How do they spend their time?

Maybe if we lived in FL, I would put out a few more lights....but probably not this many! We've come to this same house the last several years, and every year they have added a couple of things. The kids love to come out and walk around here! (Although we do not have to spend as much time as we used to....the kids know most of the stuff by now!) They do still get a kick out of the "snow machine" that blows soap bubbles out at them.

They were starting to get a little sick of me taking their pictures!

This is at the pool at the condo. The pool at Mom and Dad's house is much bigger, but we had this one all to ourselves yesterday! The kids had a great time! (And I enjoyed being able to read a book...until I got too hot and had to join them in the pool. Next year that probably won't happen with baby along!)

Connor and Elianna are little fish in the water!

Trying to get the rings around the pole!

Much more to come during vacation! We haven't done a ton yet, we were waiting for Daddy to arrive :-)

Home Sweet Condo

Here are some pictures of Mom and Dad's condo in FL where we stay when we come down. The kids are very excited because Daddy comes down here tonight!! (Which means their stockings will be filled tonight).
Here's the master bedroom. I've enjoyed having the bed all to myself the last few nights!

Here's the family room. The kids have enjoyed learning to play Yahtzee. I can't believe they haven't played that game before!

Here's the kids' bedroom. This is where Jon and I used to stay when we all stayed in this condo. The kids used to sleep in the closets :-) They've moved up in the world!

Here's a view of the dining room towards the kitchen. The table now has a lot of markers and papers on it :-)

I'll add some pics of the kids swimming and our favorite house to see Christmas lights!
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Welcome Sevana Nicole!

On Wednesday, November 26th Sevana Nicole was born to Kate, Khachik and Alex in CA!! Congratulations!! She looks like a real sweetheart!

We have shared the news and pictures with everyone here in Galena, IL where we are celebrating Thanksgiving with the Geels clan. Every other year we gather here with Jon's Mom's extended family. We are thankful for Uncle Philip for hosting this event and that so many of the family can make it! Unfortunately, we are missing several family members this year, but it is still enjoyable to renew acquaintances. The kids are having a fabulous time running around with all the extended family!! I'll post some pics later, but right now I can hear them giggling below as a bunch of the kids are watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks".

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. We are thankful for our dear family and friends.

Baby Update

We are now at about 10 weeks gestation. I was at the doctor 3 times in 4 days last week! We had a few complications, but everything is just fine now with Mommy and Baby.

On Tuesday I had a horrible headache. I called about getting some meds, and they thought I should come in since my blood pressure had been a little elevated at my last couple of appointments. Sure enough, it was quite high. So, on Tuesday I started high blood pressure meds and I can feel the benefits already. The headaches are gone, I have a lot more energy, I'm not as nauseous.

At that appointment on Tuesday they also detected some protein in my urine. Because of that I had to do a 24 hour urine collection...what fun! I started that on Wednesday morning when I was at a meeting at the District Office. (I kept running out to the van to get my bag of goodies :-))

On the way back to school I stopped at Wal-mart to check a price on something and to pick up Subway for lunch. As I was walking through the store I could tell something was not quite right. I left there, hopped in the van and went right home. I ran into the house and went to the bathroom and found that I had had a small gush of blood. Oh boy, I was getting very nervous! I quickly called school to see if my sub could cover my 6th hour class, then called the doctor's office and left a message for the triage nurse.

After they called me back, they made me an appointment for 3 p.m. and told me I would have to redo my 24 hr. collection---bummer!

At that appointment everything checked out just fine!! They did another ultrasound just to make sure everything looked well, and it did---so I thought I would share the pics with you :-) I then had to go back on Friday to have some labs done, but I haven't heard back about those yet.

I have an appt. tomorrow afternoon to check how the blood pressure is doing and if I need to up meds at all.

We are looking forward our bi-annual Thanksgiving celebration with the Geels clan in Galena, IL!

Yes, it's true!!

For those that haven't heard yet...

We are expecting baby #3 in June! It was a little bit of a surprise, but we are very excited! Connor and Elianna are also excited; I think they're a little nervous too, but have loved spreading the good news :-)

We have had 2 ultrasounds already. The first was to determine the due date and the second was to make sure there was only 1 baby :-) In the 1st ultrasound they saw what could've been a 2nd yolk sac, or it could've been some bleeding. So, the 2nd confirmed there was only one! (Thank goodness!!)

