All Better Now

 

 Last Christmas, when the Underwoods were here, my Phillipe Starcke Bubble Sofa broke. I didn't know what to do about it then. Last Wednesday, I finally pulled the sofa to the curb (it was time to let go  and do something else...it would cost $2,000 to replace it).

 

The trash truck gobbled it up as if it were a toy....I shouldn't have looked.

 

Using what we have in the backyard, I filled the empty sofa space with three blue pots of ferns and tucked the two remaining Bubble Chairs together under the shade. Tea for two. If company comes for s'mors, we can pull four chairs away from the nearby outdoor dining table to circle the hibachi grill we'll set upon the coffee table.

Update from Stan: "At least we have our memories," he said as he sent me the photo below.
It was taken last Easter when he and Virg came for dinner. I'm so glad to have this picture :)
Such a nice brother.

 

Pop-Ups!

The folks are lining up at Home Depot today...

I went there to see if there was something to spruce up our entry...

The Mother/Son Dance at Faith Lutheran

Kim and Landon ready for the Mother 'n Son dance.
It happened on the 21st of February :)

Underwood Family Portrait 2014

Happy New Year!!

 Reluctantly, the Underwoods departed Florida yesterday.

It was a gorgeous golfing/beach day but it was time to get back to work and school.

They took advantage of the last hours in the sun before leaving at 5 p.m.

We had a wonderful couple of weeks with them.

Christmas Eve Portraits from Florida

We couldn't seem to get our act together for a group portrait so here are some singular ones.

 Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dopey Challenge Training Upate

Adam here with a Dopey Challenge update. It's less than a month from the race and I'm still pretty much on schedule with training. Unfortunately the rigorous schedule took it's toll me; I got a sinus infection and a case of shingles (something that comes from having chicken pox as a child: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles). The sinus infection was actually gone in a couple days, but shingles sticks around a little longer. It has been a relatively mild case, if that is possible. But still very irritating. I have still been able to run in the meantime, albeit slower, shorter distances and not as often. The illness is on its way out but has been a challenge in itself. I highly suggest avoiding it if you can.

 

Enough about ME, this is for Team JDRF, Carson, Mandy, Kerry, my coworker's son Palin and everyone else who lives with Type 1 Diabetes. Please remember this is for a great cause, the research for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes and for improving the lives for those with Type 1. If you would like to learn more about T1D and how it affects the lives of those who live with it go here: http://jdrf.org/life-with-t1d/type-1-diabetes-information/what-is-diabetes/ To learn more about JDRF and how they are working to cure T1D go here: http://jdrf.org/about-jdrf/

 

As far as the donations for the challenge goes we're doing really well. We are only about $250 away from the goal. If you would still like to donate please consider it soon and remember it is tax deductible. I created a shorter URL for the donation site if you want to write it down for later: http://bit.ly/1bGjP4N (case sensitive). Thank you to everyone who has donated I appreciate all the support I've gotten and

 

 

Before the Des Moines Marathon in October

 

My little dedication I wore during the marathon.

Westside Football Classic Tournament


 


 

This is Hunter's 7th grade Black Select team after their tournament win.  They played three games:  Yorkville Foxes from Yorkville, IL 12-6.  The only team that has ever scored on Hunter's defense.  Next they played the Johnston Dragons from Johnston, IL 36-0 and finally Lakeville, MN  33-0 in a very heated game during which our strongest player was ejected from the game for tackling the Lakeville coaches son.  After a long embarrassing temper tantrum thrown on the field by the Lakeville coach we agreed to take him out of the game and proceeded to annihilate his team without our star player.  Hunter and his defense shut them out.  I was disappointed that our MN neighbors behaved so badly.....

Hunter getting trophy.

This is Blake with one of his buds we all call Z.  They play together on the 6th Grade Black Select tournament team.  This weekend they played in the Westsude Fall Classic Tournament.  Several teams in their age division from the Midwest came to Des Moines to play.  Their team got 3rd in the Select Silver bracket.

                                                                                         


Hunter trying to look tough after this first game in the tournament.

Blake heading into the locker room to finish his 2013 football season.  Next year will be a whole new ball game!