Fall Family Fun

I guess I'm like a lot of you out there. I'm struggling to maintain the blog! Facebook takes up my time and even when I sit down to update my blog, I somehow find myself logging on to facebook instead. It seems easier and quicker, BUT, documenting family activities on the family blog is something I'm going to try to do better in 2010!

To kick off my better intentions, I'll do a clean sweep of family fun from the fall and begin to bring us up to date!

For the first time in about 7 years, we headed out east to Joe's Place farms for our family pumpkin patch outing. We hadn't been out there for fall fun since Megan was about 3months old. It was a beautiful fall afternoon and we had a great time! We started off with a hay ride and they gave us some yummy apples to munch on during the ride.

Next we were off to pick out our pumpkins. Not sure how many more years they will be able to hop on for a ride, but they were able to talk their dad into it again this year!

The girls and I with the lovely fall sun beaming on us in 2009.....

and just about the same spot and time of day 7 years prior. That's Megan in the front pack. That year, we tried to pick out a pumpkin that weighed as much as she did!Here's that sweet baby girl 7 years later having a "hay day" in the hay maze. Wow, the years fly by so fast! We found hay in her hair later that night as her hair was almost the exact same color!

We enjoyed attending our cousins football games! Nothing says fall quite like the helmets crashing and whistles blowing! The girls loved cheering for their cousins (the fact that Casey's team was The Bears made it even more fun! How many 7 year old girls out there have their own Bears jerseys??)

In late October, we took the girls to Disney on Ice. I remember going as a kid (they were called Ice Capades back then before Disney ruled the world) and it's something we've wanted to do with the girls for quite a while. I'm actually proud of myself for holding off for as long as we did. I typically jump the gun and want to take them places when they aren't quite old enough to enjoy it. They were the perfect ages to enjoy it for the first time. We all had a blast (Nana came with us too) and can't wait to go back!

Megan wanted to dress up like a disney princess but Katelyn did not. I promise you, when Megan left the house, none of her belly was showing....lesson learned by mom!

I got to chaperone Megan's class on a fieldtrip to the Fire Department. We were close enough to walk and had a great weather day. They learned about safety and what to do in case there was a fire at home. They also each got to knock over a cone with the fire hose. What a fun outing!

I am so thankful that Megan makes friends fairly easily. Her best little friend moved away last month and I'm very thankful she has made some new friends making it a little easier to not see her friend every day. This is a picture of Megan and a new classmate. They really enjoy each other's company and every time I volunteer in her class, her new little friend tells me what great friends they are! What a couple of cutie patooties!

To be quite honest, Halloween is my least favorite "holiday" with the kids. We focus on the non-scary and spooky aspects and do our best to celebrate the fall harvest season instead of THE actual Date. Katelyn made cute Dorothy and Megan made an adorable little kitty. Here are some front door shots before we headed out for the evening. Megan did a great job of staying "in character" for each photo op!

Before we headed out to our harves party, we stopped by our neighbor's home to say hi to our friends. All the girls looked so cute!

family photo!

We had fun at First Evangelical's Harvest Party. Katelyn attends preschool there, so she enjoyed seeing some friends and they both enjoyed playing games and winning prizes.

Our last stop of the evening was a drive-by to the Storaci's neighborhood to say hi to a few friends in the neighborhood. What a fun night!

Top 10 Reasons Katelyn Needs her Own Camera

A photographer in the making? Possibly. She is petitioning hard for her own camera and her petitions have not fallen on deaf ears. The childrens digital camera has already been purchased and tucked away for Christmas. Shh, don't tell. In the meantime, I will rest assured that my camera will soon be just that, MY CAMERA and little hands will not sneak it away for a session of self portraits. If she wasn't so darned cute....

Hurry up Christmas, Katelyn NEEDS her camera!!!

Girlfriends Run is Done!

It's been two weeks since the big run. It was an amazing experience.

I was a bundle of nervous energy the morning of the race, but once we got going, I tried to just put it in perspective...I was just out there on a nice Sunday morning going for a nice long run with over a thousand of my girlfriends. The weather was perfect, the course was nice and flat and the scenery was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Before the race even started, I ran into a bunch of people I knew from a variety of places and instantly I knew it was going to be just fine because I was going to turn it into a social thing, and that always makes working out more fun! One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing all the dads and kids and families along the race route. It was also fun to cheer on the leaders and other friends that passed us on the way back. It was such a great encouraging environment.

