The Couch Family: August 2008

River Trip

We headed down to the river this past weekend to spend some time with my friends from high school. The Corkers were nice enough to open their home to a rowdy group. It was great to see everyone, catch up, play on the jet ski, and of course eat some delicious food. Can't wait for Lindy and Dan's wedding so we can all get together again.

What beautiful glasses!

The girls.

Oh Jane, what a great performance!

Frederick Marathon

In May, Eric, Cheryl and Bob ran in the the Frederick Marathon. Although they only ran half, we were still proud of them. Cheryl and Bob started training in months in advance, and followed their plan of action. Eric on the the other hand, being the nonplanner he is, decided that a month before the marathon he should go for a long run with Cheryl and Bob. Towards the end of the run, Eric decided to take off and leave his family member behind. I have to say this is pretty disgusting. He followed this trend during the marathon, and finished in 2 hours. Cheryl and Bob weren't long behind him. Michael and I drove out to the fairgrounds to cheer on our runners as the crossed the 13 mile mark. As we stood their clapping and cheering for all the runners, I turned to Michael and said "Man my hands are really starting to hurt. I think I need a break." Michael of course agreed, and then it hit us. It's pretty bad that we were complaining about clapping as all these runners who got up to run such a long way at 5:30am ran by us with a look of pain on their face. Of course we noted this, but still made sure we told our beloved family members how hard we worked for them.

I missed Eric when he really ran by, so here he is faking it.

Cheryl is in the blue right next to the sign, and if you look close you can see Bob right behind her in dark blue with his head down.

After the run...

They are just to cute...

As all good mothers do, I need to brag about my little one. Sam is doing great and brings lots of entertainment and fun to our lives. Mom and dad were gracious enough to take care of Sam while we were on vacation. As you can see, he missed us a lot. He and Jada, my parent's lab, played in the mud pit out in the field.

Sam dying to go inside so he can chase the cats.

Where's Sam?

What a pretty puppy.

On the run...

In the mud.

Volleyball and Family

In May we headed down south for volleyball nationals and to visit family. Although the team didn't do as well as we liked, it was fun to be around the competition again. We also got to see Eric's cousin, Michelle, who was playing with a team from Boston. Kristie was able to join us for the trip, which made it a little more entertaining while Eric was playing. We hung out on the sidelines with the other guy's wives and girlfriends. Karch Kari, one of Eric's favorite volleyball players, made an appearance at the tournament and we were able to get a picture.

After the long tournament days we were able to return to the luxurious Wiedeman house. Besides the wonderful food, the bird watch and the most important chocolates on the pillow, we had great company. We had a great time catching up, not only with Dirk, Paige and the boys, but LeeAnne too. We saw pictures from before Kristie and I were born. Some were great to see, and some not so great (The picture of dad mooning the camera...I'm now scared for life).

When the tournament was over, we traveled up to Russel Lake to see the new log cabin the Fishbach's built. The house was beautiful. Everything looked so natural. The furniture, accent furniture, stair railings, vanities and beds were all custom made and looked like they found them out in the woods. We had so much fun out on the boat tubing, swimming at the little beach, and fishing.

The trip flew by, but we had a great time!

Eric and Karch

The river house.

The girls on the beach after the boat ride.

Having fun behind the boat.

Eric out trying to catch a fish.

Eric's 30th

Although he isn't 30 yet, we had a 30th party last weekend. The party wasn't a surprise, but a few of the guests were. Peanut, Dan, Craig and Heidi came up to spend the weekend with us. They all came at different times, and each time Eric thought that the surprise was over. We were also joined by friends and family in the area, and some family in town from Panama! The weather held up so we were able to enjoy the sunny day, except for a quick 10 minute rain. Ladder golf seemed to be the game of the day, and night for that matter. We played by the light of the tiki torches for awhile past dark, but we couldn't win against Peanut and Kristie.

My favorite part of the day was when Eric got to open his presents. After opening a few presents, Eric turned and said "I just realized I really am getting old, because I get excited for a saw and a lawn mower bagger." Of course we all agreed with this statement.

Eric resisted at the mention of a party, but after the weekend was over he was so happy to see everyone and that they came to celebrate with him. We had a great time!

Bathroom Project and the Christophel Pitstop

This summer was spent working on our house, spending time with friends and family, and a few short trips here and there. As usual the projects turned into more work, money and time than we expected. The bathroom was the biggest project. The difficulty began right away. We tried to chunk the tile off the wall, only to find that one tile took what seemed like 20 minutes to come off and it left a really rough surface behind. So the whole drywall with tile attached came down. Bob came down to help replace the dry wall, Eric replaced the pipes and valve for the new fixtures, and then we are able to put up the new tile. We also had a company come in and reglaze the beautiful green tub. We decided that removing it was way to hard since it would require us to take down a wall, and then move the extremely heavy tub out of the house. The shower looked great and we moved onto the floor. After removing the old sink and toilet, Eric decided to take out some of the dry wall because it hat been patched up, and not to well, many times. It was here we found the mold. With an alien mask and some crazy chemicals, we were able to kill everything.The floor of the bathroom was a little easier. The tile came right off and the rest of the project went quickly. Overall, it took a week longer than we expected.

The bathroom project went on hold between the shower work and the floor work to visit with the Christophel family. They decided to stop for a night on their way down to visit family. It was so great to see our friends, and Rosemary is as beautiful as ever. She was talking up a storm, and was very entertaining.

Before...