The Pankratz Family

My oldest brother, Keith, lives in Germany, but was bringing his family to visit Mom and Dad in TX.  We haven't seen them in a couple years, so we were all excited to get a chance to fly to Boerne for a quick visit.

The weekend started off like this:

 And ended like this!

Keith & MiNa married 19 years with their sons Kevin and Ethan
Kris & Amy married 24? years with their daughters Rylie and Kinleigh
Mom & Dad (Roderick and Allison) married 49 years!!!!!!
Shey & Kari married 22 years with our sons Everett and Jansen


Well, Mom and Dad must have done something right.  They set an amazing example for us to follow and I am so happy to be a part of this family.  They are the best parents and grandparents you could ever have.



Keith, Kari, Mom, Dad and Kris

Kinleigh, Rylie, Kevin, Everett, Ethan and Jansen

Rylie, Everett, Jansen, Kinleigh, Kevin and Ethan

The grandchildren are lined up in order of age.

Rylie has graduated from university and is working in Boerne as a graphic designer.

Everett is attending university and works at our bicycle shop on the weekends.

Jansen and Kinleigh are 3 days apart, are both seniors in high school and will attend university in the fall.

Kevin is in grammar school and can build some amazing things with legos and is very computer savvy.

Ethan is also in elementary school and is not only learning how to juggle, but is quite a talented athlete.

It was so much fun to visit with Keith and the boys!  All the boys were busy collecting bugs, leaves, rocks, playing hide and seek, tag and going for walks to catch up on all they have been doing.  I wish we had more time to spend with Rylie and Kinleigh, but perhaps next visit. 

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Shey rides the Huracan 300

Shey drove to Florida to ride the Huracan 300 again this year.  We had a great time last year and enjoyed the route.  This year the route would be backwards with minor changes, but Shey felt he could take a good bit of time off his record from 2012 even if he wasn't familiar with the track.

Jason was going this year, too, as well as Eddie.  So, he would have great company to hang out with at the campground, which is reallly nice. 

Everyone had a great ride and Jason, Eddie and Shey played leap frog at times and caught each other at times.  Shey had chaffing from the shorts that had been so muddy a few weeks before.  He had only washed them twice and the silt leftover rubbed him quite sore.

The deep sand was crazy again this year.  There were alligators, interesting Floridians, a night river crossing and cooler temperatures.  (cold for Florida)

His legs felt really good in the end, but there is nothing better than doing something epic with great guys and the three rode in together rather than sprinting for it. 

The funny thing is hearing the outside world of soccer mom/dad sports leaking into the mountain bike world and fussing about how they should have sprinted and there should be only one winner.....well mountain biking makes it's own rules and there are few times in life when you can perform as a pretty amazing athlete and have friends by your side.  Take it when you can, I say and enjoy it.  There is much solo about mountain biking and we love it, but I think facebook and forum posters mistakenly think we care more about their ideas of what a race should be than we do.  We just ride what we do, make decisions on the fly, soak up the outdoors and thank the universe for allowing us to do so.

Congrats to Jason, Eddie and Shey on a job well done and a little broken record to boot!

Love you all!

Kari L.

Jansen Salutatorian and SAT

We found out that Jansen was not only Salutatorian, but also STAR student, which means he has the highest SAT score at his high school.  His graduating class will probably be about 400 students.  Everett and I were going to breakfast together and as we walked by a newspaper stand he said, "Hey there's Jansen".  Cool.  

We have been touring campuses.  GA Tech

 Emory

And we will visit Rochester soon.


Only a few weeks left.  I can't believe it!  I have told the boys a million times, but we are so thankful to have them in our lives!

Jansen has been so much fun to have as a son.

He works hard at everything he does and he is kind and fun to hang around.

He has totally been swamped with work this year, but I hope we get a chance to take off on another adventure soon!

Very happy for you and proud of all you have accomplished, Jansen!!

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Home Projects and Racing (of course)

I wanted to paint the french doors.  I thought I would take the plastic grid off to paint and a couple screws were stuck, so I asked Jansen to get them out.  He did and the whole window fell out.....luckily it didn't break....and luckily Shey was not home!

I hate painting so I put in some great tunes:

And had this guy bring me some yummy iced coffee.

After painting I printed and hung some new/old photos.  Here is a cool duo of the boys riding mtb in 2004 and again in 2012.  We have had so much fun together!!!

When I finished with the doors, the sunny day was calling.  So, off on a gravel road ride with Jim.  Fun!

 Andy Johnston promoted the Winter Thaw series of races at Yellow River this year and the first two were COLD.  That last one was sunny and warm.  Wes was on spring break and stopped in to race.  (not on that bike)

 Jansen and Everett ran and hiked while Shey and I raced, then we hung out in the sun.

 Shey

Jafer

Me

I smell new shoes!

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