Thanksgiving - Monroe Edition

Last night we headed to Monroe to get together with Heather's family for a meal and fellowship. Although it wasn't actually a thanksgiving meal, it was the only time all the family was together. Heather's aunt Kris and uncle Greg and their two boys, Matt and John, are here from Texas. Rob and Erin and their two girls are in town until Thursday morning, they are flying to California to spend some time with their friends out on the west coast. Chad, Shay and Nathan came from Pella. Heather, Myself, Brent and Doreen made the trip from Des Moines and we all met up at Grandma Gloria's house in Monroe.
Grandma and Grandpa Stroud help the kids eat supper.
After supper Grandma Gloria read to us from the Bible and we shared how thankful we are for family and being able to all get together and spend some time together.

Karys, Heather and Gracie on the couch hanging out.

Nathan and John having a tickle fight.

Karys says "Cheese", Nathan is confused and Gracie see somethings more exciting.

Nathan and his puppy Falco

Since we won't all be back together for Christmas, John thought it would be a good idea to do a white elephant gift exchange (for you office fans "Yankee Swap). Basically someone goes first and opens a gift, the next person can either steal that gift or open a new one and so on until everything has been opened. The kids had "special" gift that we knew not to steal. Karys is digging deep to see what is in her bag.

A cool princess drawing board and new lip gloss.

Next was my turn, Nathan helped me open my gift, we found some tic-tacs, a Vermeer button, a bottle of Diet Coke and chap stick inside!

Rob explaining to Nathan that he saw a present for him over by the couch.

Nathan found his present, a Lighting McQueen drawing board!
Grandma Gloria was next, she wanted that Vermeer button, so she stole my gift and I got to open another one. Nathan helped me and this time there was a Christmas hand towel and soap.

John went next and got a chocolate Monopoly game!

Auntie Heather and Nathan flash signs as they wait for Heather's turn.

Chad found a bag of goodies!

Nathan is giving Karys ideas on what she should draw next.

Doreen opens her gift as Shay ooh's and aah's at the pretty wrapping.

Gracie got a matching princess drawing board in her bag!

Matt is super excited about his holiday decorations!

Shay's bag reveals some Beano and Rolaids, what everyone needs around the holiday's!

Rob is jazzed about his stamps and Starbucks gift card, Chad apparently isn't impressed.

Nathan and Karys explain how much fun they are having!

Kris unwraps her gift to find coco mix, cookies and a mug, Brent looks a little jealous.

Nathan helps Erin pick out her present.

Rob discusses strategy and makes suggestions.

Erin choose wisely, ending up with High School Musical candy canes and the ever so popular Connect 4!

Chad's bag reveals Iowa Hawkeye's stocking caps and...

...glove like socks that keep your toes warm.

Auntie Heather and Gracie pucker up as they test out their new lip gloss.

After presents, it is on to dessert. Karys helps her dad finish his cheesecake.
We ended the evening with a little girl talk on the comfy chair.

We had a great time in Monroe; good food, good fun and time well spent with family.

Thanksgiving - Pella Edition

Sunday, we headed to Pella for our first of 3 Thanksgiving celebrations. Heather's dad, Ron, lives on the outside of Pella on a farm. Chad, Shay and Nathan were there too, Nathan loves hanging out on the farm. Kris, Ron's wife, let Nathan bring the kitty inside so he could play with it. Nathan was so gentle and loving to that cat, he even gave it a ride on his John Deere tractor.
After a great lunch, Nathan wanted to go outside and check out the sheep. Heather and I got the privilege of joining him. I think the idea of the sheep was a lot more attractive to Nathan than the actual sheep. Once we got outside, he kept saying they were too loud and he would cover his ears.

Ron got some corn out for us to feed the sheep, Nathan wasn't too sure he wanted to get close.

He decided he would give it a try and helped me feed some of the sheep.

After the sheep we checked out the chickens and of course the John Deere tractor. I can tell that I would label myself a city kid because Nathan knows way more about farming than I do and he is 2! As we were walking back up to the house, the neighbors across the street were working in their field and Nathan "There's a combine" as he points to the combine, what a guy!

