Sunday, April 26, 2009

Half Marathon, Check!

I did it!Yesterday I ran 13.1 miles! For some people this would not be a big deal but for me this was huge! I had a crazy idea back in January to run a half marathon. I found someone just as crazy as me (Nancy) and we started training. When we started training I could run for 5 minutes at a 5.6 speed on the treadmill. Slowly but surely we added on miles and got faster.
We had some bumps in the road like... trying to find time to run. Between Drew's demanding job and church calling, my two kids one of whom nursed around the clock. Time was not easily found. Some other bumps were, me loosing the desire to run, Nancy having knee issues and oh ya, the marathon selling out before we could buy a bib. Because Nancy "pestered" me into running on a weekly basis, Drew making time for me to do my long runs and Wade miraculously finding us bib numbers. It all worked out. I couldn't have done it without you guys, thank you!

Even though I didn't do as well as I hoped, a day later I can say I'm happy I ran it. During and right after it was another story.

Some of the highlights were... Feeling the excitement of 15 thousand runners. Running around Churchill Downs (Derby track) and listening to horse races. Seeing Nancy do so well. With her bad knee we both didn't know how long she would be able to run. She ended up beating me. Good job Nancy. Last, but not least, running over the finish line. It was a great feeling to know I had just accomplished a goal I had set months ago that I truly did not think I could do.


Wade feeling great.

Me feeling not so great. Gray feeling hungry. The poor boy hadn't eaten in 6 hours.

My poor toes.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Easter Weekend

Another great visit from family has come and gone. Nana Millar, Aunt Amy, Uncle Ben and baby Colin came out to see us this time. It was great to see them especially for Drew who hadn't seen Amy and her little family since August. We started the week off by doing a little shopping and since Keeneland was on, we of course went to the track.


The bad news was, it was pouring rain, the good news was, it wasn't crowded. Mac with a soggy pretzel. Yum!

Happy EASTER!!! This is what we woke up to.
Mac loved finding the eggs and the basketball hoop.

Easter Sunday outfits. Not the best pictures but I'll post them anyway.


Our little Mac is unique. He's wearing Nana's socks she wore the day before. My stocking hat and his denim bag for a cape. He's creative!

We loved the visit! Thanks again for coming!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Nashville


Ryan, Roo and Lucy flew in Thursday. Friday we all drove down to Nashville so they could check out Vanderbilt. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and it was just great to be able to spend so much time with them.
Touring Vandi
In front of the Grand Ole Opry.


Inside Opryville. It was a huge hotel that had river boat tours and shops galore!

Hanging out in the mall.
The worst carousel ride in the world. It was super fast and the kids screamed the whole time. Really, Roo and I were both sick by the time the stupid thing stopped.

Centennial Park

Ry was at Vanderbilt all day so after shopping all morning Drew, me, Roo and the kiddos headed down town to Centennial Park to kill some time. In the middle of the park there's an exact replica of the Parthenon. Pretty cool right?!I loved this guy! He played the sax while Lucy danced. Super cute!
I had to throw this in of Roo. Doesn't she look gorgeous?!
The kids loved running around and playing.




Snow cones are always a hit!

Andrew Jackson Home

We learned a lot about Andrew Jackson like how...

-He was the 7th president of the United States America.
-He had a really nice home which has been preserved beautifully. 90 percent of the home is original including the wall paper.
-He was married but never had children. He adopted his nephew later in life.
-He was the first democratic president (voted by the people)
-He was a war general
-He was a jerk. Really, he was a mean slave master and when he was president he tried everything to not give power to the minorities including women. He was the man to blame for the trail of tears.


The garden
Grave yard
Where Andrew Jackson was buried

Gray was such a trooper and so happy the whole weekend!



cool Tree!

Conference Sunday


We got back from Nashville late Saturday night or rather early Sunday morning. So all day Sunday we watched conference and took long naps. After conference we loaded the kids in the stroller and walked down to the duck pond.

They loved the ducks

Lucy was so funny, she kept turning around trying to get in the pond.

We had so much fun with Ryan, Roo and Lucy. Mac woke up from his nap Monday asking where Roo, Lucy and Uncle Ry were. After telling him again that they went on airplane he asked if he could go on an airplane too. He loved playing with them. We are crossing our fingers that they end up coming out here for school but understand if they don't. They are off to Rochester and Ithaca to check more schools. They have one tough decision to make.

Thanks for coming out and letting us go to Nashville with you! Love you.