new running site

****NEW BLOG*****

Just thought I would give you all an FYI- I am starting a new blog about only running! It is located at

www.zumbrorunner.blogspot.com

Enjoy and Leave comments if you would like or follow along as I try to improve my running skills in preparation for the Boston marathon in April!

~Katie

more Christmas

So...lets continue...

Christmas Eve Scott worked (the nice guy that he is!) and then we opened gifts from each other and the kids opened their gifts from scott and I and each other. I got a fabulous new Columbia jacket, that I desperately needed! My current winter coat is one my parents gave me for my like 16th or 17th birthday! WOW! So sad that I actually publicized this information! But, he also got me a pair of snowpants and a beautiful necklace! Great work Sweetheart! I gave Scott a new ice shack! I thought I was pretty cool getting him an ice shack! (we have yet to figure out if it will fit in the back of the SUV?!?!) Good thing we are getting a van/truck in February..it will fit in either! He also got a floating net from the kids and a twins tshirt. Henry got a big excavator, lego toys, books, clothes, PJs, and candyland. Olivia got a baby crib and doll, clothes, PJs, and books. Both were very pleased with their loot! Then we went to the McNamara side for christmas and had a great time. Well, I at least had a great time playing 6-5-4 and winning twice! Yep, I know...pretty impressive! Henry and Olivia both got more toys and books there, so each one was darn happy! And henry was happy that Earl was there and donna and carmen! he just loves them all! It is too cute! Olivia was scared out of her mind of everyone except scott, myself, gma and gpa....sickening! oh well, soon she will be over this stage and I will want her to want to come sit by me and she will not want to, so i need to try to enjoy it!

On Christmas Eve Henry left out a Beer and diet coke for santa...and man did he love those treats! When he woke up the next morning he could not wait to get out to the living room to see what santa brought! he found out that he got a kitchen---oh no wait, that was olivias---but he thinks that it was his! But, he really got an International 756 and a digger to pull behind his tractor, a wooden airplane, HiHo Cherry-O game, books, craft set and a few other little things. Olivia got the kitchen, although she has been sharing with henry very nicely, and the food and pots and pans to go along with it! some clothes, books, a game, and art supplies!

The two of them have been so excited to play with their new kitchen! it is too cute!

Christmas afternoon we went to my parents and had a great time opening up oodles of gifts, the pile just never seemed to end! wow! Henry got a truck and trailer and many more toys to play with and some new clothes. Olivia got a pretty purse with bracelets and a new doll as well as a tea cart with dishes for her new kitchen! I got a beautiful bracelet and devotional book for 2011 that I am very excited about. Hopefully it will make me feel like a bit more connected to God on a daily basis instead of only on Sundays. Scott got some more ice fishing stuff, a great workbench for the garage and hmmm...i guess I did not pay that close of attention to his gifts!!!!

On sunday it was t ime for our last christmas celebration, with the Mashak side. it too was a great get together. I got a fabulous cookbook-thanks to Pamela/Emily!-LOVE IT! The cookbook is for a Moms church group and the recipes are nice and normal with normal ingredients that my kids would actually eat! FABULOUS! great gift for me! Henry got some walkie talkies and Olivia got some princess accessories!

I also purchased scott and i a new couch on Christmas eve. I had been searching for quite some time for a couch that was the right fit for our basement and I happened to go to Busby's on the 23rd for a couple gift certificates and they had the perfect couch! i just had to order it in a different way so that it would look proper in our basement! Now I cannot wait to see it when it arrives! I tried to find it on Berklines site, but am unable...but it will look fabulous in our basement!

Well, hope you enjoyed our recap of the Holidays!

~Katie

Christmas 2010

Good evening everyone,

I hope you all had a great Christmas with your families.  We had just a fabulous Christmas with the kids this year.  They were so much fun!  The only part I did not like about this years Christmas was Henry’s greed.  I am hoping that it is just a phase, because he would ask almost immediately when we got somewhere “when can I open my presents” or “where are my presents at?” I just find those questions so rude when you are somewhere…but, I really hope it is just a phase.  he was very happy with all of his toys! 

