Valentine's Day

Thursday, my good friend and cousin-in-law, Mandi and her husband Tucker came over on Friday to visit me and Palmer on the way from one house the their other house. They are so thoughtful and brought me flowers and chocolates for Valentine's day since my husband is gone for another week racing out East. It made my day! (no vases on hand so I used the blender!)

Then the next day (Valentine's Day) the floral shop delivered some beautiful flowers from Carly and DJ, who we live with this winter, who were so thoughtful to make sure I felt loved on Valentine's Day, since again, Garth is gone.

Then the florist went back out to her van for another delivery of lovely flowers from my wonderful husband, Garth! I felt totally spoiled and totally loved. Even though Garth is gone, this was still a really good Valentine's Day!

Brainerd, MN

This past weekend brought us to Brainerd, MN for another race on the Amsoil Champion Snocross Tour. On Saturday, in the stock class, Garth made it right into the final, skipping the LCQ. Off the start, Garth was in 5th place, and by the end made it up to 3rd! Another podium in the super stock class! The second one of the race season. We were all very excited. Garth's dad, Warren, drove all the way to MN from ID to cheer on Garth and watch him race in person. That was Garth's first podium finish at a race that Warren has been there for.
In the open/mod class, Garth had another impressive show, ending up in 5th place after the 25 lap final.
My friend Emily came to the race too. We got to watch from inside the heated suites. Dwight, Garth's team owner, made sure we had wristbands so we didn't have to stand out in the cold with all the other devoted snocross fans. We felt so spoiled!
Tomorrow afternoon, Garth will start the drive to NY for the next race in Farmington, NY. Palmer and I are staying behind. It's just too far. After the NY race, Garth and his team go on to Valcourt, Quebec in Canada.
Here are two pictures from the Canterburry, MN race where Garth got 2nd. Sorry no pics from Brainerd yet.

Left to Right: Garth (2nd), Tucker Hibbert (1st), Levi LaVallee (3rd)

This is how we typically look at the races. Palmer goes in his baby sling and gets zipped up in my coat. He wears his arctic cat bobble hat (which he gets tons of compliments on) and just hangs out. He usually falls asleep!

Aspen, CO

I haven't posted about the X-Games race yet! It was so much fun! Garth ended up doing pretty well. He got right into the final, getting 3rd in his qualifyer. (They took top 5) He got a dead last start though, as usual, and fought up to 3rd. Garth is always testing my heart strength. He starts out in the back, stressing me out, and then just works his way up as far as he can. I guess it's better than starting out in front and getting passed and ending up in the back though-right? This was his fourth year going to the X-Games for SnoCross and his first year making the final.

Then in the final, just a couple laps into it, he got t-boned in a corner bending his frpnt ski. He got going again and could tell something wasn't right and got bucked off bad. Then he was out. He pulled off the track and cheered on his team mate and friends that were still in the race.

Palmer and I got to fly (rather than make the 17 hour drive from MN) with the team owners and their family. Which was so much help and made it a lot funner. We all stayed in a house together and made smores over the log fire! I loved it. I absolutely love smores. I've been known to make them at home over our electric stove if I'm really craving one.

This is me and Josie, one of the team owners' daughters (9)

Palmer is officially crawling!

Yay! Finally. And much less frustrated while playing. This video was taken yesterday and I feel like today he is faster and crawls further! He is already 9 months old and growing up way too fast. He is so sociable. He loves smiling and getting people's attention...

My good friend Emily came for a visit and played and played with Palmer. I credit him finally crawling, to her. Palmer had to show off and show her what he could do!

WINTER X GAMES 13, JANUARY 22-25, 2009

Garth will be competing in SnoCross at the Winter X Games January 23rd and the 24th. The Winter X Games is the premier winter action sports event in the world. The annual event features athletes from around the globe competing for medals and prize money in the following sports: Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile.

Winter X Games 13 will air live on ESPN and ABC and will feature nighttime events. The event will remain at Aspen/Snowmass through 2010, for a total of nine consecutive years (2002-2010).

Friday 1/23: SnoCross Round 1-ESPN HD 9:30-11:30pm ET
Sat 1/24: SnoCross Final-ESPN HD 9-11pm ET
Event Schedule
TV Schedule

Garth's First Podium of '09!! Shakopee, MN

here is part of the press release from ISOC's homepage:

Kaufman Shows His Stamina While Tucker Pulls Away in Pro-Open

In Pro-Super Stock a melee, immediately following the start, set the stage as Ryan Simons, TJ Gulla, Ross Martin and Andrew Johnstad, all legitimate podium contenders, were forced to regroup and/or re-tether and work from deep behind the leaders. That set the stage for another Tucker Hibbert victory, continuing his unbeaten streak for the season and further securing his points lead.
At the close of the first lap of the 26 lap final, it was Tucker edging out Polaris pilots Levi LaVallee and Brett Bender with Garth Kaufman (Cat), DJ Eckstrom (Pol), Brett Turcotte (Cat) and Shaun Crapo (Pol) rounding out the seven riders in the 16 rider field. The running order remained consistent for over half the race, as Tucker began to checkout and encountered back runners on lap nine.
While the Tucker Hibbert show continued at the front, it was Garth Kaufman who perhaps put on the second most impressive ride of the night, as he slowly edged towards the front, picking off Bender on lap 16 and then having an impressive battle with Levi during the closing laps. The two swap the bridesmaid position several times during the closing laps, with Kaufman eventually getting the bouquet. At the line is was Tucker, who lapped every sled in the field except the top four riders, followed by Kaufman, LaVallee, Bender and Eckstrom to complete the top five.