My Y Tri

Some teachers and I did an indoor triathalon last Saturday morning. It was a blast! I did the swimming part, Kim (teacher across the hall) did the running part and one of the school secretaries (Kathy) did the biking part. Our 2 goals were to survive and have fun, we accomplished both. The other good part was that we didn't even come in dead last in the team division. There was another Lenihan School team, so it was fun to have a little friendly competition. All the proceeds went to provide underpriveldged youth with Y memberships.

Here is a picture of my arm, since they changed the number 3 times it looks like Jack got ahold of the sharpie marker!

lavine family weekend

Last weekend the we had 10 adults stay at our house. It was a great time with plenty of ping pong games, Wii sports, Loaded Questions,"Up the River, Down" (g'pa's favorite) and plenty of grandpa memories. It was wonderful to all be together. Here are some pictures from the weekend...I think they can tell the story better than I can.




We did manage to get a picture of all of us at church (Kate wasn't in it because she had to leave early for work and Eric was in California working!) otherwise we're all there, sorry my picture is a little blurry.

cold, cold, cold!

I thought I was a tough "Minnesotan" but I'm beginning to have my doubts. It has been freezing here! I just keep thinking that before I know it we'll be sitting by the pool wishing it would just cool down! My family is all coming for the weekend to celebrate Grandpa Lavine's life. Laura, Craig and Nora all flew in from various states and Kate, Gary and Linda will head over from cities in Iowa and my dad and brother are due in anytime from Minnesota. They are all staying at our house, so we'll have a full house filled with many laughs I am sure. Everywhere we go Jack is on the hunt for a ball. Last weekend when Linda came we headed to Target where they have those huge,round,red cement decorations and when we got out of the car Jack kept saying, "ball, ball, ball" and I thought he just wanted one until we walked past those things and he was trying to tell me that he found a ball. He also likes to throw the ball off the wall, attempt to kick it around the house and of course make baskets in his little hoop.

Grandpa Lavine

My Grandpa passed away last night at 2:00am, Linda said it was peaceful and he was ready to go. He lived such an amazing life, and I am VERY thankful that he was willing to share so many things with all of us. I don't even know where to start....with many trips to Arizona, building Timbuktu with his own hands, teaching us grandkids how to ski and golf (because those are lifelong sports). He will be truly missed by all. We are so thankful for the many memories he has left us with. I pray that we will use those to get through this time.

Here are some pictures in memory of him:

North Shore Drive

Today we went to the beach in the morning for a little sun, then we headed over to the North Shore as they call it here. It was amazing! Here are some pictures from the journey which describe things better then I could!

Aloha from Hawaii!

Aloha from Hawaii!

The internet in our condo is only in the common area, needless to say I haven’t been sitting down there too often. So I decided that it was time to send out some pictures and up-date on our Hawaii trip.

Steve and I had to leave Marshalltown a day early due to weather, so we stayed at a park and fly hotel in Des Moines right across from the airport. Our flight left on time the next morning, so everything worked out perfectly.

The first day here we visited the beach…..went out to eat, and made a trip to Best Buy. Steve and I forgot to pack our digital camera charger. So now we’re the owners of 2! That’s what happens when you have to pack in a few hours and get things ready to leave town a day early.

For Christmas Eve we went out to eat at this place on the beach and did some shopping. It’s too bad that nothing around here is shut down for the holidays. Poor workers!

Today we went out for breakfast at Lulu’s on the beach (very yummy!) and then hiked up Diamond Head. Tons of stairs…one of the longest 0.8 mile hikes 1 way that I’ve ever been on. Then we drove to another beach called Kailua, which was beautiful but very windy and cold. The drive over on the Pali highway was really neat. We visited the lookout which was VERY windy, as you’ll be able to check out from the picture.



Nels and Steve finished off the day with a little surfing! My dad and I were in charge of taking pictures and my main mission is to read my book and not have to deal with 5th graders or Jack. I took surfing lessons the last time I was here, so if the boys end up renting a board later this week I might have to give it a try. We’ll see what happens.



We’ve had a wonderful time so far, and have tons more things planned that we have to do before the week is over.

Jack is having fun in Iowa and from what we heard today got a ton of presents.

girls night out

On Thursday, the girls from school and I decided that we would treat ourselves to a manicure and a pedicure and a dinner out in Ames. It was SO much fun and a well needed break from the routine of life. Here are some pictures of our adventure. It's such a blessing to work with such fun people.