I am only around 9 weeks pregnant right now, and am due around June 23rd.

Yes, we may find out this time if it is a boy or a girl. Since we sold most of our baby clothes, we have some restocking to do :-)

A Famous Cousin!

Jon's cousin, Sean Gregg, and his wife, Heather, live in Pennsylvania. They were excited when the Phillies won the World Series and went to the ticker tape parade to celebrate! They stepped out across the street to take a picture of their son, Will, with city hall in the background. While Will was over there, he raised his arms and everyone started cheering! So they encouraged him to do it some more and it has now become a You Tube sensation.

Kirsten was just telling us last night that he's been on Good Morning America, The Jimmy Kimmel Live show, and have been contacted by Inside Edition and the Ellen DeGeneres show. It was fun for them at first, but now their not sure how to handle the recent fame :-)

Anyway, take a look for yourself at our famous relative :-)

Old Friends

On Saturday we were able to spend the evening with our dear friends, Ryan and Carmen Mulder, in Sioux Falls. We had a fabulous time!! Also along for the evening, Scott and Heather Mellema and Jack and Michelle Brouwer. The Mellemas, Brouwers and we all have grandparents in the Edgerton/Worthington area that were more than willing to watch their grandkids :-) (Thank you!!). Ryan and Carmen's boys went to their aunt and uncle's house, so the adults were able to spend some quality time together.

You know those friends that you had before you had kids?!?

What? We had a life before we had kids?

Yes, you did. Think back a few years.

Well, the four couples used to do everything together. We would get together on Friday nights, Saturdays (after Heather and Carmen cleaned house in the morning) and Sunday afternoons. We would even throw in some mid-week dinners and get togethers! As Carmen said on Sat. night, we fit 20 years of "togetherness" into 3 years they were in Mpls. I can hardly believe that they only lived there for 3 years!

Anyway, the plan was to go out to dinner (adults only!!) then go back to Ryan and Carmen's and play some cards or other games. Brouwers and Van Hulzens were going to spend the night; Mellemas had to get back to the farm...their little one doesn't like it when Mom and Dad are gone :-(

We went out to dinner at Bracco's...very good! My teriyaki steak was yummy! We then headed back to the Mulder's. We sat around and talked for the rest of the night :-) No games came out, just lots of good memories and good conversation.

The game, Memory, just about came out. Jack could not believe that the Mulder's kids and our kids beat us almost every time at that game. He thinks Ryan and I are just slow :-) No, Jack, the kids just have much better short term memory! Too bad the kids weren't there at that point. I would've LOVED to see one of them beat the pants off Jack!

We had a lot of catching up to do....but yet it never feels like we've been apart for long when we all get together! However, when Carmen brought out the photo albums....it started to feel like a long time ago! (And we realized we need to help our guys with their wardrobes....some of the shirts still look familiar!)

We give thanks to God for blessing us with such great friends. The ones that gathered this weekend and the other good friends we have.

I will try to post some pics from the rest of the weekend later!

Pre Marathon picture

Alecia took the "official" pre-race picture :-) She emailed it to me last night, so here you go!! Josh and Alecia had stayed in a hotel the night before the race so that he could get a decent night sleep (the aero-bed in our basement doesn't quite cut it before you run 26.2 miles! Can't say as I blame him!). Jon drove to their hotel, which was only about 5 min. from our house, picked Josh up, then drove to a light rail station. They rode light rail down to the Metrodome where the marathon started.
They sure look a lot happier and more energetic before the race than they did afterwards!

I emailed some of you yesterday that Jon was feeling pretty well yesterday. He was a little slow going up stairs at work, but felt like an old man (and looked like one too :-)) when he was coming down the stairs. He was holding on to the railing with both hands and slowly moving his feet from one step down to the next.

Jon and Josh were both very chilled during the evening on Sunday. The rain and cold temps didn't do much for them during the race! But then both of them were sweating when they went to bed. Thankfully their bodies temps have now returned to normal.

Throughout his training Jon's not sure that he lost too much weight. Maybe 5 - 10 pounds. But he does know it has helped his heart. His resting heart rate is now right around 60 beats per minute. He's looking forward to donating blood again either this week or next and finding out what his blood pressure is now.

I'm still amazed at these two guys for running 26.2 miles in cold and rain! Congrats!!

