Congrats, Dan!

I am so proud of my brother.

Two weeks ago he ran the Chicago Marathon. Not only is this an impressive feat, but even more so since it was his second one and he knew what he was up against.

I'm proud of him for running and for finishing and for shaving twenty or so minutes off his time and for training faithfully and consistently. But mostly I'm proud of him for this orange shirt he's wearing. It inspires me that he didn't run for himself but to make a difference in the lives of other people on the other side of the world. He ran with Team World Vision, and he and a team of two other men raised over $7,000 for clean water projects in Africa.

Here is Dan at mile 13, looking strong at the halfway point.

{Norma - Sara's mom - cheering him on!}

I was thrilled to be in Chicago and be a part of the cheering crew. My dad graciously offered to watch the boys so we could go downtown and into the crowds without them. He watched live updates with the boys and called us excitedly with updates and to report the winners and their times.

{Norma and my mom.}

{Some of the cheering crew.}

Sara and the huge red balloon. This balloon was the perfect way for Dan to spot us in the thick crowds as he ran by. Genius idea, Sara! It nearly required its own ticket on the el though, it was so huge :)


{The elite runners.}
I wish so much that these weren't so blurry. These are the front runners, literally, of this race. After just 1 hour, this pack of men passed us as they crossed past the 13-mile mark. That's 13 miles in one hour, people. And halfway through the race, these men ran past us so fast it looked like a sprint.  The first place winner finished in 2 hours 5 minutes - a new course record. It's impressive and so unbelievable.


Dan around the 17th mile.
It was such a hot and sunny day. The sky was bright and blue and beautiful. But it was cloudless and there was little relief for the hot and tired runners.

Dan approaching the finish.
There's a corner and then one last hill before the finish line. We were all so happy to see him and he looked so strong as he finished and powered up that final hill.





Race shoes. I love the way he marked them with his inspiration verse from his training, Psalm 37:23-24.


Dan, Vic and Tim (one of his World Vision fundraising team members).

Allison congratulating Dan! 

After the race we met Dan at the World Vision tent to congratulate him and celebrate!

Congratulations Dan! We are so proud of you and inspired by you.

The orchard

It's October and while big, orange pumpkins are on my mind, let me tell you my one bone with the pumpkin patch. It's big and commercial and crowded and it has very little to actually do with pumpkins.

I'd rather be at the apple orchard; in the crisp Fall air strolling down a tall grass lane between a row of Jonagolds to my left and Blushing Golden's on my right.

 
We went to this adorable little orchard a few weeks ago with my mom. It was a sunny, warm day with just enough crispness in the air to make it feel like Fall.

After a quick stop in the barn for apple cider donuts, we grabbed a wagon and headed towards the rows of trees bearing apples of all colors and names. We stumbled upon these first, and I almost quickly disregarded them as just regular old Golden Delicious. Thanks to my mom, we stopped and tasted them. They were nothing of the sort.

Behold, the Blushing Golden.
Sweet, tart and crisp. My perfect apple!

We filled our bags with lots of those and ate our way through several others.

I remember as a child the very best thing about going to the apple orchard was twisting an apple off the branch and eating right then and there.


I loved standing back and watching my boys love doing it too.

{Me in my farmer clothes :) It's always good to have a picture for posterity, just to prove I was there.}


There was a giant tower of hay bales. Henry and William loved climbing it and jumping from the top. My mom and I sat on a bench and smiled at just how different little boys and girls are. We didn't think climbing those bales even once sounded like much fun, but they were so happy to climb up again and again.

 
And look, there were pumpkins too!



The best of both worlds.

{Oma and the boys in the orchard.}

{Photo credit to Henry for the picture of my mom and I and William for the picture on the right!}

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy!

{Welcome to the world sweet baby boy!}

October 19, 2007
9:53 a.m.
7lbs 9 oz
 18 "

My Dearest William,

You are nearly four years old! Tomorrow morning when the sun rises and you wake up in your bed, you will no longer be three and a half {this is how old you tell everyone you are, including me just today}, you will be a big four year old boy.

Tonight was a night like so many others; I tucked you in, I cuddled close to you and read you a book, then we prayed and I sang to you. But tonight you were so giddy about your birthday that your little body was pulsing with excitement. You thought you might be able to just count to five and then it would be your birthday. When I told you I thought you needed to fall asleep first, you thought maybe counting to seven would be better. My precious boy, you are excited for your birthday.

Four years ago, I remember laying in my bed on Leland Street feeling the very same way. My belly was so full and round that I nearly couldn't get comfortable, but even when I could my body was pulsing with excitement anticipating the next morning; a Friday, the day I would meet you.

{Photo credit: Sara Louise Photography :) }
And my sweet child, just look at you now, a four year old boy. You are such a blessing to me and to our family.

You are kind and funny and goofy and conversational. You love animals and going to the zoo and making sure that babies are always with their mommy's. You are compassionate and show empathy. When we were taking a walk on the trail by our new house we stumbled upon a lifeless mouse. You stopped, squatted down and stared at that mouse. After a few minutes I urged you to come on and leave it, but you wanted to stay with it until its mommy came. You love to collect acorns, but you don't like to bring them into the house. You like for the squirrels to have all of the food they need outside where they can find it. {And you happen to call them 'skirrels' and I'll really miss that when you learn to make the qu- sound.}

You love superheroes and reading books. And you love superhero books. And if there is a superhero book in a cereal box, you can bet we will have three uneaten boxes of Trix in our pantry so that you can have those books. You insist, and who am I to argue? You have a belly laugh that's really quite contagious. It's one of those that comes from way down deep in your soul. It's one of my favorite things about you. Your laugh and your easy way. And well if someone happens to fart, then all the better, there's nothing funnier to you in the world than that. {Except one in the bathtub, because then there's bubbles, too.}

You have taught me about forgiveness and grace by the way you show grace to us. You forgive quickly and completely and I really admire that. You have taught me to relax more and take life in stride. You're never in a hurry. You love to dress up and you always leave the house with at least one thing in your hands. You love spare keys and jingle them in your pockets like a janitor. You love rain boots and sunglasses and belts. You don't take naps anymore but you love to fall asleep in the car. You still love stroller rides and walking to feed the fish in the pond by our house. You learned to ride your bike without training wheels and love to ride in circles. You still love your blankets even though one is lost and the two you have are in tatters and shreds.

You are an absolutely precious boy, my sweet William. Being your mama and having this family of four has been my dream come true. Lying there in my bed four Octobers ago, I could have never guessed the blessing you would be in our lives. I will miss the sweet three's. The way you say your "sp" 's like "f" 's , so that Spiderman is Fiderman and the way your little voice sounds now. I will miss the way you still fit perfectly into my lap and how you curl up with me every morning when you come downstairs in your pajamas with your blankets. But I am excited for you my dear boy - you are turning four and I know you can't wait!
Happy Fourth Birthday William!
It's going to be so much fun!