Last weekend we had our Christmas with the Pat, Pauline, Bonnie, Randy and Ian.  It was just great.  Scott got a power washer, so now we can do a good cleaning of the outside of our house this spring.  I can’t wait, because it needs it!  He also got some Ice fishing items that of course he loves.  Henry was lucky and got a Ford tractor and wagon!  He also got a leapster game.  He LOVES to sit and play that. It does kind of scare me a bit that he already loves computers and video game toys, but we thought he would like something like that for camping this summer and in the car.  Sometimes it is hard to think of things to keep him entertained with while camping for 4-5 days.  He also got a pillow pet and some coloring stuff.  He sure likes to sleep with animals, so the pillow pet puppy is another addition to his collection.  Olivia got dollhouse toys-which her and Henry love to move all over her dollhouse that Cecil made her last year!  They just love to move the stuff all around!  She also got a leaptop that we put her name in, so it talks directly to Olivia.  She thinks it is pretty cool.  She also gets emails from mom, maddie, and grandma!  Lastly, she got a barbie and some clothes! I got a sewing machine –now I just need to get it all set up and ready to go, so I can start practicing!  I would like to at least fix rips in pants and sew just basic items, so maybe later this week I will have some time to get it all set up!  I also got a beautiful pearl bracelet.  Now I finally have an entire set!!!  I love to wear pearls so I cannot wait to wear them!  Then I got a snowman pillow for in front of a door, it is very cute at the bottom of our stairs leading to our overflow pantry!  Bonnie and Randy also gave me a pretty necklace and earrings set. 

Then on Sunday the kids and I went to the Albers Christmas at the Oronoco Community Center.  It was really nice to see everyone from that side of the family.  My cousin Melissa is pregnant and expecting a baby in February so she is looking very cute!  Along with Amy who is pregnant and having the baby in mid January.  She looks fabulous!  And still always wearing very stylish jeans, I am not sure where she finds them!  But, I ended up getting a very cute scarf to go with my winter wool coat!  henry got a tractor and wagon and olivia got a sled! 

well, my henry just woke up from his nap, so I will write more later!

lots of love~Katie

Thanksgiving/Winter

Good Morning everyone,

sorry that once again it was a month of no posting. School/work/family and other priorities seem to take priority of this blog! But, since early November we really have not had too much excitement at our house other than the normal chaos! We went to my parents house on thanksgiving for lunch, that was fantastic as always! then the day after thanksgiving I went out early shopping! ( as i love it!) I found lots of great deals and accomplished most of my shopping. I was disappointed that so many stores are opening so early and even on thanksgiving evening. I think it ruins the fun of the hunt in the morning! But, oh well. I got most of the items I was looking for except olivias big christmas present and a few other little items! By the time i got home my car was so full of stuff that i was glad i did not need anything else, because it would not have fit! The last few weeks I have been busy trying to wrap up those presents and keep some gifts hidden from Henry, who seems to think he "needs" to go into the storage room in the basement, where I keep all the gifts! We also got our tree set up on the wednesday before thansgiving so we can enjoy it for as long as possible!

henry is loving preschool and a few weeks ago we had his conferences and they said he is doing just fantastic! not that we had any doubts, but it is always reassuring to hear it from his teacher! we are currently working on reading, but with olivia everpresent it is a challenge as she wants attention all of the time.

Olivia is a handful! I recommend having boys! She is such a spicy little thing. If she even hears you say a word related to NO she cries! She likes to get her way, such a girl! WOW! She is starting to get a bit more independent in dressing herself and talking a lot more. She talks a quite a bit when we are at home and says things so nicely! But she is shy as can be when we are out in public! I am working on her ABCs, Counting (currently she likes to do 1,2,3,5,10!), shapes and colors. She likes to learn it all, but does not sit nearly as well as Henry did when I was teaching him the same things!

Last weekend we went to the Hollidazzle parade up in Minneapolis, it was a lot of work for a little reward! we all were cold at the end of the whopping 10 float parade that took 30 minutes! Oh well, the things we do so that our kids can experience life!

Yesterday we went to the mall in Rochester to see Santa Clause, Henry was SO excited! All he wants for Christmas is a Wii....really...you are three henry...you will not be getting a wii!!! He only wants one because his Aunt Kari has one and Gaving is asking for one for X-mas...but still!!!! Henry sat nice as can be on santas lap, whereas olivia was scared of the man! so she cried, but i did get a few photos of her!

Well, I will attach a few photos of the kids, but hope you are having a nice winter so far!

~Katie

Random Info…

Happy Friday Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well!  We are doing well here!  Staying busy, as always so nothing new!  Here is a recap of our lives lately….

Ran the marathon on the 9th then recovered, I have had a bit of soreness in my knees on occasion since then but in the last week or so now it has been just fine and really has not bothered me.  I also started being able to do my complete normal routine at the gym again…it is shocking what a marathon can do to a persons body. I can tell that my body is not made for doing them frequently. I am amazed that some people are able to run them every week or two…I just could not!  I registered for the Boston Marathon on October 18th and just a couple of days ago received my confirmation information (they verify every registrants time to make sure that they are not lying!) .  I was getting a little worried though, because everyone else I knew that had signed up had already received their confirmation.  So, now I can really start figuring out where we are going to stay and how long we will go for, etc.  I really think that we need to make our arrangements soon though.  I am SO excited to go to Boston.  I am hoping that while we are out there we can do a lot of sight seeing and maybe even take the train to Maine.  Maine has always been a destination that I have wanted to go to, Scott and I really wanted to go on a honeymoon there, but then we realized that we were quite poor and I was in college at the time so maybe that was not a real great idea.  so, maybe in April?!?!?  If anyone knows any good/bad things to do or see in Boston let us know!  Scott went there in college, but for history and although I would like to see some of those types of attractions I would really like to just see a few other things too! 

