Olympic Glory

Like many of you, we've really enjoyed the Olympics this year. It has been fun to get to introduce Brian and Caitlyn to so many different sports and countries from all around the world. The athleticism of these men and women is incredible. Learning the individual stories of triumph and heartache, disappointment and dedication and all it takes just to get to the Olympics inspires me to want to be better, to reach higher, to go faster, and to live stronger.

It was amazing to see Michael Phelps reach his unprecedented goal, and to see that even individual greatness (Phelps' 8 golds) is only possible with help from others - his single mother raising 3 kids, the support and direction of a coach who saw the potential in a scrawny 11 yr old with ADD, the unbelievable come-from-behind once-in-a-lifetime sprint of his relay teammate who some had described as too old and never having lived up to his potential who snatched victory from the world-record holder by 1/100 of a second.

I was amazed to learn last night of a South African swimmer named Natalie du Toit who, after almost qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, lost her left leg in a car accident. She competed yesterday in the swimming marathon without any kind of prosthetic device.

Some times the athletes gave everything they had and won it all. But because of the nature of the competition, not everyone gets the gold. Watching many of the gymnastic events I was confused by the judges' scoring and dismayed when someone I thought was totally deserving of a gold medal was relegated to second place because of an obscure tie-breaking rule. Luckily, I was able to find some of the gymnastics video footage and you can make your own judgement call.

A new hair do for Caitie

A couple of Sundays ago, Caitie found a bright pink ribbon that she was dying to wear to church. We found a dress to match it and then, knowing it would fall out if I just tied it in her hair, we went on a hunt for a way to put it in her hair. This is what we came up with...

 

She made me take a picture of it and she loved it so much that she didn't want to take it out before bed that night

More July Fun

 

Nolan after eating one of Joy's delicious PB Chocolate chip cookies

 

Caitie had so much fun with everyone here that she was exhausted. She fell asleep in the chair downstairs... something she never does.

 

A quick pose before Stan, KK and Emily headed back to Brazil

Alaska

Each year Stan and KK get to come home for the month of July. Since they are only here that month out of the year the entire month is spent with family time. Thanks to Stan and KK's generosity, all of the kids and their spouses were treated to a wonderful trip to Alaska. (Thanks to my sister-in-law, Tiffany, and my parents for watching the kids for 9 days so we could go!!!)

There is no way that I can recap the entire trip in a reasonable amount of space. So I will just give the highlights.

We flew to Alaska on Tuesday, July 15th. After a very delayed flight we arrived in Alaska around 9:30. We quickly dropped our things at the hotel and headed over Jess and Marlene's house (Stan's brother and his wife) for a delicious feast of King crab legs. The food was delicious and it was great to see all of the family there.

The next day we took at train from Anchorage to Seward. The 4 hour train ride was filled with the beautiful landscapes of Alaska. We saw a brown bear and a couple of glaciers on the way. There were several streams and lakes as well.

The first few days of the cruise were a bit dreary and cold. In spite of the rain, we went Kayaking in Sitka. It was cold but well worth the adventure. We saw several different types of Star fish and enjoyed observing the majesty of the bald eagles flying overhead.

Our next stop, and the highlight of the trip, was Juneau. Here I am going to insert Rob's description of this day. (Hope you don't mind Rob) "We arrived in Juneau after a few bleak days of continual rain. The sun was shining and it felt great to step off the cruise boat, stretch our legs, and explore the nature that belongs in an outdoors magazine.
My family received a complimentary shore excursion in Juneau (one of the perks of travelling with a small army) to go whale watching in the surrounding ocean inlets. Although the brochure listed a dazzling array of animals for which we would 'be on the lookout,' I did not board the catamaran with exceptionally high expectations. But after a few minutes of sailing through beautiful (but animal-less) scenery, we hit the mother load...
Our boat was surrounded by two different pods of humpback whales (a total of around 30 whales) and for a solid hour and a half, we experienced the absolute adrenaline rush of seeing these beautiful whales up close and personal. And they were active!
The great part of having an awesome camera (thank you Christa!!): I was able to take rapid fire shots, capture the entire progression of their dives, and basically felt like a National Geographic photographer. The not-so-great part: having to later choose which pictures to put on the blog. (I took over 450 pictures of just the whales).

We got to hear their songs to each other and see a mother instructing her baby. But perhaps the most spectacular scenes came when all the whales would Bubble Net feed together. The entire group dives down into the ocean, sends bubbles up to the surface in circles to herd their food into a compact group, and then they all feast together in one sudden, synchronated lunge.

The naturalist conducting our trip told us a lot about humpback whales. Unlike killer whales that you can see in Sea World, humback whales are too big and consume too much to live in captivity. Consequently there is a lot that we still don't understand about their species. For example, marine biologists previously believed their lifespan to be 70-80 years. Then as recently as 2005, Alaskan Native Americans found a dead humpback whale with a 120 year old New England explosive (previously used to hunt whales in the Atlantic) that had lodged into the head, failed to detonate and was sealed into place by scar tissue. Experts now believe humpback whales can live to be over 150 years old.

This experience was absolutely incredible!!

On Sunday we were in Skagway, an old mining town. Thanks to Joy and Darrell, we were able to do a walking tour of this town before church. The stories that this town has to tell are very amusing. It is a very fun town. I would have liked to have more time there.

The rest of the trip was very enjoyable and restful (for those who didn't stay up all night playing games :) ) I am so grateful to blessed with such wonderful people to spend my time and share my life with!!

Good friends

Angie, one of my old roommates and best friends came to visit the second week of July. It had been two years since we last saw each other. We had a great time catching up and going on outings with the kids.

When Angie lived here she wanted to get up to Brenham to see the Blue bell factory but never had the chance. While she was here we took a quick day trip to the Blue Bell factory. The kids had a great time learning how ice cream is made. The best part... the ice cream they give you at the end of the tour. Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm...

 

The next day we hung out around the house and made yummy nutella cookies. (Thanks Natalie, for the recipe)
 


That night, I got a babysitter for the kids so Angie and I could go out for her birthday. Therese, another friend from our college days, meet us for pedicures and shopping.

Where was John during all this? He was taking advantage of the situation and went to have a Risk night with his friends from school.

I think it is safe to say that we all benefited from Angie's visit!! What a blessing good friends are

July 4th

I know this is a bit late but... better late than never.

The month of July started out with lots of fun on the 4th of July. We went over to the church at 8 am, for a breakfast and bike parade. My younger brother Jonathan and his wife came to spend the day with us and our neighbor and her grandson, Caden also joined in the festivites of the morning.

 

The kids had a great time decorating their bikes with patriotic ribbons, streamers and flags

 

 

 

That afternoon we had several good friends come over for a bbq and some swimming. We all had a blast playing volleyball in the pool and eating way too much food.

After dinner we came in to play games. The kids got their faces painted.

We finished off the night with a few small firecrackers in the driveway. All in all, a fun day celbrating our freedom and giving our thanks to those who make it possible.