Gracie Turns 10 Years Old in 2010!!!

Oops...this didn't get posted in October, 2010! So...here it is...the post about Gracie's 10th B-day!

That's right... Gracie turned double digits for the first time on Saturday October 30. We can't believe that it's been 10 years since she came into our lives. What a blessing she has been. I guess the saying is true. . . . . . "Time flies by when you're having fun!"

Her birthday fell on a Saturday this year, and we celebrated the day by doing everything that she wanted to do. So here's the schedule of what we did:

8:30 AM - Sleep in until Princess Grace woke up
9:00 AM - Eat Breakfast with Cinnamon Rolls
9:30 AM - Family Devotional
10:00 AM - Hang out time with her big sister Hannah

11:30 AM - Skype(Webcam) with Grandpa and Grandma Schilling
12:30 PM - Go to the mall to get her ears pierced
1:30 PM - Go shopping
4:30 PM - Family gifts
5:30 PM - Eat one of her favorite dinners (Ranch Chicken )
6:30 PM - Played a boardgame together as a family
8:30 PM - Got ready for bed
9:00 PM - Pray with Mom and Dad
9:30 PM - Go to sleep with a BIG Smile on her face!

What a day it was and we so enjoyed our time together! Grace was relieved and excited to finally have her ears sparkling with her new earrings. She enjoyed all the wonderful gifts that she received from family and friends. In addition, on the Friday before her birthday she got the OK from her doctor to take off the cast/splint that she's had for the last 6 weeks since fracturing her wrist. She was very excited about that!

In our home, we have a tradition at birthdays. First we have a devotional from the Bible that talks about how God has worked in our lives. Then we go from person to person and share one of our favorite memories over the last year of the person who's birthday we're celebrating. As parents, we might also share how we have seen our children grow over the past year. We are so THANKFUL to the LORD for the 10 years with Gracie and to see how she has trusted in the LORD in the many different things that have happened over the year. May there be many, many more years to come. . . . LORD willing!

We LOVE you Grace! Happy 10th Birthday!

We conquered the Victoria B.C. Marathon!

This past Sunday on October 10th, 2010 ( 10-10-10) Vicki and I completed the 42 kilometer (26.2 mile) Victoria B.C. marathon that finished in downtown Victoria right in front of the famous Empress Hotel and Parliament building. It was a great race and best of all we did it together!
We spent 4 days in Victoria with my (Jay's) Mom and stepfather Bruce and we had a great time together! We went to the popular Butchart Gardens and saw them in their rich fall colors.

We also took a bus tour of the Victoria area and learned lots of history about the city. Victoria is an amazing city among all the Northwest points of interest. It is also host to an IMAX theater housed in the Royal British Museum. We saw an truly awesome movie called "Hubble" which showed the final maitenence of the orbiting space telescope. Then we returned to see in full IMAX production Toy Story 3. (Our favorite of the 3 movies!) On the walk back to the hotel, we took this picture of the Parliament building outlined in lights. A magnificant sight!


All day Saturday we began to prepare ourselves for the race on Sunday. We began seeing more and more people arriving in the city for the race. You could tell the excitment was building and before you knew it, our alarms went off at 5AM Sunday morning! RACE DAY!

Vicki and I set off for the start of the race at 6AM and here is what we experienced....

At 6:30 the start gun went off and we ran. . . . .



We ran. . . . And we ran. . . . We kept "pounding the pavement." Most of the signs on the course were posted in kilometers but there were a few mile signs.

This was "take three" of the "just past mid-point" video. The other 2 takes were too bouncy so we took a quick walk to film...



Not long after the halfway point, we saw some incredibly fast runners. These are known as the "elite" runners as they are professionals and usually run the whole course in under 2 hrs. 20 min. They were incredible! (The runner in the red jersey finished first.) We got to run by the "elite"...or actually the "elite" flew past us...pretty cool!

And then we ran some more. . . . we ran our way closer and closer to the finish line! It was cold and windy most of the race but towards the very end, the sun came out. We sure were thankful for the sunshine.
The entire time were were getting confused by the km vs. mile markers but we just kept going until we reached the final 100m. We saw our family cheering us on! It was great!

