Marathon!

Pictures to come soon, but the weekend was a blast and I was really happy with how I did. My goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon - which for my age group is running under 3:40:59. I ran 3:33:32 and was the 9th place woman! So now the big debate is whether or not we're going to make the trip for me to run in the Boston Marathon on April 21. I feel like it's an opportunity not to pass up! If we do decide to go up, I definitely want to run a slower marathon with the hope of not being so incredibly sore afterwards. Jon joked with me Sunday night on the trip home that I was mush from head to toe. From the neck down, I'm sore. Stairs are the worst. But it was worth it!!

A highlight was passing my cousin, Susan, around mile 24 for me. The marathon was raising money to fight breast cancer, and Susan is a breast cancer SURVIVOR (we praise God for that!!!). She walked the half marathon, and it was such an inspiration to see her during those last HARD miles. Those who know Susan know she has an amazing voice that really carries, and so her cheers where incredible! :)

As I said, I'll post pictures soon with more details.

Here are some new pictures of Sarah

Sarah gets nervous if Mattie gets too close to her food, so she reaches out to PUSH Mattie's head away. Of course, Mattie loves this moment because it's free lickin' on Sarah's flavorful hand. I cringe (and of course tell both Sarah and Mattie no)

my major project of the day - hanging Sarah's swing! It involved 2 trips down the mountain, and using my car as a make shift ladder. The ropes are still slightly uneven, so it swings a bit crooked - but nonetheless was a big hit with Sarah!

Every other Friday a group of girls from church come over - the kids can play and we attempt to catch up in the midst of the chaos. If everyone comes, it's 8 girls and 13 kids age 4 months to 4 years.

Sarah loves to climb things. She managed to get herself up on this stool (with her little car in hand!). The dismount is still a bit rocky.

The other day after her bath, she had such great curls!

In other news, my marathon is Sunday - 4 days and 11 hours away! I'm nervous and excited all in one. We leave for Austria 2 weeks from tomorrow. Mattie's puppies are due in 5.5 weeks (anyone want a lab puppy???). It's a busy season for us - but we aren't complaining!!

I've been dragging my feet on any new postings because I want to use all the good pictures from our new camera ... yet by the time that happens they'll be out of date! :)

Sarah will be 14 months old on Monday, and only in the last few days has she shown the slight inclinling that she just may walk one of these days. She'll let us hold her hands and help her walk; yet without warning, she'll reach her limit and pick up her feet and scream. It's a sheer willpower/desire issue ... she could walk ... but why walk when crawling is so efficient??!

Some days I look at her and am awe struck by how old she looks. She's becoming a toddler!

her wild-woman hair!

Sarah is over the throw up bug, and we are settling into life quite well in our new house. Sarah's passport came the other day - her picture is HILARIOUS - she looks like a china doll! Getting a 1-year-old's passport picture is not the easiest thing ... we sat her on the back of the chair, and Jon helped hold her up with his hand. The nice library lady was so patient, taking a bunch of pictures in an attempt to get Sarah looking at the camera and to not have Jon's fingers showing.

For those that don't know, we're going skiing in Austria at the end of February with my side of the family. We figure this is our window to go because Sarah can come free (once she turns 2 we'd have to pay, so after December 11, 2008 no more airplane rides for a while) and there is no #2. My Mom doesn't ski, so she'll get lots of Sarah time while we all hit the slopes! Since the night I met Jon (literally) I've been hearing about how amazing St Anton is and how no ski resort in North America can even come close in comparison. I can't wait to experience the Austrian Alps for myself!! We both have such a love for other cultures and the picture of God's creativity in them, and what He teaches us about ourselves while in another culture. I've also been very impressed with Jon's German as he emails back and forth setting up our accommodation and I'm looking forward to seeing him in action as he leads us around one of his favorite places on earth!

Yet there is a 26.2 mile race to be run in between now and our ski trip. On February 17th I'll set out to accomplish a long time goal of running a marathon. Training has been going really well, but I do at times feel crazy ... like when I ran 18 miles 2 weeks ago, and the thought of running 20 miles tomorrow. There is a big part of me that is ready for this marathon to be over! At the same time, I've wanted to run one for years and it feels good to be so close and to feel so ready.

