CLU Turkey Tri

My brother assisted in putting on the CLU Turkey Tri. Somehow he talked me into participating...it was so much fun.
I had a great cheering squad including Karl, the boys, my sister, Jon, and my dad.
My goal for the near future is to find a sprint triathlon.

Happy Thanksgiving to all...I hope you have a wonderful holiday surrounded by family and loved ones! We plan to spend the day at my parents home. Check back next week for our turkey pics!

Trip to Vegas

We were in Vegas a few weeks ago. It was fun to celebrate a belated birthday for Micah and see family. Brayden is getting so big! It is hard to get a good "cousin" picture because it is near impossible to get a baby, toddler and preschooler to sit still!!
We went to a children's museum where the kids had a blast. Brayden was such a trooper and is so good matured. He didn't get fussy the whole time we were at the museum.
The boys had fun "flying" in the airplane, playing mechanic, paying with bubbles, and "shopping" in the grocery store.
Karl's buddy, Ron, completed the half Silverman while we were there. It was fun to go out to Lake Mead and see him swim. Karl and I also caught him on the run portion to give him suppoort. Ron put forth an amazing effort and we are so proud of him!! What an acompishment!

Micah turns 2!

Micah turned 2 this week. He is exactly the same height that Matt was at age 2. We had a family gathering on Monday night and then met some friends at the Fire Station on Tuesday and then had them over for dinner and cake! There was a theme with gifts this year...Disney Cars and Micah loves them. He got Cars sheets, boots, books, and lots of cars! He has been playing with all his new toys and taking a few to bed with him at night. He even had a Cars cake made by his mom! Nice work mom! The Fire Station was a hit as well. We were there for almost 1.5 hours with a full tour of the station and a REAL fire truck. One of the firefighters showed us all the equipment and put on all his gear. It was great to have the kids see a real firefighter with all his gear and hear about what happens in a fire. The firefighters were very good with the kids. They all got to try on some gear and sit in the fire truck. Check out all the pictures.

Now it's Mommy's turn to write...I read what Daddy wrote and he did a great job of summarizing the past few days.
I like to think that maybe someday you (Micah) will read this blog so I want to make sure that you know how much fun we had celebrating the day with you! You are turning into such a big boy and it is exciting to watch you grow and experience life. We love you very much. Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy Halloween!

The boys had a great Halloween. We went to Mo and Po's first. Then trick or treated around our neighborhood with Luke. Micah and Luke were not sure at first but once they realized they got candy it was a blast. We hit a few houses and then went home to have dinner and play with glow sticks in the backyard.

Halloween Preview

Matt had the idea! He talked Micah into it! Andi made the costumes! Stay tuned!

CLU Homecoming

Cal Lutheran homecoming was last weekend. The school puts on a carnival after the football game. The kids love it. They had bounce houses, face painting, pumpkin decorating, and lots of yummy food.
In the above picture...I graduated in 2000, Karl in 2001, my parents in 1972 and my brother is on track to graduate in 2012! Pretty good lookin CLU family!

MN Trip Oct 2009

Karl and I after the Twin Cities Marathon. We finished in 3 hours 49 minutes. A bit off our planned time on 3 hours 45 minutes but not bad! Just to finish 26.2 miles and complete the training for the race without getting hurt is success in my book! I love that my boys think every mom and dad run marathons!

Hanging out with Aunt Erin, Grandma Andra and Grandpa Tom.

Hike and picnic

Karl and Matt playing on a huge play structure. They were like Spideman climbing all over the rope web.

Lego display at the Mall of America. We went to the aquarium at the mall. The boys loved it!

We met up with Karl's Aunt Jane, Uncle Doug, and cousins Sara and Sonya for dinner.

The aquarium in the Mall of America.

The Aunt among the ants at the MN Children's museum.

Apple orchard in White Bear Lake.

The boys finally got to meet Erin's cat Mittens.

We had a great week vacation in Minnesota. It was great to spend time with family and watch the boys have so many wonderful experiences. In one week we ran a marathon, went to an apple orchard, played hard at a children's museum, went to the MN Zoo, played and picnicked at a state park, and went to an aquarium. All that plus the fun of playing in Grandpa and Grandma's basement and riding bikes and running outside on the parkway. It was a great trip!

Big Bear Pictures

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from Big Bear. Enjoy!

Micah was pretending to be an airplane.

Throwing rocks into Big Bear Lake. The boys, Max, Matt, and Micah did this for over 30 minutes!

Matt and Max checking out the ducks below.

My biggest fans!

Matt and I sledding down the Alpine Slide. We rode the ski lift up and sledded down on a track.

The Schneider-Stutelberg Gang.

Bedtime Stories

Big Bear

We spent the weekend in Big Bear with the Schneider family. Dawn and I ran the Big Bear Half Marathon on Saturday. We had a great time. After the race we went to the Alpine Slide where we rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain and sled down. We took turns taking the kids and after some hesitation on their part they were begging to "go faster!" We had a great weekend and I"ll post more pictures soon. Bill put together this collage of us "hangin out" and it sums up our fun at Big Bear Lake! The boys, Matt Max and Micah, were too busy throwing rocks into the lake to participate in our jumping acrobats!
Stay tuned for more pics and check out Karl's blog for some!

Matt's First Day of Preschool

Matt started Preschool Today was parent orientation so Matt was only in his class for a little over an hour. He did great! No tears shed. I was able to choke mine back. We got Matt a new Lightning McQueen backpack and to say he was excited to wear it is an understatement! My friend Dawn came over with two of her kids to watch Luke and Micah while Karl and I went to the orientation. The picture above is of the "boys club," Max, Luke, Matt and Micah. Matt will be going to preschool two days a week for 3 hours in the morning. Hopefully his excitement carries on into next week!
We are off to Big Bear, CA this weekend with Dawn and her family. Dawn and I are running the Big Bear Half Marathon on Saturday. This will be a training run for me because Karl and I are running the Twin Cities Marathon in about 3 weeks. Dawn just had a baby 6 months ago so running 13 miles this soon will be a great accomplishment. Aside from the run we hope to have some good family fun in Big Bear. I read there is a slide you can ride down the mountain. WOOHOO stay tuned for some great pics!!