Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Correspondence Between Two Distinct (well, kinda) Lands

On November 25th, Sir Henry Livingston wrote to Martinology the following request: "Excuse me, kind sirs, I am penning this letter from Antarctica, the land of endless winter, where the flakes of snow never cease. My ancestors, the pilgrims, arrived on your lands with tales of deep yellow and red autumn leaves, fields of pumpkins, and corn stalks dotting the landscape, wild turkeys skipping across roads and fields during this season of yours. Would you be kind enough to post glimpses of the delightful descriptions that my ancestors left behind to us of your so-called Thanksgiving holiday! Thank you, so very much!"

On November 25th, Martinology wrote to Sir Henry Livingston the following sentence: "Here you go buddy, we're over here dreaming of a white Thanksgiving. How's the skiing in Antarctica? Not bad over here. Some friends gave us a broken snow-blower yesterday that we can keep if we get it running. Last night we slid into a ditch, wrecker pulled us out, and now the car is parked just fine in our garage. Baby Elijah is going great, touched snow yesterday for the first time and cried. He cried, ok? HE CRIED! And I'm cr...(sniff) WHY do we have to get snow blizzards in NOVEMBER! WHY?! Well, enjoy the pictures of our front and back yards. Have a Merry Thanksgiving."













Thursday, October 30, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIJAH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! - 10.28.08




Game plan:
Heidi = Food A+
Christian = Game A+
Melanie = Decoration A+
....mission accomplished!







I was there in an instant, the softest bear I've ever taken down. No bear is going to mess around with my boy. Ok, ok....Elijah took him down himself. (Great gift from grandma and grandpa Towar!)



Simply called, "The Fishing Game," it was a hit as they threw their line over the side of the "boat" and caught bags filled with goodies! (Goodies provided by Melanie!)





First one to get a good handle on the cake!







Toys, toys, and more toys, very little clothing, his kind of birthday party!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Special Visit from Tennessee

Christian's parents had an opportunity to spent a weekend with us in Cadillac, MI!


Great smile! This made my mom's day when she herself took this picture and made she we all knew she did!


Elijah with Lelo!


Sabbath afternoon outdoors! (Longest day of the week for Elijah! It shows!)





Cool walk in the Martin Park with our Fall Boy.


A rest on Abuela's shoulder.... nothing quite like it.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Wait 'til you hear my Fish Story....

The following pictures are approved by the FAMA as being genuine and authentic. Notation #3456835









Tuesday, October 21, 2008

One Long Victory Lap

With my final meal at the Pasta Bowl on Saturday night, I went to bed with the alarm set for 4:45 a.m. The long awaited Chicago Marathon would begin with the rising of sun.



Surrounded by flashes and personal questions, I had a press conference with my fan club of 6. I consumed my last Power Gel before the gun and quickly joined 33,033 other runners.





Pace. Pace. Pace. I ran with the 9 minute mile pace I trained with and despite temperatures rising into the 80s, the race did not suffer the same heat-related problems it did a year ago.







After turning onto Columbus Dr. for the final stretch and seeing the FINISH banner, my watch read 3:56:01. My goal of under-4 was very attainable! With legs drained and toes numb (literally), I hit the wall at 25 miles, but my brain was determined to finish.



45,000 registered - 33,033 started - 31,401 finished and I was officially 6061 overall with a finish time of 3:58:21!



Very few things in life beat ice bags on sore legs and a cool mist sprayed through huge fans from fire trucks.



A finishers medal for a marathon now hangs on my medal tree (more on that later). All these things only point forward to the imperishable reward that will be given to those who will love His appearing on the last day!

Thanks for your prayers! They were answered. Now I'm just searching for my next victim.... another 26.2 mile route.