Dawn's Wedding

Since there are so many pictures, I'm just going to post them all. The pictures of my family did not turn out, so if any of you have some, please send them.

I tried playing a little with my editing so some pictures are different.





Here is an example of some fun I had with the pictures.

Marble Falls Rodeo

We went to the Marble Falls Rodeo on July 17, 2009. They have this mechanical bull for the kids to ride. Sommer loved it last year, so I thought I'd take pictures this year.

One of the things they do at the rodeo is line up all the kids 12 and under. Then they let loose two calves with ribbons tied to them. We all watch as the kids chase these calves and try to get the ribbons. It's pretty chaotic, but the kids love it. (Yes, Sommer is in the line up. Look for the one wearing pink with pink boots.)

Zooma Half Marathon

I completed my first half marathon on Saturday, April 4, 2009. It was the Zooma Austin Half Marathon. This is the before picture -- look I'm glowing! (Little did I know what I was in for.)
On the right of me are Denise Rhodes and Courtney. We also had two more friends that did this with us, but I didn't see them until I was at the 5.5 mile mark (they were passing me going the other direction.)

This is another before picture. Thought it would be nice to have one of Duane and I together.

I had no idea that this race was constant hills. It was a very challenging course We had a straight uphill for miles 7-9, and my legs nearly collapsed on the uphill of mile 11. Once I conquered that hill, I saw Duane coming back to get me (around mile 12). I had never been happier to see him because I knew I couldn't finish this alone. He kept me focused and going so that I could finish.


This is after the finish, and look, somehow I'm still smiling! You can't see it here, but my arms and hands were completely swollen - similar to how I was during my last month of pregnancy. Gotta find out what's causing that. Duane did a PR at 2:20, and I finished 30 minutes ahead of where I thought I'd be at 3:06 (that time includes a 5 minute potty stop). I was pleased that I did better than I expected, and as usual, Duane amazes me at how he continues to improve!

Jami Elyce's 13th Birthday Party

We took the girls to Chaparral Ice Center for Elyce's 13th Birthday Party. Everyone had a blast! Sommer was even skating by herself after 2 hours.

New Year's Marathon

This is our group of friends that ran the Kingwood, TX Marathon on January 1st. It is the before picture so everyone is cold, but HAPPY. Duane decided he was going to make everyone laugh by wearing his "ripped abs" apron (*see disclaimer). You should have heard all the women when he came in for his first lap. They all thought it was great.















Duane finally broke his seemingly allusive sub-five hour time barrier with a new personal record of 4:57 (that's four hours and 57 minutes) for a marathon. Now remember that he racewalks these marathons, not runs them.










This is the "after" picture of the finishers.















Since this was the 10th year of this particular marathon, they decided to do something different for the medal. Their reasoning is that everything in TX is bigger . . . .
















Now that's a huge medal.


*Duane confirms that his abs look absolutely nothing like the ones on the apron.

Christmas

This year Santa found us in a hotel room in Orlando, FL. (Bet ya can't tell who was taking the pictures.)
Sommer had spent many days drawing everyone pictures and wrapping them for Christmas. She drew me a picture of her. Both of the girls were excited to receive additions for their Nintendos.

We spent Christmas Day at Disney World Magic Kingdom. It was wonderful! Temperatures were perfect and lines weren't as long as the last time we went.






















It was even better this year because Sommer was big enough to ride all the same rides that the rest of us could, so we did almost everything together. The only exception was when Elyce and I went to ride Space Mountain (which wound up being broken down for the 3rd time that day so we didn't do it) and Sommer and Duane went on the carousel again and the tea cups. We went back at the end of the night and did the tea cups again as a family - it is truly one of the best parts of Disney World.

















We had promised Sommer that she would see Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and all the princesses. Luckily, as we arrived, they had a show that had them all there. She was very excited to see them and that they were "real."



















This next picture is of the Race Cars. Duane and Elyce had their own cars, and Sommer drove the car that I was in - at least she was supposed to be -- still too easily distracted to drive.





















And, since the fireworks were spectacular, we made a video for everyone to see.






We all agreed that it was the best Christmas ever.

Visit With Monica

On our way to Disney World, we had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with Duane's cousin, Monica. We all had a blast and completely enjoyed ourselves. The first picture is Monica with two of her three sons (the oldest one was already at work when we took it). The extra three girls on the second picture (Autumn, Gabby & Shannon) are Duane's other cousin, Monica's brother, Tom's kids. Did you get that?