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Beautiful girls
A romantic return to their honeymoon destination, all eleven of us.
What attitude!
Could there be a cuter set of boys?
2018 and Another Go!
8 years ago
Oct 27, 2010
Post By: Marnie
Post By: Tracey
Iheya Island Moonlight Marathon 2010
Ferry tickets for a car and 5 people: 22,000 yen
Campsite for 3 nights: 3,000 yen (but free for runners)
Food and camping supplies: $150
Marathon Entrance Fee: 5,500 yen
Watching Tom cross the finish line in under four hours: Priceless
Tom is amazing. Truly amazing. I have watched him for the last several months just plow along following a very grueling marathon training schedule. We’d get the kids in bed after a long day and he’d lace up his shoes and head out the door. Every Saturday morning while we all slept he would run, and run and run. It was truly incredible (and exhausting) to watch! He had decided to run the same marathon that we did last year. For many reasons I decided not to it this year which meant we could bring the kids and make a weekend of it!
The race was on Iheya Island, the northern most island in the Okinawa chain. The course covers the perimeter of the entire island, then you cross a bridge and run out a few miles onto a smaller neighboring island. I have looked everywhere to get an online version of the race course but have had no luck. I suppose given that I only saw 5 Americans, two of them being Tom and his friend Scott, I shouldn’t have expected to find much in English! The race course is breathtaking, the weather was cooperative, not too hot or windy, and Tom was great!! His good friend Scott also ran the race. Scott just returned from a 7 month deployemnt to Afghanistan. It was great to spent the weekend with their family. Before the race they have a fitness instructor get up on stage and lead everyone in these great stretches. You can see the whole group behind them. 
Here he is at the start of the race- easy to spot since he’s much taller than everyone else! 
Then we followed the runners to a spot on the course were they actually circle back and cross again at mile 7 so we set up camp cheered on all the runners! We got so excited as we saw Tom approaching, right on schedule. (Again, he looks like a giant next to all the Japanese runners!). 
The kids gave him a high five and he plowed ahead to the nearby water station. After high fiving all the other runners and the 1,200 who ran by for the half marathon we hurried back to the finish line to eat dinner and wait for the runners.
So, I guess I will add a little bit here. The marathon starts at 3 pm as you may know so it is not your early morning cool start. Although, it was pretty ideal conditions for a pretty race. When I passed Tracey and the kids at that first water stop I had just hit 10 K and I was chasing this small little japanese woman. At the water stop I was still doing fine but she pulled ahead of me and then as we continued on we hit some steady climbs and I got passed up by another guy. I looked down at my legs and they seemed so big. I just could not get them to move faster. I was only like 7 miles in and I had 19 to go, how was I going to achieve my goal. Well, I made a deal with myself that I would not walk at anytime except the water stops. I convinced myself that if I did this I would be under 4 hours. This was true. If I had walked once it would have opened to door and option to my body to rest. So, for the next 13 miles or so I just trucked along. I was tired but it was seriously so beautiful that it helped quite a bit. We will but some more pictures of the island but you just run along the coast for 90 percent of the race and it is at sunset. I was really excited to get to the very end of the island and start back toward the finish line. At this point it was dark and I had enough time to get to the finish line if I stayed steady. There were large crabs that were all over the road as I ran. Apparently night time is when they come out. The other runners were all so nice and supportive. Most of them just go to have a good time and run. I guess I should learn from them.
Back at the finish line the kids and I were getting excited and I was getting nervous and the minutes ticked toward the 4 hour mark. But then around the corner we saw him coming up the hill! The kids started yelling and trying to give high fives!
I was excited and I was trying to take pictures (sadly without the flash on so they are all blurry) and shouting at him at the same time! Here he is just about to cross the ribbon at the finish line: 3:56:20. 
It was fantastic to see him do!!! We couldn’t be more proud! He was hot, sweaty and tired but happy! He took off his shoes, laid on the grass and ate the rice and stew they gave the runners. In the end, he said it was truly a beautiful race and one that he is so glad he did!!!
Post By: Marnie
Afternoons with Andrew
While playing ball with Andrew this afternoon, I was teasing him about being 7 years old. He proceeded to say after he turns 5 he turns 6, then 7, then 8.
Anne then joined in with, "What happens when you turn 8, Andrew?"
Andrew replied, "I go to high school!"
Laughter commenced as Anne pulled him over to whisper in his ear and then he was asked the question again, "What happens when you turn 8, Andrew?"
Reply, "I get bad guys?"
Laughter.
Oct 20, 2010
Post By: Tracey
The Day to Day...
Here’s the short answer to what we’ve been up to: Bat Cave, Snorkeling, Bike Rides, Slide Park, Yard Work, Church Halloween Party, Slip ‘n Slide party and a 67 mile bike ride! If you want details (like my mom), keep reading:
Halloween is fast approaching and we are having fun getting ready. Hayden is currently digging through the boxes of decorations I unearthed from behind the dryer and is running around setting them up everywhere. I kicked off October by hiking through a pitch black BAT CAVE on the first! A few of the women at church decided they were tired of the men always having the fun so they planned a river hike and cave excursion. It was a lot of fun and very spooky. I know first hand the kind of “critters” that live around here (spiders, snakes, and bugs so huge it seems they are all on steroids!) Luckily, it all went well with just enough fear and excitement but no major incidents. The cave was literally pitch black and if you turned your light up to the top you could see it covered in bats. But you didn’t leave it pointed up there for long because they would fly toward the light. At parts we had to duck down low and trudge through murky water but we made it! What an adventure!
