Cross Country Finishes

C and K have completed their cross country season.

I am sure proud of both of them!

C competed in four meets.

He was the first 6th grader from his school across the finish line for every single race that he ran.

He runs the 2,000 meter and his best time (8:07:05) put him 4th place on the school-wide record for all time for 6th grade.  He was half of a tenth of a second from being 3rd!!!

I am sure glad that C was willing to try something new and hope that he chooses to run again next season.

Here is one of his mid season races....

Here was the end of season race....in which he came in 11th overall (but first for his school)

K ran the 3,000 meter and competed in five meets, plus an invitational meet.

She was not as competitive as C but what impressed me about K was her commitment.  She only missed a couple of practices and she ran every single race....and for about half the season she did so with a back that complained every time she ran. 

But she never quit!

And that is awesome!  

Because she is awesome!

Here is one of her mid season races....

Here she is on her last race (you can really see from her form how much her back hurt her)...

our little "arteest" (again)

The art at our house is not slowing down one bit.

Currently T is working on drawing flags for all the countries that he can think of....so far we have Portugal, United States, Germany and China with many more in the work :)

It is so constant that this is the site of T at a track meet earlier this month....drawing. 

Nevermind the rain or the fact that his siblings were running - there was drawing to be done!

While I was in T's classroom recently I decided I ought to document some of his work that was on display...

Halloween Early

Okay, so we didn't actually celebrate Halloween with my parents, but we did do our traditional "Halloween Party" activities with them while they were in Oregon for a quick 36 hours.  It was a little early in the month but we had to take the opportunity while they were in town.

We lucked out with awesome weather which meant we carved pumpkins outside, which is the TOTAL way to go!

(The red boots won the day!)

and the finished products....

We also did a batch of "Hootch" (think of a version of spiced cider) and grandpa's famous caramel popcorn which completed our Halloween Celebration.

Highway 20

On October 1st my parents, along with Utah Man (the monkey), flew to Boston.

They filled two water bottles from the Atlantic Ocean and then they got in a rental car and headed West on Highway 20.

Each night we would get an email letting us know where they were spending the night and what they had seen that day.  My kids kept track of their progress on their wall map in their bedroom.

Luckily for us, not only does Hwy 20 cut across Oregon only about an hour south of us, but J and T were out of school the day that the weary travelers hit Oregon to do their final leg so WE JOINED THEM!

Finally at the Pacific Ocean, via Newport Beach....

J and T both had a chance to join Boppa in pouring some of the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean.  

And then we took a few minutes to enjoy the beach.  

Who would have guessed that on October 8th we would see probably the nicest (warm and almost no wind) day we have ever seen on the Oregon beach.

We ran/dragged a kite...

and played just enough football to get a face full of sand....

I love my parents adventurous side and the fact that they would get an idea (that some called crazy) and then go after it.

It was fun to "follow" them on their trek across the country.

I have already offered to be there at the end of their next cross country adventure :)

love note

I found this on the table one night after the kids had been playing Bananagrams.

Sometimes it is the unexpected love notes that mean the very most :)