We ran!

This morning, my sister Courtney and I ran the Cook Forest 5K. This was my Christmas present to Courtney, to come out to Pennsylvania and run with her in her first race. It was pretty exciting/logistically challenging. The race was about an hour and a half away, so we had a drive to contend with. Then there are the twins, who are eleven months old (enough said about that, I think). A babysitter was called, the big kids loaded up, the cold-weather gear accounted for, and we were off.

As it turned out, the sun was up and it ended up feeling pretty warm. But boy, were we cold to start. It was a gorgeous course, right along a burbling river. Felt very Colorado, with lots of pine trees and hills all around. By far the prettiest course I've run.

I tried to document the occasion as best I could. I even took some very shaky Blair-Witch-type video that is a little too motion-sickness inducing to post (also, I don't know how to get it off my phone and onto this blog. Maybe I'll put it on facebook instead. Social Media FTW!).

First things first: we decided there would be no stopping.

All checked in, we attached our timing chips to our shoes. Sadly, this race did not have bibs, so the iconic keepsake of one's first race doesn't exist. Nor do we have any of those "Hey look at us, we are clearly runners, do you see these numbers on our chests?" photos.

Brrr! Until we began running, we were cold. It was in the low 30s, I think. Warmed up to around 40 by the end of the race. The kids were in good spirits, in spite of the face Austin is making here.

Nothing like a little snack while waiting for people to start (and finish) a race.

Here's Esther and Zach ready to cheer us on. 

Austin made an awesome sign that said GO MOMMY AND MEGAN. Seriously, it was the best.

This is Courtney when she saw Austin's sign. It actually made her tear up a little.

Hooray! We did it!  

Showered with love (and cookie cake)

On Saturday, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my prego sister, Courtney. So fun! I haven't seen Courtney since Christmas, and (obviously) she's a lot more bellycious. She's right at 7 months and so cute! With the exception of lunch tomorrow, I won't see her again until after the baby is born, so I soaked up as much of the preggers as I could.

The shower was good. Lots of wonderful people were there, and Courtney got lots of baby goodies. Pictures below. Too bad I'm not a great photographer. Some of them are pretty dark. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you that the lights were, in fact, on.

A simple spread, but good. And the invisible punch was to die for.

I came up with the phrase for the cake. The beak was all the cookie place.
(Have you picked up on the rubber duck theme yet?

The party was going great until that giant duck tried to sneak in and steal the gifts.

My mother, my sister, and her unborn child. . .
two and a half generations of awesomeness (also paleness).

Look at that belly! Don't you just want to give it a little pat?

I'm the one on the right. And look! The punch is back!

Awww. . .

Two Things

1. My sister is about 19 weeks pregnant and she had her first ultrasound today. They're having a boy! Courtney posted her ultrasound pictures on her blog, and I swear I am going to have the cutest nephew ever. So tiny and nephew-like! I'm so excited and so happy for Courtney and Zach. They are going to name him Austin Zachary. Good name, I think.

2. It's getting all Christmasy up in here. Andrew and I went to a tree farm on Sunday and picked out the prettiest tree there. We (Andrew) sawed it down and we (Andrew) carried it back to the truck. My first real tree! Very exciting.


We got the tree home and set it up in our brand new tree stand. Our cats could not have been more fascinated. They sniffed and they tasted. They got bits of sap in their fur.



After a quick jaunt to the store for some lights (apparently ours went the way of Jimmy Hoffa after we moved), we trimmed the tree. Lights, ornaments, and a star on top. Now all we need are some presents underneath. Zadie is anxiously awaiting their arrival.

I can has mah prezunts?