I Really Suck At This!

No excuses, no lies.  I just suck at blogging.  I really do have the best of intentions to keep this thing up to date, but I obviously don't do it.  Oh well.  Better late than never!

What's happened in the last five months???  Well, Cole turned 12 and started 7th grade.  So, I have a kid in Jr. High and High School!  Ugh!  Makayla started her Junior year of high school.  And turned 16... and got her driver's license.  I haven't decided yet if that's a good thing or bad thing - good when I don't have to drive her to work or I need something from the store and send her instead!  Bad when it's late and I worry about her driving home, and every time I hear sirens nearby and worry she's been in an accident, etc, etc, etc...

We moved!  Yep - that was unexpected!  I'm blaming my parents.  See, they moved (finally) back down here from Prescott.  And while I was doing the final walkthrough with my Mom, one thing lead to another and the next thing I know, the realtor is showing me houses!!  So, we bought a smaller house on an acre of land!  Jon is so excited to not have an HOA and to be able to build his shop someday soon!

I am in full training mode for a half marathon in January.  And funny enough - I started another blog about running, which I am much better about keeping up with!  This weekend I conquered six miles, so I'm excited to be approaching the halfway mark!  Next week Jon and I are running a 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning!  That will be my first "race" and I'm pretty excited!

I also cannot believe that it's almost Thanksgiving.  And almost December!  Seriously, where did this year go?  It's been a rough and interesting year for sure, but man, did it fly by!  Here's looking forward to 2014 and hoping it's a much happier year with much less loss and heartache.

~ Courtney

ALS Still Sucks and Other Random Thoughts...

My last post was about Gary, and how he was my hero for battling ALS.  Well, the battle ended earlier this year, which sucks for those of us left behind missing him, but I know it's better for him to be free now.  Not trapped in a body that refuses to work.  We love you and miss you, Gary.  And we won't stop serving in your honor in any way we can to continue to help those that continue to deal with ALS until there's a cure.  So suck it, ALS, we're not going anywhere.

I cannot believe it's already June.  I cannot believe we've lost two people we love so dearly already this year.  Neither was unexpected, but neither was easy either.  God not only took Gary home, but also Jon's Grandma, Joan.  I'm not sure our family will ever quite be the same...

My family is also dealing with Alzheimer's now - and finding out what a wicked and heartbreaking disease that is.  I wish the brilliant minds out there would quit spending time developing useless crap like Google glasses and would focus on cures for diseases instead...

Cole will be starting 7th grade in August, and Makayla will be a Junior!  Boy, am I starting to feel old!  Makayla is driving with her permit now and working part time.  Cole is still in to football and video games.  I've got some pretty terrific kids!

Jon and I have also taken up running - slowly but surely I'm building up my endurance, and my goal is to run a half marathon in October.  If that doesn't work out, we'll for sure be doing the PF Chang's Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon in January.  I've started another blog devoted just to my running adventures and random thoughts if you want to check it out: http://courtsadventuresinrunning.blogspot.com/

I think I've done enough rambling for now!

~ Courtney

ALS Can Suck It!!!

Gary is my hero!  And ALS can suck it!

Saturday was our second annual Fred Walks West to Defeat ALS walk with the ALSA and everyone turned out in full force and raised thousands of dollars in support of this amazing organization that has done so much already to help Gary and Dawn.

I am so glad that we can take part in such a great fundraising event and for such great people!  I walk because I can, and because Gary can't.  But that didn't stop him from completing the walk with us - so suck it ALS!  And I'm so proud of you Gary!  Love you!

~ Courtney

So, What Have We Been Up To???

Well, I've done it again.  8 months and no posts!! Oh well, I never said I was good at this.  If you want the full story all of the time, follow me on Facebook :)

So, 2012 has been full of fun adventures:

San Francisco

Palm Springs

Skydiving

Campland

Cardinals Training Camp

Las Vegas

Sedona

And Jon's Gladiator Rock'n Run

It's been an amazing year so far, and it's only October!!!  We are truly blessed!  Love to you all!

~ Courtney

Where does a year go?

