One Week til Christmas

It's hard to believe Christmas is only a week away! Where did this year go? We've been so busy this year with a number of parties/outreaches/ministries/etc. Not too mention trying to get cards mailed...gifts wrapped...and cookies baked. Even with all that is going on..we try very hard to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas and to remember the free gift that was given to us by God.

Notice Anything Different?

Well here she is! NO MORE BRACES!!!!!!! What an exciting day for Katie. She has had some sort of orthodontics since she was 7 years old! Alas...all that's left is to wear the retainer!

Race Day photo! So here we are at the finisher'sh check in tent. The race was great! The weather in San Francisco that day was just perfect. It was well worth all the hard work and training. My total dollars raised...$3100!

Happy Birthday Daniel

So today is Daniel's 11th birthday! I will post some pictures as soon as I can. He was so excited this morning..he was up at 6 a.m.! He has had a great day so far. His birthday cake choice this year?..... a chocolate pie..with Oreo cookie crust.

Wow...it's already the middle of Sept!

Okay so...very short haircut...it sure helps with the running!!!!
I can hardly believe it's already Sept. The school year has started and we are busy..busy..busy! I've redone the school room this year..with new mission style desks for Katie and Daniel..and myself! I'm very pleased with how it has turned out. Although putting all those desks together certainly took a lot of time! I'll post pictures when all the 'accessories' are in!
Both kids are enrolled in Homesource again this year..which basically supplements the homeschooling. Katie is able to take AP History..and Spanish II as well as volleyball.
Daniel is taking two computer technology classes..one which is focused on design and 3-D drafting. The other is a computer skills class. He is also taking basketball.
We are enjoying cooler temperatures this week and are anticipating rain soon.
My running is going well...I'm up to 10 miles now..yes that's at one time~!!
Business has been great and Mark is extremely busy. He and I are looking forward to a little R&R weekend together..ALONE...very soon!

Very hard to see the magnificence of this place with the haze.

Crater Lake Family Shot

So here we are..playing around at Crater Lake. The kids didn't think I could get a family shot by holding the camera with my left hand..but it worked! Too Cute! We had a fantastic week at Shasta Lake..then drove up to Crater Lake on the way home. Unfortunately there had been a fire in the hills and the lake was shrowded with a haze. Oh..and the cute little girl in the picture is now 15!! Yikes!

A Day on the River

The women of our church had a special rafting outing on Saturday. The men you see in the picture are our guides. We had a fabulous day. The sun was shining and the river was so clear you could see to the bottom. Katie and I went together. The rapids are a level 3 on the McKenzie and were for the most part subdued..with the exception of a few spots. We had one very quick scare when Katie fell out of the raft on a rapid! My adrenaline definitely kicked into overtime and I had her back in the boat in less than a minute. The guide's wife, Kim, also fell in! She said that was the first time she had ever fallen into this particular river..so Katie was in good company! The weather has been fabulous! We have been in the mid 70's to low 80's. We are enjoying lots of outside activities!

Happy 4th of July!

So here it is...my first 10K run. I ran Eugene's annual Butte to Butte. It was fun. Yeah..the guy next to me ran the whole thing in his bathrobe..carrying a coffe cup and his newspaper..too funny.

Mark was taking pictures at the finish line. I managed to run the whole thing with the exception of maybe 20 yards of a very very steep hill. Even with that..I was walking up it faster than most were running it. LOL

We have a relaxing rest of the day planned here at home, with slow-roasted ribs and baked beans for supper! We will light off some fireworks tonight with the kids.

Tomorrow I begin hill training with the Team in Training group. (hill training?--I thought I did that today!)

It's been awhile

Wow...my husband mentioned to me that it had been a while since I had updated my blog. I didn't realize it had been over a month. There is so much happening around here this summer. Most recently..just within the past 2 weeks we have lost both my grandfather and my grandmother. My parents are back in Massachussets. The funeral for my grandfather was a week ago Thursday...and my grandmother's funeral was today. My grandfather died after a very long battle with Parkinson's. My grandmother suffered a massive heart attack just one week after. They will both be missed.
My running is progressing. This coming week I have a 10k run on the 4th of July. It's called the Butte to Butte and you can read about it at. www.buttetobutte.org.
Mark's back is finally getting better after some visits to the Physical Therapist and some oral steroids. He won't be running beside me anytime soon..but he is able to ride along side on his bike. Sometimes the kids join me on their rollerblades.
The weather has been quite lovely here. We have had several days of sunshine and it just seems to lift everyones spirits!

1/2 Team In Training

I am so excited! I have joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. So I WILL indeed be running in the Nike Women's 1/2 marathon in October..and I will be running on behalf of my honored team-mates you see pictured here! What an incredible organization this is. I feel so very honored to be associated with it! It would be so awesome if those of you who read my blog would visit my fundraising website and make a donation! You can get me to goal in no time! Just click on the title of this post!

So what do you do when you are 40?

Alas...I am becoming a runner...a real one. Mark and I have signed up for the annual Butte to Butte here in Eugene on July 4th. It is a 10K race. THEN in October it looks like we may be headed down to San Francisco for the Nike's Women 1/2 marathon. They have a full marathon as well, but honestly I think I can be quite content at 13 miles!

