Greetings from cold & snowy, Bend, OR! As I type this, we have snow on the ground, a half decorated Christmas tree, and a pile of Christmas gifts to wrap. I am realizing that writing this annual letter gets harder and harder every year... These annual letters don't really paint the whole picture of our life and it usually sounds like life is just always 100% pleasant and everyone is happy, but I hope that most readers know that this letter usually reflects only the highlights and we don't bother you with the 75% of other stuff that goes on (like the way I backed into our garage door when it was half open ... or when I flooded our downstairs by keeping the laundry room sink plugged and faucet on and left the house for nearly 2 hours.... or the way Aaron nearly killed our whole family when he slid on ice driving while brushing his teeth, but somehow managed to keep brushing his teeth while going through the sidewalk between a rock and a yield sign... or when I dis...
I wanted to capture my moment by moment FIRST marathon experience so here goes: I'll start with the night before: We went over to Aaron's parents house to have some dinner with them as well as Micah & Danielle (Aaron's brother and wife) and their kids, Gabriel and Grace, and Mathew and Taylor (cousins of our kids). We got back to our hotel (Hilton downtown) around 7:15pm and I organized my outfit for the big day while Aaron took the kids swimming at the pool. I agonized back and forth about whether to carry my Nathan hydration vest or not for a week and Aaron finally helped me make the decision that although the aid stations were going to be plenty, I should go ahead and carry my own water.... because he knows that 1) I don't like stopping to get water even if it's a moment because I feel like I lose momentum 2) I am really BAD at drinking from the cups and have gotten multiple water sloshes up my nose (which hurts!) and water on my shoes (which, is BA...