Sour Cherry Tart

When Anna was here she brought her great camera with her. The neat thing about Anna's camera is that she actually knows how to use it - so she gets these amazing pictures. One of the settings on her camera allows her to isolate a single color and bring it out in the photograph - and that is how she captured these shots of the sour cherries in our tree on the front bank.

Kathryn & I picking cherries. We had just enough to make one tart -- the tree is just about one year old.

Kathryn & the tart - She did all the hard work baking!

While Anna was here we also went to a concert at the zoo -- here's a shot Anna's friend Connie took of Thor, Anna & I.

Summer Berry Picking

This past week Anna came to visit from Hawaii! (Which I think I mentioned in my earlier post). She & Kathryn drove down from Seattle on Monday night and Tuesday I took the day off so we could head out to Sauvie's Island to go berry picking. We headed out to the Pumpkin Patch late in the morning and in just about 2 hours had picked three flats of berries! Mostly strawberries, but we got some raspberries as well. We headed home and that afternoon we made 12 pints of jam. Delicioius!

Short Track 2009 - Race 1

Last week was the first race of the 2009 Short Track Mtn. bike race series. This year it will run for seven weeks up at PIR - each week will be a different course! This past week Anna & Kathryn drove down to come and cheer for Thor & I. That's right - Thor did a bike race!!!! This was his first competitive race since I signed him up for the Pacific Crest Triathlon two years ago - and he had a great time! Anna took some pictures of us racing - I'm posting one of me going through the finish area and the rest are of Thor in his first mtn. bike race!

Surveyor's Ridge Ride

Two weekends ago Thor and I rode Surveyor's Ridge (yes - this is a very belated post!) The trail was great - we had a blast - here are some pictures - I shouldn't be posting while at work - gotta go!

Four Little Munchkins

My cousin, Alana, sent this picture over. Her mom is busy scanning all their old family photos and Alana just couldn't resist passing this one on to Anna & I. I don't know for sure...but I'm going to guess this was in 1985!

From the left: Alana, Lara, Me & Anna

Mt.Tabor 2009 - Race 1

Last week was the first race in the annual Mt.Tabor Race Series. For the first time I was doing this series as a Cat 3 racer, and let me tell you, I was NOT looking forward to doing this race with all the faster women! (Very fast, explosive riding uphills. Not my forte.)
About 30 seconds before they started our race they made an announcement that because they were short on time they would be running ALL the women together. This was the best news ever because: a) it meant that my race would be 2 laps shorter than I had thought (6 instead of 8), and b) I would have some Cat 4 women to ride with instead of just doing the Cat 3 race by myself. I ended up getting dead last in my category - which is a first for me - but I'm not actually that upset about it. I rode as hard as I could and thought I was going to have a heart attack on a couple of the hills - so it's not like I was slacking!
Here are some pictures of myself and a couple of my teammates racing last week.

Picture from http://www.sosovelo.com/

Picture by Jenn Levo

Picture by Jenn Levo

Here's my teammate, Margi, racing in the Cat 4 division. Margi has our new kit on - they are pretty sharp, although the colors are not quite as intense as we thought they would be.

Picture from http://www.sosovelo.com/

And here is Abby racing with the 3's! (she's the furthest on the left in orange & blue).

Picture from http://www.sosovelo.com/

Madsen Cycle Contest

Help us win a Madsen Cycle!!! These bikes are amazing and so super functional! They're great for toting kids, dogs, large grocery loads, etc. around town and Thor & I have been lusting after one for ages (just can't quite justify actually purchasing one right now). To help us win the contest just click on the link below - the Madsen Cycle site will do the rest. Thanks!