A Visit from the Cook Clan

 My cousin, Pam, and her family visited over Labor Day weekend, and we had two wonderful evenings of good food and good company.  The kids have certainly grown since I last saw them.  I am sad to say that TWO of them are now taller than I am (and it probably won't be long until the third one is, too).   Pam's family is also hosting a German exchange student (Tim) this year.  It was neat to hear him compare life in Germany v/s the U.S.  While everyone was thrilled to see the Cook clan,  Owen was especially excited to get to have a boy to hang out with.  He has deemed Benjamin as "cool".  Here are some pictures that I took / stole from Pam.

Megan's House Duathlon

The Megan's House Heels and Wheels Duathlon is a local race that raises money for Megan's House- an Easter Seals program.  I participated in this last year and enjoyed it so much that I decided to do it again this year.  I felt fairly confident going into the duathlon this time because I had done one before and knew what to expect.  It also helped that I had a new road bike (that I love).  A few things were different this time.  To begin with, a mile was added to the second "run" portion of the race.  This meant that I had to run 2 miles, bike 13, and then run 3 more miles.  Another change was that a triathlon was added.  Most people who were at the race were doing the triathlon- including my friend Amy who you see in the picture with me.  I ended up being the only person in my age division for the duathlon, so I won the age group award with a time of 1:39:05.  I was watching what the triathletes were doing, and it didn't look too bad.  I think I may try to do that next year.  We'll see how it goes.

Bring-a-Friend to Wild Adventures

 I mentioned before that we had purchased season passes to Wild Adventures this year.  One of the perks of having the passes is that we occasionally get the opportuinty to obtain free bring-a-friend tickets.  We got some of these tickets in July and had until Labor Day to use them.  So, this weekend we took some of our favorite people with us and had a fun day at the park.  Olivia and Owen loved having their aunts, uncle, and cousins with them.  We rode rides, saw the Tigers of India show, and played at the water park.  I think that everyone had a good time.

Amazing Race Champions

The Toys R Us crew participated in dominated Valdosta's Amazing Race this year.  This event is a fundraiser sponsored by the United Way of Valdosta.  Brian and four of his co-workers made up the team.  This group had to solve clues that led to eleven different locations around the city.  Once they arrived at a location, they had to complete a task.  Only after completing the task could they be given the clue to the next location.  The tasks ranged from painting ceiling tiles at the YMCA- to construction work at Habitat for Humanity- to sorting and folding uniforms at the Red Cross.  All of the locations that they visited were connected to the United Way.  The Toys R Us team was the first to come in (by a long shot), and was awarded the championship trophy.  I never doubted that the TRU crew would win.  They have fabulous teamwork at that store, and I knew that if even a fraction of that teamwork transferred to this event then the other teams wouldn't stand a chance.  Good job, guys!!

This is Taryn Chichina

After hearing the testimony of a child who was sponsored through the Compassion program at Sunday School this week, the Lord put it on my heart to become involved in this ministry.  In her testimony, the girl from Kenya spoke of how she grew up in a small hut in the slums of Nairobi.  The hut had a dirt floor, and a roof that leaked when it rained.  When it did rain, the family had to huddle in the corner- and even after it stopped raining they couldn't go to sleep because the floor was sopping wet.  There was no plumbing or waste management system, so there was trash and human waste everywhere.  Crime and disease run rampant in these slums, and many of the kids born in these circumstances never leave.  The turning point for this girls' life was the day that she learned she had been sponsored by a couple in Oregon.  Her entire family rejoiced because they knew that their child would now receive a steady source of food.  In addition to this, though, the girl also received an education and came to know the Lord.  The girl giving the testimony is currently on scholarship to study education at the University in Nairobi.  She is also a servant of the Lord who gives her testimony across the globe.  Her happiness as a child and potential as an adult was completely changed- and all of this was possible because a family in Oregon decided to give $38 a month to help someone else out.  I cannot imagine anything better to spend $38 dollars a month on.  This is why I have decided to make a long-term commitment to this program.  My money is going to sponsor this beautiful child named Taryn Chichina.  She was born about a month after Olivia in 2006.  Her mother has passed away.  Her father is alive but is not in the picture for some reason.  She lives with her five siblings and her grandmother in Kenya.  This family is in extreme need.  I am so excited about sponsoring this child that I can barely contain myself.  I hope that this makes a difference for her and her family.  I look forward to sending her letters and to being a part of her life as she grows up.  Since Olivia is the same age as this girl, I hope that they can also develop a correspondence.  Please pray for Taryn and her family.

Back to School

Here at the Sanders house, there has been a lot of excitement about going back to school.  Olivia is excited to be going to Kindergarten, Owen is excited to be going to Pre-K, and Brian and I are excited that we no longer have to pay for daycare (whoop, whoop).  Olivia and I decided that a new outfit was in order for this big occasion, so we went shopping last week.  I told Liv that she could pick out any outfit she wanted for her first day.  She also needed new tennis shoes, so I let her pick those out as well.  You can see from the picture what we ended up with- pink, pink, and more pink.  I do not think that she could have found a better outfit to represent her personal style.  Olivia and I also picked out a new shirt for Owen.  Thank goodness he's not nearly as picky about his clothes.  Anyway, the first day of school came and the kids got all decked out in their new duds.  Neither of them were particularly forthcoming with details about their first day, but they both said that they liked it.  From what I can gather, the highlight of Owen's day was that he got to play with new play-doh.  Olivia enjoyed seeing her friends from Pre-K.  Overall, this has been a very good start to the school year.  Let's hope it continues.



Stadium Challenge

 My cousin Hunter and I recently traveled to Jacksonville to run in the Stadium Challenge 5K.  The event took place at EverBank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The course took us through the Pepsi tailgate zone, the practice fields, up and down all levels of the stadium, and finished with a lap around the field itself.  This was such a neat experience.  I finished with a time of 27:18 and Hunter finished about 3 or 4 minutes ahead of me.  This was really a unique race.