On October 30th Scott (my brother) and I ran the Monster Dash 10 mile in the cities. Neither of us had ever ran in this race before and it was amazing.  There were many people dressed in costumes that I cannot imagine running 1 mile in so I have no idea how these people did it for 10 or 13 miles.  There was also a half marathon and a 5K.  I was hoping to run it in 3:10 but it was chilly and my legs were just not quite ready to run 10 miles very quickly.  (I know it sounds crazy that three weeks after a marathon, how on earth can a persons legs really not be ready for 10 miles?!?!) but, seriously…by mile 6 I wanted to walk the rest of the way and at about mile 8 my knee was getting sore….but I finished in 1:13 and placed 42nd overall out of 1906 runners and 2nd in my age group!  I was very excited about that!  So another PR technically, but I cannot ever remember running a 10 miler for a “real” race. 

Then we went to a waterpark up in the cities to celebrate my dads 60th birthday.  We had a great time.  The kids had a lot of fun and Henry was certainly not ready to go home on Sunday morning.  Thankfully, for henry, grandpa and grandma albers offered to let him stay with them in the morning.  he had a blast with his cousins and gma and gpa! I also went to IKEA and found Olivia a big girl bed (tear, tear) and a new dresser.  The store is just incredible, I could spend so much time there!   I was amazed though at the traffic in the cities on a Saturday afternoon…it was just crazy!  We even went to a McDonalds for lunch and no one would let me merge into the line for the drive-thru…it was sick…I was so frustrated…but finally a lady let us in and eventually I paid for her meal because I was so grateful to finally get the kids some lunch! 

we also found out that my cousin Chris is getting married!  to Stacey amundson in Mexico in March of 2011.  Unfortunately I do not think we will be able to make it because of the Boston marathon the next month. 

finally, I made it through my first two online courses for my masters degree…and got As in both classes thankfully!  now I only have one class at a time, which is a huge relief! 

well hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather. Scott cannot wait until the weather really cools down so that he can go  ice fishing!

~The Morgans

Photos from the weekend

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Marathon Recap

Well…I Made it!!!!  AMEN!  seriously, I was not sure I was going to  make it!  So here I will recap my thoughts each mile:

1. wow…7:15 impressive.

2. ok 14:38 okay…still doing alright

3. wow…i am only 1/9 of the way done….i have to do nine more of these….

4. 31:00 what in the world was i thinking, i cannot keep this pace up for the remainder of the time.

5. wow, i am still running surprisingly fast, even though i think my time will certainly be closer to 4:00 instead of the 3:40 i was hoping for. 

6. 45:30….still running darn fast, there is no way i will be able to keep this pace, why on earth did i set a goal….

7. hmmm…really? when can i go home?

8. would scott mind when i see him at mile 9.9 if i asked if we could go home?

9. thank goodness i am going to see scott and the kids soon, i think i might die.

10. yes, i just saw scott and the kids, that was the encouragement i needed to get me thru the next few miles. 

11. wow…i actually did not ask scott if we could just go home?!?!?!  why not?

12. okay, just make it to 13 then you are half way there…then you can walk the rest of the marathon and still finish it under the six hour requirement! 

13.  oh amen..i made it this far.  seriously though, do i have to see more damn trees, i need more stimulus than this, where are my linkin park songs?

13.1 half way there, okay half way feeling like maybe i did not train enough, i think i had like 2 or 3 long runs prior to the actual marathon…i do not think that was enough!

14. okay, just make it to 16 then you will see scott and the kids again, and another water station, maybe this time i will really just tell scott we are going home, oh and remember to tell scott that 4:00 would definetly more like it!

15. seriously, i am going to need to walk SOON…. why on earth did i ever WANT to do this to myself.  this is SO awful.

16. okay, walked thru the water stop, forgot to take my first gel…by i started running again, but slowing down.  I pretty  much have to keep up about an 8:30 pace to finish the marathon by 3:40 NO WAY wow…my legs feel like they might be dead!  yeah….i was the kids and scott again, thanks for the great support…i also asked scott to PLEASE come to another spectator spot as I just thought I needed the support, he didnt think so :( wow, not sure i was going to make it without seeing my little cheering section again!

