Hy-Vee Triathlon and meeting Baby Claire!

This past weekend, Jason and I headed down to Des Moines for him to participate in the Hy-Vee Triathlon!  This is a very popular traithlon for the "Pros" who come from all over the world to race.  The prize for the top male and female finisher is $150,000!  Jason is not considered a "pro"--he is just an age group amateur, but finished the race 16 out of 57 in his age group! 

Here he is after swimming...running to his bike!

Running after getting off his bike...just a quick 6 miles...no big deal!

GO Jason!

The Hy-Vee Finish line!  It's pretty fancy!

So proud!  And look at that great backdrop!  Iowa is the place to be! 

The Herrick girls! I love my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law!

Titus and Dick pose for a funny picture!

We got to meet Claire, my cousin Sabrina's baby this weekend too!  Baby Claire has LOTS of hair...I love her so much! 

She was a little squirmer, but a cuddler too! 

4th of July, 2011!!

On Sunday, Jason and I headed out to the 1st annual Red, White, & Blues...& BBQ too festival in Charles City!  We got to try some BBQ ribs from 16 some different grill masters.  Some were sweet, others more salty, but all were very good!  Adam and Andy were helping a fellow BBQ'ing friend.  The picture on the bottom right is of two guys that I graduated with!  Go Pat and Brendan!

On the 4th, Jason, Danna, and Justin participated in the Firecracker 5 mile race!  Bridget and I ran the water station, while Adam manned the traffic control. 

Jason got 2nd in his age group and was very happy with his run!  Danna was the overall female first place finisher in the 5 mile run!

Frank-the cat-entertained us at the Herrick house on the 4th!

Titus celebrated his birthday a day early on Monday and it was great to see him and Winny and Cici! 

We hope you had a safe and fantastic 4th! 

Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend

We went camping!  Jason and I, along with some friends went out to a campground in Frederika, Alcock Park.  It was a really nice place, it had showers, and two sets of bathrooms. 

And we had a spot right on the river!

Happy days!

Enjoying the fire...

I left early on Saturday morning to head down to see my cousin Sabrina in Peru, IA!  They were having their 4th annual fish boil!  If you want to see what a fish boil consists of, check out this link.

Sabrina and her mom, my aunt Donna!  Don't you just love Sabrina's baby belly!?

Were cute! :-)

See the pot...it's full of fish!

Boil over!!!!!

I had to snap a picture of Sabrina's beautiful crib and baby room!

Thanks for having me guys!!  Can't wait 'til next year!!

Easter 2011 & Winny Mae's Baptism

Grandma Esser with her Great-Grand Kids! :)

A big game of Hearts going on right here!

Life is never complete at the Dick and Kathy Herrick house unless thier are some gymnastics going on...see above picture.  This is Adam doing a straddle hand stand.  Good form Adam!

Baby Winny's baptism!  Jason and I were honored to be her godparents!

Happy Girl!

After attending the Easter Sunday mass and Baptism, we had a meal at Holly's parents' home. 

Jason and I then headed to New Hampton to catch some relatives up there while they were home. Sorry I don't have any pictures from their!  It was great to see all of them too!

Ironically, their are no pictures of colorful eggs, sweet candy, jelly beans, or Easter baskets. 

Nope. Not this year.

We just have memories.

Of good times with those who are close to our heart.

4 things...

Four TV shows I watch:
-The Big Bang Theory
-The Office
-Glee
-Outsourced

Four things I am passionate about:
-Being happy & trying to make others happy
-Living life to the fullest
-Coaching cheerleading
-My family

Four words/phrases I use a lot:
-You bet!
-Talouse, Trixie
-Jason, Jas, J, J.R.
-I Love You!

Four things I have learned from the past:
-The only way to get what you want is to work hard and be kind.
-Never let a day go by where you don't learn something.
-Be proud of who you are.
-Live for today, not for tomorrrow.

Four places I would like to go:
-Ireland
-Italy
-A rainforest...any rainforest.
-Heaven...someday.

Four things I did yesterday:
-Ran 2 miles
-Blogged
-Ate tofu
-Had a date night with Jason, we saw the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1...amazing!

Four things I am looking forward to:
-Spring
-The sweet potato I brought for lunch
-Boating
-Jason finishing school

Four things I love about winter:
-The cool crisp air
-Comfy blankets
-Pumpkin spice lattes
-Christmas

Manzana y Manzana....I don't speak Greek!

The Herrick Christmas has come and gone...here is a little bit of what went down...

How in the heck did you get up there?!

Foooodd....

Adam...thought he needed to dress up for Christmas...tie, belt buckle, snowman broach...Santa is proud!

Homemade sushi!

That is cuuuuteee!

Yep this stuff was kind of nasty...but Andy makes it look goooood!!

Digging the comb over Adam!

Emmet and Otters Jug Band Christmas...it's a tradition...Titus loves it!

D-d-d- DANNA!   Sporting the ugly Christmas sweater!

Hmm...do you like Seafood?  Thanks for the gross food pic Jas! 

This man LOVES onion rings!!

Red roasters for Christmas!!  Holly and I were stoked!

The girls!

Christmas Kitten...awwwww!

The boys!

The meaning of my blog post title...Apples to Apples...the rest doesn't really makes sense but it is funny!

Jason has a helper!

We had a wonderful Christmas/New Years and hope that you and yours did as well!