Cheese!!!

Daddy bought MC a cupcake...she sure enjoyed it, or should I say she enjoyed the frosting! This is her cheese face...she see's the camera and the biggest, cutest, cheesey smile appears!! Oh how we love her every day!!!

"NEW PARK"!!!

For Makenna's Second Birthday Nana, Mommy and Dada, Auntie LuAnn and Uncle Brad and DeChantel went in on a swing set for her. This past weekend Brad and DeChantel assembled the surprise in the back yard. Makenna of course absolutely loves it and calls it her "new park". Every day she wants to go outside to play....now only if it can warm up a little bit!! A big thank you to everyone who contributed....MC and her brother or sister will get many hours of play time on her "new park!" xoxo

Happy Birthday Nana!

Happy Birthday Nana! I love you!
One two three..blow! Makenna Claire enjoyed blowing out the candle with Nana and also enjoyed her ice cream cake!

Watcha talkin about Nana!!! (all while sporting Nana's glasses)
I love my posse...i mean, my family! Love, MC

Meeting Jodi!

This weekend, on Mom's birthday, we met one of our favorite authors, Jodi Piccoult. We had a fun day waiting at Borders with all her fans and mega groupies, to meet her and hear her speak. She was fantastic and I can't wait to dive into her new book, Handle with Care. The only problem is that her books tend to consume all my free time which doesn't help get other things done. But, you know what??...they are soo worth it! Mom's other Birthday photos to come soon!

Daddy's in Vegas and misses everybody!

I am in Las Vegas staying at the Red Rock Casino & Spa which is, for all intents and purposes, right outside the entrance to Red Rock Canyon National Park. It's only about six miles or so from the entrance by bike.

After meetings this morning, I took off to go rent a bike. I figured, what the heck, Google Maps told me that McGhies was only 3.7 miles away, so after a nice lift and swim this morning, a light run would do me some good. Google Maps was wrong. Turns out it was six miles and I was pretty shagged by the time I got there. Just started training again within the last couple of weeks, and the lift and swim were great, but I budgeted energy for 3.7 and it was far more than that. On the plus side, I think I was hauling backside up and down the terrain. It was ALL uphill going back, though. Lots of uphill here, though. Hello, base of a mountain range and all.

The elephant in the room is that I didn't take into account the local elevation. It's about 3700 feet I've been told. The "Scenic 13-mile loop" climbs 1000 feet as well. Suffice it to say, I planned poorly. I made about four miles (and it was a beastly four miles) and decided that rather than have the rangers retrieve me, I'd take myself back down.

Kelly did this ride a number of years ago for Team in Training and as if I already didn't have enough things to love my wife and sit in utter amazement about here, the ability to knock out 100 miles around here tells me that she was just a machine. I look forward to the day when we can do this ride as a family.

I took a little 20-second video at the first rest stop. It gives you an idea of the majesty of the place. It's awe-inspiring, make no mistake about it.

And what travelogue would be complete without a picture of the person on the journey? Hi, everybody! Daddy misses you mommy and Makenna! I'll be home soon.

A Visit to the Fire Department..

Today we visited our local firestation with the Mom's group. Makenna had tons of fun and loved playing on the firetruck and running around the huge garage with the other kiddos. We toured their house, saw their lovely living quarters and learned all about fire safety. Well, the older kids did anyway. A fun way to spend the morning!

Not the best pic of the kids, but you can see my growing baby belly! :)