17. walked a little bit, i gave myself permission to walk over the bridges “i was taking in the scenery” was my motto in my head! oh my god, did i say this was awful. 

18. okay, made it to another water stop.  fantastic.  i made it here!  awesome!  now…i only have 8 more miles, that is like one hour running!  AWESOME!!! I can so finish, but I only had an hour an ten minutes to finish.  Thinking i have to stop walking thru the water stops.  Took gel #1…who makes these things, they are the grossest things ever.  this one was flavored strawberry banana…eeeww…good thing i had gum!  YUCK!  and lemon line gatorade…really?!?!  so gross!  but, i got it all down…now please help because my legs are feeling like anchors…i have to be running at a barely “running” pace. 

19.  okay, only one more hour to run.  the last mile i actually ran in 9:12 …okay, i might need to speed it up a little bit…but seriously how?!?!  my legs do not want to move any faster.  this gel is not working yet!  c’mon….but one mile until twenty!!!!

20. YES!  I made it to twenty!  yippee…and i made it to the water station, so that means walking again! relief!  and again, i actually started walking again! I saw my kids and hubby again!  what a relief!  Scott must have sensed the urgency of my request! 

21. yippee..yahoo…my dream might come true!  i really might make it!  only 5 more miles!!!!!!

22. wow…i think i am actually going to finish!  okay, lets find some good songs to finish this race!

23. allelluia!  only a 5K left!  this is only one time around zumbrota, just one time…even on your slowest days you run faster than 6 mph so you can so do this and finish on time …. just need to kick it into high gear….took 1/3 of gu #2 orange burst…YUCK!!!  wow….so gross…nausea/…..wow….please do not throw up!

24. oh my god…i am going to be done soon….and i might make it in by 3:40 ….found the best song for this moment, Mighty to save…best song ever to get you thru a tough time

25. my last mile only took my 7:35!!!!  wow…how on earth did that happen? where did that come from?!?!?!  that was awesome!  only one more mile to go….!!!!!  oh my god, keep on running….you can do it!!!!  just think of how great and amazing you will feel when you are done?!?!?!  repeat that song again!  awesome!  i was even singing!  and apologizing to people i ran past because of my singing! 

26.  A man told me it was only 4 blocks to the finish line, around this corner…he was the biggest liar ever, it was like a half a mile…seriously? what kind of blocks were you measuring?!?!? but,  i ran into the final stretch with my arms up and i saw the clock and knew that i was going to QUALIFY FOR BOSTON !!!!!!! So, my official time was 3:39:58 and to qualify you need to be under 3":40:59….SO just barely! 

Oh my god, i made it!  It was awesome!  and amazingly, i actually food pretty good today!  that was so awesome, i cannot believe i did it!  and that i made it!  wow!  i so wanted to quit for about 20/26 miles!  that was incredible!  oh my goodness, i actually did it!  i still have moments I cannot believe i made it in that time! now, should i do boston in the spring????  i just might have to, just because! 

then we went back the cabin in winter and met aaron, traci, beaner, mitch and chesney and had an awesome afternoon and evening with them. went for a boat ride, that was quite funny!  and the kids got to go out in the boat and play outside for a while, then we just played games and us girls realized that maybe we need to practice up on catchphrase!  then this am the kids played by the water, did a little fishing and grandpa albers and denny came up and henry got to go out in the boat for a little bit fishing!  henry just loves the cabin !  I even took olivia for a walk during their fishing trip!  just hills are a little troublesome! 

I will add some photos now from the weekend!  enjoy, talk to you all soon, Katie 

october or june???

Good morning everyone,

we have had a nice week here, the weather has been beautiful!  I only worked monday night this week, so we have ben able to get outside a lot and play!  Yesterday we went to tweites pumpkin patch near byron.  Henry was very excited because we got to ride on a big bus!  Olivia came along as well, and she too got to sit with no car seat, which i think she loved!  Then last night we carved a pumpkin and that too made henry one happy boy!  he is just so in love with pumpkins!  today will be filled with getting ready to go to the cabin this afternoon and preparing my mind for a marathon.  I know i can do it, but I am nervous about running 26.2 miles.  I would really like to qualify for  Boston, which is around 3:40 but I am just not quite sure (well almost certain) that I will be able to do that! we shall see.  So, if you want to look at results after the marathon they will be available online at www.whistlestopmarathon.com  so i will post my results as soon as i can!  have a great weekend!  ~katie

Leaves are changing

Good Evening everyone,

so today was filled with the basics of cleaning house, going for a walk and then this evening we went out to Gma and Gpa Morgans house to get a few pumpkins.  I will upload those photos tomorrow, but for now here are some from our walk today in the “woods” … tomorrow I should get a few good ones at Tweites pumpkin patch.  I am taking the kids on a little field trip with the school, so we get to ride on a big yellow bus!  should be interesting!

