Senior Champs

My sweet girl. Her first championship meet in San Antonio.


Talking with Coach Sarah about breathing strategy.

Diving in for breast stroke event.

Checking heat and lane info.

Waiting her turn.

Having a great meet. Made finals in all her events and A-finaled in 100 breast. Shaved tons of time off all her strokes. Very exciting!

Coach Sarah critiqueing. Always learning and growing. Fun!

Go! Go! Go!

Did I mention how much I love photography?! These moments can never be captured again!

Off the wall fast!

Going for it. Danielle has gained so much endurance, strength, and technique and has worked so hard. I'm very proud of her. Can ya tell?




Aunt Jena came to watch! It was very exciting.

Mom and Danielle at the end of a very long couple of days. Love you, sweet girl!

Baby girl turns 6

Look who turned 6 on Sunday. Seems like just yesterday she was born. Our sweet Allie. She was born 5 weeks early at 5 lbs, 7 oz. Despite that her lungs had no problems at all. We were very blessed!

Favorite dessert: chocolate chip cookies!

Happy birthday, Allie! We are so blessed to have you as part of our family.

Finish Lines!

Wow!! I can hardly believe it. With bone injuries and a sprained ligament, God still made it possible for me to complete the Austin marathon. It wasn't pretty, but I did cross that finish line. After 6 miscarriages, we found out we were pregnant with Luke on Valentine's Day 2007, not knowing if we would get to ever hold him. Little did we know what a "marathon" lay ahead. When he got so sick and was hospitalized for so long

we were told to get our minds into a marathon mentality as it would not be a sprint. Many surgeries, procedures, and blood, sweat, and tears later and even a job lay-off... it's once again Valentine's Day. God has shown Himself to be so faithful. 2 Samuel 22:37 says "You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping." He makes our paths wide. He just does. He performs miracles right in front of our eyes. He healed my baby boy's laryngeal cleft that was supposed to need a major surgery keepig us in Cincinnati for ~6 weeks. It was GONE. Gone. No surgery needed. He has taken care of our family in ways I never could've imagined. He even gave me back the marathon that I had my heart set on running on Valentine's Day 2010 when there should've been no way. He makes our paths wide and He cares that we fear. As I had plenty of time to think during the 6 hours it took me out there I realized that life itself really is a marathon and we better get a long term marathon mentality. He makes our paths wide. He just does.


Thank you, Lord, for miracles. For friends and family. For making our paths wide. For finish lines on Valentine's Day.

tomorrow!

Washing socks for tomorrow...for the Austin marathon!!! Praying for a pain-free, good run for 26.2 miles!! I am so excited that I get to do this. God is so good.

Cutie pie

Isn't he cute?

"5210"

This was my post for Luke's carepage and I'll post pictures soon.

5210…sweet, sweet numbers. Guess what they are! My bib number for the Austin Marathon on Valentine’s Day 2010! The finish line!

Crazy what God can do, isn’t it? I saw my doctor again for a second opinion about my knee and ankle and brought my MRI and bone scan films. You could never have convinced me that he would say the marathon was feasible, but that’s what he said. He evaluated and looked at my whole body again focusing on my spine and alignment issues and how they related to my knee and ankle. Apparently the misalignment is causing me to pronate. That and weakened muscles in that leg along with tight muscles and tendons have caused all of the damage (that’s the short version). There is damage done, but he says there aren’t stress fractures. My symptoms don’t fully point to fractures either. So he got me started on PT then and there telling Ryan (the PT. And Ryan is Luke’s middle name) to hold my hand and get me through this marathon. Then after the marathon we’ll get to work in correcting for long term.

They both explained I won’t be able to run the whole thing and emphasized walking a lot and I may have to walk the majority depending on how things go. I’m THRILLED. I’ve said from the beginning I will be happy to cross that finish line no matter how I get there.

I was so excited! Another shining example of how God is bigger than everything. I can hardly believe He made this possible again. The marathon was sold out and He even managed to make my registration work out. I am so encouraged. Again.

The fact that the marathon is on Valentine’s Day made me realize how much He loves each of us. It is a total gift. The beginning of this leg of the journey was on Valentine’s Day of 2007 after 6 miscarriages. We found out on Valentine’s Day that we were pregnant with Luke… and we got to keep him. It’s been quite a journey and you guys know most of the rest. What a gift that I get to (God willing) cross this finish line on Valentine’s Day 2010.

It’s just icing on the cake that I get to bring in my 40th like this, too. I had been so bummed about the whole thing. My mom makes my favorite homemade chocolate frosting for my birthday every year. Talk about icing on the cake…I decided a long time ago that I didn’t need the cake part. I mean, really. Why? I don’t like that part and why take in the calories when all I really want is the frosting anyway, right? So, I get a big ole bowl of homemade chocolate frosting, a spoon, and maraschino cherries on the side. If I play my cards right, she might even make chicken and dumplings!

I’m still stunned and surprised. I never thought this would happen. God works in such amazing ways and I just praise Him. He keeps making the “impossible” happen. I’m on cloud nine!! Have a lot of PT exercises and stretches to do along with getting out there on some specific running exercises, bike, etc. The marathon is in 10 days! YIKES.

I would sure appreciate prayer for John to find a good local job asap and for our family to heal and recover. And, I would really appreciate any prayer about my knee and ankle. My ankle is still quite sore and I’m not sure how it’s going to hold up.

You know what just hit me? I was just thinking about putting my marathon medal next to Luke’s turtle race marathon medal and realized that mine is going to be a turtle race, too, at this point. I’m broken and wounded and slow and yet God is carrying me through this, too. He is so good. How cool is that?

I pray His blessings on each of you and your families and that He shows you how much bigger He is in your daily lives, too.