New flooring for new walker

Hooray to no more carpet downstairs!  Our flooring finally was completed today after a long 2 weeks.  Hanna and Hayden didn't mind at all living with plastic sheeting or "tents" as Hanna liked to call it.  We had been debating about our flooring for the past several months.  And now since Hayden has gotten more mobile, we decided we needed to bite the bullet and make most of the house accessible to him by getting rid of the carpet.

One of the most emotional days for us as a family happened 3 weeks ago when Hayden started army crawling at 23 months.  We have it on video, but can't figure how to upload it to the computer just yet.  Anywho...he now is "WANT"ing to "GO"  all the time.

After months of research, 4 good bids and the advice of family, the flooring we chose was brazilian pecan and we love it.  It is one of the hardest woods we could find so it should hold up well with the kids and dog.  Below are before and after pics.  Not the best pictures for the "afters" as they were taken tonight.  I just couldn't wait till the morning.

before

after

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Checking out his new green wheels

  I have taken some time off since the marathon in January, but February has been a busy month with many new fun things to blog about for the kids.  More to come soon.

My First Marathon

 I am humbled by the 26.2 miles of Houston trails and grateful to my feet for allowing me to run with blisters, my knees  for enduring the swelling and pounding, and for my hips and back for not giving up on me to complete my first marathon.

I once read that the first 10 miles you run with your head.  The second 10 miles you run with your legs and the last 6 miles you run with your heart.  It couldn't be more true.

The conditions were perfect for the race.  Weather was in the high 60s & sunny.  I was over my battle with sinus infection/bronchitis and my hips and back were holding up.

Now I know I can do the NYC marathon 2011 for Spina Bifida, just gotta see if the Spina Bifida Association gets accepted as a charity partner again.

Still standing and happy at the end of completing my first New Years resolution to run a marathon.

My sweetest surprise was getting to see my family every 6 miles while  I made one of 4, 6 mile loops.

Scott made signs for the kids to hold and cheer.  It was by far the best thing about running a smaller marathon.  Getting to see my family really kept me going.  Even though I took a few minutes to stop and give them all hugs and kisses, it was time I was happy to give up.

Waving to Scott while he managed the kids at the park for nearly 5 hours.  He was amazing.

"Running for my little Warrior Hayden" shirt that I made for the race to keep me going.  Those that were faster than me ran by and cheered for Hayden.  Toughest part was heading back out while others were finishing the half marathon race (white bib).

This was another racer.

This was the 12th annual Texas Marathon held on New Years day in Kingwood, TX (Houston).  It was a small race (650 participants) that sold out.  I was a back up and got in because I was a 1st time runner with a cause.  There were several people running for their own causes.

My half way mark.  The same time as my previous 2 half marathons.  I am truly a 10 minute mile pacer not a racer thanks to my Garmin watch that beeped every time I slowed down or went too fast.  This way I knew I wouldn't burn out.

 My girl Hanna just hanging out while she waited for Mommy to finish.

I kept thinking this guy used to run for Ricks, my alma mater.  So who knows him?  Since it was one of the few Saturday races, there were plenty of BYU shirts showing up in the crowd.

My final time 4:27.  You can't tell it, but here come the tears and emotion.

Crossing the line to see my sweet family!

By the size of the medal, Hanna thought I won the race.  Everything is bigger in Texas.

My lil Hayden endured 5 hours at the park waiting for that medal.  He cried when I took it away.

The best sweaty congratulatory hug for my sweet boy who inspired me the whole way.

I couldn't have done it without the love and support of Scott.  I love you Scottie!

Without challenges, you wouldn't have champions.

Willie said it best, "without challenges, you wouldn't have champions." This had me smiling and crying. God Bless Eli's family!

I wish I had been able to see something like this when I was pregnant.  I never even saw another child with Spina Bifida before Hayden was born.  It was such a scary thing to feel so alone.

I do not have the words to describe how this challenge has been my greatest blessing.

Happy Marathon New Year!

Short post.  1)  Here is the shirt I am going to wear in my race:

2)  Hanna cut her hair for the first time today.  She has never had a "real" hair cut before because she has such precious little of it.  Now all I can think of is Dawg the Bounty Hunter was her inspirational style.

