Impromtu Photo Shoot

It all started when I laid on the floor.

And then Jodie decided to sit on me, as well as invite Jamie to get on his shoulders. He asked Ruth to get on Jamie's shoulders but she decided to cheese instead.

So we tried to take a picture together and piled onto a loveseat. I said "no way, my double chin is showing". So we moved.

Then we took a normal picture.

And Melodi (the photog) said "okay this is too normal". So Jodie put his arms out saying "I'm in the middle, I'm the coolest".

And then Jodie decided to try to grab my head to pull me down and I decided to choke Ruthie to death. Ruth held onto Rachel. She was our anchor.

Trying to get back to normal.

All together now!

Topeka Rescue Mission Run

Tonight I ran in the "Topeka Rescue Mission Run". My brother Jodie also ran it, although he finished way quicker. His time was something like 30-32 minutes for 4 miles.

Me and thick thighs. Look at those bulging muscles in his thighs!

After Jodie finished, he came to look for me. He found me just as I was going to turn onto Sixth St. from Kansas avenue. I want to say he ran the last quarter mile with me, it was very sweet. At one point I told him to get behind me because it was driving me crazy that he was just slightly ahead of me so he gets behind me and starts lightly pushing my back to go up the hill. It actually felt sooooo nice but I told him to stop because it was cheating! After I got to the top of Sixth St. I saw my sister Rachel waving her arms and jumping around and so I started to goof off and run faster and realized I should probably just keep the pace since the finish line was a block away. I ran really hard and then couldn't quite keep it up at the very end! So in the video I feel like I am running at such a slow pace! I finished in 45 minutes.

I have a quick story - I was running behind this one really tall guy with long legs who was running like Frankestein! It was driving me crazy watching him and thinking about how he was ahead of me, so I forced myself to get past him. He was about 50 feet in front of me (I'm not a very good judge of distance) and it took me about 6 blocks to get past him! I wish I could show you how he was running!

The video below is me running through to the finish.

My Sister In Law!

My sister-in-law, Melodi has a blog that's been around for a while but hasn't had time to post. Hop on over and check it out!

Melodi's Blog

Aren't they SO cute?!

Picture stolen from Melodi's blog....

Surprise, I'm Engaged!

My brother Joseph (Jodie) called us this past weekend and let us know he got engaged Friday night. Wow, we didn't even know he was seriously seeing anyone but it's all good! We knew he was seeing her this past summer and they've known each other since the beginning of highschool...We haven't even met her but isn't she cute?! Her name is Melodi and apparently she has stolen my brother's heart. So we'll be having a wedding in a few months!

Congratulations guys!!

Picture stolen from facebook :)

NY Times Article

My brother was mentioned in a NY Times article for searches of weapons his group was doing while in Afganistan. I don't know whether to be scared or proud...I guess I am a little of both.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/asia/25airborne.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Boot Camp - Turning Blue Ceremony

My mom and I left Tuesday night and drove to Columbus, GA for my brother's graduation from Army boot camp. He left January 10th and now he is finished with the basic training part of his contract. The next training he'll receive is in Airborne Training and then onto Ranger Training. His end assignment will be an Army Airborne Ranger if he passes all of the programs.

Today was the Turning Blue Ceremony which signifies that he is now an infantryman. Tommorow is the actual graduation. For now my brother has an afternoon pass till 8pm and we're going to go to a movie:)

The soldiers marched in formation to the ceremony.

The families were allowed to go to their soldier and pin the blue cord to the uniform.

Jodie wanted dad to pin his cord onto his uniform.

Proud father.

Me and my brother.

We are all so proud of him. It's amazing to see such a change in him - not to say that he wasn't good before but at lunch he kept saying ma'am to the waitress every time he addressed her and other subtleties such as his stance and the way he is now. We are just very proud of him:)