2008 Pentathlon Pics

As promised, here are some pictures from the 2008 Nygaard Pentathlon. The event was held on Thursday, November 20th. Weather was sunny with temperatures of 25 and a wind chill in the teens. The wind was out of the north at 18-20mph with gusts up to 30mph. We had 16 competitors, 14 from Principal and 2 from Aspen Athletic Club. All in all, a great day!
Gear check to make sure everyone has everything.
Drake warming up for the 400m dash.

After the 400, trying to stay warm.

Scott and Bryan discuss strategy for the upcoming events.

After the 400 it was on to the shot put, Drake throws with all his might!

Bryan takes a moment to clear his mind before tossing that 12 lb. ball.

Anthony throws a line drive to the outfield.

Caleb, a trainer from Aspen Athletic Club, makes it look easy.

Mickey, the other trainer from Aspen, shows us all how to throw the shot put.

I step up to the ring to give it a toss.

Ryan shows us his skills at the shot put.

Drysdale launches the shot put.

After the shot put, it was onto the standing long jump. Drake takes flight.

Scott eyes the line as he gets ready to jump.

Drysdale stretches out for maximum distance.

I give all I got. Side note, I am wearing a custom SCRC jersey that I made especially for the pentathlon. Bryan nails his landing!

Scott takes off like a rocket.

Caleb is actually flying.

After the long jump, we gathered up our gear and headed to Aspen Athletic Club for the bench press. We bench 115 lbs to see how many reps we can do in 60 seconds. Most of us can't go for a whole 60 seconds, but maybe some day!

I test out my power on the bench press.

Caleb is one of the guys that went for the full 60 seconds. The record prior to this year was 70 reps in 60 seconds, when asked if her could break the record Caleb said "I can bench 425, but I am not much of an endurance guy." 60 seconds and 74 reps later, after he broke the record Caleb said, "It got heavy at 60"

Bryan puts up the weights.

Ryan showing us that even a punter can lift some weight!

Drake gives it all he has!

Harbert concentrates all his energy as he lifts.

Joe shows us what he can do.

After the bench press, we head back to the track, lace up the spikes and run the 1500.

Since it was so cold, we only ran 1 heat of the 1500, so i don't have any pictures from the race. We finish with a group shot, all the competitors for the 2008 Nygaard Pentathlon.

Results:

The Pentathlon

11/24/2008

Name - 400m (sec) - Shot Put (in) - Broad Jump (in) - Bench Press (reps) - 1500m (min.sec) [Points]

Seth Comfort - 59 - 378 - 98 - 18 - 4.52 [683 points]

Matt Harbert - 59 - 376 - 94 - 15 - 4.54 [661 points]

Caleb Cochran - 77 - 441 - 98.5 - 74 - 7.16 [659 points]

Scott Patterson - 64 - 352 - 82 - 33 - 4.55 [652 points]

Tom Scroggins - 61 - 346 - 94 - 26 - 5.23 [648 points]

Anthony Cendana - 64 - 326 - 93 - 27 - 5.07 [635 points]

Joe Aulwes - 62 - 327 - 90 - 15 - 4.49 [612 points]

Mickey Pesek - 80 - 468 - 107 - 45 - 7.55 [600 points]

Mark Hanrahan - 70 - 328 - 80 - 39 - 5.56 [576 points]

Bryan Brownsberger - 67 - 302 - 86 - 5.20 [546 points]

Ryan Elsbern - 65 - 310 - 74 - 16 - 5.00 [543 points]

Drake Clausen - 59 - 292 - 90 - 1 - 5.17 [540 points]

Andrew Drysdale - 65 - 293 - 94 - 4 - 5.19 [529 points]

Brian Nygaard - 76 - 368 - 84 - 33 - 6.47 [519 points]

Andrew Smart - 72 - 292 - 78 - 5 - 5.49 [433 points]

Stephanie Healey - 81 - 315 - 77 - 12 - 6.22 [397 points]

Doug Figan - 84 - 362 - 85 - 32 - 9.00 [380 points]