Bataan Memorial Death March

Bill completed his 1st marathon. He went all out with this one. It is a 26.2 mile hike through desert terrain carrying a minimum of a 35 lb pack. He loved the fact that this is a memorial for the Bataan Death March that took place in the Philipines in 1942. The American and Philipino POW's were forced to walk 61 miles with an additional 25 miles following. These soldiers suffered terribly with a result of only 64,000 of the 75,000 prisoners surviving the march. Each year the remaining surviving POW's that participated in that march, attend the memorial. Each of the marathon runners, shake the hands of each of those men. This year it was down to 10 survivors. It felt good to remember those who have died for our freedom and we want to continue to remember each of their sacrifices. Thank you to all of those who have served our country and for those who continue to serve.

This is Bill's team, they all work at Bill's station. The time counts from when the last of your team crosses. Each group chose to stick together and encourage each other. It was neat to see each team cross. Bill, Ryan, Tony, Rob, and Kelly.

Shaking hands with the survivors.



The weighing of the pack. Bill's came in at 41 lbs. This is after all the food and drink he carried and consumed during the hike.


Our beautiful hotel room. The Bataan Memorial Death March is held in White Sands, NM so we staying in Las Cruces. This is the view from our room.


The kids had to help push the cart carrying all of our bags. Its amazing how much more we pack now that we have kids. With just the 2 of us it would have been a max of 3 bags. Now, can't even count that high!

Daddy Playtime

Something I enjoyed capturing on camera the other day. I love watching Bill play with the kids. He has some innovative ideas!



Notice all 4 legs sticking out?!


I ran to the chiropracter the other day and came home to find a new toy. Bill loves the toy store as much as the twins!

GeoTrax

Trenton absolutely loves his train set. He watches them as they go around, makes sure their additional cars are attached, moves them from one side to the other side of the tracks, pushes them through the tunnel, makes them go forward, stop, backward - the works! He gets so excited sometimes he starts jumping up and down! Can't wait to add more pieces!

And this is Emma during train play... she plays for a bit, then moves on. :)

Fun Times

Ever since Grandma and Papa showed them how to hold hands when we pray, they always have to hold our hands. We love it. Here they are singing 'Day by Day' or so we think! They have graduated to holding the phone when talking on it. So this is what I see when they talk to you guys!

Still a favorite for Trenton

Starting off the morning right

Recent visit to Papa and Grandma's

We just returned from a wonderful visit to my parents. Bill had to work so it was just me and the kiddos. Mom and Dad drove with me so I wouldn't have to be alone with the twins in the car for 12 hour. Can you imagine? Thank goodness for parents! Anyway, it was very relaxing and enjoyable. Thanks for the wonderful trip, Papa and Grandma!

One of the days, a group of moms got together and invited us to join. So much fun to watch all the kids together! On the floor: Laura with Kaitlyn and Anna with Riley. On sofa: Me with the twins and Heidi with Graciella, Lucas, and Lilliana.


I don't think Trenton knew quite what to think at first!

Helping Grandma and Papa get ready for Sunday morning meeting.

Trying out Momma's heels. I guess they start young these days!

Sharing all the toys with the 'baby'! They absolutely love babies now and had to bring every toy over for her to play with.

Had to include at least one of Dad's beautiful flowers. He is absolutely amazing with all of his gardens!

Ton's of outdoor fun!

Sometimes the best toys are the ones that don't cost much at all!

The little stinker just had to try a lemon. I'm sure you all know the kind of reaction we expected and received! Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me, but we all laughed so hard, Emma kept trying to repeat the face she made! So was able to capture some of that.

Hungry?

The headlock! You can tell she has a brother! Since I had only sisters, we never learned to wrestle like that!

Snuggles with Papa

Playtime with Grandma

Emma, who has become quite the talker, loves being on the phone. So she copies Mommy and walks around the house with the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder, chatting away!

Testing out Grandma and Papa's new carpet.