This weekend was a very exciting one because we finally got to surprise Jen with the mini-shower I'd been planning with Katie and Jennifer. We got a hotel room at the Hyatt in downtown Minneapolis for a night and filled it with baby shower decorations, some of Jen's favorite snacks and lots of gifts for the new little one. Jen thought that we were just going out for a girls-night-dinner, but after the meal we took her to the hotel and surprised her! We had a great time and Jen was very surprised! We also ate at a REALLY good restaurant called Solera. Their tapas were to die for!!

I guess Jen wasn't the only one surprised this weekend, as Mike and I were too. We were asked to be the our new niece/nephew's godparents and we were delighted to accept!

There are so many exciting things happening in both families! While on vacation in New Orleans, Dennis proposed to my cousin Erin and they are planning a January wedding. Mike's brother Andy and Jennifer are also getting married in January and Mike's brother Dan and Katie are saying "I do" in October. Mom and Dad will officially be living in Minnesota in early June. And, of course, our godchild is expected sometime in late May! VERY cool stuff!!

Even though the weather does not show it, summer is just around the corner. Our calendar is already booked up with all sorts of fun events! We are looking forward to so many things. This weekend Mike and I will be running a 15k race in Rochester and we will also be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary - could it really have been that long!? ;-)

Mike JUST finished the marathon with a finish time of 3:28:33. Benjamin and I and I'm sure many of our loyal readers tracked his time online all morning. We also watched the broadcast of the 2 elite races - very cool. Benjamin was trying to look for Mike very hard and we think we may have seen him, but then I realized that I don't even know what he is wearing!!! I'm sure he'll call later today with details and will be home Tuesday night with pictures. Thanks everyone for your encouragement and support - he did great!

This weekend we all participated in the Dr. Steven Fetzer Memorial 20k race here in Rochester. Mike ran the race as part of his training for Boston (in ONE week!) and Benjamin and I volunteered at a water stop. Unfortunately, even though it is mid-April, the weather is still behaving as though it is winter. The high for Saturday was 38 and there was a strong wind out of the north with a snow/sleet mixture all day. Basically, it was miserable. We knew this going into the day, but we were all bound and determined to overcome the weather! Benjamin and I bundled up and headed out to the waterstop at about 8:45am. By 8:50am Benjamin had submerged his only fleece mittens into a puddle and was crying because his hands were cold. We stuck it out for a while though and were able to see Mike run by twice. It was fun to see all of the familiar faces we know running by as well. After Mike went by at mile 6, we headed back to the (warm) school where the runners would all meet after finishing. Mike ran the race slower to conserve himself for his upcoming marathon and came in 50th place overall.

Grandma and Grandpa Schmitt came down to Rochester for a while on Saturday and it was nice to see them. On Sunday we stayed home all morning and afternoon and only left the house to go to dinner with the Olsons at the new Sushi Itto (LOVE it!) in town. Then we headed over to Lowe's where we found our new vanity for the upstairs bathroom. We have many home improvement projects coming up and remodeling the bathroom is one of them. We are also residing the entire house and plan to update more of the front yard landscaping. Ahhh, spring cleaning fever has hit our house!!

Mike leaves for Boston on Sunday. We will miss him, but are looking forward to watching the race live on TV. For those of you who want to catch it, it will be broadcast live on Versus at 8:30am CT and replayed at 2:30pm CT. We wish Mike and all of the other runners from Rochester luck on the big race!!!

Flickr now allows you to post videos, so this is our first addition:

Well, we had another busy and fun weekend! It all started with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Andrews on Thursday night. Grandpa had a job interview on Friday, so Grandma joined Benjamin and I on a shopping excursion to Medford outlet mall. It was a beautiful, warm, spring day and we had a fun time shopping! On Friday night, Grandma and Grandpa took us all out to dinner at the Redwood Room where we enjoyed some tasty food and live music. They had to leave early though on Saturday morning so they could meet the inspector at their new home. After Mike's regular long run, we headed up to Andy and Jennifer's house in St. Paul. It was so nice and warm outside that we all decided to walk to a neighborhood park for some play time and to fly kites. After enjoying the nice day, we all drove out to White Bear Lake for AJ's 3rd Birthday Party. Benjamin had an excellent time playing with all of the kids at the party. Auntie Jen led everyone in a game of "pin the cone on the construction site," which Benjamin loved!!

The next morning we (Jennifer, Andy, Mike, Jessica and Benjamin) met Grandma and Grandpa Andrews at SpoonRiver for breakfast before heading out to the Metrodome (in the rain!) for the Twins game. Though this wasn't Benjamin's first Twins game, it was the first one that he has been to since he's been old enough to get excited for it. As you can see in the photos, he was all decked out in his Twins coat, hat and t-shirt. Mike has been prepping him on the intricacies of the game, so he was ready to cheer for all of his favorite players - it seems as though he likes Joe Mauer the most so far. He absolutely loved looking out for the mascot "T.C." and clapped along to all of the fan songs! We had to leave the game shortly before it ended to get back to Rochester so that Mike could go to a Boston-marathon-prep meeting. The Twins did end up losing to the Royals, but we enjoyed the game anyway! We can’t wait to take Benjamin to another one!

This weekend Mike is running a 20k race in Rochester and Benjamin and I are volunteering at a water stop. We are all very excited!! Hopefully the weather warms up and dries out before then!