A Colorful weekend - Color Run 2012

This weekend we celebrated this lovely lady.

By celebrate I mean that we tried our darnedest to throw her a classy shower with salads, cupcakes, and punch.   We enjoyed the company of precious family and friends who we look forward to seeing at these types of events.  

But after the shower...we surprised her with this event....

What is it you ask?

We registered her for the Color Run in hopes of some fun bonding time. 

It was my first registered 5K event.  

And though we didn't run it...we tackled it and smiled the whole way.

Here we are before we left for the race...

all clean!

Arriving and getting pumped!

Standing in this crowd, with some of my favorite ladies, with music pumping...my adrenaline got the best of me and I shed a few tears!

There were many favorite parts but probably my ultimate was seeing my mom so happy and conquering this new item on her bucket list.  She embrace d the color, raised her arms and cheered, and ruined a favorite pair of white shorts.

The race took us right near Lake Michigan which always has me catching my breath.  I know my husband says Lake Superior is Superior...and it has grown to capture my heart...but there is something about Lake Michigan too.  The memories of many afternoons spent on the beaches and dunes.

Afterwards, we were pretty saturated with color. 

But also really proud to have surprised our new Sister In Law with an experience that we thought she would love.  And as we get to know her and realize that she is joining our family we hope we look forward to figuring her out, more and more.  

But for now, I think we can say, that she took on this adventure with much enthusiasm and spirit and we are so excited to celebrate their wedding day in June!

And me...well, the whole event was so inspiring.  I am hoping I can continue to challenge myself with other experiences like this.  It was a nice workout but more importantly, so good for the soul.  

Thanks Raina and Mom for helping make the whole weekend a success.

Thanks Ed and Grandma Charlie for taking on the three kiddos so I could travel on my own and participate without distraction. 

Thanks Greg and Liz for having a great attitude towards everything.

We love you!