Football and Turkey - You would think it was fall.

In all of our good fortune, cousin Clinton Stickel flew in for a short visit. He is a Pilot for United Express and had a 16 hr layover in Peoria of all places. We enjoyed getting to see him, and the girls were so excited to spend time with their cousin. Clint treated us to our 1st game of football at the new house. Marina went out to see the construction with Clint and Don, and packed the football. She is just like her mom - always thinking and planning.


As we drove out of the neighborhood, we got to see some wild turkeys in the neighbor's yard.

New Japanese Sports

I became very involved in Japanese sports during my trip. The 4:00 A.M. SUMO wrestling during my sleepless jet-lag nights got me started. This is one I think we should adopt in the U.S.

What I learned in Japan

Everyone keeps asking me if Japan is so much more technologically advanced than we are! Here is what I learned.
http://www.1-click.jp

Quick & fun trip to MI

We planned this 4th of July trip to Amanda and Jason's a long time ago. Long before we moved, even before Hudson was born and we had no clue we were moving. We were planning it around the 5k in Frankenmuth - a race that Amanda and Jason had done before and we wanted to try out. It was a rainy night and morning before the race...but it let up in time for us to not have rain as an excuse to back out of the race!

Steve and Lornagail (Amanda's parents) took care of all 6 kids during the race. I'm sure they were happy to see "Speedy Jason" cross that finish line in record time to give them a hand.


Here is Amanda and I really talking over the nearly impossible feat of getting in shape and taking care of 3 kids. If anyone has any suggestions we'd love to hear them.

Anna is enjoying baby Hudson. He's 3 months older than their baby Carter. Anna and Madison are totally in love with babies.
Both Marina and Paige couldn't get enough of the Dora Jeep and had a hard time taking turns. I thought this picture of Paige was so cute to put in especially before the next one.
Oh man....not to many girly driving comments please!

It was such a nice 4th of July. Clearly ALL the kids loved having a chance to play a little!

Caterpillar Tech Center Open House

This picture off the camera phone turned out pretty good!

Sunday we got to go to an open house at Don's work (Caterpillar). It is embarrassing to admit that we forgot our camera, but fortunately we made the highlight reel so I could highjack a picture. The girls enjoyed jumping in the big inflatable toys, and sliding down the big inflatable slide. I am concerned for my next paycheck because Marina's throwing skills dunked our director in the dunk tank . Another highlight was when the bluegrass players let the girls come up and learn how to play "twinkle-twinkle" on the hammer dulcimer. The entire thing was great fun because they rarely open the door to visitors due to the top-secret nature of some of the work.

MOP and LOP

The peloton - I was only part of it for about 10 miles

Don finishing his race with style - just beating the womens Cat 1 peloton which started 5 minutes after him.

It is easy to find motivation when you have the best cheering squad in town!

Thanks to the Vails for coming out both nights to cheer


Since joining the cycling world, I have always been a MOP (middle of the pack) or a LOP (last of the pack), but I have never been dead last.....but as the adage says - there is a first time for everything. When I signed up for the race (Proctor Cycling Classic), I did not realize that it was a "state championship race". I was SO excited for my 1st ever stage race. That being said, there were cash prizes - even in the cat 5 (beginners category). Friday night was the prologue - a 6K time trial race up a local hill where I firmly established my position as a LOPper (see definition above). However, I was not Dead last....but very close to it. The Saturday race turned out to be even more competitive on 34 miles through central Illinois toughest hills (Yes - there are hills here). I began to get suspicious when I was the only rider at the starting line with hairy legs, and without a sponsored club or team jersey. Many in the beginners class were riding with team colors and on matching bicycles (not your typical cat 5). There was a $700 purse for the best climber (King of the Hill - KOH), which was determined by the 1st person in each category to reach the top of the steepest hill on the course. As all of the teams in the peloton positioned themselves for the KOH prize money - I was quickly dropped. Despite being the 1st person to get last place, it was still an amazing experience. We got to see some of the Pro riders race (teams from all over the U.S. came in to town). The best part of the race was that it was here - in our home town. For Fridays prologue, my warm up consisted of riding from the driveway to the starting line. The way I figure it......there is always next year.

Just leaving the house for the Friday night Prologue

The cutest cheering section on the road

Finishing the Grueling 6K uphill prologue - the final 300M was flat

Rob and the boys coming back from their cheering location. They positioned themselves right at the peak of the toughest section of climbing.

Illinois Farming

From our back porch, we got to witness the wheat harvest! We will miss the "amber waves of grain", but seeing the harvest operation makes it almost worth it. The only dissapointment was the color of the combine.