And the results are in...

It's a girl

13 Week Ultrasound

Just thought we'd share some pics with you of our little baby. I had an ultrasound for some routine genetic screening they recommend between 10 and 13 weeks. However, once we were in there, i was measuring over 14 weeks, which i guess is out side of the "testing" range. But, regardless, it was awesome to see my little womb dweller. We saw a lot of the profile and other views, but for some reasons, these are the only pictures we made out with. The top one is a back view with her/his left arm bent over it's head. The lower is of a bum and leg shot. I have a few more of the gender area, but we'll leave those for later when there's no, or at least a lot less, percentage of mistake.

An Update... finally

So, it's been over a month and in between the nausea, remodel of our basement, Halloween, and now Thanksgiving, I couldn't find a minute to sit and post. Today's the day, I guess. So, here are some pictures to share of the kids Halloween.. kind of funny to post these over a month late :)

Vampire Vixen

Professional Ninja - minus his swords

I suppose I should comment on the much anticipated release of Twilight. Did I like it? No... Did I like it the second time? Much better (i know, i saw it twice already:) I don't know if it was the 230am delirium, or the fact that my expectations were through the roof, but for someone who usually can find enjoyment in any movie... my first viewing was rough. I actually laughed almost the whole way through it at the ridiculous facial expressions by "Edward" and, the whole meadow scene... don't get me started. Anyway, Amy and I decided to give it a second chance after everyone else we talked to either liked or loved it. I must say, it was much better the second time when my expectations were through the ground :) A big thanks to the girls that lost sleep along with me, all for the love of Twilight.

Oh Yes!

EXPECTING!!

So, you're supposed to post the test picture, right?
We are SO excited to announce that we are expecting...FINALLY! I made this t-shirt to break the news to John...after about two hours of dinner and video games, he finally noticed what my shirt said! He was so excited...It's been over a week since we've found out and it's still feeling a little surreal! I've never been so excited to gain some pounds!!

Camping Trips with Dad

Each of the kids got to go one on one with Dad on an overnight campout. Here are some pictures from both weekends:

Notice in one of the pictures there is a tree that resembles an elephant. The kids have since named that campsite: Elephant Grylls - partly for the tree, and partly in thanks to the great Bear Grylls.

Camping over Labor Day

Us and several of the Garlock Clan went camping in Yellowstone. It was so much fun!

Go BEES!!

Josh had his first soccer game last Tuesday. The boys are so dang cute, and they've got one smokin' hot coach. Go BEES!!


Look at Josh go!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Ellie: Third Grade
Josh: Kindergarten

Waffles for breakfast

So cute

Kobe Rowland

Moana, my sister, had a new baby!!! Welcome Kobe Rowland. We are so excited to have a new nephew and cousin! Isn't he adorable??!!

The Bair Gutsman - Conquer Thy Self!

John and I decided to run the Bair Gutsman race this year. The Bair Gutsman is basically a half marathon - half up farmington canyon and half down to the finish. (Adventure running at its best. Mileage is around 12 - 14 miles but is based on how many times you get lost. First half of race is uphill, second half is running down on dirt road) Brutal? yes, but so much fun!! Thanks to Amy for running with us! Here are some dirty pictures... don't get too excited, i mean actual dirt, srapes and sweat. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera during the race, but these were taken after. (Can't really tell, but we were covered from head to toe in dirt.)

Pirates!!

What goes on when Mom is trying to read: The scary Capain John Hook led his scurvy pirates on a dangerous, adventure filled journey to search for hidden treasure. Some say the treasure was never found and that it was cursed to remain hidden forever to drive pirates crazy with years of endless searching, others say Captain Hook found the treasure years before and has it stashed in an overseas bank account. What really happen to the treasure, we'll never know...




The treasure

Echo Triathlon

Here are some pictures from the Echo Tri. John did awesome!!
The Swim


The bike

The run

The FINISH - John and Brian (although starting in different heats, met up in the run and were able to run into the finish together)

Lesson Learned

How to get your kids to always wear their helmets: Show them these pictures.



