Our Home in Clute!!

Scout gets a new playmate...

The Tyree's came over to enjoy some pizza and the last remaining days of sitting outside and not suffering. Jaden quickly became Scout's new best friend and all it took was seeing Scout use the doggie door once and Jaden was hooked. He went in and out the doggie door all night!!

Then he found the watering can and quickly took to watering everything in site...including Scout :-)
Ana takes care of baby brother Luke!
The little peeping Tom's check out the kids playing in the neighbors backyard and the kitty cat.
Mommie Laura had a bad throw and had to rescue the ball from behind the fence.

Ladies Weekend in WV

Trip to Seattle and Vancouver for Jay's Marathon

Welcome to our blog!! I have been inspired by my good friend Julie and her awesome blog to start one of my own to keep all our friends and family up to speed on the happenings in Clute! OK, so entries may be infrequent, as Clute is pretty quiet :-)

But as luck would have it, we've done some traveling recently, so I have some photos to share!

Jay has been training for the Vancouver Marathon since early this year. So last week we left Clute and headed West to visit friends and for Jay's marathon. We actually flew into Seattle on Thursday and stayed with Marie (one of my oldest and dearest friends) are her hubby Mike. They have a wonderful home in Ballard, one of the Seattle Suburbs.

Marie's House
Marie was such a gracious host. Thursday afternoon she took us to a local park for Jay to go on a short run and shake out his legs, while Marie and I did a little power walking and caught up on life. There was a very nice 3 mile loop through the woods and the views were breath taking!

Thursday night we met up with Marie's new hubby Mike and Jay's buddy Aaron and his wife Laura for dinner. Jay and Aaron grew up together much like Marie and myself, so there was lots of chatting and catching up on life. They are all such special people in our lives and it was so great to be able to visit.

Laura, Laura and Marie catching up over some chips and guacamole in Seattle!!
Mike, Jay and Aaron
We got to spend all day Friday in Seattle as well, with Marie serving as our tour guide.

Marie and I started the day with a run at Greenlake park, while Jay caught up on some sleep. Then we headed out to the Central Market, most famous for the Pike Fish Market.

We had some wonderful french pastries and Jay treated himself to a "Cup of Joe" at the flagship Starbuck's. We spent some time walking along the water front, taking in the breath taking views of the water, the mountains and the skyline. Seattle has such an amazing contrast of landscapes, all of them spectacular. Jay and I are already wondering what a chemical engineer and an environmental scientist can do in Seattle!!

That afternoon we met up with Aaron in Freemont for lunch and spent some time window shopping, taking in the local sights and catching up with old friends!


Saturday morning it was on to Vancouver. Jay and I reconnected with Wes and Jenny, our friends from Clute that joined us in the trip to the West Coast. They were both running the Half Marathon. The trip up to Vancouver should only take 2.5 to3 hours, but because of the long wait at the Canadian border...it took more like 4 hours. But once we were there it was well worth the wait. We were staying in the host hotel for the marathon, right on the water and just next to a 1,000 acre park, Stanley Park.

Wes and Jenny along the Seawall our first night in Vancouver, after carbo-loading at Dan Francesco's Italian

Saturday was relaxing, but Sunday was game time. The Half Marathon started before the Marathon, so Wes and Jenny headed down earlier than Jay and I. Ever since the Houston Half Marathon in January I have been battling tight hamstrings and low back problems, so this time around I was just a spectator.

After his pre-race routine and changing into his race gear, Jay was off to the starting line and I, armed with my backpack, map, camera and video camera headed off to be his cheerleader!! I managed to see him at Miles 1, 7, 11, 17, 23 and 25. Cheering as hard as I could and even frantically trying to direct cars off the race course at one point!!
There was a large pack early, but by Mile 7 things had spread out a bit. There were 2 guys dropping really fast miles up front, 2 guys sort of running on their own, then a pack of 4 guys and not far behind them was Jay and the guy he was pacing with.

Mile 7

By mile 17 things had really spread out. Jay was still in the top 10, but just about everyone was running on their own at that point. At the half way mark Jay was just over 1:14 and was on a perfect pace to run his target of 2:29. But apparently around Mile 14 his calves really started cramping, which was a shame because his feet and his hip (which usually cause him problems) felt fine. When I saw him at Mile 23 I could tell he was really struggling. I gave him the best Edwards shout out I could manage and started my own sprint back towards the finish line.

Views from the course at Mile 18

Jay at Mile 25!!!


I know what a mental battle it can be to stay strong when you are running all on your own and I am so proud of him for running such a tough race. In the end he ran a 2:36 and finished 10th overall and 3rd in his age group...out of over 3,000 people running the Marathon!!

All in all it was a great race and an even better day. After the race we had lunch at a nice place on the water and then spent some time just sitting and taking in the amazing views.


We met up with Jenny and Wes later that afternoon for the awards ceremony (Jay got an award for finishing 3rd in his age group) and then a little more walking around the city. Dinner was at the Blue Water Cafe. If any of you are even in Vancouver and you like seafood, I would highly recommend this place!! We all loved it, the most amazing Sushi, crab, seafood, everything was scrumptious!!

Wes, Jenny, Laura and Jay race day at Blue Water Cafe for Dinner

Video of Jay at Mile 11 in Vancouver