A Big Day

Jonathon ran the full Derby Marathon this morning. He finished right about 5 hours and I am so proud of him!! I only wish I had been there to see him cross the finish line. His dad camped out around mile 14 to give him a little encouragement. My step-sister, Jill, was waiting for him at the finish line with a care package of band aides and pain killers. She is so good at thinking about things like that!

My JJ cheer squad competed in The US Finals today and came in 2nd place. 2nd place never felt so good. The girls were disappointed about not being in 1st place but they performed so well and I couldn't be more proud of them. To be the 2nd best squad out of hundreds that tried to get there is definitely something to be proud of!!

I would love to have given a lengthy description of both of these events, but.....we are both so tired. I think we are going to relax for a while.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Anniversary, Jonathon!

Connor Update

Connor had another blood test taken on Friday and they are probably going to have to transfuse his blood again on Monday. Kristen said they cannot remove his spleen until he is two years old so they may be looking at round after round of blood transfusions for the next year and a half. This is very scary. His first one was about five weeks ago. That means there could be a lot of transfusions in his future. Please pray for God's healing hands.

Weekend Update

Friday- Jonathon was home. This was a treat because it was possible that he wouldn't be home at all this weekend. We hung out with Jen and Ryan. We had Pizza King (LOVE IT) and watched the movie Bolt. We highly recommend it. I hadn't heard much about this movie but it was adorable.

Saturday- Jonathon was off to Frankfort to do stuff for Thunder....yes....from Frankfort..... and a lot of other guard stuff. He went in yesterday morning and I got a phone call from him around 11 last night and he was still not finished.

I kicked off my Saturday at the Mission for Malawi Pancake Breakfast. Thanks to all those who came out to support us! It was a fun and tasty morning. :) Jami came by with Cooper so I had some pancakes with them. My sister arrived shortly after so she sat nearby. It was fun seeing all the kids. I was reminded of how adorable Connor is. I just want to pinch his cheeks!

After the breakfast I ran some errands then came home. Jami and Cooper were hanging out in the yard so I walked over for a little while. I was there when Steve called to tell about his great Saturday. Check out "The World According to Steve" to read the touching story.

I came home took a nap. I should have been grading the mound of papers waiting for me in my school bag...or even cleaning my house....but I couldn't resist. I love sleep!

I went to Tim and Lindsey's last night for a Pampered Chef party followed by a cookout/ bonfire. It's always good times with that crew. I love Spring/Summer because we all get together more often.

Sunday-I'm about to head off to church. Later I will be attending the Pirate Pride Banquet in Charlestown. I'm not sure when I'm going to grade those papers.......

We Had Our Cake....

....and ate it too! Jonathon and I ate the top of our wedding cake tonight. Thanks to Heather's handy wrapping nearly a year ago, it tasted pretty good. The cake was a little dry but the icing was awesome! Jonathon will be with the National Guard all weekend so we decided to break it open and eat it tonight. It's crazy to think it's been a year!!!

Diary of the Ten Miler

Before the race: Why are we doing this again? We haven't been running at all over the past two months.... maybe two or three miles here and there but not consistently. I pulled my running shoes out of my Florida suitcase this morning if that tells you anything? (Yes, I still have a suitcase sitting on my bedroom floor from our trip to Florida two weeks ago.) We parked and walked about a mile just to get to the starting line. Time to stretch! Should I wear my jacket or not? I decided to move my number on the outside of my jacket because I was so cold. Good call.

At the start: Give Jonathon a kiss good-luck and go our separate ways. We stress each other out to run side-by-side on a race.

Mile 1: I'm hot already. While running, I move the number from my jacket to my t-shirt and wrap the jacket around my waist. Something shifts my mp3 player and the headphones quit working. I spend the entire mile trying to tweak with it but nothing. Oh no! No Third Day....no Rascal Flatts.....no Justin Timberlake....I can't run without it!! (Yeah, I know that's a weird combo of music but all of those people make me happy when I hear them sing.)

Mile 2: I see Jonathon! I look down to see if my mp3 player will start working again. I look up and I lost him. He never even saw me. He was about ten feet in front of me. :(

Mile 3: Yeah....I'm feeling good still. Thank you p90x for giving me some strength!

Mile 4: We hit the park. The hills are awful. I've always been a fan of the park but I wasn't ready for the hills. I try to remember all the tips Travis Dunn used to give me....keep my head up, don't slow down on the up, don't fight the decline on the down......don't walk!

Mile 5: Half-way there! I'm feeling a second wind coming on. I hear a conversation between two guys next to me about how the mini-marathon is easier than the 10 miler. One of the guys is new to these races and he doesn't believe the other guy. I chime in and say that I agree. A woman on the other side of them says she does too. We have a nice little chat for about two minutes then we all go our ways. It's nice making friends along the way. :)

Mile 6: Coming out of the park is always my favorite part! There's a very long hill going down and it feels great. There's usually some people hanging out at the bottom of the hill to give you cheers!

Mile 7: I hate this. It's flat, straight, and I think it's lasting forever. I was sure that I had already passed the mile marker but I hadn't.

Mile 8: I wanted to walk so badly. I started singing gospel songs in my head. Give me the strength, oh Lord! I was started to get really cold so I decided to shift my number back to my jacket and zip my jacket up. Messing with the safety pins and all took my mind off of what I was doing for a while.

Mile 9: I can see the stadium ahead but there's still a mile to go.

Mile 10: Over the bridge and through the construction to the field. It's almost over. It's almost over! I see visions of panera bagels dancing in my head. They call my name as I cross the finish line. I can't feel my legs!

After the race: I find Jonathon. He looks good. We find our way to the bagels and bananas. I love the after run meal!!

I love the feeling of finishing a race! :)

Update on Connor

Thanks to all those praying and asking about my nephew, Connor. He gets another blood test on Thursday so we won't know anything new until then. Please pray that his blood count comes back up. If it doesn't then another transfusion is very likely.

Thanks so much!

Prayers for Connor

Kristen got blood work back on Connor today and his Hemoglobin levels are dropping again. Please keep him in your prayers. We don't want him to have to have another blood transfusion.

Kristen brought him by school yesterday to visit. He is getting so big. He's already cutting two teeth!!