Saturday

My day started at 4:30 A.M.
I knew it was going to be a packed day, but it was a day I'd been looking forward to, a day that was filled with fun family activities.

Not everyone would describe running a half marathon as fun, but I love running and running a big race with over 22,000 other runners is pretty amazing!  The course for the Rock and Roll Marathon was different this year.  We started and finished right in downtown Seattle.

Here I am with my two running buddies just before the race.

 

I was nervous about the weather.
Really nervous.
It was amazing though, not a drop of rain - just cool, crisp morning air.  It was absolutely perfect.

 

I finished in 1 hour 46 minutes and 19 seconds.

My average pace was 8:07.

I finished 39th in my division.

I felt great!

It was fun to see family and friends cheering along the way!

At the end of the race, we met up near this fountain. 

It was not warm, you can see the kids are all wearing long pants and jackets, but that didn't stop them from getting wet.

 

I'm grateful my family got up early and fought the crowds to come out and support me.

We didn't stay too long in Seattle because we had to race home and transform little Emma....

...into a ballerina.

We enjoyed watching Emma in her dance recital. 
Here she is at the front doing her little twirl. 

Such cute girls!

We left right from the recital and headed back to Seattle for cousin Dylan's 4th Birthday party.  It was planned to be a beach party (they live just steps from Alki beach), but the weather was cool, overcast, and rainy so we met at their house instead.

To our surprise, the gray skies cleared and the rain stopped.  We made our way down to the beach after all and played til dark.

I packed umbrellas, but never imagined I should have brought swimsuits for my kids.

I think Hunter took every little cousin out in the inflatable kayak. 

Here is the birthday boy, Dylan!

This picture is hilarious to me.  I tried to get the boys to pose for a picture-Austin gave me a big smile, but the other two boys were way too interested in the wagon wheels to even look my direction. 

What a lovely day it turned out to be!

Exhausting, but FUN!

What we've been up to

We've been having lots of fun, here's a little of what we've been up to lately.

Potty training!  No more diapers - Woo Hoo!
 

An orchestra and piano concert for Linsey.

 

Lots of soccer games.

I was really brave and let my kids help me paint the girls room.  I neglected to take before and after pictures, but the during ones give you a pretty good idea of how it went.

 

 We made strawberry jam.

We went on two Zoo trips!

 Once with Austin's friend Jacob (this goats' name is also Jacob).

 And again, this time with the whole family and our good friends.

 

 

I'm not sure which pictures are more entertaining.  The animals at the zoo, or the monkeys we refer to as our children.

 

One of our kids favorites things was feeding the birds.  Totally worth the buck it costs to get this stick with bird seed on it.

 

 

 

 

Emma had a really fun field day/reptile show/Father's Day program at school.  Jared was able to take the day off and spend it with her, most every dad does... it's a pretty big deal.  He is not it this picture, but this is his signature drawing he always doodles so he is well represented.

 School is finally out!  Bring on those summer days, we love them!

He did it!!!

We are so proud of Jared!

 

Master of Business Administration

University of Washington

June 4, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn't be more proud of Jared!  Somehow he pulled off working full time, being an awesome dad, and finishing a rigorous MBA program all at once.  He spent countless hours going to class, study groups, and review sessions.  He was constantly doing homework long after I'd fallen asleep and quite often I'd wake up to find him down in the office trying to get more studying in before work.  Several months ago, Jared was chosen to represent his entire class and speak to the incoming MBA students (I got to attend and he did a fabulous job).  He planned a local study tour for many of his classmates which turned out to be a huge success and will likely be carried on in the future.  He competed in the University of Washington Business Plan competition and made it through several rounds.  He didn't win first place, but GroBox won an award for the Best Consumer Product Idea!  Many of Jared classmates have told me what an inspiration he is to them.  He went through this program with a bunch of strangers who became very close friends that we will keep in touch with for many years to come.  It's been an amazing experience!

Now, on to the rest of life...  homework free!