Spooktacular Runners

It was time for one of our favorite Halloween traditions on Saturday: the Spooktacular 5K and Kids K in Mantua. We love it. We sleep over at grandpa and grandma's, then wake up and get ready to race. This year Jacob did the 5K with me. He did awesome and got 2nd place in his division...he also helped me secure 3rd place in mine. Poor kid, he has a competitive mom that pushed him a little bit, but I think he'll thank me one day :0)
The younger boys did a great job as well. I'm so happy to have boys that enjoy being active...and running for a trick-or-treat bag full of junk food!! My kids obviously!!

I love sharing my love of running with my boys!!

Winter's Tail

There are some perks to being married to a prosthetist. Yes, that's right pro-sthe-tist...ar-ti-fi-cial limbs (there are always quizzical looks when we explain what Phil does!) I've said before that Phil has met some wonderful people who work in his field and Kevin Carroll is one of those great guys. If you have seen the movie "Winter's Tail" you are familiar with his story. On the radio one day, Kevin heard about a dolphin that had lost his tail and had the thought that he makes limbs for people, why not animals?? So Kevin called them up and the movie tells (somewhat accurately) the rest of the story. Well, Kevin was in Salt Lake last week and Phil called him up to see if the boys might have a chance to meet him. Not only did we get to meet him, but Kevin was able to bring along one of Winter's out grown tails so the boys could take a look. Pretty exciting stuff!!
Thanks Kevin and all you wonderful pro-sthe-tists out there who go about making the world a better place!!

I love fall!!

Fall recess + cute boys = Making them hike in the beautiful sunshine and colorful mountains of Utah and making them to stop for pictures. What more can I say? (Ben's face in this picture pretty much shows how they felt about the idea!)

Ben thought this should be an advertisement for Fruity Pebbles!

Fall has always made me giddy and I'm glad it continues to do so. Just another reminder of this beautiful, amazing world created for us. Thanks for humoring me boys!

I'm gonna miss this...

Every so often I run into a blog post that list some of the adorable (and not so adorable) things that little kids do that will be missed once they start to grow up. I always love those posts and feel sad that my kids are past those stages...but I think that each stage in life has those little things, sometimes quirky, that make our kids who they are at their current station in life. Here are some of my current loves that I'll definitely miss when they go away:

• Micah's belly laugh - he loves to laugh, especially at night time. He will often try to recreate something that has made us laugh in the past - forcing himself to giggle and make me laugh. It's pretty cute.
• The way Benjamin runs up and give me a hug whenever he sees me at his school...I have no idea how long that will last, but I'll take it!
• Playing ball with Jacob. I love playing catch, throwing fly balls and hitting with that kid. Finally something I can relate to!! I'm glad he's not too cool for me yet.
• Listening to Hank the Cow Dog in the car. We love books on CD and keep going back to the Head of Ranch Security. They love it and I admit I have developed a certain fondness for this one dog (my kids know I'm not a huge dog fan, but I can tolerate Hank!)
• Reading the Friend on Sunday afternoons. Another one I'll take as long as I can.
• Stepping on Legos - ok maybe not. And today when I took a step and a light saber sounded off, I'm not sure about that one either!
• Reading in the early morning with Jacob. I'm not sure if he'll always be an early riser (I've heard the teenage years are tough), but right now he's usually up before I am and we spend time reading in the same room. It would be lonely without him!
• Afternoons with Micah. As annoyingly short as kindergarten is, I do enjoy having my buddy around with me. I don't know what I'll do when I have the house completely to myself!
• Benjamin's enthusiasm, and desire to share everything about it, for life!
  
• The clever things I found around the house. For example, I was rushing around one morning trying to clean things up and suddenly noticed Benjamin's toothbrush suction cupped above the bathroom door. It took me by total surprise and I was very proud of whoever (Jacob) came up with such a funny trick. Nice job!

The list could go on...love you boys!

Fall Ball

Jacob's baseball coach from the spring invited him to come try out for a comp team that he was putting together this fall. We thought it was a great opportunity, but weren't sure if it was the best thing for Jacob or not. When they had tryouts, luckily I wasn't able to go and I just prayed that if this would be a good thing for Jacob, it would work out. If not, it wouldn't. When I got the text from Phil that he was going to do it, I was excited and anxious.

This is an U11 team, so everyone is older (and bigger) than Jacob. The first several weeks, we really worried if this was the right thing. In fact, we ended up bribing Jacob a bit (at first) to get him to go practices and put in the time that was needed, about 10-11 hours a week, which included 2 games each Saturday. There has also been some travel time involved, which has added more time on Saturdays. Jacob loves his Saturdays and at first felt like this was a huge waste of time. We'd look over at him, bored in out field and wonder what we had done!!

But once again, Father knows best. Gradually over the course of the fall schedule, Jacob has come to love his team and playing baseball again. In his games last week, he had some great hits, got to play second base and out field and when Phil and I heard him giggle in the dugout, we both felt so relieved!!! Jacob has learned the importance of working hard and the importance of team work. He loves practices and when the games got canceled yesterday because of weather, he was even disappointed. Hallelujah!! I'm learning that I need to trust my Heavenly Father more, especially when it comes to raising His kids. Great job Jacob and go Vipers!!

Courtesy Vipers Website

Top of Utah

So it's far enough removed that I can finally write about my marathon. Ever since I missed qualifying for Boston by 18 seconds, I've wanted to come back with a vengeance. Unfortunately September 17th wasn't my day to do it. I had heard that rain was in the forecast and came prepared with my disposable poncho. It wasn't too cold up at the top of the mountain, thankfully, but about 10 minutes before the race started, it started to pour!! We all huddled close together and tried to stay as dry as possible.

Once we started, the rain let up and about mile 2 I got rid of my poncho and my long sleeve shirt. Mistake number one! About mile 10 the rain started again. It was pouring!! I thought it wouldn't be too bad, at least it wasn't hot, but when it wouldn't let up and then started hailing, it was almost comical, in a sad sort of way. We were all wet and soggy and I my clothes rubbed my skin raw in many places. I also think I started out too fast because by about mile 3, I was already wanting to be done. Mistake number two! There were 23 miles left to go, and no juice in the tank!!

It's fun to weave in and out of the pack and see the same people on the race course as you go. At about mile 5 I heard a guy ask his friend, "Why are we doing this?" At mile 21 I saw him again and told him I was still pondering that question myself. About mile 23 some guy asked me how I was doing. "Oh, pretty lousy. And you?" His response, "Oh, I wanna cry." Wow! That said it all!! We both talked about how we had done Top of Utah before. And wanted to cry then too!!

I'm usually good about keeping running during a race, except for walking during water breaks. I found myself wishing for them sooner and sooner. And I also started hugging people!! My Aunt Sharrell came to cheer me on and I had to stop and give her a hug (I think I really just wanted to do the stopping part). Then I ran into a friend's mom and had to give her a hug. Looking back, I'm realizing I was just a little bit exhausted and delirious at the time. It makes me laugh. I guess I walk for water breaks and hug breaks!!

So, I made it. I am happy I tried and for that day I did my best. I always try to give it my all so that I can't look back and say I could have tried harder - for most of the race, I just didn't have any more to give! My time was my best of 3 Top of Utahs (3:52:02), but not the speed I was hoping for. I love marathon training. I love having a plan, sticking to it, getting stronger and working towards a goal. I've decided I love the training more than the races. I just haven't quite figured the racing part out, but Boston, some day, some how, I will be there!!! (I may have to wait a few years so I can have a slower qualifying time, or even better, maybe one of you can qualify and I can come watch!! Nah...I probably wouldn't go for that!)