Twin Cities Marathon Finishers!!

Congratulations Jonathan and Josh on finishing your 1st marathon!!

The weather today was not ideal for runners or fans, but they made the most of it and ran well. Here are some pics of the marathon parts of the weekend.

Jon picking up his bag...with his bib number and computer chip for his shoe.

Josh picking up his stuff too.

The cheering section :-) They got the free thunder sticks, but then were too cold and wet to actually use them along the race :-)

Our first spot...mile 2! We were able to park very close, just across the street. It was COLD at 8 o'clock this morning!! The complaining from the kids began already :-)

Alecia's Dad (Byron Link) went into a bus stop across the street with the boys and Elianna. It helped keep them out of the wind a little bit.

Jake and Andrew wanted nothing to do with pictures!

Alecia and her mom, Denice Link.

The first racers we saw...the wheelchair racers. They are amazing!! This was quite a hill for them to have to start racing. I was glad we were able to see them here, because they finished way before we got to the finish line!

The first group of runners.

The first female runner.

Way to go, Josh!!

We spot him!

Hey everybody!!

Our second stop was at mile 10. It was really raining. We were wet and cold. Eli did NOT want to move from this spot! It was a good thing traffic was stopped...he was right in the middle of the intersection! I didn't get many pics at this stop...I was trying to protect the camera, hold an umbrella and keep my kids dry :-)

Our next stop was between Mile 19 & 20(after a not so quick potty break at a gas station...only 1 bathroom and a lot of people needing to stop!). This is only 2 blocks from my brother and sister-in-law's place, so we were able to park in their driveway, which was very nice! This was just after the runners had crossed the Franklin Ave. bridge. Thankfully, the rain had stopped, but the boys had had enough! Jake, Andrew, Eli and Elianna stayed in the van with Alecia's mom and watched a movie. Connor came with us to cheer them on!

This is CJ Peterson, the son of one of my coworkers. Connor spotted him as he ran past! Elianna said she had seen him at mile 10, but didn't know I was looking for a CJ. :-)

Looking good, Josh!

Waving to Alecia, Dad and Byron.

Jon taking advantage of the water station.

A hug for his Mom and son.

Off he goes!

Mark, Sara and Henry came down to cheer on Uncle Jon :-) My Dad also made it just in time to see Jon go past. He also saw Jon a little later by Ayd Mill Road.

The finish line!! Josh could hear the kids and I, but couldn't find us :-) The finish line was quite crowded. We had actually thought that we had heard Josh's name announced when we were walking towards the finish line, but it must have just been a name that sounded close. So I was surprised when I saw him!

Congratulations, Josh!!
The view up John Ireland Blvd. Once they turn the corner at the St. Paul Cathedral, it is downhill and straight to the finish line!

He made it!! Way to go Jon!!

A happy, but sore person!

And he made it!!

Trying to warm up and take in some snacks.

The finishers!!

Update: I forgot to include their times. I guess some people like to know that kind of info :-) Josh finished in 4:06:26 and Jon finished in 4:42:31.

I love this shot with the Capitol building behind them :-)

Proud kids :-)

Here's a big jumbo tron that you could watch the runners cross the finish line. If you notice, there is a wheelchair competitor just finishing at this time. He was an older gentlemen who had a lot of persistance!!

Following the race we went to Perkin's so the guys could get some carbs and protein back into their bodies. After that everyone disbursed and went home. Jon came home and took a nap :-) As did I! Jon is pretty sore right now. He did take some ibuprofen and has been stretching. He's planning to go to work tomorrow...

Thank you for all your prayers as they competed today! It was not the best of conditions and we were thankful that they both finished and did not suffer any major injuries or illnesses. Thank you to all the family and friends that came out to support them and cheered them on!! They heard you and it made a huge difference!! Thanks!!

Go Tigers!

Jon and Connor had the privilege of attending the Twins game against the Kansas City Royals yesterday! Thank you Julie for the tickets!

The Twins won!! But so did the White Sox. So now Twins fans have become Detroit Tigers fans for one day. If the Tigers win today, the Twins are in the playoffs. If the White Sox win, the Twins and White Sox will play one game tomorrow to decide who will be the division champ.

Most of Jon and Connor's pics were of players, but there was one of Connor :-)

Joe Mauer, hometown kid!

Justin Morneau, the other half of the "M & M Boys".