I can't believe it is over

What a great Christmas. We have had such a nice time celebrating with family and now I am sad that it is over. We started with the Parker Christmas the weekend before. Pops, Nana, all 6 cousins and their parents, Granny, Granddad, and Uncle Dan. We ate, watched the kids tear open tons of great gifts, ate, played monopoly, ate, watched movies, ate...you get the idea. It was so much fun.

new riding toys from Pops and Nana

Pete, Mat, and Zach brave the cold for a little football action

Christmas Eve and Day were spent at home. It was SO nice to be just us. Santa was good to all of us and we played and played.

Soren's very own video camera!

Reese models her new outfit from Papaw and Mamaw

going to town on the Smart Cycle; that is a cool toy!

The day after Christmas, I took the girls up to Grandma Charlotte's house for their 3rd Christmas. We stayed until Friday and on our way home, Soren ended up staying with Pops, Nana, Wyatt and Ashton for a fun filled two days of big kid activities. She got home a couple of hours ago just in time to celebrate her birthday! Friends are on the way and we have a night of giggling girly fun ahead of us, but I will blog about that later.

Another blessed holiday has passed and we are so thankful for all that this season has meant. The Lord is good to us!

Visiting

We had an entire week of visiting. Pete's Dad and step mom were here from Friday to Monday and his mom came from Tuesday to Friday and his dad was back for Friday and Saturday...did you get all of that? Needless to say, the girls got very spoiled with all the attention.

We had fun visiting and EATING. Let the holiday season begin. The whole food thing won't end for me for a couple of weeks. This week the girls and I will do our holiday baking (that is a whole blog in itself). Here are some of the fun things we did with our company.

Christmas crafts at Nana's house after the marathon...thanks Nana!!

Bowling!

Reese LOVED her bowling shoes; she wanted to keep them so bad!

Saying good-bye

26.2!

The Whiterock Marathon. I did it! 4 hrs 5 minutes. Such an amazing feeling. Someone was praying hard for the weather because we only got sprinkled on slightly and I hear that it was pouring as near by as 4 miles. I had a great race; some knee pain started to get me down early on, but I prayed and God decided to let me have my day. I am so blessed, let me tell you. The weather was quite cold and very windy and despite all of that 13 family members made the drive to watch me finish this exciting event. That made me feel so special. Like they did not have anything better to do on this cold winter day. Thank you guys for your support, you will never know what it meant to me. I have also gotten many phone calls from people who were thinking of me; Grandma Charlotte got a nice wintry mix on the road and could not make it but she was there in spirit...thank you!

Pete, my coach, and the best partner anyone could ask for, ran with me. He decided this last night. He ran to encourage me and video me! He would run ahead every few miles and record me passing by and ask how I was feeling. What an awesome guy! The sickening thing is that he is in such good shape that this was just a Sunday jog for him. He will probably still need to do a workout this afternoon. What a turd. I love him!

I consider today a great success. Thank you, Lord for blessing me with the ability to do such a fun thing in my life. I recommend everyone try one of these at least once in your life. If I can do it, anyone can!

Thank you, Pops for these pictures. If it wasn't for Pops, my faithful readers would not get a glimpse of most of these exciting races!

a few of my brave supporters weathering the wait at the finish line

see Kara cheering me on? Not the lady running, the lady behind the barrier

Here I come! Nearly there!

Little hands admire my finishers medal

the best looking marathoner on the course!

Soren's last '8 & under' swim meet

swimmers take your marks....

go!




Soren will turn 9 on the 30th, so today's meet was the last time that she will compete with the 8 and under group. It was a wonderful meet with Papaw and Mamaw here to see her in action.





After the meet we went to walk around Cabella's for a while and got a very special treat...Santa was there! That was very exciting. No 2 hour wait at the mall! Love it!

Soren, Mrs. Claus, and Reese

Reese feeding the fish

and then...

Reese shooting the fish!

UIL Storytelling

Soren participated in the UIL storytelling competition on Wednesday and the awards ceremony was last night. She got 2nd place! This was a competition with the entire district, so she was pretty excited. Her school did awesome. They took first and second place in almost every event. We are hoping this is something she will stick with through middle school and high school because it can generate big scholarships! Congratulations, Soren!

Trail-a-Bike

Reese has graduated from the cart that is pulled behind the bike to the trail-a-bike! She was SO excited today as we went on a family ride. She kept saying "woo-hoo!" It is the cutest thing! Pete is glad because it is significantly easier to pull than the cart and Reese seems to have more fun. Soren fell off of it a couple of times when she was that age; here's hoping Reese has better control!

Reese is the word

Tonight Reese and I were in the car and the theme song from Greece came on. When the chorus came on (Greece is the word is the word...) she got so excited and said "they just said Reese is the word!" She sang and sang "Reese is the word! It's my word!" So funny.

Santa Claws

Soren volunteered for Pete to be Santa at PetsMart for pet photos and today was his day. It was pretty funny. He got peed on, but not bit. Reese and I took Tiffy to have her picture made. She LOVED it, let me tell ya. She shook the whole time; such a weenie