Tulsa

Aimee and I spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in Tulsa, OK for my third marathon (and her 21st--amazing!).  We had a great time shopping, eating, chatting in the car, and completing the race.  Both of us ran our best times so far.  For me, I came in under four hours which I had not done before.  I guess if I retire from marathons, I will have met my goal.  

If you are considering running Tulsa in the future... 

Positives:  pretty course through neighborhoods, downtown, and campus, nice shirts and medals, organized and prompt, Diet Pepsi at the finish line!

Negatives:  course was hilly for stretches (particularly the second half), not as many locals out and about (cheering) as other races I've done.

Pre-race and my welcome home/good job signs that Owen and Miles made for me.

Thankful

The boys and I trekked to Atwood on Wednesday morning for five days of fun with the cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents.  Adam had to work Wednesday and Friday, so he didn't come out until Friday night.  The kids each have a cousin (or two in Graham's case) the same age as them that they pal around with.  The older they get, the less we adults see of them.  

Mike and Rosie rented out the Atwood "convention center" for whoever needed to get away from the madness created when 15 people and 4 dogs are living under the same roof.  The big kids (meaning anyone 6+) liked to think of this as their special hang out--evidently they were able to watch however much iCarly, Dog with a Blog, etc. as they wanted in this joint.  

Michelle brought Apples to Apples Jr. which was a huge hit with all of the kids.  They actually played very well together with only a few accusations of cheating--mostly laughter.

Rosie prepared a fantastic Thanksgiving feast.  Even after a day full of snacks and at least 4 bowls of Lucky Charms (each), my kids cleaned their plates.  Once again I am reminded how I hope to never have to prepare the turkey for anyone :)  Very thankful for family, friends, health, job, safe travels... the list could go on and on.  Hope everyone had a great holiday!

To Grandmother's House We Go...

After one last long run (before Tulsa) we headed to Lebo for the weekend.  Our timing was great as we were able to see my parents, brother/sister-in-law, Don and Carolyn, Uncle Dale, the Kentucky Guys (long-time hunting friends of the family), and Sharla/boys.  It was a fun, relaxing weekend for everyone, except maybe Newman who had to fight off the "moves" from his dog-boyfriend Barney.  As usual, Grandma Jean made us all eat like pigs--good thing I have a long run coming up.  Graham finally got to visit some cows again, and he was in heaven.  I think he would have stayed all day.

Enjoying a KSU victory (and probably Alabama loss) with pizza and pop--and ice cream, chips, cheese balls, Starbursts....

Three men down!  Four if you count Newman sleeping in the back.  Of course, I'm up front slaving away on school stuff :)

Football

Adam and I were able to enjoy the KSU vs. OSU football game this weekend (courtesy of some birthday tickets from Rosie--thank you).  The big boys finally got to tailgate after being gone or having other plans several of the past few games.  They got in a couple hours worth of parking lot football.  We also had a perfect view of the Fred Phelps crew across the street.  Definitely an interesting conversation with a 6 and 9 year old. 

And speaking of football, Owen's team had their end-of-season party tonight at Pizza Hut.  What a fun group of boys and great coaches too.  All of the boys received a personalized trophy for the season.  Something about a medal or a trophy for a kid...  Now it's full force basketball!

Hawaii, (the end)

Finally...this is the whole reason we trekked it to Hawaii in the first place, Casey and Liz's wedding.  The ceremony took place on Hamoa Beach (a black sand beach) right near Hana.  Adam was a best man in the wedding--you can see that he really had to dress up for the role :) 

Adam and Andy enjoying the wedding ceremony.

One of the beaches you can see from the Hana road.

Casey's sister, Aubrey (who was ordained online :) prepared a really great ceremony, both funny and serious at the same time.

Coastline on the east side of Maui.

We spent a little time (on the way to and from Hana) in a fun little town named Piea (or something like that).  Lots of fun shops and restaurants.

Lots of surfers on this beach, even some kids.  We were up quite a ways up on a ledge and could still see a pair of turtles the water was that clear.

The second tallest waterfall we saw on our trip.  The tallest was 400 feet!

And this is me getting beat around in the waves.  I actually did have some success with the bogey board!  Hard to believe it's been two weeks ago already.  Fun times, even if the whole island sells Coke products :(