My first Half Marathon!

Ahh!! yes yes, i realize i haven't updated since the 1/2'thon....but ahhh, it was SO FUN and so cool to be a part of! San Antonio is truly such a cool city...and we found this awesome dive sports bar the night before to watch the Baylor vs. A&M game...which sadly, Baylor lost. :(

Kari and i shared some great laughs that night...it was just a random little place with only 3 things on their food menu...sooo strange!! i mean, what?????!!!!

We were cracking up the whole time. :) here is kari with our nachos...that surprisingly, weren't that bad.

We also ordered a pizza, and came to found out it was a frozen DiGiorno's they cooked in the back....ahhhh! But, we got to watch the BU game on tv...and to dad especially, that is all that mattered!!

But back to the run...thankfully, yes, i finished the 13.1 miles, just at 3 hours i think, but what a cool experience and one i definitely want to do again!!!
Here are Kari and I...up bright and early...downing some carb infused drink and power bars my dad insisted we eat...oh, and some sport beans. ha!


Here is all of us before the race...Ben, Dad, Kari & I...

and a super cool avid runner in front of us as we waited to start. uhhh loved the shorts dude...and he was weating a trash bag as a lil jacket thingee :) ...


me after the race - best feeling ever!

I have a feeling this won't be my last run... people have warned me that it gets addicting. :)
More very soon...
Sal

Thanksgiving in the Big Easy

Thanksgiving was truly special this year!

It started with Jackson's sweet Thankgiving play and feast at school... in which, he was a pilgrim, no wait, an indian. Oh, i don't know what he was!!!


And here is Bennett's beautiful turkey that he "made" at Mother's day out. hee hee.

We went to New Orleans for thanksgiving to be with Josh's family - what a fun trip to finally meet my stinky sweet nephew Brady for the first time...man, he is a honey. The trip there was super long, and started with some major dvd player drama, which involved 3 trips to target in 1 hour....yes, madness. :) but once the movie "Bolt" was up and running, so were we.

Here are some action shots of all of us on the way to New Orleans...uhh, was SOOO ready to just get there!!! Can ya tell??



and....the maxed out mama
Here is Jackson meeting his cousin Brady for the first time: too sweet!

And here are a few other randoms from our time there:

Josh with his stud sisters....Rachel & Rebekah..(and there are lots more fun family pics, but you'll have to wait to see more on our Christmas cards this year!) Everyone in that city was wearing Saints colors...the Saints played the Cowboys that day, so everyone was ready to cheer them on.Rachel taste testing the mashed potatoes...


Me and my baby who is growing so fast...


Letting the food coma settle in after our delicious meal...
My sweet nephew and his beautiful mama...

My sweet nieces...who may be the only girls i'll ever have!!! (Unless Kari pops one out down the road of course...) hee hee!

Hope
Eden

and Alaina

Then, there are my two sis in laws, who i am SOOOOOOOOO stinkin thankful for...and was reminded this thanksgiving again, how special they are to me, and how instant and natural our connection was. They are truly MY sisters, and i am so blessed to be a part of Josh's family.


And finally, cousins Brady and Bennett in their "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving" outfits...

Look at Bennett - uhhh, he is scaring Brady bc he's so huge - ha ha ha!

I am stealing this next part from my sister in law's blog bc it was priceless. We had Rebekah and Mike's wii at the house, and the kids seriously played it non-stop.

Here is a converstaion that Rebekah eavesdropped in on:
Jackson (5 yrs. old) -- "Isn't Yoshi cool (Super Mario Bros)? He's my favorite."
Hope (7 yrs.) -- "yeah, he's pretty cool."
Jackson -- "I mean, he's really cool. Look at how fast he goes!"
Hope -- "Yeah."
Jackson -- "He's the best of all of them, don't you think?"
Hope -- "Well, that's your opinion."
Jackson -- "OPiNon?" (oh-pin-YON)
Hope -- "OPINION!"
Jackson -- "OPiNON?" (oh-pin-YON)
Hope -- "OPINION!!!!"
Jackson -- OpINoN? (still mispronouncing it)
Hope -- "Forget it! You don't know that word, do you? It means it's what you think!"
Jackson -- "Oh.."

Ahhhh! Such fun and sweet memories.

Thanks be to God for health, family and His Amazing Grace in our lives....what more do we need???

More soon,
Sal

Running playlist all ready :)

Alright everyone!!

My first 1/2 marathon is tomorrow already - i can't believe it!! After months of the not so fun (at times!) training runs, (click here if you wanna see the one i followed....there are all kinds on the internet!) the weekend is finally here!!!

I got my "Run Baby Run" playlist all ready.

Thanks to so many of you for all your fun suggestions for hot running jamz to keep me going, and all your encouragement on Facebook or through texts this week! You are awesome!

