Byron Forest Preserve

My parents came to visit this weekend and we took a hike at the forest preserve. Michaila took these cool pictures of the wildflowers in bloom. The visit with mom and dad was nice despite my cold over the weekend, which was pretty miserable at times. This week is the last week of Brian's visit home, so we will be making the most of it.

Rugby (1990-2006)

Rugby has been our wonderful companion for 16 years. Monday, April 17 we had to say goodbye to her. We will always remember her loyal, playful, and loving character. This picture is of her at about three-years-old at our favorite hiking, sunning, and picnic spot in southern Illinois, Devils Kitchen Lake. We could let her off the lead and she would run up and down the lakeshore. When we called, she returned immediately. What an awesome dog! Rugby was a terrific member of our family, and we will miss her so much.

New Running Partner

Today is a light run day. I asked Nolan if he wanted to go with, and he surprised me by saying yes! Well, I only planned two miles today anyway, but I was still worried whether or not he would need to stop. Don't know what the heck I was thinking! Nolan ran the whole time and we did 2 miles in under 25 minutes, which is pretty good considering the wind was a cold, hard killer on the way back! So, looks like I have a new running partner - at least for the easy days right now. I am sure I can get him to run 3 pretty soon though. He runs a nice, steady pace. It was funny though. I asked him if he could speed up just a bit, and he said "No, I am fine right here." Well, I sped up just a bit anyway. Nolan kept up!