Grand Rapids .5 Marathon

Well...we did it! Kathy Hellmann and I finished the GR 1/2 Marathon today. Its a great feeling to see the training pay off. We ran about a minute faster per mile than we trained and it wasn't until the last mile that it caught up with us. I am so proud of my friends Jenni and Shannan for finishing the full and Jenni for finishing her 2nd in 2 years! After about 11 weeks of training Kathy and I took it all in running shoulder to shoulder over 11 miles. She crossed just a minute after me, not bad seeing she is 9 years older than me (I know she will love that I posted that!).I think we got out of it injury free as well which is really something to be thankful for. I hope our running continues for a long time together.

Grand Rapids Marathon 1 hr 57 minutes.

4 year old Preschool

Colton and Brady changed schools from Westshore to Ross Park in order to attend a five day a week preschool program. They have a new teacher, Mrs Olsen. We sure will miss Mrs Jenson oh so very much, her big heart and big smile each day will be hard to replace. This was evident the first week of school. I know the boys are ready for an educational challenge but I hope we made the right decision leaving our loving and tender preschool for more days a week of structure and content! Mrs Olsen is a wonderful teacher, I hope the boys learn to love school at Ross Park as much as they did at Westshore. They were a bit nervous and excited on the first day. Kyann Hellmann is in the same class, they just love her. The three of them have hung together everyday so far:)

Traverse City

Colton and Brady got more hole in ones than J.R, Jarred and I combined!

Finally Done!

Celebrating my counseling/psychology master's!

Summer Baseball

Brady and Colton played for the Tigers this year. This was the first time they played T-ball. Found out early they are both lefty hitters but only Brady needed to trade in his glove for the other hand! Jarred played for RP this summer and had a real fun time, the first loss of the season came in the league championship game.

Summer Hockey

Even when your Four...Hockey never ends! 90 outside, still freezing inside! Colton and Brady just love the sport, I see another 15 years of sitting in a rink in our future:)

Mackinac Island 2010

We took our annual camping trip to Traverse City this year with the Brainard family and then took off for two more days of fun with our family on Mackinac Island. The boys all had such a great time. Perfect Weather! At one point J.R. was about to throw his bike over the cliff, but the rest of us had no problem making the 8 mile trek, think he needs to get a little more exercise in:)
The tag a long tandem bikes were a big hit for Colton and Brady.

Camping 2010

Our first of three camping adventures occured out at White River campground, our cabin was right next to the Johnson's. A blas was had by all the kids and adults! A beautiful campground,nice pool, cute cabins and great friends!

Michigans Adventure

Grandpa Terry bought family passes for us to MI Adventure for Christmas. They boys are enjoying them to the fullest!! Another wonderful part of our summer adventures. On Father's Day we had some great family friends come along.

Riverbank Run '10

I have such a love/hate relationship with running! I love setting goals working towards them, help my heart stay healthy, I love inspiring my children to be healthy and active, it's great to see Jarred push himself, I love spending time with my running friends especially my race partner, Kathy. I hate dedicating time out of our busy schedule to fit in a training schedule, I dont care for burning legs, freezing my tushy off at 6am, having to run after a long day, getting sick right before race day BUT...when you take part in 22,000 runners in downtown Grand Rapids despite 40 degree weather, its so MOTIVATING! Proud of my friends Jenni, Leah and Shannan for completing the 25K. Thankful for my husband and Jarred for watching the boys so I can get my runs in. Grateful for my great friend Kathy, seriously would not have done half of my runs without her. Looking forward to adding a triathlon to our repertoire of events this summer along with a couple more 5K's and maybe, just perhaps a 10K within the next year!

2 Wheel Bike Brady!

So I left for a run with my friend Kathy, came back and Brady was riding his 2 wheel bike!!! Way to go Brady and way to go Dad and Jarred for breaking their back teaching him how to go. True to form, Brady is much like his mommy...refuses help after he learns how, wants to go, go, go until he gets it perfect and doesn't mind falling at all=)Colton is taking a couple pedals on his own but a bit too scared to go very far, but it wont be long. I hope by the end of July they are both pedaling away so we can bike on Mackinaw Island!

Soccer

So this year we decided to join the sailor soccer club. JR is coaching, we had to coach in order for the club to allow our all four year old team! We have 10 kids, most teams have 8 and we have all young 4 year olds most teams have mostly 5 year olds...so this should be interesting. Our first game was Saturday and much to all of our surprise they did very well. I say they meaning our team, not really my two maniacs! Brady was busy picking leaves and just running to run, if the ball happened to come by him he would give it a kick. Colton was busy, drinking his water, kicking dirt and finally at the end he gave the ball a couple of good kicks! We really need to work on our following directions and teamwork behavior. Colton was a wild child at practice this week and even had two timeouts by his coach (dad) at practice! What will we do with him? He is the master of multiple personalities, I hope this turns out like school this year. The first month I doubt the teacher thought they would make it through the year and suggested splitting the two! Now they are doing well and I rarely hear of any trouble....Oh Colton, every family needs one of you. He is a sweet pea when he wants to be and a complete goof, in the most inappropriate way at times! Last night he prayed that God help him be a good boy, I would like to second that=)