Our Life in the Yellow Brick House

Tomorrow, thousands of runners will flock to downtown Oklahoma City to take part in the Memorial Marathon. One of them will be Lisa. I don’t know Lisa’s last name and probably never will, but I am praying that she has a wonderful race and that her energy helps inspire those around her tomorrow. I met Lisa a few weeks ago at the Redbud Classic in Oklahoma City. We each lined up somewhere along the 10k starting line with the sun beating down on us. At 2 p.m., we were off. This was my first-ever 10k, and I had been training for it off and on since August. I knew I could complete it because I had run this distance several times on the streets of Stillwater. Running has become part of my routine and every Saturday, Oliver and I head out on a miles-long journey. But this race was different than all those mornings. It was an afternoon, which happened to be the warmest day in a while. Lucky us! I could tell it would be a challenge when I stopped to walk around the 2-mile mark. I ...

It's fun to watch our nephews and nieces go through different stages. Right now, Henry LOVES monster trucks. He can name pretty much all of them and the names of the drivers. It's pretty impressive. And that explains why when it was time for him to turn 4, he decided to mark the occasion with a monster truck party! We weren't able to be there thanks to my sinus infection, but I was so thankful to get a few pictures of the day from Kyle's Mom. This is the first birthday party we have missed, and I hated not being there to see Henry's excitement as he opened his presents and played with his friends. He is growing up so fast, and, each time we see him, he's learned something new. Happy birthday, Henry! I am so glad that the day was filled with joy, laughter and lots of bouncing!  The birthday boy!   It looks like these boys played hard!   Silly Uncle Brad!  Henry had a lot to be excited about during this time of year. First, he cou...

The day after Christmas was Christmas Eve game night for my side of the family. We had fun hanging out with the kids during the day, and then started Family Feud when Kyle got off work. It was a lot harder than we thought it would be. That was probably because we were all a little distracted. That's what happens when you add three kids and four dogs to the mix. Things get a little crazy! It was a fun night, though.  Quinn is great at taking pictures these days! :)   Asher was excited to show Kyle something on the iPad.   And the kids got to open one present each so they would have something to play with while the adults enjoyed a little Family Feud.   I can't remember who won, but I think Lola was the real winner. While we were distracted in the living room, she got to taste the human food left out in the kitchen. Ornery little puppy! :)   Kyle is quite the artist!  The grandkids were so cute in...

It may not have felt like it, but Christmas Eve had finally come. It was a very laid back day for Kyle and me. We stayed in Stillwater and took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather by going to a park near our house. Kyle hit some golf balls while Oliver ran out his energy. It was the prefect afternoon. We ended the night with a Christmas Eve service before letting Oliver "open" his Christmas gift early. It was so nice to have a relaxing day that reminded me of all the blessings we have in our life. Things might not be going as we'd planned them, but we are still incredibly fortunate.  Oliver LOVED his toy reindeer, so we had to face time Nana and Papa to show them.   We weren't loving the reindeer so much after finding chunks of it thrown up around the house later that week. But he did get a solid 15 minutes of enjoyment out of it before ripping it to shreds. On Christmas morning, we headed to Ponca to celebrate with the Fox fam. We start...