Hope you have all are having a great week~Katie

 

Park Photos

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Ceremony and Reception Photos

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Colleen and Jake’s Wedding

So, On Saturday henry was a ringbearer in Colleen and Jake’s wedding.  It was an awesome day.  The weather was a bit chilly, but overall the weather was perfect and Henry LOVED walking down the aisle at church!  He did such a great job walking down and back out at the end of the service. Even his little sidekick Lilly did a great job!  It was also my Mom and Dad’s 34th wedding anniversary as well as great-gma and gpa’s wedding anniversary!  So, in all, a very special day!  Well after the ceremony at St. John’s Lutheran Church we went to the reception at the VFW in Zumbrota and had a great reception.  All the little kids were a little rowdy and wild, but that is nothing new!  They loved the dance!  Thankfully we did have Lauren come over to babysit at 9pm so we could enjoy the rest of the evening.  Hope you all enjoy the photos!!! 

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PumpkinFest

So today we went to my parents house and picked pumpkins from the garden, as my mom had planted a ton!  All the little grandkids were there, so here is an album of photos from the day…there are about 400!  Just as an FYI…I will see about what is the best way to print these photos…and email you all and let you know!  I might just make you each a CD (IF YOU WANT) and you can print what you want!  I also have about 1200 photos from the wedding to go thru yet, so i will try to do that tomorrow or some time early this week!  Currently, I really need to do homework!!! 

Thanks for all the FUN today!  Henry and Olivia are sleeping soundly right now, I think they were wore out from all the pumpkin picking! 

See you all on the 30th~Katie

 

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Beginning of October Photos

Here is also the link to facebook photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057072&id=215700081&l=484d62693c

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So October Begins....

so, gavin, madison and steph just left and we went for a walk and played at east park...so i just had to add a link to some cute photos of the morgan/albers kids! there were quite a few good ones! I will also attach a link to photos on facebook that i added recently of the kids, and i apologize there are a lot of photos! what can i say, kids are just too cute to photograph in the fall!

tomorrow henry get to be in colleen and jakes wedding as the ringbearer, he is SO excited! Today when he went to rochester to get his tux he told me as we were getting dressed "needed to wear his red tie, so that he would be SO handsome!" So hopefully tomorrow i will get some more good photos! (Thanks pauline for borrowing me such a lovely camera, i am getting LOTS of use out of it!)

It has been a long time...

So sorry about the delay between this post and the last one. It really was/is a goal of mine to update more frequently, but this just always gets put on the back burner on my to-do-list! So since June, we went up to Itasca State Park with Scott's parents and Bonnie, Randy and Ian. That was a ton of fun, except the flies...it was absolutely hilarious, to say the least. I made Scott go on a bike ride with the kids and I around ISP which is about 16 miles, I did not think it would be too bad...WOW was I wrong, flies were eating us up...at about 3 miles scott said he was turning around and I said no no no seriously, the flies will be gone soon, it just must be this area...but honestly it was terrible! It was the worst bike ride I can ever remember! It took forever because of all the hills, and i was pulling these two little rugrats and even if i stopped for twenty seconds the flies just latched on to me and started biiting, it was awful! I felt so bad for scott...just that i actually like forced him on this awful bike ride! But, other than that it was just great. we got lots of bike rides, runs and walks in as always! scott, randy and patrick went out with a guide fishing on some lake up there and that morning us girls and kids went and did some shopping at this little craft place that was just wonderful, I do wish i lived closer! then, in august we went up to duluth for a couple of days just to get away and we had not been up there all summer! and i kind of need a caramel apple from rocky mountain chocolate factory once a year at least! luckily we had a really nice first day but our second day it rained and rained! oh well, it was a nice little break! other than that we really i do not think did too much in august! then in september henry started preschool which he is loving! it is only every tuesday and thursday morning for a couple of hours, but it is at least something to do for him every couple days! i need a break from him and he needs a break from me!!! i also started school in september, for my Master's degree in nursing with a specialization in leadership and management. It is an online program which has been nice so far. I can do it at home sitting on the couch or where ever we are! Scott started at the same school for his masters in special education in May, and he will graduate in december of 2011. we cannot wait for that day! Our next few weeks are going to be busy too, we have my cousin colleens wedding this upcoming weekend, on the same day as my parents 34th wedding anniversary and the same day as our great-grandparents! Henry gets to be the little ringbearer, and so far he is really excited about dressing up and walking down the aisle at the church! Then the following weekend i am running in a marathon in ashland wi and we are having some friends come up to the cabin as well that weekend! so that should be fun! well...i better get going my little princess is quite fussy again today, so she does not want to me to leave her for more than a minute! she got a bug bite about a month ago and it got infected now and she has been on abx, but thankfully this morning it is looking a little bit better! well have a great day, and i will try to write again soon, katie

Albers Family Vacation

Well Hello everyone, Hope everyone is enjoying this very sultry weather!  I am not really sure how much I like it.  It is not to bad right now, I am sitting on the patio with a DC typing this and uploading photos while the kids play in their swimming pool!  We have been busy with our vacation up to the cabin last week, working, covered bridge fest, a triathlon and making sure scott has time to get all of homework done for school! 