What a thrill it was to finish my first marathon! For Vicki, it was her 3rd full marathon! We ran the entire race together! She is such a patient and gracious wife & coach! And to top it off, we had a ton of fun running! Here's a short video of us crossing the finish line!



We finished the Victoria B.C. Marathon. . . . TOGETHER!

You can tell by our smiles that we were glad to reach the end!

Thank you to all who prayed for us and cheered us on! We knew we had the support of our family and friends! And Hannah and Grace were such a great support during all of the training and even the race day! They are such blessings to us!

What a great adventure it has been! Until next time, we'll keep running. . .on course!

Jay, Vicki, Hannah and Grace

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:2,3

5 Days To Go Until We Run The Victoria Marathon!

It's been a busy start to our fall but believe it or not, we are only 5 days away from runnning the Victoria, B.C. marathon. Over the past several weeks, Vicki and I have continued our preparation to run 26.2 miles on 10-10-10! Putting in the runs to get ready has been hard at times, but thankfully, we feel ready.

We're getting excited about the entire weekend and spending time with my mom and her husband, Bruce. It will be a great time together!

Below is the what the Race medals look like! Hopefully, come Sunday afternoon, we'll both being wearing our medals!

And below is a picture from the start of the last year's race! Looks fun! And also it looks like a nice day however! Hopefully, we'll also get a nice day this Sunday!

We'll give you a full report when we return. Have a wonderful week and weekend!

Running His Course ~ Jay, Vicki, Hannah and Grace

P.S. On a side note, 2 weeks ago, while we were finishing up a training run, Gracie fell off her bike. Falling backwards, she landed on left hand and suffered a fracture in her wrist. Thankfully, she was only given a velcro splint for her hand and wrist and is doing better. She will have it on for 2-3 more weeks.

Paradise at Mt. Rainier!

The definition of the word "Paradise" according to Webster's Online Dictionary is

1. a place of rest, bliss or delight; 2. Eden..."

Last Monday (8-23-10) we visited one of our favorite places in the world.... Paradise @ Mt. Rainier! We truly had a taste of this "heavenly" place as we hiked among the meadows and hills covered with incredible wildflowers. We took the picturesque Skyline trail then out to the Paradise Glacier from the Visitor Center. The further from the main area we went, the more quiet and beautiful it became. God's delicate handiwork on full display! And then in addition to the visuals was the fragrance. Beyond description! Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll let them speak of the wonders we saw on our hike!

Noteworthy of mentioning, is the event that we witnessed after we headed back down the hill. It was at dusk that we saw a the marmots. There were Marmots everywhere- laying in the sun, eating flowers, running through the meadows and then some were...well...it looked like they were doing some type of wrestling dance. We found a video that shows what we saw...

We were amazed when we saw them wrestling like this right in front of us. Needless to say, we learned something new about marmots on Mt. Rainier.

To top it off, we stayed on the mountain to see it illuminated by the full moon. I'm glad we stayed! It was quite a sight to see. A perfect end to our day.

If you ever get a chance to visit Paradise @ Mt. Rainier (especailly in July, August months) maybe you'll see a glimpse of "heaven" also.

Running on His Course.
The Schillings (Jay, Vicki, Hannah & Grace)

Race Update: We have approx. 40 days until the Royal Victorian Marathon on Oct. 10th. We've been training and are looking forward to it!

The Last Frontier - ALASKA!!!

When they say that Alaska is the "Last Frontier," . . . . we NOW understand why. It is truly a land of incredible beauty, majesty and for lack of a better phrase - BIG WILDERNESS! After months of anticipation, we had the chance of a lifetime to travel to Southern Alaska on a cruise with my parents from Oakland, CA.

We boarded the Celebrity Infinity at Pier 66 in Seattle on Friday afternoon July 23 very excited and ready for an unforgettable adventure. And Alaska surely didn't disappointment!!! Once, we were joined up with my parents, we quickly prepared ourselves for life at sea aboard a cruise ship.

