Finishers

This photo was taken by a professional along the course. It was near the end and he asked us to stop so he could take our pic. When I looked online for it and found it, it turns out it is free to download! Pretty cool. We paid a pretty penny to do the race so at least we got one perk! :)

Home Sweet Cold Home

We made it home on time and all went well on the flight, thankfully. Not that we wanted to come home to cold temps, we were ready to get back to the routine. I posted pictures on Shutterfly (click on our pictures). I will try and add a few favorites to the blog with explanation soon - nearing the end of a quarter at school so I've got lots of paperwork to sort through and submit grades.

Milk Man

Gerrit likes to help out by putting his milk back in the frig after he has had enough. He likes to keep it cold for the next swig:

Right after I took this picture Gerrit set his milk on a shelf and decided to pull on the spout of the Brita water! I soon had to clean up a puddle of water. Guess what I think is cute and funny can backfire.

Frequent Sight this Summer

Even though Gerrit has mastered walking and running I think we will be seeing a lot of these this summer:

This was taken at the end of our trip so they had started to heal at this point.

Embarrassing!

This one's for you Eliza - you've been waiting to hear a story like this one:

At dinner tonight Gerrit was hanging out by me in the booth and playing with the silverware. I looked down and realized he had the knife and was banging it on the table. Before I could grab it from him he threw it across the table at his great uncle! Luckily Uncle Bryan laughed and joked that it stabbed him in the gut. What a great first impression, kid!

We removed all items that Gerrit could use to throw, so we thought! He took his crock off one foot and before I realized what he was going to do with it he threw it at the table next to us! It landed near someone's plate of chips and cheese dip! Luckily it didn't land in her drink and she was a good sport and laughed about it.

At this point we packed things up and got out of there as fast as we could, we didn't want to see what Gerrit would throw next! I think this has been the most embarrassing thing he's done in public (so far).

Oh So Warm

We made it through the run! The best part was being able to run OUTSIDE, in warm weather in January! We had a good time, tons of people (it took us 30 min. just to get to the start!) and then 2.5 hrs to run the thing. It was odd not knowing where we were going and what to expect but we went with the flow. We saw parts of Phoenix that weren't that nice but then some areas that were. I think I have been spoiled running the TC marathon - I now know why it is called the most beautiful urban marathon. The bands were fun (although we could've used a few more along the way) and the sun felt good. We did notice that we were thirsty more being in the dry heat but luckily there were plenty of water stops to help with that. The cheering section did see us 2 times but missed us crossing the finish line. We finally did find our cheering section within this huge crowd of people! One of the best parts of the race was that it was only a 1/2 marathon. Both of us have done marathons before and it had the feeling and buzz of a marathon but was only 1/2 the distance! (The marathon was going on too at the same time but they had a different route).

We ordered pizza and ate that at Travis' house. Gerrit and Abby enjoyed picking oranges off his tree in the back yard and playing with his Wii drum and guitar stuff too. Luckily we weren't there long enough for any damage!

Following pizza was a dip in the pool while the dad's watched the rest of the Cardinals football game. The water was warm yet refreshing. The hot tub was a special treat that was enjoyed by all.

Our family then headed for dinner with Adam's uncle who lives in Phoenix and the Rockne's had a little family themselves. I am back at the hotel with a sleeping child and Adam is bonding with his bro.

Tomorrow: the guys are going mountain biking at some premier park and leaving us ladies with the kiddos. I think it will be a dip in the pool and playing at a park nearby until we all meet up again at lunch. Then possibly a hike followed by dinner at PF Changs - got to visit the sponsor of the race! Tuesday we might try and squeeze in the zoo before heading on the plane back to the cold...just a few more days would be nice.

AAHHHH

We arrived to the warm temps! The flight went well, Gerrit didn't sleep but thanks to friends who gave him a 'present' to open on the plane, he was content to play with stickers most of the time. Adam put the bag of 'arsenal' in the overhead so it wasn't easy to get to all the good stuff I had brought to keep him busy. It was a very full flight so no extra room to let him roam. It was a 3.5 hr flight and all the kids did well. Abby and Olivia did sleep which was nice. Our flight was early but the line at the rental car place was long. We didn't get to the hotel till well after 10 30 - AZ time, (11 30 for us). Once we got the kids in the car they fell asleep. Gerrit didn't sleep as long as we would've liked but we can't complain. Now that I figured out the internet here I can try and keep you posted as the trip enfolds.

Looks like we are headed to the expo to get our race packets and then off to Sedona for the day - in shorts and flip flops! :)

It is only 50 right now but it feels like heaven. I know 50 is probably colder than we would normally wear shorts in, but we aren't complaining. We even had the air on in the car last night! It just feels good to NOT be cold or have that chill in the air. It is suppose to get into the upper 70s today and sunny....we might just have to stay a bit longer to enjoy this weather.....