Paul Hekimian Crosses Over -- Happy 40th Paul!

Above are Sylvia and baby Lucas with the Birthday Boy himself... Every year for his birthday, Paul and his Boys head out for an overnight deep sea fishing trip. They catch fresh ahi tuna... then come home and cook it up at his birthday bbq.
This year, was a special milestone birthday... his 40th... Many friends were there to celebrate with him starting in the afternoon and until night fell. Some of Paul's old neighbors surprised him with a Gorilla-Gram, below. Classic!
Other buddies who had just landed at LAX -- from Germany -- brought P some gifts from Oktoberfest!
One of the most noticeable changes between this birthday and pervious ones were the number of munchkins present. There were many kids-in-tow and many willing friends and family to help comfort them so their folks could take part in the libations. Below is the Armstrong Family, then baby Emerson & Michelle and on the far right, Amanda with one of her little ones as Nick is introduced.
Sylvia, Summer and other helpful elves put together a hilarious slideshow depicting Paul through the years, including him naked on the Hollywood sign and some old snaps of him from his modeling days -- Hi-Larious! ; )

Happy Birthday Paul.

BOB ROLL
This year, we've had some A-MAZING speakers at the LA Tri Club Meetings. Paula Newby-Fraser started out the year, and was simply amazing and inspiring... then, came the ITU Elites and Hunter Kemper and Barb Lindquist. I didn't think we could top that duo. But, last night, we had Mr. Roll. All these speakers were different, and awesome... Bobke being a quick favorite and the perfect guy to finish out our year. I have NO IDEA how we'll compete in '07 with the caliber of speakers we assembled this year.
Bob regaled us with stories and antidotes of days-past with 7-11, days-present with The Tour and the top pros in the field, getting lost on mountain bike rides, what he thinks of the drug scandals and testing, as well as the reasons behind his pronunciation of "Tour DAY France". Sometimes off-color, always entertaining, an amazing athlete himself and wild & crazy guy! I'm a huge fan. The photo above is of the audience looking bored so Jamie Silber could get some footage for our Year End Video. And, below, is our TriAthletix coaching crew!
THANK YOU to BOB for making the trip. Special Thank you also, to COMPETITOR MAGAZINE/BOB BABBITT as well as HELEN'S CYCLES for making Bob's trip possible. Without our generous sponsors, the LA Tri Club would not be able to put together programs like the one last night. Also, Thank you to the 300+ athletes who came to hear Bob speak -- seeing the crowd having such fun makes the whole organizing process worthwhile!
Miss. Stella Tong dominated the meeting raffle!
Below, I'm with Vivian and Martha - two of my frequent bike workout companions. Martha's illustrator did the artwork for the Club's trip to USAT Nationals in Vegas this year. Thanks Marth and Royce!!

http://www.bobroll.com/

MALIBUUUUUUUUU TRIATHLON
Sunday, Sept. 17th was the 20th Anniversary of the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. This event is a favorite among local triathletes and the LA Tri Club routinely brings a few hundred athletes to this race. We were blessed with an OUTSTANDING race day on Sunday. I can tell you, it was one of the first races I've been to where, as I approached the swim start, I wished I were in a wetsuit and ready-to-rock. Every first-time Malibu participant as well as every first time Triathlete had some of the best racing conditions we've seen here on the west coast in years. Clear, blue skies, crisp but warm temp, clear water (I was told the visibility was 30+ feet). It was just perfect.
Photo above: me w/Michael Epstein in front of the transition area and below, the relay section of transition where relay athletes waited for their swimmers to come in and and tag them for the bike leg.

Malibu Tri is a unique event which attracts a cross section of athletes. You've got a large contingent of talented CAF participants, professional athletes, triathlon clubbers, entertainment and media celebrities, corporate teams and many city officials round out the 2,500 racers.

Michael Epstein is the mastermind behind this event, along with his MESP Team, they do a top notch job of taking care of the racers, spectators, sponsors and special guests. THANK YOU Michael and MESP for a job well-done and for being so accommodating to the LA Tri Club. Pictured above: Loren & Gary.
Congratulations to all participants. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to Malibu '07 already! Pictured below: Max and I.
http://www.nauticamalibutri.com/

Hollywood Forever
One of the best times in town >> Tops of my list anyway... is catching a movie under the stars with close friends, a few bottles of wine and some chips and dips to dine on. Last Saturday Tom put the crew together for just that... We hit Hollywood Forever cemetery at 5p and visited and collected the group before heading into the gates to find our seats in front of the mausoleum. The photos above is of our group, minus Corwin who showed late, before the sun went down. And, below, is Jon happily surrounded by lovely ladies.
As the sun set, we took a few snaps, and enjoyed the beautiful California weekend. The feature on Sat. was CALIFORNIA SPLIT, Directed By Robert Altman. Unfortunately, the outdoor series is about over for the season... another reminder that Summer is really over. I'm super sad to see it end. This summer has been one of the most action-packed and fun in my CA history (thanks in large part to the hi-jinx w/this crew, of course!) Tim, Liz & Tom, pictured, below:

Smiling Finn & Soccer Merete

I can't help but share these snaps of my handsome nephew and amazing niece!