The highlight of my day was seeing my own family along the way. They had made me a poster and cheered me on from three different locations. Damon and Megan even rolled it out right before the finish line so we could run through it, it was priceless. My mom and dad were there and my mom was so proud of me she even teared up!! Wow mom! To think that my finish line would have been a half way point in a marathon is sort of out of my realm of thinking! I have absolutely NO DESIRE to EVER run a marathon. In fact, I really want to buy the t-shirt that says "13.1 isn't half of anything" because I couldn't agree with it more! I was sore for about three days, just in my quads, but it was really painful. What's the saying? No pain no gain??

To think it all started with a friends suggesting it and me of course saying, NO WAY, I'm not a runner. But sometimes it just feels good to prove yourself wrong, or just have a goal and go for it. I still don't consider myself "a runner" and I'm not sure I will do it again, but to start out barely being able to run 3 miles and to pretty much run 13, it was a feeling of "I did it!" There were women in all ages groups, there were runners, joggers, run/joggers, jog walkers and walkers and it really didn't matter, we were all there encouraging each other and being encouraged by those along the course.

I just watched a video clip that the organizers put together from the run. It actually shows footage of Lisa and I crossing the finish line and in an instant I was right back there! I was feeling the excitement, the accomplishment, the comraderie (if that is even a word) of girlfriends all around me. I was also feeling the pain, fatigue and soreness, but the excitement certainly trumped pain!

It felt great to cross that finish line. It felt even greater to cross it with my girlfriend!

Tamara invited us over for our "last supper" before the race, I ate A LOT!

Damon is running backward trying to take a picture of us!

Megan ran out to run with me for a bit...it was so encouraging seeing my family cheering me on!

Lisa being goofy!

see ya at the finish line!

Megan and Damon held the poster for us to run through right before the actual finish line!

My awesome and supportive family. Katelyn is upset because I tore the poster :)

We made it, friend!

Nicci, me, Amy, Lisa and Tamara after the race

Me with Sarah Miller (our salmon creek running scheduler) and Lisa

Nicci personified the word girlfriend by running with Tamara even though she was a bit injured and didn't officially enter the race, she ran almost the whole thing!

Megan took this picture of us post race!

I know you can't see it, but my name is on this list. I finished about 10 min behind my goal and it only bothered me for about two minutes! I let it go and enjoyed the moment!

Kristi and I after brunch after the race

Darcy (another salmon creek running buddy) with Sarah and myself

The party after the party at Lapellah, yummy breakfast! Kristi, Sarah, Ashley, Julie, Ashley's sister, me and Michelle...great job ladies! Ashley gets the trooper award for crossing the finish line with the worst injury! You are a champion in my eyes Ashley!

One Week from Today!

Yes, the big week is finally here! The Girlfriends half marathon is a week from today and I have to say that I'm more excited than nervous. That fact alone is a complete miracle, but then again, I have six days to get those butterflies humming! I am so thankful for a group of girlfriends that have all helped me with my training. The list is very long and it makes me smile whenever I think about it. When I say help, that means a word of encouragement all the way to advise for training, all of it has helped prepare me.

So, is the next goal a full marathon, NO WAY! To be honest, I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal workout routine. My spin classes and cardio/weight circuit training classes are calling my name. To be honest, I feel like I'm in better shape after doing those classes than all this running. BUT, it has felt GREAT having a goal and working hard to get there. I NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER thougth I would do this. I have never run longer than a couple miles before, so each long run was the longest I have ever done. This Sunday at the race will be the longest I've ever run at 13.1 miles! My knees are not liking the running and my feet are quite sore, but I will press on to the goal I have set for myself. It is going to feel amazing crossing that finish line and seeing all my friends achieve their goal as well. If anyone out there is considering doing this, GO FOR IT!!! I am not a runner, if I can do this ANYONE CAN DO THIS! It has, however, taken quite a bit of training time that I was not quite prepared for. Some of these ladies with really little kids, WOW, I don't know how they are doing it, so thank you husbands out there for supporting us and allowing us to achieve this goal!

The countdown is on and I can't wait to check this one off the bucket list!!! Let's go get em girlfriends!

Gebhardt Gathering

My cousin Matt and his family visited from Ohio in June and what a great time was had by all! Matt's sister (my cousin Sarah) lives in Sherwood/Tualitin area and hosted a gathering while they were visiting. Matt and Tonya have two girls Alexa and Aeryn who are almost exactly a year older then both of my girls. They had a blast playing together. We are so thankful they made the effort to visit us out here and we hope to see them again VERY soon!

Goofing around! These girls essentially had just met for the first time and they all just clicked! We wished we all lived closer!

All the girl cousins! Thanks Sarah for hosting such a fun afternoon!

And all the LITTLE girl cousins, wow, what a cute group of girls!

What family gathering is complete without a talent show? Alexa plays the violin beautifully and we were all in for a treat when she played a few songs for us!

Megan sang her favorite song "Jesus take the Wheel"

A lovely sunset to enjoy on the drive home!