Reflections of a 40 year old

That's right. Two days ago I hit the 40 mark. Hard to believe. I had an absolutely glorious birthday filled with tons of love from my family and friends. I am happy to say that this 40 year old body was still able to get out of bed and go for a morning run..AND spend 6 hours gardening and doing yardwork. Mark offered to take me out for the day and wine and dine me...my preference was to stay home and wrestle with a rototiller!
My sweet husband knows how to lovingly make my birthday special. This years theme was 'cooking' . I received 3 wonderful new cookbooks that I am anxious to delve into and dazzle my family with mouthwatering delicacies! Mark signed the two of us up for a one night cooking class entitled, "A Romantic Dinner for Two". I will at long last learn how to cook lamb. Katie bought me the most darling set of espesso cups and saucers..and my boy Daniel picked out 4 of the cutest little tea spoons I've ever seen.
The second part of my birthday revolved around my running habit. Mark's parents provided the funds for a splurge on new running shoes..plus extras!! Mark also bought me..not 1..not 2..but 3 new running skirts! I have been wanting to try out the running skirts and am so excited about them!
So here I am...40. Happy to be here..excited for what lies ahead...and thankful to My God who has surrounded me with a family that I love!

It Might Be Spring

It's hard to tell for sure..there are a couple of tell-tale signs:
1) weeds are growing faster than the grass
2) grass is growing faster than we can keep up with (which tells you how bad our weeds are)
3) kids are wanting to wear their shorts
4) the sun is out..wait..it's gone..no wait..it's back..no wait..it's gone...no wait..it's back..no wait.....
5) Deanna had her yearly haircut..short..short..short.
6) bathing suits are almost completely sold out at the stores

Signs of Spring! 

Jenna waits for the kids to finish their schooling. 

Some form of lichen..not sure which. 

At the Women's Retreat 

Waters of the Row River 

Katie doing her 'thing' in "Comedy of Errors". Her afterschool Drama club has already started working on their next production to be performed sometime in late June or early July.

Katie, dressed as her character Luce, greets Daddy and Daniel following the play.

A beautiful day at the beach. We were all alone! 

Hanging out with Dad on some burnt out driftwood. 

Daniel races along the beach. 

Spring???

Did I say it looked like Spring? Okay..maybe Spring in Wisconsin. Today we woke up to about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground..with more expected tonight. It's just crazy! There are definitely some snow clouds milling around outside our windows. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to cancel school for tomorrow. They are not equipped to handle snow of any amount here..and pretty much refuse to put down anything on the roads..might harm the fish somewhere down the line ya know. LOL!

March!!

Beautiful March! The robins have returned. That is a sure sign that spring must be around the corner!! I can hardly wait to start working in the garden. The weather is warming up and I am really enjoying my runs! The kids are doing great. They have managed to stay healthly all winter. It seems we were really spared from sickness recently. Thank you Lord! Katie is getting involved with an afterschool drama club. They will be an independent drama 'touring' group. She also has a new babysitting job every Sunday evening at the church.

Mark is wearing a new hat these days at work. One of a salesman. He is such a gift of eloquence in speech and is really easy to get along with. The business has unfortunately been a little too slow and he has put some new things in place to try to increase it's profitability. We could sure use prayer support in this arena. We are praying that God would bless our efforts and desire to keep the business going. Mark is not at all excited about the prospect of returning to the corporate world and moving every two years.

Sunshine!

We are so thankful to finally see some sunshine around here. Although the weather has still been pretty cold. Mark and I ran in the Couple's Classic 5K on Saturday. It was a very chilly 20 degrees outside...with a feels like of 12. What were we thinking? We ran pretty well, despite the cold. We finished in a little over 30 minutes. Mark could have finished sub30..but he was very sweet and stayed along side me. Our pace was somewhere in the high 9 minute mile mark..which is a big improvement from our last 5k where we averaged more in the 11 minute mile range. So we are IMPROVING!! With some continued practice we hope to get down to an 8 minute mile pace!
The kids are doing well. They've been enjoying the sunshine and spent the better part of the weekend outside with the neighbor kids.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! To you and yours today. We woke up to a very light dusting of snow this morning. How strange. We have a 5k this Saturday..and they are calling for snow showers then too. Pretty bizarre since just 2 days ago the sun was shining and it was 60 degrees out!!!

California Trip

We had a very successful California trip! The trip to Long Beach was a blast. The trade show proved interesting..but the company made it all worthwhile. We had so much fun with our friends John and Michele. (wish they would move here!)

Mark received quite a surprise when we returned to Visalia and there was a houseful of people at John and Michele's waiting to wish him a Happy 40th! Thanks to Mark's Dad and Donna...and the kids..we were able to pull off this feat! It was so great to see so many of our dear old friends. It's amazing their kids are all growing up..but they still look like they did when we left. How is it that we don't age? :-)

Engine project

Assembling the pistons onto the crankshaft. (Does that sound right?)
Daniel and Mark had a great time with this project. The best part...no glue!!!

Engine Project

Daniel and Mark are assembling the engine that Grandpa and Grandma Donna bought him. It took almost 5 hours to assemble. It actually works! What a great teaching opportunity this was. Fortunately Mark knows a thing or two about combustion engines. The instructions were not always very clear. I even learned a thing or two!

New Year

So...Christmas has come and gone. What a flurry of activity we had here! It was just a blast! We so much enjoyed having Mark's Dad and Donna here, as well as Ross & Joal and the kids. (Okay, so they really aren't kids anymore)
Business is going well and we are excited about our upcoming business trip to Long Beach...maybe we'll even see the sun..goodness knows it hasn't been out here in quite some time!
Mark and I are getting ready for another 5k. This time locally. It's a couples race and should be lots of fun.

As handsome as they come!