Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Little Miami Sprint Triathlon

I hate running.  You have to be in shape to enjoy running, and I rarely am in that good of shape.  But when a friend extended the invite to run the Little Miami Triathlon, I had to consider giving it a go. 

The Little Miami Triathlon includes a 6 mile kayak/canoe, 5.5 mile run, and 18 mile bike ride, in that order.  It is located on the beautiful Little Miami river in Ohio where there are miles of bike trails and beautiful scenery!

I trained for 2 months.  After 1 month, I finally enjoyed running because it was becoming easier!  And today was the big day!  My friend, Karen, and I carpooled, and Tim came to show his support and take lots of great pictures.  It was a beautiful day to be on the river and to run and bike by corn fields and farms.  I actually ran the whole way and found myself pushing for a good time and feeling confident that I would make it.  This triathlon is a perfect set-up and distance to feel challenged, but successful.  I made it in 3 hours and 25 minutes!  I was 7 out of 44 in my division and in the 54th percentile for the whole race!

 

  I thought this race would be one and done, but I might try again next year and shoot for a higher place!

Atlanta Tailgating

West Virginia Mountaineers and Atlanta- what do they have in common?  It was WVU's opening game against Alabama and we had to be there.  Tim's family are die hard WVU fans and where the team goes, they go.  So we packed up and caravanned down south to tailgate and cheer.

 

 

We also did a little sight seeing.  Tim was amped to go to Medieval Times and see what it was all about.  I had been there in 8th grade and remember it being pretty fun.  We ate a lot of "dragon" meat and saw a good show. Our knight lost =(

 

 

Then we visited the Swan House, a well preserved old mansion with beautiful grounds and fountains. 

 

 

We also went to an Atlanta Braves game.  I really enjoyed doing the tomahawk chop!  Very PC.

 



On our way home we met with a friend near the Great Smokey Mountains and did a little river tubing.  It was a great finish to a fun trip!!!

Maryland: Tim's Family Reunion

I feel very comfortable around Timothy's family; they are a ton of fun and love to relax and be around each other.  That is exactly what we did at Tim's uncle's lake house in Maryland.  We had some beers, made an everlasting campfire, cruised on the pontoon and played on the speedboat with a raft called "hydroballs."  Perhaps best of all, we sang karaoke to our heart's content.  Yep, we all got along great, even when Meredith and I had to edit some of our poorly selected songs to accommodate the elderly crowd...oops! 

 

 

We took one last pontoon cruise the morning of our departure.  Uncle Joe made a concoction with the leftover liquor and wine and this girl was feeling it pretty quickly! 

 

 

 To say the least, it was a blast!  Tim's family is very kind, fun, and laid-back!!!

 

Michael Turns ONE!

My nephew, Michael, who was diagnosed with a rare leukemia at 3 months, just beat all the odds and celebrated his first birthday with a giant smile and chocolate cupcake! 

He is such a happy little boy; you've never met a happier little boy!  He's so entertaining, curious and absorbent.  He tries to do the itsy bitsy spider with his fingers when he hears the song and claps afterward.  He's so stinkin' lovable and adorable!  And he is very very loved.

He is home from the hospital now after a 9 month stint and my sister gives him his maintenance meds and is his number one nurse.  There is no detectable cancer in his cells now and we pray for it to stay that way!  He is an amazing little fighter and present opener =)

Brown County with the Family

It's officially a tradition!  My aunt and uncle have always had horses, and now my cousins have their own families, horses and trailers, and so the tradition of Brown County, Indiana expands and continues! 

I usually tag along and borrow a horse, but this year, Tim came along as well.  He hadn't been on a horse since 4th grade, so it was time to give it a go again.

We rode to Story, Indiana for a white Russian, saw fireworks for the 4th of July, went shopping in a cute old town, hiked, swam and sat around the campfire. 

The kids are learning how to ride their ponies with more and more confidence and Tim and I put up a circus tent we just purchased with ease.  SUCCESS!

 

 

Thanks family for being AWESOME!!!

Lake Cumberland

I used to go to Lake Cumberland in southern Kentucky a ton when I was a kid, and I haven't been back since high school, but Tim's older brother, Greg, was turning 30, so we made a birthday trip!

We rented a house near the lake and settled in with beer and games.  Tim's sister, Meredith, made T-shirts for us (professionally, not with puffy paint), and created a long list of challenges that if completed, points were awarded.  We tallied up the score at the end of the trip.  We were doing everything from cartwheels to beer showers...it was a crazy good time.

Saturday we rented a pontoon boat, which we thought was going to sink when a huge wake flowed over the whole front of the boat.  Thankfully, it's nearly impossible to sink a pontoon!  We cliff jumped, swam, and discovered a beautiful and cold waterfall, which we climbed up to.

Lake Cumberland was created by daming the Cumberland River, and it flooded towns in the process.  Meredith was pretty nervous that the city never relocated the graves in the cemetery, but we're pretty sure they did.  No hauntings on the lake. 

So it was a great weekend filled with Michael Jackson dance offs and general good times =)