I've got a great mix of Glee mash-up songs, Madonna, old school up beat jams, and some good ole ghetto bootie shakin tracks. Should keep me going for a few hours - bring it on!!! :)

Here's to praying i can keep up with my more experienced family members who've done this before.

Gatorade prime, jelly belly sport beans, carb filled diet today - here i come!! :)





Wish me luck!

Oh, and come on Bears, beat them Aggies today!!!

More soon,
Sally

No, he is NOT 10 months already!!!!!!

Yes, my Bennett is 10 months!!!

and i just can't believe it. i truly feel like time has flown by!

we had our 9 month check (closer to 10 months,) and boy is a-growin!
He was 30 inches long & weighed 25 lbs - think he's gonna be a linebacker!!!

things Bennett currently loves to do:

• take a bath
• get pushed around in his cozy coupe car
• ride with jackson in his jeep
• eat (boy practically skipped over spoon fed food...) he especially loves red grapes, mandarin oranges, peas and wagon wheels...just to name a few
• doing ANYTHING with his big brother :)
• being outside
• playing peek a boo & chase
• flush toilets
• close doors
• climb up and play in the dishwasher
  

things Bennett currently does not love:

• get diaper changed
• get dressed (seriously, like wrestling a greased pig!)
• have his nose wiped
• getting into his car seat
• to sit still :) or be left alone in a room
• when his bottles aren't warm
  

Bennett also loves to come home from MDO with his "artwork."
oh yes, they actually have these little crafts that they do with in the baby room. it's so cute. here is Bennett with his bird feeder he "made." :)

And here is a picture he "colored." Look very closely....see the 2 orange flecks?? yep, i have a mini picasso!!!

And last but not least, one day last week i totally risked it and took them both to HEB and let's just say...this picture says it all.
Bennett's face is like...i've had enough!
ha ha. fun times!
More soon!
Sal

2010 Baylor Homecoming fun!

I love Baylor homecoming! All kinds of fun stuff jam packed into one weekend, and so many old faces come back to good ole Waco to participate in the fun!

Josh and i started off the fun filled weekend with Pigskin, and it was such a blast! KOT had a fantastic act, as usual! But, Josh and I felt all young and fun again being there that night. It was club night, so we had a good time watching the students coming in and out of Waco Hall in their costumes...brought back lots of memories. :)

Then, Saturday morning was the parade - which is always a fun thing. I ran into so many fun friends!! Here are a few pics that captured the fun at the parade:

Sweet college friends i still keep up with regularly, Erin, Shannon & Jaime

Some of my all time favorite girls from good ole kanakuk and baylor days:
Ellie, Lacey (with baby Caroline) & Kristi

Our sweet Nashville youth girls that go to baylor now -
i heart them so! Katy & Hannah-cakes!

Josh and Jackson couldn't make the parade due to soccer Saturday morning. So Bennett was my parade buddy. He blessed me so much that morning...just sat in his stroller and let me cart him around. I really think he just loved all the people and things to look at, that helped. :)

Later that day was the football game. What a great game it was...well besides the pouring down rain and hour and a half delay...but before the downpour, got to hug the necks of two of my besties from baylor...and former roomies. Ahh, the memories of living in 3D of The Center baby!!! :)

Mel, Rachie & me...they were cheerleaders are Baylor and practicing
their stunting so they could cheer with alumni during the 3rd quarter.
I am so amazed at what these girls can still do - after 2 babies each!!

Overall it was a super fun, albeit, tiring weekend. This year, I was really feeling grateful and excited to live in Waco, for fun Baylor things like this. Looking forward to next year already!

More soon!
Sal

Halloween Twenty Ten

So our halloween 2010 was fun and low key, just the way we like it. :)

Here are the boys in their costumes this year.

Jackson and Brodie driving around like crazy characters!

Jackson REALLY wanted to be Yoshi from Super Mario Brothers this year, which is the green dinosaur. He has recently become fond of the Super Mario Brothers characters since playing Mario Kart on Uncle Ben and Uncle Mike's wii.

Well, mommy was a tad late in ordering the costumes, and I couldn't find it anywhere!!! So his second choice was Guigi (aka, Luigi.) ha ha...he kept calling it Guu-eeegee!!

And sweet Bennett Bug...well, he had no choice. He was the dragon i found last November on clearance for $2.75!!! I didn't even know if I was having a boy or a girl, but that babe was gonna be this dragon! :)


And here he is with his lil playgroup friends - all around the same age. how classic are these? :)

(*Thanks to many playgroup mommies for sharing the pics
they took with their good cameras!)

Here is our one and only pumpkin we carved...and stinker Jackson wouldn't even take a picture with it, so here I am with the jack-o-latern Josh worked so hard on. :) Somebody had to show some love...

So glad it's finally feeling like fall around here!

More soon!
Sal