Here you see a smile caught on film! Little Finn makes all kinds of faces all the time... funny expression, pensive, thoughtful, furrowed brow... and SMILES. He's a happy little guy. He's only 8-9 weeks only and he's got all kinds of things to smile about... He's almost winking!

Below is a photo from Merete's first day of soccer, last weekend. She's here with her two best buddies, Cecilia on the left and Cecily. How cute are these girls??!! It was reported by Mom & Dad that all the 70-kids had a fab time on the field. I wish I could have been there!
And, another smile for you:

Mammoth Mountain :: 5th Annual Mountain Biking Trip

One of the things I look the most forward to every summer is my late summer trip to Mammoth Mountain for some downhill riding with friends. This year, we had ten in our group. Jeanette and I were lucky enough to take Friday off so we left town Thursday night. The moon was full and bright during our drive, and it lit the mountains and sky up with so much light! It was really beautiful.
Friday morning, Jeanette and I took a hike to Devil's Postpile Monument (top photo). Amazing place! From there, we hiked by the John Muir Wilderness and into the Ansel Adams Wilderness and Rainbow Falls. The weather we had over the weekend could not have been better. Lower 50s at night and clear and mid 70s during the days. Perfect for hiking and mountain biking. Above is the group at the top of Mammoth Moutain, ready for our first run down.
That night, the whole crew came in... Paul, Stephanie, Seth, Damian & his brother Tyler, Tom, Chris and Christian. We were all looking forward to Saturday on the mountain... When Sat. morning rolled around, Paul and Seth made a mean breakfast to give us all strength for the day ahead and we headed out. The group shot on top of the mountain includes: Damian, Chris, Tom, Tyler, Steph, me, Seth, Jeanette & Paul...
Steph and I took the awards for the most banged up. I went down at the end of our first run, on a black diamond trail called Shock Treatment. I should have been wearing protective gear on that section... but, it was pretty awesome to go flying thru the air like I did... although some of this rash I could do without... I basically hit on my right side, from my arm (the worst) to my legs.
The days exertions led to much celebration in the evening. Photo above is Paul, me & Tom. Again, the men stepped up to the plate and created an amazing dinner for the group. Thank you Paul, Seth, Chris and whoever else helped!! Us gals went down to The Village during the dinner prep. (below: me, Stephanie & Jeanette).
What an amazing trip. Happy Birthday to you Damian! Tyler, I'm glad the timing worked out so you could come too. Looking forward to next year already! (I'll wear long sleeves)... (photo below is Paul playing in Rainbow Falls)

Labor Day Weekend >> D.C.
I spend the long Labor Day weekend in Washington, D.C. visiting my brother and his growing family. Hurricane Eduardo was threatening to crash into us... bringing rain and wreaking havoc when I arrived -- but, he mainly stayed away while I was there. Above are Matt w/baby Finn; and below is sweet Merete.
Little Master FINN was born on July 12th, making him only 8-weeks old in these photos. He is a wonderful little fellow. When he's "up" he makes many expressions... changing from smiles to a furrowed brow, to looking perplexed, to just looking very hard at you/staring... It's hard to take a great shot of him though, because when the camera light comes on, he is entranced.
Merete is a gem. She is just the apple of my eye. She turned FOUR at the end of August, and is just a little delight. Merete is full of spunk, but she's respectful and smart and I just love her. For her birthday, my brother Matt bought a DDR system -- that's Dance Dance Revolution to those of you not in-the-know. We had several dance-offs while I was there. Matt is curiously good at this game...
Stina, above at our Sunday breakfast, is a wonderful Mom to these two little ones... too bad she can't seem to get more than a few hours sleep at the moment. Finn only sleeps a max of 3-hours, if we're lucky. I guess that's the nature of things!
Highlights of the trip included meeting my new #1 nephew, of course! As well as visiting with Matt & Stina's friends for a Labor Day BBQ on Saturday night; and another set of friends for a big breakfast on Sunday morning. The photo above is of Merete, giving me a pose. She just got all this great pink soccer gear (shin guards and soccer ball)... her first game is this weekend. I'm so sorry I'll be missing it! The photo below is of her on her Dad's shoulders, giving me the "George Face" that Curious George is making on the Curious George band-aids she has. How cute is she??!! (and isn't my brother handsome??!)

Matt and I also took Merete for a run in the rain at the mall. She was pushed in a stroller while Matt and I ran along in the drizzle. The drizzle turned to hard core rain when we were at the Washington Monument... and tourists gave us dirty looks as Merete cowered under a dishcloth in the running stroller. We had a lot of fun though!

Monday, Matt took Merete and I for a beautiful hike along the Potomac River, in Maryland (I think). It was clear, and really beautiful. Above, is a snap of Merete from the hike... and, The river was very muddy from the recent rain, as you can see in the photo of us, below.
When I left on Monday night, I was very sad. It's hard to leave them there in DC. I love to visit my family far away, but leaving is always hard... especially now with the kids... they're just so wonderful. So, hopefully I see them again before too long... I'm really wanting them to come to LA of course!