Portland Marathon (10/4/15)

In case you haven't heard, Brad ran the Portland Marathon in October!!! It was his third 26.2... now we're tied!

Instead of leaving these pictures on the camera... let's share!

Race expo Saturday at the downtown Hilton:

I love how they dress up the town:

Early, early Sunday morning - with runner-friend, Dave:

Time for me to jump out of the corral and head to the starting line. One last picture and a good luck hug:

Here comes Brad's "B" corral:

Brad was on the other side of the crowd, but I snapped a pic of Dave as he zoomed past:

And Dave again, a couple miles in:

Look at that gorgeous sunrise!

Here comes Brad!!

That point is a big loop, and while we waited for Brad to make his way around, the leaders flew down the hill! The guy in white compression socks is Chris, a co-worker from Tigard High School:

Go, Chris, go!!

There's Dave!

Brad coming down the hill:

Later that morning - right after the fullers split from the halfers:

Still looking strong!

Mom, Dad, Eryn and I were driving like mad to get to different points on the course. While in transit, we spotted this beauty parked in The Pearl. Pretty!

Remember in June when I ran a virtual 5K to raise money for a running chair for a local gal? Well, Andie was there - in her new chair!!!!

That guy volunteered to push her the whole way. Seriously amazing! And Andie was all smiles the whole time.

Coming off the St. Johns Bridge:

Andie zooming past on Willamette:

And here comes Brad!

He was starting to fade at this point. He handed me his empty water belt, and I ran a short distance by his side, checking in and offering a little encouragement.

We drove back across the river to make sure and see him at the finish. Here comes Andie down the home stretch:

The fat lady was singing!

And there's Brad!

Working hard to finish strong:

Then he disappeared around the corner and into the finishers' area to rest and refuel. While we waited, we spotted Lauree, who sang in our wedding!

He finally emerged, looking tired but so satisfied:

So proud!!!!

Former student, Lindsey, ran her first half!

Support/cheer squad!

The salty aftermath:

Refueling at Native Foods. A woman in the next table (not pictured) was also wearing her finisher shirt. Must have been the place to go for lunch!

What an amazing accomplishment!! Congrats, Brad :)

Photos: Barrier Peak/Tamanos Mountain (8/16/15)

Back in August, we bagged a couple new peaks in Rainier National Park. I shared the photos from my point-and-shoot, but Brad's DSLR pics sat on our computer. Because he's always very picky about what he thinks are the best photos, I kept waiting for him to sort and upload. I'm tired of waiting, so here are some highlights that I think are worth sharing.

(You can find more of the trip report HERE)

Arriving Saturday morning at Owyhigh Lakes:

Our makeshift campsite: 

Sunday morning's view of Tamanos from our campsite: 

Rainier: 

Tamanos Mountain from Barrier Peak: 

Mount Adams from Barrier Peak: 

Barrier Peak summit: 

Owyhigh Lakes and Tamanos Mountain: 

Potato chips taste the best on a climb! 

Tamanos Mountain approach: 

Rainier from the saddle: 

Looking back at Barrier Peak from Tamanos Summit: 

Back down at Owyhigh Lakes: 

 That was a tough, beautiful climb! :)

Rare handbell concert

Apparently it's all my fault!

We were having lunch with friends awhile back when Karen, who coordinates music at her church, mentioned something about the NFC handbell choir doing a Christmas concert. I guess I said it sounded like a good idea, because she ran with it - and actually made it happen!

Our group has been a part of several off-site events over the years, but always just a small part of something bigger. This time, it was just us... for an hour of music! We decided that was a little too much for us to handle on our own and invited the Newberg Brass to share the hour. To our relief, they agreed!

So we pulled out a bunch of Christmas music, along with a standard NFC handbell favorite that we can almost play with our eyes closed, and went to work. With just three weeks to rehearse - and three subs! - we polished as best we could, held our breath and went for it.

What we ended up with was a great, really fun evening of bells and brass!

People packed the small sanctuary and seemed to genuinely enjoy our offering. And it was fun to get applause recognition for our hard work - something we don't often get at our home church since we're not a clapping kind of congregation.

I think we all felt a bit under prepared going into the evening, but in the end, it was a great time! I'm so glad we were able to be a part of the good cause of collecting food for those less fortunate and offering some Christmas music to the community :)

No. 38

Another Joan Hess novel: The Maggody Militia. 

A militia comes to the small town to recruit new members and practice maneuvers on some rural property. It was a light story, but with the current political climate with guns and genocidal rhetoric, it was a bit less light - a little too real.

:)