Thanks

This holiday season, we have much to be thankful for.  We wanted a way to display all the blessings in our life, so we have had a Thankful Tree at our house.  It's a very simple craft I got off Pinterest, but it has had much meaning.  We were able to write down things we are thankful for and also asked visitors to our home to do the same.  Here's a few things that made it to the tree.

The last picture is of a zebra ornament Tim's dad brought to us from a recent mission trip to Rwanda.  We are glad our families have the desire to share the love of Jesus with others around the world and that they have all made it back safely from various trips.

When I told The Hubs that we are going to have to take down the Thankful Tree soon to make room for Christmas he said, "What? Are you not thankful during Christmastime, too?!"  I love the giggles he brings to me.  :)

Thanks for being curious enough to read.

And The Winner Is...

The Great Gobble Hobble was a huge success!  We had perfect weather and everyone did a great job.  Tim mapped out a route in a beautiful nature reserve so we even had pretty stuff to look at as we gasped for air.

For those of you reading for the first time, take a look at the last post about the race to understand the full scope of what the Gobble Hobble was.

The Hubs and I are really proud of how our parents have been taking care of themselves by exercising and loosing weight, so we wanted to do something together as a family to encourage them to continue.  And now, without further ado... I present the 2012 Great Gobble Hobble!

 Tim and I went out the morning of Thanksgiving Eve to mark the way with sidewalk chalk.

 We also put distance markers along the way.

On race day, before we left the house, everybody put in their money and wrote their predicted time on the super official time card.

 Some had to make a pit stop before the race ever started, but we finally all got to the start line.

 Tim finished first, with me pretty close behind and then we grabbed the camera to capture all those photo finishes.  Poppa Cave smashed his predicted time of 60 minutes by running a race of 40:30!

 The Mommas finished together with smiles on their faces.  They also had a cheering section of sons and barking dogs.

Jonathan did some stretching to keep himself loose after the race while cheering everyone else on.

He correctly predicted that he would be the last to finish, but Poppa Speegs finished well under his predicted time!

So who was the winner?  According to our super official time card, Mom S was the closest to her predicted time.  She was only off by 24 seconds!   

Here she is with her prize money!  And the lucky winner of the autographed commemorative race day photo is Cheri!  She is the only reader who had voted for The Cloggin' Momma.  

This may just be the best family photo ever.  Cheri, be on the lookout for your copy... it's coming soon!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of blessings to be thankful for.  As the day progressed and my body began to rebel against me for having put it through a 5K, I reflected on how much I have to be thankful for- a healthy family that loves each other and is willing to spend time together, a house that we have made our home, college students who keep us on our toes, friends who teach and encourage us, understanding of my Savior's love and grace... well I probably won't understand that fully until I get to see my Jesus in person.  So much to be thankful for.  My heart is full!

Thanks for being curious enough to read.

Place Your Bets Now!

Here's the skinny... it's time for the Great Gobble Hobble!  Read the details and all about the participants to choose who you will root for.

The Race: Thanksgiving Day 2012, 9:00am (subject to change), homemade 5K run/walk at a local park

The Stakes:  Each participant will pay a one time fee of $5.  The fees will collectively become the prize for the winner.  All participants will predict their race day time and the hobbler who finishes closest to their prediction (faster or slower) will win the cash prize.

The Hobblers:

I'm-Almost-Back-Down-To-My-High-School-Weight Poppa Speegs- He is the poster child for weight loss at his church.  An early morning exerciser, will he win it all?

I'll-Clog-Your-Face-Off Momma Speegle- Some call her the tapping titan, others tell her to do a basic.   Blowing in like a west Texas tumbleweed, will she take out all the competition?

You'll-Hardly-Recognize-Me Momma Cave- She is a treadmill stompin', clothing size shreddin' maniac.  Recently free of 59 pounds and counting, will she leave her competition in the dust?

Stain-A-Deck-In-A-Day Daddio Cave- He trains in Rwanda and chases Debbie around the house with his two trusty hounds.  Will he make quick work of the other hobblers?

I'm-A-Goober Goober- The youngest of the competitors with a lung capacity to put Pavarottii to shame.  Will he bellow his victory cry at the finish line?

I'm-A-Ninja-Crossfit-Assassin Hubs- He makes his own weights in the garage so his muscles can get even bigger.  Will the man of the house lead the way amongst the hobblers?

Queen-Of-The-Turkey-Trots Wifey- She's a little fox and hungry for the competition. A natural runner and tickling-fiend! Will she dart passed the hobblers at her own game?






Further Instructions: Hobblers, leave a comment with your projected race day time.

Readers: PLACE YOUR BETS! Leave a comment and pick your favorite hobbler.  If your hobbler wins you will receive an autographed commemorative Great Gobble Hobble photo.

Let the games begin!

Where Has The Time Gone?

October came and went in a hurry!  We packed lots of different things into the month and it was awesome!  Here's just a few of the picture documented things we got to do:

I got to go with some of our college girls on an overnight trip to The Lane Farm.  It was such a great time of relaxation, exploration, laughter, and bonding.  We were thankful for cool weather, even though we haven't seen much since then.

The following weekend we went to my college homecoming.  I had never been since I had graduated and it turned out to be pretty fun.  It didn't hurt that we stayed with two of my old roommates and their husbands.  Cheri is preggo with twins at the moment and Tasha was secretly preggo as well but didn't tell us until later!  Don't worry, I have no plans of jumping on the pregnancy bandwagon any time soon... especially the twin one.  Two of four of my (adult) bridesmaids now have twins.  This makes me hesitant.  This weekend was also made even more enjoyable by the fact that we got to see my parents and The Goob (my brother).

The Wednesday before Halloween, our church hosted a Trunk or Treat for the community.  Our college students went with a pirate theme, as seen below.  They turned The Hubs' Danger Ranger into a pirate ship complete with ramp to climb in so you could get some candy out of the treasure chest.  It was awesome!  All the kids wanted our candy... we had a line all night of kids wanting to climb into the ship.  And, there were judges at the event (unbeknownst to us) who gave us 1st place.  Yeah!

We also had the chance to go visit my parents and celebrate my Granny's 90th birthday.  Quite an accomplishment!  There were tons of family members there that Tim got to meet for the first time and try to keep straight.  I have quite a big family.  We also had some great quality family meal time and game time at home.  We can get a little loud and rowdy.  It's great!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself (self), what will they do now that October is over?  Well have no fear, November has brought with it a whole new set of adventures that I am definitely excited about, but I don't want to give away too much today.  For now, I will leave you with this... there's never a dull moment at our house:

Glad you were curious enough to read.