Merry Christmas 2010

This Christmas like every year was busy with traveling to all the different Family Christmas's. The snowy weather slowed us down a bit but didn't put a damper on our holiday plans.

Mitch, Adrian, and I's Family X-mas

Pharaoh with his new catnip toy

Adrian just un-wrapping her art station...now we need to buy a bunch of supplies.

Santa delivered this neat toy!

Christmas Eve we traveled back to Rockford and tried sledding for the 1st time this year.

Adrian & Cousin Olivia

Up North has way more snow...we are lucky we haven't gotten really hit hard yet.

Grandpa Harden, Uncle Tony, Cousin Chris, Daddy & Adrian

Grandma Sinnwell playing with the new Kitchen

Bon Appetite!!

The Harden Christmas Party!

The Harden 2010 Ping-Pong Tourn...with Mitch the Victorious Winner!!

Portland, Oregon

Last week I got the opportunity to travel to Portland, OR for the first time. Monday & Friday were my travels days but I conducted training Tues. & Thursday so I go to do something each afternoon/evening and Wednesday took a half day to do some sight seeing as well. I very much missed Mitch and little miss Adrian but they got to spend some good quality time with just the two of them together.

Multnomah Falls, Portland OR

I was quite impressed with the job my crappy Kodak camera did. It looks like it took pretty good scenic pics, however moving pics of Adrian are a whole different story.

These were stairs that lead up to a bride close to the falls. Yes, it is the rainy season in Oregon.
This could be a post card!!!

You can see the bridge we hiked to which was very wet. There was a lot of mist coming off the falls. I was afraid all of my pics would have water spots.

Bryan Slauson & I on the bridge. Bryan is another trainer in the NSS Portland location. He took me to all the sight seeing spots, which was great.

Hug Pointe, OR...The Pacific Coast!!

Mommy missing her little girl!

If anyone loves the movie "The Goonies" this was taken at Cannon Beach which is were the rocks are in the movie.

Trick or Treat

Here are some pics from Halloween weekend. We had perfect weather for a night of trick or treating. Adrian enjoyed it more this year, she is a collector so she likes getting her candy and putting it in her bag. She said thank-you at every house and Trick or Treat at about half.

We got a hungry Bee on the loose!

Aunt Jamie and Trice came with us so Adrian had some company. Trice was a shark for Halloween. Next year we will have to cordinate their costumes. Maybe Trice can be a horse and Adrian a little cow girl :)

The Big Two!!!

Last Friday, Oct. 22nd Adrian turned officially two at 7:01pm. She has changed so much from her 1 yr birthday.

This was taken back in Rockford at Grandpa & Grandma Harden's House.

Someone is excited to watch the Hawks play.

The family on pins and needles watching the Iowa game.


Adrian's Big Bird & Elmo cake, which she loved. Adrian even got a little finger poke into the frosting before the party :)

Enjoying those birthday cards!

The birthday girl decided to use one of her gifts as a chair as she opened her next card :)

Daddy giving Adrian's new baby girl a big ole kiss!

Adrian's 2 year stats from her Monday appt.

Height: 36 inches 90%

Weight: 30 lbs. 85%

Head: 18.75 inches 55%

Mommy the Marathoner!

26.3 Would be Crazy!!

26.2 miles that's ok, but 26.3 that would be crazy to run :) Well I am officially a marathoner now that I have completed my 1st marathon. I competed in the IMT Des Moines Marathon on Oct. 17th. I could not of asked for better weather it was absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for all the support it was great seeing Daddy, Adrian, and Grandma Harden in Drake Stadium as I ran around the blue track. Also Amanda & Scott Eichmeier were there to cheer me on.

It felt really good to physically be able to run close to 4 hours straight, it is a feeling I don't want to lose, so I think that means I am officially hooked :)

Below is a mixture of professional pics from the race and snap shots from Kate Fischer

(She took pics while holding signs, cheering, and ringing a bell, thank u for multi-tasking!)

A big thanks to the best sister ever and a great friend Kate Fischer who traveled to a total of 3 different stops to give me water, food, cheers, and the occasional Ibuprofen.

This was the 1st spot Jamie and Kate were waiting, mile 4. Only 22 more miles to go! It is weird how consistent everyone is. The man ahead of me in the yellow and the man behind me in the batman shirt we all ran close to each other and in that order through the whole race.

Mile marker 24 out at Gray's Lake. I was hurting at this point.

There were water stations every 2 miles, but the bottled water was nice to have with just 2 miles left.

If anyone is considering doing a marathon Des Moines put on a very organized, efficient, beautiful run. I would do it again next year!

Finished in 3 hours 53 minutes!

Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the lack of blogging, last week was our first full week back in the house with most the repairs actually done. Some of you may not know in addition to our water damage claim to our basement in August we also had a small electrical fire nine days later. Yes, we have had a string of bad luck. Also had to pay 1k for a new water heater, but things can only go up from here :)

On top of all of the home issues we have been dealing with I am in the midst of training for my 1st marathon on Oct. 17th in Des Moines. It is something I wanted to accomplish before I turn 30 and with my 29th birthday fast approaching I thought I better go for it this year. Training hasn't been easy, I have calluses, a black toe nail, sore legs & sore hips, but hopefully it will all be worth it come Oct. 17th. I ran my longest run ever on Sunday, took me 3 hours in the rain/mist to run 20 miles. I can barley walk today but it gives me hope I can add on another 6.2 miles and deal with hills on the actual marathon route. If anyone wants to come out and watch the run let me know, I would love the cheers and support. I will need it :)

This is a pic of our living room which is where the firefighters cut 2 holes in our ceiling to take out the hot wire and insulation is all over everything. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of weeks, which sounds fun but not with a toddler that wants a whole house to run around in. It is nice being back in the house and able to use the main floor, next we need to get working on getting drywall up on all the walls in the basement and carpet ordered so we can start utilizing the basement space again.

Here's Little Miss Hollywood, she loves wearing her sunglasses everywhere and playing with Mitch's old cell phone.

Adrian was invited to her friend Gracin's 2 yr Birthday party on Sunday. Little girls love their babies!

Adrian***Gracin***Claire