The Newest Christiansen

I was reunited with my camera this past weekend so I'm able to add a few pictures of the latest member of the Christiansen family.  Brandon and Nikki's son was born in September and Devin and I were able to meet him while we were in Minnesota in October...

Crosby James Christiansen was born on September 12th and he is ADORABLE!  We were only able to spend a short amount of time with Brandon, Nikki and Crosby, but all three of them seem to be doing very well!  It was so much fun to see Brandon and Nikki as parents!

Devin and I will be home for a week at Christmas and we're anxious to spend more time getting to know this awesome little guy...

TCM

October 7    (Theme song for this post: Marathon Runner by Yellow Ostrich.)

Last April, Devin's cousin, Kelli, ran the Boston Marathon and we were there to cheer her on.  Watching her inspired us to get back into running - something we weren't doing with much regularity.  To motivate ourselves, we registered for the Twin Cities Marathon; a race we'd always wanted to run.  Jill, decided she would register too!  And Adam!  And Kelli!  And Christian!  And our cousin Brian!  (It would be the first for Jill, Christian, and Brian!)

With a nurses' schedule and Devin kicking off the most challenging year of his grad school program, we weren't the best examples of runners-in-training.  But I was excited to finish Jill's first marathon with her, so I made running fit.

As as side note: Not only were we going to run that weekend, but we also planned a surprise 60th birthday party for Mom the Friday before the race.  The party was wonderful!  Mom's friends are such great people, and our family kicks ass!  (I have zero pictures from Mom's party, so a post may have to wait until I can collect some.)  

 Minneapolis, Minnesota

 At the Expo on Saturday night, picking up our race packets.

I told these guys to "look awesome" and this is what I got. 

Before leaving the hotel room in the AM.

Sunday morning: me, Brian Weitz, Jill, Adam Iten, Devin

(Jill's bib was red because she was going to win.) 

 The race started downtown Minneapolis at the Metrodome.

A chilly morning, but good running weather once we got started. 

In corral 3 - working toward the START

That's it for my pictures until the end of the marathon, but here are some of Mom's:

Isaac, cheering on the runners!

Devin and Adam hadn't trained to run the full marathon, so they ran to Laura and Adam's house - a few blocks from the course at 14.5 miles.  

It worked out well for them!

Adam and Isaac

Jill and I are in there...

There we are!  (Mile 14.5)

Around Mile 23.  Do I look like I was hurting a little?  I was.  Jill, on the other hand...!

I was lagging a bit behind Jill and I had a plan that if she turned to look at me I'd just yell for her to GO!  But, she never looked back so I figured I'd better catch up!

Marathoners!  We crossed the finish line together at 4:18:16!

So happy to be done!

 This is how we felt on the inside.  It took us roughly 5 minutes to get up from this spot to go find our family!  (Not that we sat for 5 mins and got up, but the act of trying to stand took 5 mins!)

Jill and Pete

I'm sure you'll see this one again as Mom's Christmas card picture!

 Mom's vest made it so easy to see her as we ran!  

Brian kicked the TCM's ass with a 3:19:10!   

After we headed back to our hotel in St. Paul, cleaned up, and celebrated with family and friends.

 That's Pete and his buddy, Joey, up there... 

 Jim, Isaac, Patty

Dad, Mary (from IN!!), Mary, Chris, Julie (from MD!!), Therese 

Jill and I missed the Weitz cheering crew but they were out there the whole time as well!

Get that girl some food! 

James, Jill, Kelly

This was such an amazing day!  

I am so proud of Jill and extremely thankful for the support our family and friends gave us that day.  

Thank you to everyone cheering along the corse - you know who you are!  ;)

Love, Em

    

Suz Comes Back to California

September 20-24

Toward the end of September, Mom came back out to California for a long weekend.  I surprised her with a trip south to Carmel and Big Sur, we visited Berkeley, and she ran errands with me - something that is so much better when your mom is with you.  

**As a side note, it's funny how I see my family: feast or famine.  I saw Jill a week prior to Mom's visit, and a week after Mom left I went to MN for a long weekend.**

Suz arrived in San Francisco on Thursday morning, and after a quick trip into the city to have a manicure and collect Yeti, we headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway (much like Devin and I did in July).  

Our first "stop" was the 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach.  What a stunning drive - makes me want to play golf.  Or at least know someone who likes golf enough to live there!  Here are some pictures:   

 My copilot - wanting to look at the scenery but also read about the sights we were driving past.

Mom liked my parking job.

Crazy cyprus trees. 

  The Lone Cyprus Tree 

The 18th Hole at Pebble Beach 

We made it to Carmel for the sunset and then checked into our little cottage at Forest Lodge.  It was such a lovely little place!  We found a great place for dinner and then called it an early night - very relaxing...

Bad mom - didn't bring Yeti a water dish!

On Friday, we took our time getting up, ate breakfast in our room, and then did a little shopping in Carmel.  Our timing was great: as we were out wandering around we saw the 747 with Endeavour fly over the city!  Pretty amazing but I was unable to get a picture.  :(

Eventually we left town and continued south on Hwy 1.  I wanted to get to Nepenthe for lunch and we did that before turning around and making our way back to San Francisco.  Some pictures:

Bixby Bridge

View from Nepenthe

Patio at Nepenthe

And this was parked in the Nepenthe parking lot... awesome.

After a late lunch we headed back to San Francisco.  It was a quick trip South, but we has such a nice time.  The rest of Mom's visit went quickly, as they always do.  I'm hoping that next time she comes out here she'll bring Dad with her!  I think he'll like Northern California!

Thank you for visiting Mom!  I love having you here...