Well Last week we left on Monday evening to head to the cabin until thursday.  we had a great time, the weather was nto jsut too bad for us but it was muddy everywhere from all of the rain that we have gotten in the month of June, so it was hard to let the kids out to play without them getting terribly dirty!  But henry got to go fishing which he loved!  He continues to ask when we can go to the cabin again!  Scott also got a few chances to go fishing which was good for him, as he needed a break from work and school!  And I got in a few runs/walks and bike rides with the kids!  The only bad part was that Henry came home with a cough, runny nose and a fever.  But that has since slightly improved, thankfully! 

On Saturday I took the kids to my cousin Lauras graduation party in Eau Claire and thank goodness they were good riders! We got to see some of my cousins and aunts and uncles so that was nice!  Then Saturday night we  got back home right in time for the Covered Bridge Fest Parade, which was lovely!  henry loved it. He was pretending he was a band conductor, it was too cute everytime a band marched by! 

Then on Sunday I did my first ever triathlon, which I was SO nervous about!  I had NO idea if I would be able to finish or not, as I had never swam before, other than taking the kids to the pool, etc!  So…I was really questioning what in the world I was doing at a triathlon on saturday morning, I wanted to turn around and go home a few times…especially when you see how fancy some peoples equipment is compared to mine!  So my swam began at about 830 I think…and it was a quarter of a mile, which really isnt THAT far, but at the same time….it was a long ways to swim!  So…my goal was to get under 20 minutes!  When my wave of people all start swimming I thought I might die, or have a panic attack because there were SO many people all around me, splashing me, making me swallow water…well…I survived!  I just kept taking it one stroke at a time, trying to do my best!  After the race a lady that swam by me for a little while at the end asked me if I saw all the sea weed in the water? I replied, “heck no, i did not even put my head in the water!” she was like what?!?! how did you not get your head in the water…I truly tried to keep my head out so I could see who was all around me and where I was going!  I ended up placing 8th in my division in the swim!?!?!? what?~?~ for a girl who had never swam before this?!?!  wow!  I was shocked!  I got out in 8:50!  Darn impressive!  Then came the biking, and it started to rain/sprinkle, and it was much hillier than i was expecting.  but I biked my 10 miles in 35:00 which was fine with me, I was hoping for 30:00, but I cant be too disappointed, was still impressive considering the fact thaty i have a pretty average bike, it is a hybrid so it does go a bit faster than a normal mountain bike, but many people had racing bikes….and it biking i dont remember my place, i want to say i was 8th again in my division, but that could be wrong!  then came the running, my strong suit!  it was a 5k and I ran quite comfortably I thought, I really booked it at the end and ended up finishing my run in 21:30 so i was quite impressed with that as well, overall in my age group i finished 4th!!!!  for a first triathlon, AWESOME!!!!!  I am still so pround of myself, it you want to see results or photos….go to onlineraceresults.com and minnefotomoments.com and it was the rochesterfest tiathlon 2010.

