WE ARE FINALLY BACK!!!!!

So we are finally back in the Blogger world. I have updated the blog to complete our main life events of 2005. I tried to put the dates on the posts so you would know when they took place. I will post our life happenings so far in 2006 in the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy. Sorry we were gone so long. Now that I have the hang of this again I hope to keep it current :-)

LAST CLIMB OF 2005

Well Darin strapped on the mountain climbing gear December 16, 2005 for his 12th summit of Mt. Hood . This photo puts the mountain into perspective as you climb it. Darin took the shot so it isn't him in the photo, but he came up the same way. There is NO WAY you would find me doing this, but I will say that God's creation is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Darin called this climb "The Sunset Summit". It truly is beautiful up there on top of Mt. Hood. 

This photo is a bit outdated, but too cute not to post. Luke put on some of his Daddy's climbing gear.....like they say father like son.

SEATTLE MARATHON 2005

Here is Darin in our hotel room after completing the Seattle Marathon November 27, 2005. He ran 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes...his goal time. We were very proud of him!! We decided to make it a mini family vacation. We didn't have much time to sight see like we had hoped. We stayed at the Westin Hotel in the heart of Seattle. They were the hosting hotel for the marathon. We were there for just one night...it costs a fortune to stay there even with the lovely marathon runner discount. This also was the weekend that the monorail service derailed...this was right out side of our hotel room. Let's just say there was a lot of excitement and plenty of memories from this trip and we probably won't be back in Seattle for quite some time.

MARTIN TURNS 7 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our first born son turned 7 years old today November 6, 2005. This is the big Spiderman party he had been waiting so long for. He had a great day with friends. They played pin the spider on the web, balloon volleyball, and had fun bashing the pinata you can see sitting on the table. It was a wild 3 hours with that many kids in one place...but tons of fun.

Martin is ready to blow out his 7 candles. 

Martin loved his cake and wanted me to post this photo of it. Our friend Hillory made it for him....she has a great talent for making really cool cakes :-)

This is a close-up shot of the pinata I made for Martin. This was the first time I have ever made a pinata. Martin didn't like the ones at the store and I didn't like the $25.00 price tag so we decided to design and make our own. It turned out pretty good, but wasn't as strong as I had hoped. I didn't want is so hard that it was impossible to break, but this broke way too soon. I will have to make some adjustments for the next one.

MARTIN & LUKE WITH 1K RUN FINISH RIBBONS

The boys are holding up their finishing ribbons from the 1K race they ran at Blue Lake Park October 22, 2005. Darin and I ran it as well so we had our first family run. It was really fun. Darin ran with Martin and I ran with Luke (I knew I might have a chance to keep up with Luke, Martin on the other hand I knew would leave me in the dust!) Luke will tell you that he beat his Mom, which is true and that made him very happy. It was fun to Grandma Lulu there to cheer us all on.

The family stretching out before the 1K run.  

Martin ran this 1K very fast. It was quite a short run compared to the 2 miles he ran 2 weeks before. This is a classic photo taken by Darin....one of my favorites. As Darin and Martin were approaching the finish line this other Dad said to his son you can pass this kid...meaning Martin...well Darin heard that and told Martin to give it all he had towards the finish line and Martin just shot out ahead and ran right in between the Dad and his son and took the finish. Let's just say Darin was VERY proud of his boy.  

I love this photo of Luke he was having such a great time. He was racing me to the finish line. I had not run in quite sometime and the boy kicked my butt. I could barely keep up with him once he saw how close he was to the finish line. He ran the entire 1K without stopping. This was his first run and felt really good about it. 

I took this shot of Darin as he was coming to toward the finish line...the photo head in the family has taught me well. This was Darin's first short run (5k race). He ran this after we all ran the 1K. He did awesome!!!! He finished 14th out of 126 runners. His time was 19 min 40 sec. this met his goal time of 20 minutes.

MARTIN RUNS HIS FIRST MARATHON

Here is Martin getting prepared for his first official run. He ran the Portland Kid's Fun Run, October 9, 2005. This is Darin the veteran runner attaching the official bib number. Darin ran the race with Martin and cheered him on the entire way. Martin did a GREAT job. He ran the entire 2 miles without stopping. He was within the first 15 kids to cross the finish line (He was the youngest of the 15 finishers). Martin LOVES to run and had a great time.

Martin is doing his stretches before his big run. Luke hasn't had his morning coffee yet. The race started at 7:30, which means we had to get up around 6 am to take the Max downtown....Luke wasn't too impressed as you can see.  

Martin has just turned the corner to the final stretch. The red strip is the first marker before the final finish line. Darin is running ahead of him cheering on his boy. It was a very special day for all of us. 

Here is Martin full speed ahead to the finish line. You can see to the right of the picture Grandma Lulu, Grandpa Tom, and Mommy cheering him on....we are holding the red banner with the red balloon. 

OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AT WALLOWA LAKE

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary, which was August 5th, at Wallowa Lake. We highly recommend it. This photo was taken at the top of the tram that takes you to around 8,000 ft. elevation. The view is amazing from there. There are a lot of hiking trails and different view points. They have a summit cafe at the top of the tram where we had our anniversary day lunch.

This was our anniversary night dinner out on the deck of the cabin. It was great weather and a nice evening. The cabin sits very close to the lake edge so we watched the boats, birds, and the deer walking around. It was much more enjoyable than sitting in a restaurant. 

This the Sugar Cabin we stayed in for our anniversary. It has a wonderful view of the lake from the side window. It was a great place to stay. You had the feel of being all alone in the woods, eventhough there were other cabins near by. VERY RELAXING place to be!! 

The deer are SO not people shy. This was taken right from our front door. His nose is inches from the glass of the screen door. I think we were more afraid of them then they were of us. All the warning signs they post around the lake about recent deer attacks puts one a bit on edge.