A year.  365 days.  8,760 hours.  Seems like a long time, but it goes by so fast.  And here I am, asking myself, "Has it been a year already?"

Last night I went out with several of the women in my family to celebrate my uncle's birthday.  Next week will be one year since he passed away.  Has it been a year already?

Sunday during the Super Bowl pre-game I watched the incredible story about Steve Gleason and his diagnosis last year of having ALS.  This brought me to tears as I thought of our dear friend Gary, and how next month will be one year since his diagnosis with ALS.  Has it been a year already?

I miss my uncle so much - I think of him almost every day, and of course wish I could have said goodbye and tell him how much I love him.  I cannot believe that he's been gone for a year.  It doesn't seem possible.  It still doesn't quite seem real... and his death was so unexpected.  No terminal illness looming in the background - no "time" to say goodbye and I love you.  He's just gone.

And Gary has ALS and is fighting for his life - dealing with a horrible disease that's crippling his body and making the simplest of tasks a struggle.  It reminds me that life is short and precious.  It doesn't go on forever, and for some, it will end sooner than for others.  We have no idea how much longer Gary has to live - it's one of the cruelties of this horrible disease - no cure, no common pattern of progression, no common life expectancy.  I hope all of his family and friends are taking the precious time they have left to spend with him and love him.  Because soon we'll be asking again...

Has it really been a year?  And have I done all that I could to show those around me how much I love them and how much they mean to me?  Or have I been wrapped up in work and social activities and day to day life, and continued to neglect what a year ago I swore I wouldn't?  I know my answer to that question.

What's your answer?  

Life moves on even if we aren't ready...

Well, another school year has started, and my babies aren't babies any more.  Cole started 5th grade this year, and Makayla is in HIGH SCHOOL!  What!?!  I'm pretty sure I wasn't ready for that, but as the title of this post says, life moves on even if we aren't ready.  And Makayla turns 14 today!  Happy Birthday to Makayla!  The kids pictures from the first day of school are below.

Cole loves his teacher and is joining the school band!  He'll be playing the trombone... same as his dad when he was in his grade school band!  I'm so proud of him for wanting to try something new.  And this will also help keep him motivated to keep his grades up - double bonus for me!

Makayla started Willow Canyon High School this year - I cannot believe I have a kid in high school.  I'm getting old - but that means the rest of you are too :P  She's taking dance and concert choir - one of which is new for her, and I'm excited to see her try new things as well!  She's also joined Key Club already and will be doing community service throughout the year - not too shabby!

All in all, we are blessed with what we have, and how great the kids are doing.  Even when times get tough I'm reminded to keep things in "perspective" - thanks Elyse.  Life is good, and I need to remember that even on my bad days!  Love to you all!

~ Courtney

Mother's Day Pictures

So, for Mother's Day this year, we decided to try to get all of my Grandma's Great Grandkids together for pictures, in hopes of capturing at least one (just one) nice photo to frame for her.  Apparently that was too much to ask... but Scott and I were able to take some beautiful photos anyway:

Seriously???

I can't believe that I really haven't updated our blog since 2009... seriously???  As Makayla would say, "Fail."

Well, since it's been at least a year and a half since the last update, of course many things have changed!  The kids are older, and so am I.  Makayla will graduate 8th grade in few short weeks, she has "retired" from go-kart racing, and she is SO excited for high school.  I, of course, am freaking out - how can I have a kid old enough to go to high school?!  Cole is testing my nerves daily, and apparently going to major in video games in college, so he's getting a head start on that now...

Jon continues to race when time and money allow.  He's loving racing a shifter kart and when he doesn't beat himself, he doesn't do half bad!  Here are some recent pics... and again I promise to keep up with this...

Love, Courtney

Family Day in Pinewood - 2009

We got to spend a beautiful day in the pines with almost the entire family last weekend! It was good weather, good company, good food and a good time!

1st Day of School - 2009

Well, the 2009-2010 school year started officially yesterday! Makayla is in 7th grade this year, and Cole is in 3rd! I am so proud of both of my kids - they are truly great kids!