Finally an update!!

Hi everyone, I've missed you all! Hopefully I will be catching up sometime soon, but for now here are some fall pics of the kids.

*WARNING* there are a LOT of pictures to follow!!

I tried to narrow them down as best as I could, but how is a mommy to choose?! Btw, after the first 2 posts I figured out how to make the pics smaller. I don't feel like going back and changing the others, so I hope I don't cause anyone's computer to freeze up while opening all of them (sorry julie!) Anyway... enjoy!

They DO love each other!!!

Mr. Harrison

My little Haven

coffee with a view...

Good morning blog-world! I just thought I would share with you the view outside my kitchen window this morning...














Ahh…. Progress!!

Btw, I'm sorry for my prolonged absence! I’m hoping to get back on here in the near future and catch every one up on the Murphy life. I have TONS of pictures and stories from our summer! Talk to you soon...

Second Tri....

Well, we survived our second triathlon... Barely!! It was brutal! It really kicked our butts! The swim wasn't bad, the water was pretty gross and murky and I was attacked by some seaweed, but we got through it realatively unscathed. Then.... there was the bike. I have never biked so hard in my life! The course was extremely hilly, it was literally one hill after another, and we had a really strong cross wind the whole time. Worst of all, I ran out of water around mile 7 or so and had to go the second half of the course without. Boy was that bad. By the time I got back to the transition area I felt like I was going to pass out. I was overheated and exhausted from all my exertion on the hills without water and feeling dizzy and nauseous. I had to sit down for a minute and pour water over my head and then I drank a bottle of water and off I went to the run. The run was our longest time to date. My leg was hurting and I still hadn't fully recovered from the bike and jody's knees were hurting, but we didn't give up! And we actually made it across the finish line 14 minutes faster than the last time! TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 55 minutes

(you know it's crazy when I hear that, because even though we may not be the fastest triathletes out there -ok, we are definitely not the fastest triathletes out there- I can't believe that we can keep our bodies in motion, and at that intensity, for almost 2 hours! I never would've thought that was possible a couple months ago! that just goes to show that anyone can do this! so who's training with us for next year??!)


don't you hate it when you think you're taking a nice picture and then you find out later that the other person was making a face?! Ha ha. anyway, this is my wonderful hubby loosening up my shoulders before the race.


our sexy alien look


having WAY too much fun! obviously blissfully unaware of what was to come on the bike


it took almost forever to get my left foot clicked into my pedal


almost to the end of the bike ride. don't be fooled, I felt even worse than i looked!


almost to the finish line


just a little further


almost....


whew! made it!!!




It was a lot of fun to have our family there to cheer us on!! (Thank you to everyone who came!!) Here are some pics of our cheerleading section!






i told you it was windy! poor little brody was blown to bits!








as i ran by harrison he handed me a "pumpkin" he found for me (it was actually a nut from a tree) I thought it was so sweet and cute so I ran with it in pocket the rest of the race!








julie was sneaky and tried not to get in any pictures, but here is her arm. at least we have proof that she was there!

Triathlon Overload?

Sorry for those of you who are experiencing triathlon overload. These are the last of the pictures, I promise! (Look at it this way... at least I'm updating!)

The day before the race we went to a mandatory race expo. It was where we picked up our race packets, t-shirts (we got a really nice free shirt -whoo hoo!), etc, and got our bodies marked with our numbers. There were also a whole bunch of booths with cool gear and apparel and stuff (gotta love shopping) oh yeah, and starbucks! We sat in on a course talk and a transition clinic too, and had a good time overall despite the cold, rainy weather!


signing in and getting my "oh so cute" blue swim cap!


getting my numbers!


a little TOO excited about the free goodies!


fun in the rain!


Harrison and Billy came with (which was really nice, because Jody and I didn't have to worry about parking!) and they had a good time looking around. When we went to our clinics they hung out in downtown Naperville and had some quality guy time!


Seriously, I've never been so happy to have permanent marker all over my body!! (though 4 days later I'm not so thrilled with it! will this stuff EVER wash off?!)