Mud Run - April 2011

This post is a little out of order because I didn't have the pictures from it until yesterday. In April we joined a couple of friends and participated in the USMC mud run (http://www.usmcmudrun.org/). It was so much fun. The course was a little over 5 miles with 34 obstacles. It was very challenging, but very fun. I have a great scar on my leg from rubbing it raw on the very first obstacle. Oops! I hope that we get to do one of these again. Next time I am going to do a lot more to train my upper body. I only had two weeks notice for this, and I have to admit that I have no upper body strength. I was definitely the weak link on my team for all the obstacles that required upper body strength. We finished in 1:32:51. We placed 91st in our division (coed) out of 488. Not too bad for a team thrown together at the last minute. We had so much fun. Thanks to the Bethers for letting us join them. And a huge thanks to my sister-in-law for watching our children.

About to start the race. Nice and clean. :)


On your marks...Get set...GO!


Up the hill we go


Slopping monkey bars.


Under the logs. Some of these were filled with water. Not sure about this particular one.




Rolling in the mud (punishment for not completing the Tarzan rope swing (can be seen in the background))


Nasty thick black mud


Sizing up the wall


Climbing the wall (this one had slats to climb...the ten foot wall did not)





Into the water we go


Back out the other side


Derek attempting to do the height changing parallel bars (that's the proper name right? :) )


The plank. Punishment for not completing an obstacle (the height changing parallel bars)


Derek and Amanda running


Last obstacle. We had to carry one team member on a stretcher.




About to cross the finish line


Finished! Seriously so much fun. :)

Derek's Graduation

In August of last year Derek successfully defended his thesis and was awarded a Masters of Science degree in Computer Science. However, because that happened in August, he missed graduation last year. The University of Virginia (UVA) only holds graduation ceremonies in May. We decided that we would go back for graduation this year. We felt that it was important for the kids to see Derek receive this honor. We all made sacrifices for grad school, and we wanted them to see the reward. Plus we wanted them to see how important education is. Derek, we are really proud of you. Congratulations on earning your Masters Degree!

Jenna, Kevin, and Derek


Derek outside the Computer Science (CS) building


Jenna, Derek, Kevin, and Jared


Amanda, Derek, Jenna, Kevin, and Jared


Kevin is chillin' in the shade reading a book while we wait for the ceremony to begin


Jenna


Jared


Jenna, Jared, and Kevin in our seats waiting for the ceremony to begin


Dean, chairs of departments and professors. This picture was taken from our seats. We had a great view of the stage. Sadly, when the degrees were awarded, the students lined up right in front of us, completely blocking the stage. So frustrating.


The graduates proceeding in. Derek is in the middle of the line. Kevin is standing next to him.


Derek


Derek waiting in line to receive his "diploma"


I ran to the other side of the stage to get these pictures. Derek is shaking hands with the Chair of the CS department, Dr. Soffa


Derek receiving his "diploma"


There he is, all educated now. :)


The kids had a great time wearing his hat, and carrying his "diploma." BTW, the reason I keep putting that in quotes is because it was a blank piece of paper. We already have his real diploma at home.

Jared


Kevin


Jenna

Virginia

Last weekend we traveled to Virginia for Derek's graduation (more about that in another post). We went up on Friday night and stayed in a cabin. The cabin had a loft area, which the kids loved. They slept in the loft. Graduation was on Sunday, which meant that Saturday we could just hang out.

We ended up going hiking on some trails I had always been interested in hiking, but never actually made it to when we lived there. It was a beautiful nature preserve, and I am so glad we made it there.

Kevin and Jared in front of the barn


Jenna


Hiking (or riding, as may be the case with Jared)


Derek, Jared, Kevin, and Jenna


Jared, Amanda, Kevin, and Jenna


Jenna took this lovely picture. Derek, Jared, Kevin, and Amanda


We were also lucky enough to be in town on the same weekend as one of my young women's high school graduation parties. We had so much fun hanging out with old friends. Thank you for inviting us Halle. It was a wonderful party. I am so proud of you and all your accomplishments.

Amanda and Halle

Track Out Part Two

After Grandma and Grandpa left, we still had two more weeks of track out. We spent a lot of that time getting together with other people from church that were also tracked out. That was really fun. One of the things we did was go to the children's museum. The kids had a great time there.

Jared helping out in the goalie position on this cool hockey rink they have


Kevin playing hockey


Jared building a tower with massive blocks


Jenna and her tower. Her goal was to make it bigger than her. She succeeded.



Jenna (on the left) participating in a play that she and several of the other girls with us made up.


The big pirate ship. The kids thought this was so cool, and spent a lot of time playing on it.


The last weekend of track out we drove to Asheville to visit Derek's brother, Brian. We had a great time. We went hiking up in the blue ridge mountains over a waterfall. It is just now spring in the mountains, and it was so pretty. We also went to downtown Asheville, had a picnic lunch and walked around. Asheville is a great place. Thanks for a fun weekend, Brian.

Kevin on a rock at the waterfall


Amanda and Jared hiking across the waterfall


Jenna and Derek hiking across the waterfall


Kevin, Jenna, and Derek on the rocks of the waterfall


Kevin riding a pig in downtown Asheville. There were lots of great statues there.


Jared and his pet pig. :)


Jared riding a pig


Jenna and Kevin riding geese (or ducks - don't get mad at me if you are from Asheville and I got that wrong). :)


The last day of track out was my birthday. Since I am the one that takes most of the pictures, we have almost no pictures to document the event. I did take a few though, so I will share them. The kids and I spent the day at the life and science museum with some friends, which was really fun.

That night I celebrated with the family. We enjoyed BBQ chicken (from the grill), garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and, of course, cake. Derek made me a delicious chocolate cake with a strawberry center, buttercream frosting, and strawberries on the outside. It was sooooo... good. Everyone liked it. The kids ate every last bite (Kevin avoided the strawberries). Thank you to everyone that called, texted, sent FB wishes, and sent gifts. It meant a lot. Thanks for helping me have a great birthday!

The cake Derek made (he did good, huh?)


Another view of the cake


This is Derek's gift for me. He actually gave me this necklace when Kevin was born. When he gave it to me it had only one ring on it. The ring had Kevin's birthstone. I loved it. Then when Jenna was born, he added a ring with Jenna's birthstone. Then when Jared was born he tried to add a ring with his birthstone, but it didn't happen. Jared was supposed to be born in April, but was born in March, so Derek had ordered the wrong birthstone. He tried to switch it, but the jeweler went flaky. He has tried off and on for the last four years to get that final ring. He finally found a jeweler here that was able to find a matching ring with Jared's birthstone on. He gave me the completed necklace for my birthday. I was so excited and surprised. I am so happy it's finally complete.