It was sunny and warm when we left Seattle, with clear blue skies. What a start to our trip!

With the first full day at sea sailing past Vancouver Island, our ship headed through Alaska' inside Passage to its first destination. We spent the time catching up with Grandma & Grandpa and got a chance to experience the varied and excellent dining experiences onboard. We arrived early on Sunday morning and were alerted promptly at 7am with "Good Morning and welcome to Ketchikan!" followed by instructions for getting on and off the ship while at port.

We explored much of the city and its unique stores and visitor areas including a totem pole museum that held carvings created before the turn of the 19th century. Ketchikan contains the largest collection of totem poles in the US. We also saw salmon thick in the river that ran through the town. And we even did a little shopping with Grandma Janet!

Once we reboarded, the ship headed on overnight to take us to the Tracy Arm Fjord. We had been alerted to the beauty and majesty of this leg of our trip, so we were up early (some earlier than others) and on deck ready to take it all in. Boy were we glad! We got front row seats as the cruise ship navigated its way to the doorstep of the Sawyer glacier. What a breath-taking sight!!! We were told by the staff naturalist that we were very fortunate to get that close to the glacier, since most ships are hindered due to the amount of fallen glacier ice in the water.

Once we turned around and started heading out, together we took in the beautiful scenery coming the opposite direction. We even saw a seal on an iceberg just hanging out!

From there it was on to Juneau, the capital city of Alaska. (Intrestingly, Juneau is the only US capital that is accessable ONLY by boat or plane. There are no roads into or out of the city area.) It is a dramatic port with towering mountians right out of town. Also the green of the landscape was vibrant and deep. The sun was shining and the port had a very attractive downtown area that was full of tourists from the 4 cruiseships that were docked. After we enjoyed the town, we reboarded and ate another wonderful dinner in the ship's formal resturant called, "The Trellis." Afterward, we decided to go onto the upper deck and enjoy the peaceful and dramatic sunset! What a great end to our day and the halfway point of our trip.

The next morning, we docked at Skagway at 7am. It was cloudy and cool. However, as the morning went on, the clouds parted and the sun shined brightly the rest of the day. It was easily the warmest day of our trip with temps into the upper 70's. We enjoyed this incredible little town nestled at the bottom of some incredible mountains that towered all around. We realized quickly that Skagway, with a regular population of approx. 800 year-round residents, exponentailly increases when 2 or more ships pull into port. (This day there were 4 cruise ships docked in Skagway). We walked the main street and shopped a bit just enjoying the history and scenes from this historic Yukon gold rush town.

After a delicious lunch back aboard the ship, we got prepared for the White Pass train ride that took us up one of the famous pathways that thousand of gold-seekers used to travel heading for the Yukon where the last big gold rush took place in the late 1800's. It was a scenic and soothing ride with incredible vistas of the surrounding mountains. What a blessing to be together in such a wonderful place and we enjoyed every minute of our time in Skagway.

The next day, our ship headed out of the inside passage and then south following the Canadian coastline. We enjoyed our second formal night at dinner and lots of great memories.

After the full day at sea, we rounded Vancouver Island and headed eastward into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. During our sailing, we saw several humpback whales surface amid the foggy ocean. The next day we reached the final stop Victoria, B.C. for a short stay before we headed back home. We had a beautiful walk into this elegant city and enjoyed our time strolling by the Empress Hotel and surrounding streets. Time seemed to fly by as it was time to head back to the ship. Feeling thankful and a bit tired from all the walking, we quickly went to sleep. When we awoke the next morning we were already docked right back in Seattle where we started this adventure.

What a wonderful journey to Southern Alaska we enjoyed and our time with our family was priceless. We have great memories (and pictures) from a 7 day trip that will last us a lifetime! It was relaxing and awe-inspiring all at the same time! How thankful we are to have had such an opportunity! (Thanks Dad and Janet!)

On to our next adventure. We're looking forward to returning to Victoria in a few weeks (10) for our marathon run. It's time to hit the road and train hard!!!!

Until next time.... on course for His glory!

Jay, Vicki, Hannah & Grace