A few videos

Here are a few videos from the last few weeks:

Olivia making friends with Charlie... sorta...




Olivia dancing to Beyonce...


Olivia loves her new Christmas toy...


Olivia laughing...

From 2008 until now... a lot has changed

Ok.. .guess I'll follow through at least ONCE on my resolution.  We last left you in 2008.  Elaina was about to have a baby and I was going to run a half marathon.  Only one of those two things happened (hint:  it's not the half marathon).    Here is a quick recap of the past year........

First and foremost... had us a little baby.  Olivia Laine on Dec 7, 2008.

Then it snowed a LOT.  60 inches in the month of December.   I even had to run the snowblower in the back yard so Charlie could get around.  I drove about 6 MPH on the way home from the hospital.  (BTW, this year.. nothing.... no snow!  It's January and 49 degrees.  I could probably mow today).

 !

For some reason we thought it would be wise to drive to SLC with our 2 week old for Christmas.  That trip was rough.  No sleep.. and baby had the sniffles which we as new parents were gravely concerned about.  But our family got to meet Olivia for the first time:

In the spring we met Jason and Trey in Orlando to visit Paul (Elaina's dad).  The weather was great in springtime.  We swam with the dog , saw some gators, and watched the space shuttle launch... cross that one off my bucket list!

Then we came home and did Bloomsday.  This is is a 7.5 mile run/walk in Spokane.  Over 50,000 people participate and it's a lot of fun...except for the running and walking part.  I came in 14,812th place and still waiting for my medal to come in the mail.

This year Elaina and I picked up a few new hobbies.  Elaina started running, biking and swimming in triathlons.  I started BMX racing against some other old guys in town.  Elaina is doing awesome and placing well in her age group... .I have been in the emergency room twice.

                                            

Here are a few shots from 2007 I never got around to.  We saw Jerry Seinfeld do standup.  I highly recommend his show if you ever get a chance.  Also hit up a Mariners baseball game in Seattle and went to San Diego.

               

                                  

                                     

In June we watched the start of the Ironman triathlon with Jase and the kids.  There were thousands of people down there and we pretty much missed it.  We laugh each year when we complain about parking and walking 8 block away and trudging our way to watch these people race 150 miles.  I think this may have been a little too early in the morning for Trey.

Olivia saw her first 4th of July parade.

Elaina and her brother Jason ran the Bair Gutsman.  The Gutsman is a half marathon starting at the base of the mountain in Farmington.  You hike ALL the way to the top radio towers and then jog another 5 or 6 miles down a dirt road to the finish line.  [i]Unfortunately[/u] I HAD to watch the baby so I couldn't participate.  I did have to drive up to the finish line though... it was really hard.

Paul (Elaina's dad) and Mel came to visit late in the summer.  They were on a three month RV trip from Florida.  Had lots of fun seeing them and and playing in the lake.

Paul, Jason, Trey, Bart, and I rode the Hiawatha Trail on our mountain bikes.  It's a 14 mile easy ride through 10 tunnels and over 9 bridges.  The first bridge is about 1 1/2 miles long.  It's dark and cold.  I stayed behind the group to take some photos for another group.  As I started to catch up to the group I noticed my light was pretty much useless and I was riding in pitch black.  I somehow managed to fall into the water on the side of the tunnel about 300 yards in .... not surprisingly.

As you can see by Olivia's facial expressions, the county fair was a thrill.  Apparently sheep and tractors aren't    a girls idea of a good time.

In September I floated down the Madison river with Jase and Just.  Justin and I were determined to get Jase into at least one fish.  Now the picture below may look like a small fish.  But.... on the second day .... after hours of fishing .... you wouldn't believe the hollering and high fives when Jase finally landed this one.

We took advantage of the last nice day of summer to take a Cruise around lake Coeur D' Alene.  Just a great chillin day to relax on the water.

Then we headed to Washington where Elaina placed well in a Triathlon.  We stayed the night in downtown Seattle and took Olivia to the aquarium.  I think she was more interested in the glass aquariums than the animals inside.