Merry Christmas, Look to the Light

We hope you are getting ready to enjoy a Christ filled Christmas and find what will fill you with true joy, the pure love of Christ.  We are getting very excited to spend Christmas serving at the Ronald McDonald House with several other past guest families as we continue to strive to be like Him.

Above is our Christmas card.  Thanks to our blog, we no longer feel like we need to include a family letter.  

We would love to have sent out many more cards, but we must not have your address.  If you didn't get one, we would love to add you to our Christmas card list for next year, so please leave us your info.  Here is hoping you have a great holiday season!

20 mile Town Lake run, next my first marathon

Today I completed my longest of runs before my first marathon on 1/1/11.  3/4ths through my run on mile 15ish, I was brought back to my childhood.  There I was chasing the man on his bike hauling the ice cream cart for about a half mile.  It was like dangling a carrot in front of my nose.  I finally caught up to him on a hill and really wanted that bomb pop but forged ahead.

It was an emotional experience to know this was my last big run before the big race.  I am ready for this to come to an end and start spending Saturdays with my family again.  I miss them and I appreciate all the support from Scott that allowed me to take off and run away on Saturdays.

It was a tough journey for me not being a runner.  And honestly I can't imagine running the whole 26.2 miles.  At the same pace including bathroom and refueling breaks, I should complete the marathon between 4 hours and 50 minutes or 5 hours 15 minutes.  I would love to finish before 5 hours.

My ultimate goal is to gain the confidence that I need to complete my first marathon, so that next year I can run and raise money for the Spina Bifida Association.  If I achieve this goal, I'll soon be contacting and asking for your financial support.

So here I go...off to my first marathon.  My next entry I think I will be able to officially call myself a runner.


20 miles Town Lake by adriennetrigg at Garmin Connect - Details

Holidays 2010

We started off the Christmas shopping season with Grandma Williams flying out from Idaho, Anna and sister Melyssa also came out from Montana to do some serious shopping.  We loved spending time with them and showing off Austin.  We had a great time and the kids miss them so much.  Especially the bike lessons.

I can't believe Hanna is 4 and Hayden is almost 2.  Hanna is becoming more fun at 4.  I think this is going to be our best year yet.  She is becoming more affectionate saying I love you and along with the extra hugs and kisses, she can't get enough of sneeking into our bed at night.

As fun as each milestone is, Hanna and I had a hard milestone.  The weather here has been perfect, so we have been out practicing on Hanna & Haydens' new bikes.  The other day, Hanna was playing with all the kids in the neighborhood and one boy (whom I hadn't met before) yelled at her and purposely excluded her from riding in his motorized truck when he gave everyone else rides.  She came running crying several times after asking for a turn to ride.  Luckily another mother who knew this boy, kindly introduced the children and they made up.   Hanna was then very happy when he offered her a ride.  And so it begins...

The sweetest women you will ever know.

I had a gift idea to personalize ornaments for Hanna's preschool classmates and made a donation in each of their names.

I thought it was a win, win.  

Scott ran the charity run and we all had a blast.

The first Santa that both the kids liked showed up at the race for the kids.

Scott getting ready for his fun 5k run.  He did great!

Our friends Angie and Josiah, who also has SB.  We will be cooking Chirstmas dinner for the Ronald McDonald House together.

Hanna getting her face painted at the run and loving it.

Birthday girl enjoying her weekend!

Hayden getting even more handsome.

We had a scare last week when Hayden was throwing up with a fever.  Most kids you give an antibiotic to and send them home.  Not so with Hayden.  We spent an entire day at the Dr. office getting all sorts of test to make sure it wasn't the shunt in his brain.  Both kids were very patient and I had a peaceful feeling the whole time.   Fortunately, it was "normal" kid stuff.  Gotta love "normal".

Recently, it is also hard for me to believe that Hayden is now about the same age that Hanna was when he was born.  I still view him as my baby.  He is growing up into such a big boy.  He can repeat almost any word I say.  It is so surprising what he can say.  He surprises me each day.