March Madness

This has always been one of my very favorite times of year! And it's even better when you get to view the action live. Luckily for us, Salt Lake City was one of the hosts for the second and third rounds of the NCAA tournament this year, and we got to clock some quality family bonding time at Energy Solutions Arena last weekend. There's nothing quite like some good college basketball. We had so much fun!!!

Unluckily for me, I just spent the majority of last week alternating between my couch and my toilet. (Did I mention that I'm a whole 25 weeks pregnant? I sort of feel like the universe hates me right now.) Thankfully, the worst of it comes at night, which meant I didn't have to miss out on the fun entirely. But I still gave up my tickets to two of Thursday's four games since puking at the arena didn't sound terribly appealing. And even as I watched #14 Harvard upset #3 New Mexico from my phone, knowing that I should have been at the game, I was awfully glad I was hugging my own toilet and not a public one. It's a good thing I know these babies are worth it :)

Anyway, back to the games. Matt and I had gifted tickets for one session (two games) to my parents, Heidi and Matthew for Christmas, and most of the Davis men bought tickets for all three sessions, so it was a family affair. Matthew and Heidi came to the Thursday afternoon games with us and watched #9 Wichita State beat #8 Pitt and #1 Gonzaga hold off #16 Southern. Matt and Matthew stuck around for the second session to see #6 Arizona handle #11 Belmont and #14 Harvard shock #3 New Mexico. On Saturday, my mom and dad came with us and saw Harvard fall to Arizona, and Gonzaga take on Wichita State. That last game was our favorite of the weekend! It was close throughout the entire game, and it was so fun to watch the teams exchange three's and make huge plays down the stretch. The game was tied with just two minutes left! I especially enjoyed watching Wichita State's expert coaching, which I am convinced is what led to the Shockers' ultimate victory. Poor Zags. And my poor, poor bracket.

Traveling student sections are the best.

If only you could have seen Wichita State's cowbell player rock out in person. My nephew Jack was so entertained by the cowbell performance on Thursday that he made this SNL Will Ferrell-inspired posted for the games on Saturday. And my mom is awesome enough that she made sure we chased the cowbell player down to get a post-game picture.

Half Ironman

Alternate title: My husband is a stud.

30 hours after arriving in Utah, Matt competed in his first half ironman race, The Utah Half. And he killed it! Matt completed the 70.3-mile triathlon -- 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and 13.1-mile run -- in 5 hours and 20 minutes. Anything under six hours is considered great for the first time (think: the equivalent of a sub-4 hour marathon), so basically he blew it out of the water. Nevermind the fact that he trained at a much lower altitude, his legs had just been cramped in the car for 10 hours, he was running on a week of absolutely no sleep, and he took a wrong turn (!) during the half-marathon of a run. Clearly, he is amazing.

Aaaand now I'll stop gushing and share some pictures from the day.

Watching the sun rise over the mountains

Warming up

Starting that 1.2-mile swim in Utah Lake

Matt was part of the first group out of the water.

Transition #1. Matt likes to take his sweet time.

The little key thief! Luckily, there was an open field to let Jake run around in while we waited for Matt to ride by.

They biked through the countryside along the lake. So pretty!

Transition #2

Packing the GUs at the start of the run, and 7 miles later...

There's a lot of waiting time, so luckily we had my family to play with.

Jake's "pretend like I'm sleeping and then steal the sunglasses" routine

Looking strong coming into the finish

Finish!

Half an ironman! So tired and relieved and awesome and stuff.

Oh, the joys of a post-race bum massage from a perfect stranger...

Jake approved of the finisher's medal

All this was thanks to our friends, the Killpacks, who we miss terribly! (Apparently Shaun makes a better training partner than me...)

Falcons, friends and family

Jake braved the freezing cold at his first football game this weekend!

We were super excited to go to the Air Force vs. Navy game back at Matt's old stomping grounds in Colorado Springs. Not only was this Jake's first football game altogether, but it was mine and Matt's first time together in Falcon Stadium -- Matt was always on the field while I was in the stands. And did I mention it was the Navy game? So yes, very excited. What made the weekend even better was the fact that my sister's family just moved to the Springs, so we'd get to spend some quality time with them as well. And then we found out that some of our favorite friends, the O'Bryants, were flying into town for the game as well so we'd get to watch it with them. We were pumped!

The only thing that dampened the enthusiasm a bit was the forecast. It was 81 degrees at the Academy on Wednesday and 74 the next Monday. But that Saturday? The high was 34. On October 6th, mind you. It was in the 20's when we got to the stadium! Luckily, I've learned the magic of layering in recent years and we were all bundled up nice and toasty. (PS- I totally recommend this baby snowsuit, which I bought last year on clearance in Santa Monica for a whopping $10.)

It was a really great game, which Air Force dominated right up until the final three minutes. If not for the multiple fumbles in the red zone and the two missed field goals and the questionable clock management in the end, they wouldn't have lost in overtime. So sad. But the thing that I love so much about Falcon football is that it's about so much more than football. We were reminded of that yet again after the game, when both academies took turns standing respectfully behind the other as they sang their alma maters. USAFA's alma mater reverently honors those who gave their lives in the service of the Air Force and our country. As you hear those words and see those future Air Force and Navy officers standing together, you picture them and their alumni, standing together to fight a different battle. And suddenly, the football game with the intense rivalry seems a little less consequential. And you get over the loss a little.... at least until you get to your car :)

Jaker's first hot chocolate. He loved it!

Shaun, Amber and beautiful little Corianne!

We then spent the rest of the weekend watching all of conference and hanging out with April, Alex and Tasha. Jakey and Tasha played and played, Alex and April cooked up some amazingness, and Tasha was enthralled with "Uncle Map." (Which is only fair, I suppose, since she preferred Aunt Ashley during our trip to Virginia last year.) It was a lovely little getaway.