THE ELWELL FAMILY BLOG

Sunday, July 15, 2012

I'm very lucky to be a mom to these 4!

Last few days of School

A few days before school was done, I went to a portfolio party in Cierra's class. She was able to show me all her best work throughout the year. I loved sitting across from her and hearing about all she has accomplished as a 4th grader. Cierra is in the Quest program at Zieger and has worked hard to be there. I'm so very proud of this girl.

This is her teacher, Mrs. Alston who she adores.

Cierra got the award for "most helpful student" I would have to agree with that.

Cierra and Brooke were very excited for the last day. This was them waiting for the bus on that last day. They got out early and our neighborhood buys ice cream bars for the last day. They love it.

Now that school is out Cierra has been doing track meets down at Sparks Stadium. She does the softball throw, 100 meter, 200 meter and the long jump. She is improving and loves to be there with her friends. She has placed all 4 times in the ball throw. Once she trains a little more, she will get faster and will get some more ribbons.

Kaylee had her end of the year choir concert. Sean was out of town, but I took the kids and my mom came. Also her dad and Stacy were there too. Kaylee has a beautiful voice. I can't wait for her to stop being so shy so she can share her talent.

A ton more had been going on, but that is the tip of the iceberg!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Newport Marathon 2012-part 1

Newport Marathon June 2, 2012

A few weeks ago I traveled to Newport Oregon with my friend, Anna to run the Newport Marathon. Anna was kind enough to go with me(even though she was 7 months pregnant) because Sean was out of town for work!(the story of our life lately but that is a different post) My running partner and good friend Jenny and her husband Mark met us there. We went to a great little hole in the wall restaurant that served this yummy food. We carb loaded and then went to our hotel room to get a good nights rest. Later that evening Marschell got into town with her husband Paul and a good supportive friend, Sonja. It was great to have her there. She helped me get through that last 1/4 mile along with Anna!

Jenny and I before we started the race. It was pretty dreary and the rain was starting but it was better than being hot so we will take it.

We had a goal of 4:30 to finish this marathon, Being that it was my 4th marathon, I thought that was obtainable. Well, I thought wrong. I should have took into account that my training wasn't what it was for the last 3. I have Planters Facitis and my feet were a bit sore. We didn't train like I had in the past and I just overall felt nauseous. I will just chalk this one up to a bad marathon and move on. I don't get too fixated with my time. My ultimate goal is to finish and finish, I did! My time was 5:05. My slowest one yet but that is OK. I'm putting it behind me and gearing up for the next one when I will hopefully be able to hit 4:30.

We finished with a smile on our face! That is until I stopped after we crossed the finish line and I almost went down but that was only because I got really dizzy. I was fine a few minutes later. Glad I had this experience and I can't wait for the next one. My goal is to run 10 by the time I'm 40, so we will see if I make it. I don't think I will do a full again until next year. My feet need to heal. I will still continue to run. I have two more half's this year and I'm looking forward to them!:)

Anna and I did a little exploring when the race was over. We visited the lighthouse again and then we headed back home so I could see Sean for a few hours before he flew out again for work. It was a fun 36 hours and great friends to enjoy it with.

I feel so blessed that I can do these things. I have an amazing supportive family and a body that allows me to do it. I am so grateful for that!

(Once I get more pictures from Jenny there will be a part-2)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Cinco De Mayo Half Marathon

This was my 3rd time doing the Cinco De Mayo Half Marathon. It is put on my a friend's brother. He does a great job and it had really grown in the last 3 years. This year their was almost 1000 runners. This is one of my favorite things to do if you haven't already figured that out. This race will complete my 12th half marathon and I'm going strong!

Tamme, Lisa, Tasha, Me, Kirsten

Love this girl! She is so much fun and always makes me laugh! Looking forward to many more races with you Kirsten!

My official time was 2:04. Not my fastest but still a few race.

My running partner and friend Jenny! She was injured during this race and I am sad to run without her this week. I miss her. I know I will especially on Thursday when I have a 20 mile run to complete.

well that is all! I need to go running................................

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

When life hands the Elwell Family Lemons, we make Lemonade!

I'm not going to lie, 2012 has been one hard year! I think everything that could go wrong, did!! Let's just say we rarely get sick. Seriously, we are never sick. This year the kids have all been sick a few times. Brooke even had a ruptured ear drum. While I haven't been sick, I had a nasty case of planters facitis. I have since been able to control it by doing a lot of stretching and wearing supportive shoes but it was not fun to deal with while I'm training for my marathon. The other things, just to name a few was our garage door breaking, our furnace going out, and a major leak in our ceiling. Fortunately all these things were able to be fixed. We are back to living in a fully functionable house again. The big kicker was when Sean found out that his company was moving his plant to Ohio and unless he wanted to move, he would be out of a job. We went for 3 months not knowing and then knowing and then not knowing what we would do. 4 days before he was to be laid off someone in the company resigned and a traveling position opened up for Sean. The job is amazing and Sean will be able to travel the world. The only down side is, he is going to be gone ALOT! We are only into week one and I already miss him like crazy but we are slowly adjusting. The upside is that I better get my passport so I can do some traveling with him. I just may get to see some places I would have never seen before this job came available. So I think this quote fits our family perfectly right now. I know I am blessed and watched over. I always had faith (thanks to Sean for helping me with that) that things would work out. It is just hard to see the big picture. I see the big picture right now and I am thanking my Heavenly Father for blessing my life more than I could ever imagine.

I love this little girl!

How could you not love this little girl? I was blessed the day I had her. Sean and I probably spoil her
a little too much, but she is just too cute. Everything from her little voice to her missing front tooth. Sean and I(mostly me) will lay with Brooke every night right after she is done reading. She falls asleep within a few minutes and I love it. Don't get me wrong, all my other kids were spoiled too, but she is the baby so her spoiling is just going to last a little longer than the others did!

Wenatchee Half Marathon and Girl's Weekend!

We had the best time ever in Wenatchee this year! This was my 2nd year and it is definitely one of my favorites. A few things that were different from last years was my parents and my sister did their first ever half marathon. My parents walked it right around 4 hours and Mindy did a 3:09. They did great and I was so glad I could be there like they have been for me.

My pictures got all jumbled up but this was Mindy coming in to the finish!

Tiff and I walked back to meet Mindy so we were finishing the last mile with her.

This was me at the start. I looked happy and ready to go. Too bad I tanked and barely finished. My finish time was 2:22. Jenny, my running partner came in at 2:01. I should have been with her but this run was awful for me. Oh well, I will have many more!(I have another half in 3 days!)