well that is all for now, i will post photos later! have a great night, katie

Beginning of Summer…

Hey All,

Summer is here…already!  it just does not seem possible!  Well we have been having lots of fun enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having.  We got the little kiddie pool out last week on one of our hot, steamy days and the kids have just LOVED it!  For 10 dollars it was so worth it!  Over Memorial Day Weekend we did nothing but work, because that is SO much fun!  We also did have Sean Gill’s Graduation, which for those of you that remember….I babysat those six boys when I was in HS and College, I am just totally shocked that he is already graduating and that most of the boys are taller than me!  (for those of you that care, he is going to Creighton in Omaha in the fall for pre-law.)  Then this past week we took the camper out for a trial night just to see how it all went and to see how much important things we forgot at home!  Surprisingly we really did not forget too much!  We went to Baker Park Reserve in Maple Plain, MN…neither of us had ever heard of it.  But, it is part of the Three Rivers Park District in the metro and it was wonderful! We left on Wednesday morning and go up there in time to set the camper up and make some lunch for the kids!  The campground was getting its roads paved while we were there, so henry was in heaven from the time we pulled in until we left as there were so many BIG trucks, rollers, dump trucks that he loved it!  Because of the construction they were not taking online reservations, so we were one of only three other campers in the entire campground!  AWESOME!! But while Scott and I set up the camper H and O played in the lovely Volleyball sandbox!  And it only took us twenty minutes to set up the camper so that was great!  I was thinking that it would have taken us a bit longer!  After the kids ate their lunch we headed out on our bikes to tour the campground which has about 200 campsites that are all just beautiful! There are just so many nice mature trees to provide shade that it was just wonderful!  And the bathrooms, were almost brand new and were lovely…. unlike many campgrounds that I have been to!  They even had a dish washing area, which two double sinks, and a drying area and a garbage!  I thought this was such a great idea! On our bike ride around the camground we saw that they had two nice swimming beaches, a boat and paddleboat rental, fishing pier, a great park for the kids, more volleyball courts, as well as many horseshoe pits!  After that we headed out onto the main bike trail there which makes a loop around a wildlife/nature preserve and it was beautiful!  We ended up going about 20 miles or so!  The kids napped most of the time, but on the way back we saw a few turtles and we thought Henry just had to see them, so we did wake him up to see them….he thought they were pretty cool….the turtles did not think we were pretty cool!  Then when we got back to the campground and changed into our swimming stuff and headed to one of the beaches.  The water was surprisingly warm and the kids both loved it.  They both had a little floating toy to sit on in the water and they just loved it!  We had also brought along their sand toys and they both loved that too!  I am almost certain that they both cried when we said we needed to go so we could make supper!  And after supper we of course had to roast marshmallows, because sticky marshmallows = sticks hands, faces, hair, clothes and that = lots of fun!  But the kids did go to bed surprisingly well!  And then scott and I just got to enjoy the fire all by ourselves, it was fantastic!  No neighbors …. just peace and quiet!  LOVED IT!  On Thursday we were planning to stay a bit later but Henry was just kind of crabby and Scott had homework to do so we just went to the park int the morning and then left to go home so that the kids could take a nap in their own beds!  But before we could leave, Henry needed to go fishing!  And that ended up being so much fun.  We could truly just hang our line right over the dock and see the sunnies nibble on it and take a bite!  it was just awesome!  henry even touched the fish it was great!  That was one thing that I still really do not like to do, so I would love it if he learned how to touch fish. Then someday just he and I can go fishing! But we had a fabulous time on our first camping adventure!  Now we just need to talk some of our other family members into camping and then it would really be a lot of fun! 

Then today, I went on the Tour de Pepin Bike ride with scotts mom and the skies were looking a bit ominous this morning, so i was a bit worried that it was going to be raining for the ride, as it has the last two years for her!  But, it was just beautiful! We did have a few sprinkles here and there but nothing too much and the rain really felt lovely!  We rode from Lake City to wabasha to pepin and then to stockholm.  We left LC at about 7 or 730ish and we got to Stockholm too early for the ferry to take us back across so then we decided to go on a bit more of a bike ride instead of just sitting there waiting so we headed toward Maiden Rock.  It was just great, there was really no breeze to speak of!  So we ended up logging 40 miles!  And I am really not sore at all, i was not sure if I would be or not as I do not really ride bike that far because of the kids!  So maybe next year if Pauline asks me again….I would do the 72 miler that goes from LC to stockholm and then to Hager City over the Red Wing and back to Lake City!  I think we could have done it today, but I think we were both glad we stopped when we did because the sky was go grey and getting darker just by the minute! and it ended up raining pretty much the rest of the day today!  so maybe next year! 

Well, this upcoming week looks kind of rainy again, which is okay with me. I actually just work Monday day and then have a class on tuesday for 4 hours but then I work the weekend, so I am hoping it rains all weekend long….for me….not for everyone else!  I work sunday night, get home on monday morning and pack up everything for the cabin, because then we will leave when scott gets home on Monday night i think and head on up until Thursday!  Then it is covered bridge fest in Zumbrota , my Cousin Lauras Grad party, and a triathlon…..should be interesting! I think we have a busy few weeks….so….

Hope you all have a great Start to the Summer of 2010

~Katie 

where does the time go…..

