End of the Season

Justin's baseball season ended July 2nd and I am finally putting up some pics now. He played on a Saint Robert team this year instead of a Fort Leonard Wood team because we were late in the registration. It was funny because his coaches were the city's coroner/EMT and the city's lead detective! I guess everyone was safe playing under them!

Justin mostly played outfield, but played 2nd base one game and pitched during a practice. As you can see, some of these kids (ages 10-12) were HUGE in comparison. Justin is #16.

Jon's New Job!!

Jon has been waiting patiently for his job that he was doing in the Army~~Combat Developer~~to open up for civilian..meaning that it turns into a government job. I do mean patiently waiting....he took his terminal leave in April, so he has been home for 3 months waiting! Luckily, he is still in the Army until August 1st, or we would have been in trouble! Now, in a government job, there are different levels like there are different ranks in the Army. Government jobs are ranked GS1 all the way to GS15. Most people start at about GS5-GS7, if they have some sort of experience. If you are lucky, you can get a GS10 position. The job Jon left in the Army was going to be a GS12 position! We were very excited to hear this. In the mean time, Jon applied for a GS13 position while he was waiting to be hired. Last Monday, his old boss told him that indeed his old job was ready and he could start anytime! But then....the very next day...Jon was told that he got the GS13 job!!! We were absolutely floored! He beat out several qualified people in the interview process...including a Lieutenant Colonel! Jon called his old boss who was so happy for him. He told Jon, "You tell Tanya that it is unheard of for someone just coming out of the Army to step into a GS13 job! It takes years and years to get to that level!" We were in such shock, we didn't believe it for a few days. Jon will be a System Analyst for the Engineer Branch in the Army. He starts next Monday!! We are so proud of you!!
PS~~Jon stated to me to please not brag about his new pay grade on my blog. He actually is quite humble~~I say, "Are you kidding me?? :) :) :)" BRAG!

Back to St. Louis

Justin had a doctor's appointment in St. Louis today, so we decided to drive there a day early and spend the night. We just had a fun time going to Union Station~~once the worlds biggest train station that has been converted to a little mall and nice outdoor area~~and ofcourse, we had to visit the Arch. We love this city!

Union Station:

Feeding the fish:Visiting the Arch:This was Owen's first time riding to the top!In the museum they have under the Arch:

Picnic

We took a drive to Happy Hallow today~~a nice little outdoor area on Fort Leonard Wood that has the Big Piney River flowing through it and some picnic areas. We were lucky to be the only ones there today because normally, that place is packed! We had a lot of fun just relaxing, swimming and eating :)

Happy 4th!

It was a long day to say the least. It all started with the race this morning (see post below) and ended by watching the best fireworks in this area. We always go to the post celebration on post. I just love it. It is so patriotic. First, you just see a sea of soldiers. This is because the trainees are allowed to celebrate their first 4th of July in the Army. The U.S. Army Soldier Show also plays along with some bands. They have tons of booths and bounce house stuff for the kids to do. At the end, they shoot off the fireworks played with a bunch of patriotic songs. It really is the best. Also, it is a special day for Jon and I. It is the anniversary of our first date. Technically, it was our second because we went out the evening before, but I don't really count that because we mostly just drove around acting like friends. July 4th was more of a date.

Owen on yet another train :)

Waiting in line for the velcro jump:

Getting animal balloons/swords:Meeting Spiderman (how goofy does this guy look?)

Then meeting a Transformer, Iron Man, and Rocky Balboa! Who comes up with these ideas??

Just a few of the thousands of troops there.

Playing football with a local radio personality:

Nathan had to show Owen how to stick out his tongue in a "rocker" mode during pictures:

Owen ready to unleash his fury on Nathan:

The U.S. Army Soldier Show:Happy 4th of July!!

Firecracker 5k and Kids Race

I mentioned in an earlier post that I tried to start running. I just wanted to be stronger. I started in May with the best running coach I ever had~~Jon.

At first, all I could run was a 1/2 mile, walk a quarter mile, and then run another 1/2 mile. By June, it was run 1 mile, walk, run another mile. In the middle of June, I could run 2 miles without stopping, but it always KILLED me at the end. For over 2 weeks, I couldn't run past that dang 2 miles...how was I ever going to get to the 3.1 miles needed to run the 5k on July 4th? Jon had kept telling me I was just running too fast, I needed to slow down. Then last Friday, 8 days before the race...I finally took his advice. I slowed down~~ran 2 miles, walked for 2 minutes and ran the other mile. I couldn't believe it! I timed myself on Monday and did the same thing: It took me 36 min and 20 seconds. Ok, I thought, I am going to do this.
July 4th, Jon was such an angel and woke up at 5 am and basically got everything ready for me and the kids to get up. We woke up the kids at 6 am, and off we went to Rolla. It was POURING rain and the boys kept saying, "Are you still going to run??" Yes....I was feeling so nervous when I saw the other runners...all lean and fit. I just really didn't want to come in last. Well, I didn't. I came in 43rd out of 69 runners. I came in 6th out of 11 in my age group (30-39), and I only walked for 30 seconds and came in with a time of 33:51!!! I was so proud of myself!
After the adult race came the kids 1 mile race. Justin was not feeling that great that morning but Nathan signed up and did GREAT! He came in 12th out of 28 racers and came in second in his age group (9-10) to win a silver medal!
My family has been so supportive....thank you guys!

Here is me waiting for the race to start in the pouring rain. It did stop when the race started :)

At the start:

We're off!

Owen staying hydrated for me:

Coming toward the finish line:

Time for Nathan's race: There they go:Coming around the bend (that's Jon running with him):Winning his silver medal!

Justin was proud of him too:

The 2 runners wearing our race shirts:

Saint Louis!

We always plan a trip to Saint Louis at least once every summer. We really love the city. It is the city where Jon asked me to marry him~~right while we visiting the St. Louis Zoo! We just relaxed the first day~playing mini golf in a huge mall. The second day we went to Six Flags and this was the first time I let the older boys ride a roller coaster! They had a blast! The last day, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. We had a lot of fun!