an hour walking around looking at the various shops to help break up the drive.

After dinner, Ryan mentioned his tooth was loose and that it was ready to come out. Here are a few little videos of me trying to help him get it out as we drove home. I love this first little video, but don't miss the first 2 seconds.



Again, Ryan telling me it's okay to help him with his tooth but he changes his mind once I started videoing it.



Finally Ryan let me give it one good push. After I pushed it, it was barely hanging on.



I took a picture of Ryan's mouth to show him the tooth was barely holding on and Ryan pulled it out after seeing the picture.

We got home to Spanish Fork about 9:30pm. It had been a long day and it was good to finally be home.

Heading home

We left Gilmer, Tx around 6:15am (Texas time) and started the long drive home. We had hoped the kids would go back to sleep, but only Ryan slept after getting the kids into the van. We had a 12-14 hr drive ahead of us on our way back to Albuquerque, NM.

Nothing exciting on the drive.

We stopped in Albuquerque, NM for the night. Deni's uncle, aunt and Grandmother also stopped in Albuquerque, NM so we met up for dinner to visit with them. They only had a 5 hr drive until they got home, we on the other hand have at least 11 more hours in the car tomorrow.

Bishopric - "Bishop Rick"

Today was Fast Sunday. We visited one of the LDS wards in Gilmer, TX.

During the beginning of church the Bishop said something about the Bishopric. Ryan leaned over to me and said:

"Dad, that is cool, the Bishop has the same name as the our Bishop in Springville, Bishop Rick".

I laughed and wrote it down and handed it to Deni. We both got a chuckle out of that.

After church we got changed and went to meet Deni's Biological Aunt's. Deni's biological father, has 2 sisters. Jennette and Alisha Foote. Deni met them for the first time a few months ago when she went back to Texas for her Biological Grandmother's (Nelda) funeral. We had a good visit with them. This was the first time they had met myself, Ryan and Sydney. We had dinner, looked through old pictures and had a good time getting to know each other.