An update finally!!

I haven't updated in a really long time, so here you go.  Each year I post about my summer vacation so I figured this is a good time to start writing in our blog again :)

It has been an incredibly busy 4 months. Many ups and downs.  We have spent the last few months helping my mom through a very difficult time after my step dad passed away. After almost 4 months, we have moved her out of her house of 20 years.  Her house was just too much for her to take care of by herself so she decided that she needed a place a little smaller.  We happened to find a renter for her house immediately so we had just one month to get her moved out which meant lots of cleaning, packing, and purging in a short amount of time.  It is amazing how much you can collect over 20 years.  It was also sort of fun being able to go through things that I haven't seen in a really long time.  She is now settled into a nice 2 bedroom town home that is just the perfect size for her and has minimal maintenance, which she greatly appreciates.  The last months have been difficult, but the positive part about them is that it has really brought my mom and my brothers so much closer.  It makes you realize how short life can be.  

Other highlights from the summer...

In June, Jesse and I took a short weekend trip to Duluth for Jesse to run Grandma's marathon.  This was his first marathon and he did awesome.  I also ran, but I only ran the half (haha...I say only because it was half the distance but it was still 13.1 miles...ugh).  Jesse accomplished his goal and qualified for Boston.  Registration opens in a little over a week but he won't be able to register until day 7 because he made his time by only 45 seconds so people with better times will be able to register first.  Hopefully we will be heading to Boston in April :) Jesse's official time was 3:04:15, which is amazing for 26.2 miles and only training for 12 weeks. I ran the half in 2:18:45 which was the best of three that I did the summer.  It was a fun run that I think both of us would definitely do again!  The course and the crowd are amazing!

A few days later, I headed west with the kids again.  We went to the Black Hills, this time without Jesse. It was a quick trip for my cousin Sarah's wedding, but fun.  We did Needles Highway, drove by Mount Rushmore, Bear Country, Story Book Island, and of course Wall Drug.  I rode out there with my sister-in-law but drove my brothers truck home with the 2 kids by myself.  That was one long trip home with many many many stops!

July we stayed busy with happenings around here, and this was the big moving month for my mom, so we pretty much were at her house everyday trying to get her out by August 1st.  Oh...and I almost forgot, we had another water issue in our basement so we were cleaning, drying, and replacing our basement again.

August was then spent moving my mom into her new house and bringing the kids to swimming lessons.  They were each enrolled at the same time, but Olivia's were in the morning and Charlie's were in the evening so that was 2 visits a day to the Community Center for 2 weeks.  The highlight of August for me, was a trip to Seattle with my mom.  My great-aunt and great-uncle as well as their daughter and her family live out there.  It was fun catching up with them and seeing the beautiful city of Seattle.  We also headed to Vancouver and Whistler, BC while we were there.  They were stunning.  The mountains by the sea side were incredibly beautiful and HUGE!

  

  

Here are just a few other "highlights" of the summer:

My first half marathon I completed in June (Jesse's second).  I was able to complete 3 this summer and we have another one coming up in October!

Olivia's 7th Birthday

Charlie's 3rd Birthday

Spending the Day with Cousins

Olivia's Annual Camping Trip with Horsey Grandpa and Grandma Gayle.

Olivia no longer needs a lead rope.  She rode by herself for almost an hour :)

Weddings :)

We had 3 cousins get married this summer.  My cousins Katy and Sarah and Jesse's cousin Matt

And our big "date" of the summer was the Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown concert at Target Field.  It was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert and we had a great time! 

That brings us to the present, which is getting ready for another school year to start.  It was a busy, but a fun and eventful summer.  We are all ready for a routine.  Olivia is excited to start 2nd grade with her first boy teacher :) and Charlie is looking forward to his preschool class on Fridays and the fact that Grandpa John gets to pick him up and bring him to day care.