Lesson learned:

Some Summer fun in the Backyard

Montana

On our way home from Coeur d'Alene, we stopped by St. Ignatius, Montana to visit some of John's family. While we were there, we celebrated his grandma's 80th birthday, the kids got to wreck a few cars in Uncle Jimmy's car lot, rope swing over a river, and fill up on Huckleberry shakes at the Malt Shop.

IRONMAN 2008!!

We had so much fun this year!! We took our 4-runner on the 13 hour drive and arrived in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday morning. We spent the 4 days before the race visiting friends (Aggens), going to movies, swimming in the pool 4-5 times a day (no kidding), hanging with family and preparing for the race. No back problems this year, no crashes! The kids did a one mile race called the Ironkids. We brought Skippy who was a hit! John did awesome and recovered amazingly fast. We are all so proud of him! The day after he promised that he'd never do this race again... We all know what that means. Now, a week later, he's got his plans for next year! My favorite quote:
"IRONMAN is every person, trying to find out what he can do: Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles... BRAG the rest of your life."
John, thank you for being such a motivation to me and the kids! You truly are our superhero!

IRONMAN 2007 - Last Year

So, We're off to Coeur d'Alene today for John's second Ironman Triathlon race! I am so proud of him and so excited. We are hoping for a much better experience (physically) this year. I'm sure many of you, including John himself will have a passing thought of: Can he do this? Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles!! Well, let's recap on what happened at last years race and put those thoughts where they belong...

John's story is truly one of determination and will. John arrived in Coeur d'Alene full of excitement and anticipation for his first Ironman Race. Unfortunately, his excitement soon turned to extreme disappointment when his back went out the Thursday before the race. This was no ordinary back spasm... It changed the shape of his back, not allowing him to stand straight. There was nothing left to do, but to find a local chiropractor to see if they could fix it. We were so blessed to find David Aggen, who came in two to three times a day, even on his days off, leaving a family bbq...all to adjust John's back. We were initially told that the race was off - there was no way John would be able to race like that. But, with Davids help and our faith in John... he got him to the starting line. David even showed up to adjust John's back at 5am before the race and stayed to watch the start and was there at the finish to support John. It was wonderful to find such a great friend in Coeur d'Alene.
The back problem didn't seem like much of an issue once race time came around. But, the problems were just starting. The wind was so powerful on the lake and creating such choppy waters, that they created a duathlon for athletes to just do the bike and run if they chose not to risk the water. It didn't seem to matter to John and he made it out of the water in great time!
All was going well until two small kids ran into the street causing John to crash on his bike, setting him back. His hand was pretty scrapped up, his legs and shoulders and his helmet was cracked. He, of course, kept clear of the medics so they wouldn't pull him out of the race and kept on going.
Next was the run... he was struggling a bit with his breathing, but kept on running to the finish!! It was the most amazing experience to see him finish such a large goal! I could have never imagined the impact that race has one you, as an athlete and as a spectator/supporter. The motivation, the emotion, the thrill...
After the race, Johns breathing didn't improve and we took him to the hospital in Montana on his way home to discover he had collapsed his right lung when he crashed on his bike. He spent some time in the hospital, and immediately signed up for the next year...
So, here we are... headed back to complete the race with 2 full lungs!! I am so proud of John and all his training and his dedication! I am his #1 fan!!

Remodel: A dang good reason for suicide

Some background: Our home was build in the 1950's. It has it's charm and it's character and well, it's flaws (which I'm sure would be debatable if we pressed rewind to the 1960's). Most of all, it's got lot's of potential that we are just about to crack into :) Of course, not very easily dealing with plaster walls. So, we begin the remodel - Kitchen, basement (bye bye pine walls!), bathroom, outside (landscaping, fencing, roofing). Some of the outside will be moved to next spring and John and I have already made some major improvements in the landscaping department. Mainly, we're getting the house ready to sell in the next year or two. So, anyway, here are pictures to begin our journey... The demo:
Kitchen:
Ripping out cabinets

Some soffit we took down to open the room and it left a huge hole in the ceiling...Curse the many contractors who said it would just pop off! Notice the dust!!

Patching things up

We let the kids go crazy with permanent markers on the Counters. That was fun!!

The basement:
Taking down the pine walls - that's a lot of wood!


We're doing most of this ourselves, so it's going to be a slow, but fun process... I'll keep you all updated on the progress.