That Boy is a Runnin' Fool

Well, I haven't had a lot of time lately but I wanted to mention that I accomplished a goal this month. It happens on a day to day basis, goal-setting, but this one was a biggie. On August 3rd I overheard a buddy at work talking about how our Chief had challenged him to run 100 miles during the month of August. I asked what the setup was and he said he and the Chief were going to keep track of mileage and do 100 miles total during the month.

I thought about it for a minute, or less, this guy always gives me good ideas. I told him I was in and started that night. Initially I ran 3 miles a night and a couple in the morning through the week, but by the end I was doing 4 1/4 miles a night and finished at a little over 100 miles run that month. I was talking to Desiree about how I used to get a stitch in my side after two minutes of running. I weighed 215 at Graduation in 04 and it took a lot just to finish the 1.5 mile run for the Navy Entry Program.

Ironically, Chief had work responsibilities that kept him off his schedule, and my buddy Lighty got sick and couldn't run for over a week. Neither of them finished. When I was asked, 'Why did you keep going?', I simply said I didn't do it for them. I did it for me. It felt great to get it done, and I really feel proud.

Anyway, the kids are big as fence posts, and twice as smart and Desiree is doing great. And Lighty, the aforementioned buddy, mentioned that we might want to look at the Okinawa Marathon. It is in February, and the 20 week training schedule would start in two weeks to have us ready. I am thinking about it. Love you all, and miss you. Can't wait to be back.

The Slackers

Anyways, sorry we have been such slackers. I still need to figure out how to get the pictures from one computer and put them into this one. Michael is now on graves so life is backwards right now. Some news is that Zachary is 3 now, and doing great with wearing big boy underwear. Yeah!! No more diapers. Also we got a dog named Sheba. The family was PSCing and couldn't take her with them. She is a 5 year old mini dachsund. She was already house trained and kennel trained. She is a very easy first dog. Of course she follows me around like a 2year old child. She is waiting for me by the door even when I take a shower. She is a crazy girl. Now there is some more estrogen in the house. Oh and Michael Jr. was so brave yesterday. He had to get 6 shots for kindergarten. The nurse said he was the best she has seen. He later enjoyed his coconut milkshake from Baskin Robbins. Anyways, thats for now.

Desiree

Brothers

I didn't have to put them up for this. They did it all by themselves. Whenever they fight I know that deep down they love each other.

Michael's 5th Birthday

For Michael's birthday we rented a camper on Whitebeach. We were the only ones there. These are actually rocks not boats.
Michael loves throwing rocks into the water.
Happy birthday honey.

Michael's favorite toy.

Music Men

Botanical Gardens

Superbowl Morning

These are the Steelers pancakes Desiree made for me on Superbowl morning. Aside from how awesome the Steelers were (especially James Harrison and Santonio Holmes) I think the pancakes are the reason the Steelers won. Way to go honey!

Churaumi Aquarium

We went to this amazing aquarium here on Okinawa a few weeks ago. It has the biggest viewing wall in the world, or so we were told. We saw some awesome whale sharks, rays and a cool dolphin show. The kids loved it, as did Desiree and I. Here are some pics.



'Transparent aluminum?!'

Road Sign and the Children's Park at Expo

Okinawa Ocean Expo

Sorry it has been a long time posting anything. Okinawa I think has the largest fish tank, or at least it is one of the top 5. The boys loved seeing the whale shark and I loved the portly fellow. They also had a flower garden where they used flowers to make animals. Pretty awesome.

Boys Bored of Toys

In this video, we did not come up with the idea. They boys did that all on their own.

Christmas 2008

We really enjoyed our Christmas. We videoed but the blog wouldn't take it. Michael was very quiet when he saw the presents but Zachary made some noises then fell down. It was hilarious.
The boys had fun opening the presents and playing. I did nothing that day but watch and play.
The last picture here is when I asked the boys to help me clean up the paper and they stuffed it under their table. It stayed that way for a couple of days. They are so cute.