The Home Stretch

So, all of you by now know that Toby is running for Tribal Council. We have one day until we find out the outcome of this election. We find out tomorrow evening! YIKES! We are both so excited, nervous, anxious...and all of the other emotions that you feel while waiting for something that you have poured heart and soul into! The campaign trail turned out to be a little harder than I think either of us expected. However, it was a great learning experience and I now fully believe that we are not only stronger individuals because of it, our relationship is stronger as well. We have learned to communicate better, to lean on each other when times are hard and most importantly, we learned to cherish time together...of which we didn't have very much of over the past 6 months! We will all cross our fingers and wish him good luck.

I too, had a goal I was working towards over the past 8 months and completed mine August 29th! I ran Hood to Coast. For those of you who haven't heard of this, it is a 196 mile relay race (with 12,000 participants) that you run with 11 team mates. It is the largest relay race in the nation and takes around 30 hours to complete. Starting at Timberline Lodge and ending in Seaside, each team member runs 3 legs ranging from 3-8 miles per leg. My 3 legs equalled 15 miles. I ran a 7.25 mile leg through zig-zag & Welches at around 3:30pm, 3.5 mile leg at 1:45am into Scappoose, and a 4.25 mile leg at 9:30am in Jewel. They were all challenging in different ways (I wondered what the heck I was doing this for while running in pitch black darkness at 2am)and I am proud to have completed them. It forced me to push myself not only physically but mentally as well and I believe it was a good reminder that we can accomplish just about anything we set our minds to. It is very empowering! My sister, Deb, was just one of my team mates and I am so proud of her as well. We had a fun group and I can't wait to do it again....well maybe!

My wish is that the next time I make a post, I will be telling you all that we have a new Tribal Council member and his name is Toby McClary! :)

Summer So Far...

Summer is flying by! As usual, we have stayed extremely busy. We have managed to squeeze in some "us" time a couple of times. We went to Shasta with Deb & Mark and the kids, Toby celebrated his 31st b-day on the 5th of June and I celebrated my 35th on the 18th...that kind of hurts to put in writing! OUCH! We were also able to camp with my family for Jason's b-day(my nephew). It was so much fun and it has been such a long time since a big group of my family have been able to coordinate schedules and spend the weekend together. The weather was beautiful and we had a great camping site. The kids spent the entire weekend playing in the river and we were all able to relax and enjoy each other. The girls spent the day sprawled on lawn chairs soaking up some much needed sun. Sun-tanning is something that my sister's, mom, niece's, and I love to do for down time during campouts. My sister-in-law, Alex fit right in! It was so relaxing and warmed my heart to spend the time with my family. We don't do it often enough! We had many laughs reminiscing by the fire. As most of you who read this know that my parents have been divorced for many years. They put any hard feelings they have aside for their children and talked like old friends. They made it about their children and grandchildren and I commend them for that. It meant so much to us to have them both present.

Landon celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday. He is getting so big and I am so proud of the young adult he has become. He is respectful to adults, he has a great sense of humor (pretty sure he gets that from his mom), he is an awesome artist (OK, I'll give that one to his dad), and he is very intelligent. I couldn't ask for a better son. Yes...I am a proud mama but they make it easy to be!

Here are a couple of photos from our recent events...enjoy!

Baby Aiden

My beautiful niece Tera had her baby boy, Aiden Gould, Wednesday July 1st. He weighed 8pds 15oz (HOLY). We are so proud of you Tera and Brad, you are wonderful parents and we wish you the best on your journey with your beautiful boys!

Girl Time

The last weekend in June, I ventured out on a road trip with 5 other women to stay in Kahneeta for a couple of days for some much needed girl time. We spent 2 days relaxing poolside with cocktails, beers and soaking up some serious sun! Yay...summer has finally arrived!

"I Have A Bone to Pick With You"

I initially began my blog with a promise to keep you all posted on a regular basis...I have failed you, friends and family! I knew that I had slipped when I talked with my sister in Oklahoma and the first thing out of her mouth was "I have a bone to pick with you, Sandra". I knew she meant business when she didn't call me "sa-mans". She went on to tell me that she looks forward to checking in on me and my family through my blogs; which reminded me why I began doing this in the first place, so this one is for you sister, Pam. I love you and hopefully this will pacify you for the time being!