Jon got a spiffy new digital camera for Christmas but we're afraid the new software my send our aging laptop over the edge, so for now all of our great pictures with the high tech camera remain on the camera. Maybe by the time I can get those pictures, I'll figure out how to put a slide show on here. But here are a few pictures from our old cheep camera:

Sarah is back to her old self - eating us out of the house! I have never known a child to be such a good eater. It's amazing!

She has a book shelf in her room (unlike at our old house) and her latest thing is to crawl in her room, shut the door, and cozy up with her books! It's so funny, but does make us a bit nervous to think that if at 13 months she goes in her room and shuts the door ... what do we have coming when she's a teenager??? This morning when I heard the door shut, I went to investigate and instead of reading books, she was sitting in her little rocker all smiles. It's truly amazing to see her little personality develop more and more.

New House!

We've been here a week now. All in all, we're amazingly settled. Of course the house is still a mess and our front landing outside still has a vacuum cleaner, Christmas tree stand, baby gate, axe, half used bag of potting soil, and all the bungee cords that helped us get everything here. I'm sure our neighbors fear where the type of people that "collect" things in our front yard. We have less storage space so I'm needing to get creative in finding things a home. Everything but the books have been unpacked.

The animals seem to be adapting well. The cats appear quite happy and unfazed by the new locale. Mattie has become more of an outdoor dog because there is a huge fenced in area. She's getting used to it! She went into heat yesterday, so she is completely banned right now. We're planning on trying 1 more time to breed her.

We love the hardwood floors and wall color - no more white linoleum and floral wallpaper! We're especially enjoying our short commutes and Jon has been home for lunch most days. Sarah and I love that!!

Last Friday night, the night before our move ... Sarah got the throw up bug. Perfect timing. Everything extra was packed, and the washer and dryer had been unplugged. So, instead of crawling into bed at 10:30pm, Jon plugged back in the washer and dryer to wash Sarah's bedding and clothes (because as I said, we had nothing extra). I wrapped her up in a blanket, had a bucket ready and waiting, and we watched Shrek 3. The bucket got plenty of use, but she seemed to be over it by the time her stuff was dry and we headed back to bed. Or I headed to bed. Jon, being the amazing Papa that he is, sat in a chair and watched Sarah sleep for 3 hours to make sure she didn't choke if she started to throw up again. (he really is an amazing dad and 1 of my favorite things is seeing Sarah's excitment when she sees his truck drive down the drive way)

The virus she has causes her to throw up very sporadically. She'll be fine for 50-60 hours, and then throw up again. We keep thinking it's over, but nope. Maybe this morning was her finale. The doctor said it should last about a week. It's been quite a first week in our new house.

Here are some pictures:

After living in a pasture for 2 years, I LOVE having trees in the yard! This big tree by our front door is my favorite. It was a great swing, and we have a swing for Sarah that we need to hang up.

2 angles of our dinning room

living room (with new furniture coming soon)

Sarah and I spent some time yesterday afternoon in the swing. She loves it - but her highlight was when our cat, Rory, joined us. I tell you, he is a great cat - sitting there letting her pet him, rubbing up against her - so cute!

In between throw ups, Sarah has been her happy normal self. Yesterday she woke up from her nap all giggles!

New Years Day hike

Before I post pictures of our new house, I had to post these. My side of our family has a tradition of going on a hike on New Years Day. It started as a bike ride when I was in elementary school, but when lots of people started having little ones, it morfed into a hike. This year had an especially low turn out, but it was still lots of fun. I love the tradition of starting a new year outside with family.

the whole crew - 2 dogs included

My cousin, Elizabeth and her husband met us for lunch on their way back in town. Sarah is fascinated with her (probably wondering why E had taken a break from sharing her cornbread muffin). E is also absolutely amazing at making hilarious faces, so would have Sarah in a constant state of giggles!