11-28-14

Me: Howard & I on top of Camelback Mountain. It had been 20 years since Howard hiked Camelback so we drove to the Echo trailhead at 5:30am, hiked 45 minutes in the dark & arrived just in time to see the sunrise at the summit. We hiked down the Cholla Trail (east side of the mtn) and ran 3 miles around the north side of Camelback to our car. Great job, Howard. Now that Ironman AZ is over we're mixing up his training with some fun hikes, P90X and Bikram yoga. Howard has some new goals for 2015 which includes another round at Arizona Ironman.

After hiking, I went shopping (yep, Wendy & I braved the mall on Black Friday). It actually wasn't so bad & I found a few Christmas gifts plus some home bedding - 70% off at Macy's (score!). :-)

While I was playing all day, Bob was working in the friendly skies. Thankfully he gets in tonight for a few days at home. I saved a whole pumpkin pie & whipped cream for just him. ;-)

Back in Iowa the big news was my 5 brothers gathering in Iowa City to attend the IOWA vs Nebraska  football game. Despite IOWA losing in overtime they had a GREAT time. It's not often that the 5 of them are able to be in the same place at once and be JUST them together. I believe it was Rod's idea and I think it was a good one. :-)

From L to R (oldest to youngest). Rod, Curt, Monte, Brent, Jim.

PS: Joan falls between Monte & Brent. Carol is after Jim. And I am after Carol.

• Rod lives in Des Moines and is retired from teaching, coaching and high school principal.
• Curt lives in Des Moines and is an Obstetrician in his own practice with some partner doctors.
• Monte lives just outside Elk Horn (where I grew up) and 14 miles from Atlantic (where my mom lives now). He is a farmer. His youngest son, Jacey is in his 1st year of farming with Monte.
• Brent lives in Rochester, MN and is a senior engineer for IBM
• Jim lives in Sunbury, PA and is a Physical Therapist in his own PT business.

The 3 of us girls live in Arizona (though Joan's primary home is in St. Charles, IL)

Each of us do a little bit of everything (haha). :-)