Oh my, where to begin? I see that I haven't posted since February so I will try to start with March activities. Landon & Logan began their baseball season around mid-March and that is now coming to an end. Logan's last game is actually tonight! They were on different teams this year as Landon moved into the Junior league as a 7th grader, which usually meant that they had games on the same day so Toby and I tried to tag-team them. They both continue to amaze me with their athletic skills. Landon doubled as pitcher and 3rd baseman and Logan, pitcher and 2nd baseman. They get the same serious-face when they are pitching and it is probably the only time you won't find Logan smiling. Parents of his teammates all call him Smiley.

Logan turned eleven April 5th and that is something I haven't quite come to terms with yet, but I'm getting there. Cory and I began a new parenting schedule of week on, week off. I love it the week I have them, however, the week without them is heart wrenching. I miss them terribly and think that no mother should EVER be without their child that long. It's like missing your right arm and to be honest, I'm not sure I can do it much longer.

May was an extremely busy month. Toby and I made a road trip to Lake Tahoe for a friends wedding and it is so beautiful there! I told Toby that I wanted to steal their idea and get married there but he didn't like that idea. :( We also used my aunt's vacation home at Lake Shasta with Deb & Mark for the Memorial Day weekend. We all had so much fun swimming and relaxing in the sun...thank you Aunt Carrel! The boys are now officially on summer break. We can't wait to do some camping this summer (I promise there will be posts and pictures).

Toby is still going strong campaigning for Tribal Council. It has been such a time commitment but will be worth it in the end. I can't think of a better candidate. He has so much to offer!

Deb and I are also going strong training for Hood To Coast. We have only two months left and I am confidant we will both do well and have a great time. It is such a rewarding experience and I am proud of how dedicated my sister has been. This is her first time running the race and my second. At completion of my first time, I told myself that I would never do it again. The physical demand on your body is only second to childbirth! Wish us luck!

With that all said, I wish everyone a wonderful, hopefully sunny, summer!

Sandy

It's Been A While...

I just noticed that almost a month has passed since my last post! January flew by, which makes me happy; summer couldn't come fast enough for me. All of you that know me, know that I am a warm weather girl. Although I loved the snow, I was ready to fast forward to Spring & Summer as soon as we rang the new year in. I have been craving the smell of freshly mowed lawns and neighborhood BBQ's. Soon, right?

We have managed to stay busy as usual. I am proud to say that after 4 years of prodding and whining, I have FINALLY turned Toby into a runner! Careful what you wish for...I have created a monster! It is hilarious and I am so proud of him. He has been committed to running at least 5 nights a week, if not 6. He has lost 15pds and is close to catching my speeds! He will end a run and tell me how fast he ran and I make myself go just a little faster. No way will I let him catch me! It's been great to have that support and motivation. I'm a competitive person so it keeps me on track. We also have completely overhauled our diets. I have lost some weight, but I completely relate to the SlimQuick commercial where the guy loses all kinds of weight barely trying and the woman has to work her ass off! That's OK. Our goal is health. The boys join in also! It's been fun and I hope we can stay motivated to continue!

Logan is in the middle of his basketball season. He is such a little stud out on the court. While the boys are athletic and are good at everything they try, basketball is definitely Logan's sport. It is so cute to watch. My brother Miah watched his game last Saturday and couldn't believe how good he was. He was impressed! We just bought a new camcorder and recorded his game last weekend so I will try out my electronic skills and post a clip so you can all witness the next Chris Weber (well, a white version) :)

I am going to end this post with my news that saddens my heart to talk about. My brother Miah and his family decided to take an adventure and move to Lake Havasu, Arizona. As much as I admire him for having the courage to take a leap of faith and do something he has wanted to do for as long as I can remember, I will miss them so much. I love my little Ashlynn and Hayden! I'm starting to get teary eyed so I will end this with a wish for them to be safe and I hope it is all they hope it will be. They deserve it.

Till next time...Sandy

Pictures..

I chose a couple of my favorite pictures from 2008 of the boys. Wish I could post them all! Enjoy..