Running, Football, Dancing and More...

This weekend was one of those crazy weekends with so much going on all we did was run from one event to another.  I'm finally feeling like I have a minute to sit down and breath today.  Friday was Andrew's district cross country meet.  I thought this might be kind of a let down for him after such a big win at Bob Firman.  Even though this was a much smaller race Andrew still has some amazing teammates to push him.  It was a cool, rainy afternoon.  Andrew finished 4th with the top 5 runners all coming from Mt. Ogden, sweeping the district championship. He finished the two mile course in 12:33, (6:16 mile pace.)  It's been fun to see all these boys on the team improve so much this year.  They have one more race this week to finish off their season.

The boys celebrating their win.

Both the girls and boys from Mt. Ogden were district champions!

Saturday started early with Jason headed to the bus for the Huntsville marathon.  It was a chilly morning with frost on the ground at home and he was heading up to Monte Cristo at 8,000 ft for the start of the race where there was snow on the ground.  While he was on his way to the start the rest of us were out the door early for Jared's last football game of the season.

I told Jared to smile for this picture and he said he did!

After game treats are still the best part for this kid.

The sun was finally up halfway through Jared's game and it started to warm up a bit.  We caught the first half of Kaitlyn's soccer game and then headed up to Huntsville to cheer Jason on at the end of his race.  We were watching the half marathon runners coming by and I was starting to get really worried when Jason still hadn't come several minutes after I was expecting him.  What I didn't know is that the full marathon had started late so he wasn't as far back as I thought.  He looked good with a mile and a half left but I could tell he was hurting.  The race has a super steep downhill first half and flattens out later in the race.  A lot of the full marathoners looked like they were really feeling terrible towards the end.  This isn't the greatest picture since I got him opening the water bottle but it's the only one I got.

We had to really hurry to make it to the finish but got there just in time.  He finished in 2:52:51 in 9th place overall and 1st in his age division.  He would have liked to have been a couple minutes faster.  He said that second half was pretty tough and 10 minutes slower than the first half but it was a great race on a tough course.

When we got home Saturday afternoon I had just enough time to squeeze in one of my last training runs before St. George and then we were off to the Weber State homecoming game.  Jason was working at the game which meant I got to take all four kids myself.  It brought back memories of all those time he was in fellowship and I took the kids alone to games while he worked.  Luckily Andrew and Jared are old enough to take care of themselves now as long as I buy them plenty of treats.  Kaitlyn got to perform at halftime with the Jr. Wildcat Spirit Squad.  Her dance teacher is one of the Weber State dancers and she loved getting out there and dancing with the cheerleaders and dancers.

Bob Firman Invitational

Andrew is running cross country at the junior high again this year.  The high school cross country team goes to the Bob Firman Invitational in Boise every year.  This is a big race put on by Nike with teams from several states.  Three of the boys on the junior high team were traveling with their parents and older siblings to the race in Boise and were going to run the middle school race. They needed five boys to make a complete team and were hoping Andrew and a few others could join them.  After a few weeks of trying to figure out if there was space in the vans to take a few junior high boys the final verdict was that their wasn't room and they couldn't go.  I could tell Andrew was disappointed so I decided if all they needed was a ride I would drive them up to Boise.

I had a lot of people tell me I was brave to take a baby and a bunch of junior high boys all that way but what they were forgetting is that I have the easiest baby in the world (I know you think I'm exaggerating but I'm not) and that I had three terrific teenagers with me.  We had a great weekend!  I was so glad I took these boys and they got to experience such an amazing race!

The three boys I took to the meet.

I knew these kids were good runners.  Their junior high meets are against the other Ogden District schools and the other teams really don't even have a chance.  We usually come close to sweeping the top 10 at each race.  It is a short season for them so it was great to get the opportunity to throw in another meet.  This was a completely different experience for these boys.  This was a big race with over 200 runners from schools from five different states.  Not only were there a lot of runners, but there were a lot of fast runners.  I warned Andrew to get out fast so he wasn't stuck in the back of the pack.  I was thrilled to see him come around the first corner towards the front of the pack.

It was a 3000 meter race around a park.  We were able to run to a few different spots along the course to watch.  Towards the end I could tell that Andrew was starting to hurt.  This was really the first time I've seen him in a race push himself to that point.  It was great to see him and his teammates step it up at a bigger meet.  Andrew finished in 29th place and had several of his teammates finish close to him.  I knew they had done well but it was hard to tell with so many schools there where they would come out in the team score.  After watching the middle school girls race (Mt. Ogden also had six girls there to make a team) we headed over to where they had the results posted.  The boys race had come down to a tie breaker with the 6th runner and Mt. Ogden won out of 23 teams!  Our sixth place runner was over sitting on the grass because he wasn't feeling well but was soon mobbed by his teammates for winning the race for them.  I was so proud of those boys for running so hard and doing so well!

Andrew and his teammate Ben sprinting to the finish.

The boys were thrilled with the trophy they won!

With the girl's team with their 3rd place trophy and with Bob Firman, founder of the race.

Click here if you are interested in watching a video of the race.  It really is impressive to see how far up these boys were in such a huge race.  We got a late start on our drive home since the middle school races were the last races of the day.  I thought the boys would be so worn out they would fall asleep but they were so excited they all lasted until almost midnight when we got home.  I'm so happy for this great group of kids!

First Day of School 2013

It was such a busy summer for us it was hard to believe it was time to go back to school already.  I think all of us were mostly ready though.

Andrew 8th grade.

Jared 5th grade

Kaitlyn 2nd grade

I'm officially the most embarrassing 5th grade mom taking a picture in front of the school.  Can you tell by the scowl on Jared's face?

This leaves me a lot of quiet time with this little guy.  I'm really enjoying it although I think he really misses his siblings while they're gone.  One of our favorite things to do: head out for a run with the stroller!

Scouts

Jared received his arrow of light last month.  It's hard to believe he is ready to move on to boy scouts.  I was actually a little sad sitting at pack meeting and thinking that after six years of having a boy in cub scouts it would be my last one for the next seven years.  Cub scouts is such a great program and it's been a lot of fun seeing all the things Jared has accomplished the last three years.

His pack did a fun presentation including face paint, feathers and tomahawks.

Jared walked across the bridge to join the Arrow of Light recipients.

Jared loved the arrow he gets to take home and hang on his wall.

Meanwhile Andrew has been busy working on his Eagle Scout project.  He has been doing a book drive for a local elementary school with needy children.  We spent the summer with boxes of books piled in our living room.

Some of the scouts helping deliver the books.

Just some of the books.  He had another car full.

In August they had a court of honor and received the merit badges they earned at scout camp.

Now with his project complete he is one 50 mile bike ride away from completing his last required merit badge and he will be ready for his Eagle board of review!

Remembering Grandma and Grandpa

80 years ago today my Grandma and Grandpa Brown were married for eternity in the Salt Lake LDS temple. It has been over 15 years since they passed away but I miss them and think of them often. I have fond memories of holidays at their house, vacations with them to Yellowstone and just Sunday afternoon visits. One day we were talking about my running and Grandma mentioned she used to love to run and run as a little girl. Of course she lived in a time when there weren't organized sports for women so I guess we'll never know for sure but I like to think that's where I got it from. A couple years ago a running friend of mine figured out he had grown up in my grandparents ward. He still remembered Grandpa's chocolates all these years later and his wife remembered him as one of her high school teachers. Sometimes I am jealous of my older cousins who had a lot more years to spend with Grandma and Grandpa but I know I'll see them again and they are celebrating together today. I love you Grandma and Grandpa!