Liv had a great time at the pumpkin patch in October.  This trip followed a morning crash at the BMX races.  I thought I was fine until sitting in the car for an hour.  By the time we got to the pumpkin patch I could barely walk.  I had a few broken ribs and had to walk in a creepy Frankenstein kind of stride.  I think Elaina was walking fast on purpose so I couldn't keep up with her.  I'm pretty sure I also scared a bunch of kids too.  

Elaina threw a little Halloween party for Liv and her cousins.  Our wooden bear on the porch even dressed up as Darth Vader.  Everyone wonders why Olivia is dressed as a bear and Charlie looks like the Grand Wizzard.  She is actually a monkey and he is a banana.

Elaina and Sandy (her mom) ran in another Triathlon in St. George.  Elaina did well and Sandy was first place in her age group!  Not bad for her first one.  St George was the beginning of a three week road trip that ended in Northern Utah for Thanksgiving.  We pretty much ruined Olivia's sleep schedule and she was up 4 or 5 times per night.  By the time Christmas came around we had finally recovered from exhaustion and Olivia was back on track for sleeping..... so.... we stayed in CDA for Christmas.  Couldn't risk another trip like that again.

Olivia's birthday 1st birthday was celebrated with several of her closest friends. Elaina had this great idea for a  monkey cake... stressed about it for 2 weeks... and then made it happen.  They turned out so great I felt bad digging into them!

We had lots of grandma and grandpa visits from Utah.

Olivia is growing so fast.  I can't believe a year has passed already.

2010 Resolutions

One of my 2010 resolutions is to start up the family blog again…..   Well.....  see you again in January 2011 when I make the same resolution and weigh 20 lbs more than I do now.

Race for the Cure 2008

Last weekend Lane and I did race for the (http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm) cure with Jase, Nicole and the kids. 

 

 I've never seen so much pink!  The baby's room is pink... I can't get away from pink!

 

 

 

Jase's family did the one mile while Elaina and I did the 5k.  Since she is 7 months pregnant we took it easy and walked.  When I say take it easy what I really mean is Elaina power walked while I struggled to keep up.  About mile number two I started acting like a concerned husband asking if she wanted to take it easy... she didn't... she's competitive like that. 

 

As you can see from the pictures we didn't take first.

 

 

 

 

 

I should leave town more often!

I spent another fun filled week in Mayberry (Idaho City). I've been home for a few days now and everything seems funny for some reason. I swear Elaina and I have laughed non stop for 3 days strait.

Last night we hit up a Spokane Chiefs hockey game and were put on the kissing cam during a break. Our exagerated tongue action won us no prizes. The Chiefs won and it was a good game.

There was a poor dude sitting next to me that walked in with 5 girls. At first you may think he was quite the stud, but it became apparent that the girls included his date/girlfriend and 4 of her friends. She had her back to the game gabbing with him and her friends for the ENTIRE game. He seemed so annoyed. She would try to talke to him about the drama of the day and he just looked right through her to the game. I don't think he spoke to her at all after the first period.

Our night ended with a controversial game of family feud. We have the DVD version of the game and made our own little adaptations to play against each other. I won a round, in protest.... maybe things won't be so funny today.

Half Marathon... the decision

Elaina and I are in a 'sick of being out of shape' kick lately. We decided that committing to a half marathon in the spring will kick us into shape.

Now, we have "committed" to some things in the past... more of this, less of that, etc. Sometimes we aren't exactly good at it.

To give ourselves some leverage we decided to run in Arizona, Nevada, or California. It will be nice to go somewhere warm in the spring and I think that paying entry fees, airplane tickets, and hotels should probably get us into the gym.

In five months we'll look back at this moment and:

A) Laugh
B) Be proud of our accomplishment
C) Wish we weren't planning my funeral.

Night of the living cornstalks

From the front of the house it looks like cutsey fall decor.



From inside the house it looks like someone is staring in the window and will make you bark uncontrollably at 2 a.m..... if happen to be our dog.

2 a.m? Seriously....