Dancing with the stars...in the RAIN

We pile everyone in the car for Gavin's fall ball games each week.  Sometimes fun for the family, sometimes not.  This time Jason was out of town so Barb didn't have a choice but to take everyone.  We met Grandma Patti there and took our seats on the bleachers.  About 3 minutes before the game started, the rain drops started. Within 10 minutes it was a full down pour!  Most parents and kids were hiding in the dugout trying to stay dry.

Not the Hendricks!  Rain often translates to dance party in our world. Why not?  It's only rain, and God made it so it must be good, right?  Plus the mud that we all end up covered in comes off in the shower.  Needless to say, we were the last ones to leave the ballpark.

Good times.  Making memories.

G-man's 7th Birthday Party

Traditionally we have birthday dinner and dessert of the birthday person's choice.  On your 6th, 12th, and 18th birthday you get the "party" of your choice.  Last year Gavin had the Lego extravaganza and loved every minute of it.

As the summer got hotter and hotter thinking about having  dinner with the oven, stoves, people, etc. in the house just didn't sound appealing this year.  So rather than dinner we skipped right to Gavin's favorite thing - DESSERT!  Sure we had the traditional cake of choice for the family, but we also had a Hawaiian ice truck to help celebrate with the neighborhood and attempt to stay cool. 

All you can eat frozen ice and pure sugar syrup...does it get any better?  We topped that off with a 500 balloon water balloon fight.  Great day bud, glad we got to celebrate another wonderful year of life with you!

Fearless Liam

Our second trip to the ER with our little peanut.  His head is a magnet for accidents.  That's okay, scars are cool.  And now he has one on each side to even it out.

He has managed to avoid stitches each time though.  And nothing a little cuddle time with dad, raspberry slurpie, and lego's can't fix (plus the magic glue from Children's Mercy Hospital).  He's back to normal now and ready for his next adventure...which will more than likely happen with a bicycle.

Turn 40, climb a mountain

To celebrate this big birthday Jason wanted to do something different, more challenging, bigger than the average road race.  So why not enter a trail run that's the distance of a half-marathon but goes uphill and ends up at 14,115 ft?  Sure!  It's symbolic of the whole "over the hill" right?

The weather had us guessing for a bit.  Friday night it rained so hard the streets were flooding.  Rain down below means potential snow up top.  The talk about clothing, gear, possible turn arounds, and even maybe cancelling the race had the runners in a flurry.  Luckily God stepped in and the sun shined on everyone for a beautiful day full of accomplishments.

We are all so proud of him!  He trained hard and worked diligently to be successful in America's most challenging trail run.  He's setting great examples for his kids (and wife) about being healthy, enjoying the outdoors, sticking to your commitments, always pushing yourself, and celebrating accomplishments.  As the kids get bigger it's fun to have them participate in these events with us.  May be a few more years before any of them are ready to tackle this mountain with dad.  I (Barb) will gladly offer to be the official photographer and cheerleader of this race.

Swim Time

We have lots of catching up to do (3 months worth), but for now we'll start fresh and move forward with our current lives.  We'll go back and try to catch up over the last few weeks.  We took Liam swimming for the first time ever, and Gavin for the first time in Kansas.  They both had a great time.  Gavin's swim lessons helped, hopefully we can spend a lot of time at the pool this summer and make a little swimmer out of him.

Seattle Rock n' Roll

One of our favorite getaways - SEATTLE! We both ran in the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon in June. It was a nice long weekend with lots of 'touristy' stuff as Grandma Patti came with us this time and she had never been to Seattle.

So freezing cold waiting for the race. It was perfect race weather, but the standing around waiting for the race to start was awful. Jason had his best time ever! Barb came in under 2 hours, not bad for 4 months pregnant. We both were very pleased with our races.

Snapshot from the light rail. Mt. Rainer is always so beautiful on a clear day.

Gavin loved, loved, loved the Space Needle. Every time we were outside he asked about it. He wasn't as into it when we went up in it; he's rather be viewing it from a far so we can actually see The Needle.

Cousin Grant hosted a BBQ and had the whole family over. Great Grandma Jane was so happy to be able to spend time with Gavin.

Thanks for putting together the BBQ cousin!!

Just in case the paparizzi came looking for G-man, he was incognito strolling through downtown.