On Oct. 6th we went out snorkeling and exploring at Maeda Flatts because Hayden had the day off school. The girls were at preschool so I got to enjoy some fun time with just him! I took a friend who had relatives visiting so they got a taste of Okinawa fun as well. Hayden and the other boys found a dark brown jellyfish stuck in a tide pool, it was very fascinating!
We enjoyed watching Conference. We watch it a week late due to the time difference. It was very nice and peaceful for a lot of it and afterward I went to check on the girls and discovered why. I told Hayden I would title this picture "The Price of a Peaceful Conference Session."
A few weeks ago Tom killed a habu snake in front of our house. He was out stretching after a run and a car drove by and saw the snake in its headlights. Tom, being the awesome, courageous man of action he is, ran for his ax and cut it’s head off. They are very poisonous! Afterwards I was all freaked out thinking of the danger he was in but so grateful knowing it was not going to be around to threaten the kids!! So, in the spirit of getting rid of snake habitat we spent Columbus Day weekend tearing down a bit of the jungle that has grown in the backyard. It was beginning to grow over the kids playground and was just scary.... long, grass and weeds everywhere. So we braved the spiders and snakes and got busy. We cut down and hauled out 2 HUGE piles of stuff. The mounds we left by the curb for pick up were the size of a car. It was crazy. Luckily, we saw no snakes, many spiders and lots of insects on steroids, like huge grasshopper and praying mantis. The yard looks much better, if it will stop raining we will go out to enjoy it.
We did do a few fun things over the holiday weekend as well. We took some new families out to one of our favorite parks and we had so much fun we put one of our friends into labor! As we were leaving the park she called and asked if we could get the kids because they were headed to the hospital! So we had a fun time with their kids sleeping over.
I went to school with Danica and Alyssa one day, just to sit in on their classes and had a great time! They both have such wonderful teachers and their classes were calm, and relaxing with a lot of singing and dancing. Alyssa knew all the moves to the songs, it was awesome! Hayden has grown to really love his class. He says he doesn’t love all the kids in his class but his teacher is good and it’s a great environment. I’ve been able to start helping out in there and enjoy seeing how smoothly she runs things.
We’ve had a great time with parties. We helped run the branch Halloween party which turned out well. My apple cream pie even won an award! Last Saturday we enjoyed a birthday party/welcome home party for our good friend Scott who just returned from 7 months in Afghanistan. The rented this huge double water slide for the kids but we had more fun on it! The competition was fierce and we raced to slide up and down the muddy track! It was nice to feel like a kid again! That afternoon we got a babysitter and Tom and I set out on our longest bike ride yet. We mapped a route that was 67 miles! We started in a terrible head wind and I was getting really discouraged but about half way through that lightened. It had tons of hills and my knee was sore but overall I was feeling good and excited that I was able to do it at a good pace. The only bad part was that we left a bit late and ended the ride in the dark, with tons of traffic. Not ideal! 
Okay, I think that brings us up to today. The big thing about today is that Tom is running a Marathon in just two days!!! He has been training so hard! He is so dedicated and goes out there every evening and on Saturdays for long runs. It’s been hot, and rainy and he has done it all anyway. He’s going to do so well. It’s the same marathon we both ran last year. It’s on an island that is a 2 hour ferry ride. Since I”m not running it this year we are taking the kids. Today I am busy packing for a 4 day camping trip. We leave early Friday morning and couldn’t get a ferry coming back until Monday. The arrangements have all been very complicated because it’s a fairly rural, small island with everything in Japanese but as far as we know we have reservations to take our cars on the ferry, then we have a reservation at a beach campsite.... let’s hope it’s all true and that it doesn’t rain all weekend like predicted! I’m excited for the adventure and will bring my “Survival Japanese” book! We will post pictures of all the fun when we return!!! Wish us all luck!
Oct 16, 2010
Post By: Dave
Isaac PR
Isaac had an Invitational in Portland today it was considered their most important and competitive meet this year. There were teams from all over including 5 teams from Alaska.....a big deal. His PR before was 17:55 for the 5k. His coach predicted he would finish around 17:22. He ran on the Varsity Elite team, so he was running mostly with juniors and seniors. He tore it up with a 17:04, smashing his previous PR by 51 seconds (that's a 5:30 pace every mile for 3.1 miles!)! That last picture is his frustration with missing a sub-17:00 by 4 seconds. Overall, a great accomplishment. He is a sophomore, and has a lot of time to really become a force to be reckoned with statewide. He now sits at the #5 spot among all sophomores in the state of Washington. We're excited to see him continue improving. Great job Isaac!!!!!
Dad/Dave
Post By: Brooke
The Olsen Trip
Lover's Point with Anne and Peter, Andrew, Beck, and Camie
Beautiful girlsA romantic return to their honeymoon destination, all eleven of us.What attitude!Could there be a cuter set of boys?
