It's a Girl!

I am an aunt again! Yeah! Inger, Joel, and Tyler had a new addition to their family- a little girl! Her name is Elin Marie and she sounds so precious, I can't wait to meet her! For all the women, she was 7lbs 11.6oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. No pictures yet, so I can't tell you for sure how beautiful she is, but with her parent's (and aunt's) genes, I am sure she is a looker! :)

Proof

See hair, no brush, 'nough said!

In the background on the second picture you can see my son cheering me on in yellow! I am so lucky to have him as a fan. I am not sure if this is before or after he realized that his mom wasn't going to win this race. Also, you can see how the weather was by checking out Daron. He is the guy in red all bundled up next to Justus and sharing an umbrella with my Dad!

Sarcasm and teenage girls

Sarcasm is so hard to read in people, especially in blogs. For those of you that haven't been around me for awhile, I need to remind you that I have a hard time not being sarcastic; some think it is funny, some don't. Anyway, just to clarify for those of you that think I really took time to brush my hair during the triathalon, I was just being sarcastic, joking, kidding, etc. I didn't really stop and brush my hair, although it may have been a good idea after seeing pictures now of Kristin, aka "Drowned Spandex Rat" (that was sarcastic by the way, I am not actually known as a drowned spandex rat, I just was very wet, wearing spandex and looked kind of like a rat).
This post brings up another memory of when I was working at Covenant Harbor with some friends one summer in high school. There were about 6 of us girls and one day we decided to go around and say what we didn't like about each other, great idea right? Anyway, I still remember that besides it ending in tears for all of us, they told me that I joke and say "just kidding" too much. This was eye opening to me, I thought I was really funny. I think I must have been testing out my sarcasm with them and I am sorry I didn't know when to quit. I have to admit I see it in my oldest daughter now, even though I would like to pass the buck and say that she gets this from her dad. I don't know what the moral of the story is, maybe don't be sarcastic unless the other person is too. :)

I actually did it!

So I actually completed a mini triathalon yesterday in Seatlle. It was the Danskin and I think it is supposed to be the largest in the country. There is something like 4000 women and it fills up in matter of 2-3 days! The swim is a 1/2 mile in Lake Washington, then you bike 12 mi. on Lake Wash Blvd and 1-90 across to the end of Mercer Island and back, and you end with a 3 mi. run! I woke up to pouring rain in Seattle! Most would think that is normal, but we don't usually get that much rain in the summer. Anyway, it poured and stopped a little for the half hour before and during the swim, then it started up again just in time for the bike. I was a little nervous riding on the slick tires in the rain. I had been training on a mountain bike, but our cousin-in-law, Steph(thank you!) let me borrow her awesome road bike! I felt like a real biker babe! The ride was fun, especially going on the floating bridge and amongst all the women- everyone was so supportive- especially the supporters on the side. The run was challenging for me since I have never run that far in my life. I know 3 miles isn't much to a lot of you, but I had actually never done that, so I was happy to have ran it in my soggy shoes that really did swoosh! At this time I would like to thank all my fans that came to cheer me on in this weather, these are die hard fans...........Daron, Justus, Greta, Ella, Dad, Brad, Ingrid, Kaia, Lola and the "Biggest Fans Award" goes to my adopted Godparents (really they are Inger's) Tim and Elaine W. for coming not only on the race day, but also the day before thinking that the race was on Sat. ( a certain someone told them that). I do have to tell you that I also was hoping for under 2 hours and I did it in 1:47 min! Yeah! I am already thinking of ways that I can improve my 10+ min. that were in transition. Someone mentioned that I don't need to brush my hair next time, sounds like a good plan! :) I do feel bad about letting my kids down. They really wanted me to "win" even though I kept telling them it wasn't a possibilty. Justus prayed for me the night before that I would win and Greta brought him to his senses after many bikes came in before me and told him, "Sorry Justus, but Mom's not going to win!" The fastest woman came in at 100:31! Amazing!

Tough Girl

So....... we were down at the concert in the park the other night in Poulsbo and it wasn't the most relaxing evening. We had gone two weeks before sans children and it was picturesque. Daron and I brought a picnic, chatted with friends, and enjoyed some mojitos in the summer night. Sound nice? This time, I don't even remember the music! The kids were tired and needed our whole attention; which I mistakenly wasn't giving them. After I shoo-shooed the kids one last time, I hear crying in the background, make that screaming. Anyway, the kids were playing tag at the park and the picture depicts the results of a header to the sidewalk! Needless to say, we turned around and went back home. A few days later, Greta is doing much better now and hoping that she will still have a black eye when she starts school. She wants to scare the boys and show them that she is tough!

Sculpture Park

Last week we took a field trip to the Sculpture Park in Seattle with Ingrid x 2 and their kiddos. The kids had fun running around and then we went to lunch. I am sure the hostess was scared when 3 moms and 7 kids came in. Surprisingly, they still sat us. The B-B's are moving, so it was kind of a good bye playdate; we will be sad to see them go to the East Coast, but wish them luck (or so we tell them!)

Covie Connections

So, the funniest thing happened this week. One of the seven families that are in the adoption program heard I went to North Park and asked if I knew three people. I happened to know all of them and as a matter of fact we found out that we have many people in common and we were even at a mutual friends wedding together in San Fran. Even better, the bride said that this mom and Daron walked down the aisle together! She even remembers Justus as a ring bearer. How funny now that we are 2/7 families adopting from a program in Ghana right now. It will be great to have that connection and keep in touch.

Grandma B's 90-1 Birthday Celebration
The Cousins at American Girl
We love driving in our car for 24 hrs! Let's do it again! We never fight!
Justus's birthday at the farm with cousins
Of course we stopped at Wall Drug on I-90 and found this Jack-a-lope!

Road Trip!

We just got back from our midwest road trip extravaganza! After many hems and hahs from me, I have to admit that I actually had a great time on this Griswald-esque trip. After asking Ella what her favorite memory of the vacation was to get her jr. ranger badge, she said, riding in the car. Mind you (did I actually just say that), she got to play with cousins galore at three seperate family reunions, go to American Girl in Chicago, a hotel with a waterpark, a week long Bible camp with all relatives, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone,....... and Ella's favorite memory was riding in the car. I should have been quicker, but Daron jumped on that and said, "That's great- we will just have to do more car trips!" ugh. We have just realized though that Ella just loves the simple things in life. She was also asked about her favorite animal that she saw at Yellowstone. We all saw a moose, elk, grizzley bear, deer, coyote, bison, marmots, chipmunks, squirrels, and either a wolf or a dog! :) Anyway, as I am sure you have guessed, her favorite animal was the squirrel. I personally liked seeing the bear and the bison!

Expansion

The Jags have decided to further expand our family tree! We are in the process now of adopting from Ghana! This is something that is new to us, and we are so excited to meet who God has in store for us. We have signed up with a very reputable agency in WA that has just opened up a pilot program in Ghana. We are one of 7 families that are going to take part in this. Please keep us in your prayers through the ups and downs of a new program. Oh, by the way, we are hoping to adopt a toddler little boy!