Last Sunday marked Juli’s second triumphant 1/2 marathon finish. This time in Dallas, the 13.1 mile course ran from City Hall, up and around to Southern Methodist University and back down and around to Fair Park.

Juli was shooting for a run time of 2 hours and 15 minutes but actually finished with a time of 2 hours and 7 minutes, a full 8 minutes ahead of schedule!

You can view additional photos of Juli’s marathon run, as well as the rest of our trip, on Facebook.

Last Friday marked the beginning of our annual trip to Monarch, CO for three full days of excellent snowboarding at Monarch Mountain and incredible hospitality from Waunita Hot Springs Ranch.

Kicking-off the trip, Friday morning was spent shopping for food and supplies to feed 35 people for the next 3 days. After dropping a bundle of cash at Sam’s Club, I headed home to organize and pack everything up. It took 15 cases of drinks, over 200 sandwiches and countless snacks to ensure we had a well fed group. Departing from Wichita at 4:30 that evening, the bus drove all night, ensuring our arrival at Waunita’s around 4am Saturday morning. After some room assignments and a short nap, the group was set to go.

The next three days (Saturday – Monday) were spent eating, swimming, relaxing and, of course, snowboarding in an incredible amount of powdery goodness. To everyone’s delight, there were no serious injuries, just minor aches and pains. Everyone seemed to have an great time and I know Juli, Mikayla and I are already looking forward to next year.

Above are some photos of the trip. Enjoy!
Want to see more photos, check out the photos from Amy’s Monarch Ski Trip 2010 set on Flickr.

Since posting photos from our trip to Denver at the beginning of January, it seems like the days and weeks have flown past. Over the past couple weeks a few things have happened that are note worthy:

Weekend Visitors
During the first week of January, Bryce and Connor came over for the weekend while Stacy and Chris went with Jodi and Justin to Mexico (yeah, boring I know). Amongst the great times between cousins, some of my favorite included playing Wii with the boys. It’s hard to beat Super Mario Brothers on a gaming system.

Basement Furniture
We recently purchased a coffee table and a couple of end tables for the basement. Slowly, we are finishing off the living space down there. Our next step is a coat of fresh paint all over the basement walls, some lamps and some wall art. In good time, we’ll be done.

New Bed for Kennedi
In addition to new tables in the basement, we also bought Kennedi a full-sized bed. Over the past year she has outgrown her toddler bed. Since her toddler bed/crib converts to a headboard, we decided to get her a real mattress. The first night in her bed was quite a site. Seeing her in her new bed was like seeing a midget in a king-sized bed.

Birthday Party for Mom
Last weekend we celebrated Mom’s 65th birthday with a party at Calvin and Polly’s house. In addition to Mom’s birthday, we also celebrated Calvin’s 79th birthday. We all headed over to Calvin and Polly’s for a nice lunch and a time for catching up. From the sounds of it, we can look forward to future co-birthday parties at the McMillan’s house. Happy Birthday, Mom and Calvin!

Weeks to Come
In the weeks to come, we have plans to visit Monarch, Colorado for some snowboarding as well as a trip to Dallas for Juli’s second half marathon. Both adventures should make for a great time. You can bet that photos will be coming of these two trips shortly after our returns.

Last Sunday we packed up the Pilot and headed West to Denver for a few days to visit The Felixes. Among the multiple activities we took part in the most enjoyable was simply sitting back and watching the kids play. Here’s our pictorial story.

Just days after the San Antonio marathon was over, Juli started contemplating the Dallas Rock N’ Roll marathon on March 14, 2010. With some friendly pushing from her running buddies and a thumbs-up from me, her mind was made up. As of last night Juli has officially registered for the Dallas half-marathon.

Joining her on her trip to Dallas will be a handful of her running buddies and myself (no, I’m not running the marathon…or the half-marathon…but will be having a good time cheering her on from the sidelines). Our plan is to drive down, hang out and have a good time. More info and details will come as the race draws nearer.

Any volunteers who would like to hang out with three precious children for a few days in mid March?

Mikayla playing basketball on Saturday. They had two games. The first game they won by 1 point. The second game they were stomped on by the opposing team. They still had fun though. Here she is playing guard and showing the other team whose house they’re in.

There are still a few games left in the season. Check out her basketball schedule for dates and times.

Juli and Stacy finished their half marathon in San Antonio about two hours ago. They both did a great job and are glad to be done. In the photo above they are holding up their medals and showing off how awesome they are.

Juli finished the run with a total time of 2 hours 25 minutes 14 minutes and 33 seconds (Juli informed me she had to take an 11 minutes break). Stacy came in just behind JJ but I’m unsure of her total time at this point (but I’m sure it was awesome). Great job ladies, it looks like you are having a great time. Can’t wait to see you back in the ICT.

Want to share your congratulations with them, share your comment and let them know.

November 1st marked the beginning of the annual Beard Contest at work. Marking its 3rd annual debut, this year brings new hope for many and new ideas for others. Below is my daily beard photo journal. Updates to the photos will be made on a fairly regular basis. Check back in a few days to see how the beard has progressed.