Well, I have no idea where to begin, other that I am sorry for the delay in posting!  I am finally uploading photos from the past few months so i can show you all just how much the kids have grown!  Henry turned 3 on May 5th so that has been the biggest highlight from the past month or so!  Otherwise, we have just been trying to get outside and enjoy as much of this nice weather as possible! But for Henry’s Birthday Scott brought home a delicious ice cream cake for us that evening and he got a bike from us, which he likes, but still is trying to figure out how to push the pedals!  And although it is like the worlds smallest two wheeler he is still a little short for it! He also got a set of 8 puzzles from us and a twins sweatshirt! oh and also a kids globe….which is truly the most annoying toy ever because it is ultra loud, and has no volume control?!?!? thank goodness he does not play with it very much!  Then on the saturday after his birthday we had a party here for him and all his cousins came (Gavin, Ethan, Madison, Ben, and Ian) as well as two of his little friends from school (William and Tanner!). He had SO much fun!  I was planning to do a little game with them all but they are all under 5 and with so many little kids I just ended up letting them play down in the basement with his toys, which they all loved!  Then we had our meal with cake….which I will add pictures of because it turned out darn cute!  One was green/grass with mud on it and an excavator and then I made a little pan of brownies with some mud on it and a dump truck with mud in the back.  Lastly, Henry and I made sugar cookies (which are very hard to make if you cannot even take one bite of them to know whether or not they are any good!  but everyone did say they tasted good!) but we cute them into fire trucks, sports cars, trains, and airplanes….they were pretty cute!  Then for gifts, he got way too many! He got a tractor blanket that my mom , then a wagon to go behind his Farmall pedal tractor, a twins hat, a ball and glove, trains, sand box toys, chalk, money for his dino bank, a few cute outfits, a gift certificate to toy zone and DQ!  he was SPOILED to say the least!  He and Olivia were such good kids at the party and they slept so good that night!  Then for mothers day scott got me a nice little patio set so we can enjoy the evenings outdoors!  I just love it and we have already gotten SO muzxch use out of it!  Our little neighbor girls want to join us for supper almost every night we eat out there!  The little girls also come over almost every day  vv  v vthat they are home and Henry is outside, and almost everyday they tell me that they have not eaten lunch and that they are hungry and would like a snack!  i think the other day i figured out why though…..they told me “you have better snacks than we have at our house!” and they ended up coming back with some parsley that their mom had given them from her garden for a snack?!?!?!  YUCK!  they are 6! 

Well, Have a great weekend everyone, I work all weekend long but I hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather! 

~Katie

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Spring

Happy Thursday everyone,

Hope you are all doing well! We sure are!  Everyone has been healthy and loving that the weather is getting nicer all the time.  We had a great Easter but we did miss my family as they were all up at Scott and Stephanie's house for Easter but I ended up needing to trade to have this upcoming Saturday and worked an evening on Easter! But for lunch we had Scotts parents over for lunch and that worked out well!  Last Saturday Henry went to one of his friends birthday party’s and then we went to Mazeppa for an Easter egg hunt….kind of a waste of time, but he loved it! (the reason i say it was a waste of time is that he truly got like 5 eggs:) ) then on Easter morning Henry was all excited to see what the Easter bunny brought for him, and he ended up getting  some books, a kite, a MN twins baseball hat, and a couple puzzles!  He was in heaven.  Olivia got a few books too as well as a swing for out in our tree.  Other than that our week has been pretty boring. 

The house that we liked and were planning/hoping to buy if our house sold ended up getting sold or it is in the process of being sold right now.  :( darn it anyhow!  So now we are looking to see if there are any other houses that we would be interested in purchasing if someone would happen to want our house.  We have a few that we kind of like online, but have not even went to go look at and at this point in time I do not think that it is really even worth going to look at them!  We really cannot find any others out in the country that are at a price we could realistically afford. But we would be game to move i no town possibly somewhere else where there are a few kids for Henry and Olivia to play with. That is the definite downside to where we are living now.  but we will see……

Our camper is great, we have enjoyed just looking at it lately.  I am hoping to clean the inside real good next week when I am off and it sounds like the weather is going to be perfect for working outdoors!  I have been trying to look for good places to take the kids camping this summer.  The only for sure trip we have planned is to go to Itasca State Park the week after the 4th of July with Pat and Pauline as well as Bonnie and Randy.  It will be SO awesome for that!  We will have enough room for us all and some storage!  Cannot wait! 

Henry will be turning 3 soon and we have his party planned for Saturday, May 8th for supper.  So now i am trying to get all that stuff organized! 

well, i better go….Olivia thought she missed me too much the last couple of days while I was working and has taken about a thirty minute nap all day long!  

have a great weekend~Katie

new computer

Hey everyone, well I am writing from my new laptop and it is great!

camper

Last night we went and bought a 1995 Dutchmen Pop Up camper. It looks pretty darn nice, needs a bit of work here and there just because it is abit older, but it will work for us right now. Especially until we figure out just how much we really will use it. But, it has a king size bed on one end, a queen on the other, the seating area turns into a bed for one or two little people and the table folds down as well into another little bed. So it can sleep 8 people, I am not sure if I would ever want 8 people sleeping in it! .... but you never know! It also has a little sink, fridge, stove, canopy, screen porch for it and some storage inside. So we are quite excited to use it! Here are some photos! Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful day! ~Katie