Latest & Greatest

Chris is hanging around home & earning money towards his church mission. Over the summer he worked a couple of different jobs & saved some significant cash. :) Always good news. He is currently practicing his burrito-rolling skills.

He went to lots of physical therapy to get his hip to the point that he could run again. He is training to run the Spinx half marathon at the end of October. (Scott is probably racing the marathon on the same day.) Running is going well & he seems to be getting stronger & stronger all the time.

He finished his mouth!! In fourth grade he first got braces. Three years later they came off for a while before he got another pha$e. He had to have some teeth pulled & a titanium screw implanted in his gum. He had to have a couple of crown$ made & have some tooth whitening. Now, he has the smile that we have always imagined. Perfect.

In August Chris got his Eagle Scout award. In May he graduated from high school & fully started attending institute & YSA activities. I am very behind on pictures & posting!! More soon.

XC Friends

One of my favorite things about attending cross country meets is running into friends new & old. I think the absence of referees and politics helps make the meets friendly places. The kids do their best & it's as much about beating your personal time as it is about a team effort.

Chris' team from last year has been attending more of the big meets - so glad for the kids to be able to run with lots of competition. It's a good thing & fun to watch the program evolve. When Chris ran, many of the meets were in cow fields & through parking lots.

Cross Country Update

Ryan has been running a lot this year! He is part of the varsity team & they set a goal back in May to run 500 miles per person over the summer. He got up early(ish) & ran at 7 or 8 a.m. every morning except Sunday. Once school started he continued running but now after school until about 6:00 every night - add homework & it's very busy. And he has extra mileage to log for the team & runs in between seminary & school.

Saturday was the Lake Murray Invitational. It has a reputation of being fast & flat & mostly paved - all good things. Ryan stuck with a few of his amazing teammates for the first mile and ended up running a 5K (3.1 miles) in 16:22. He took 13th place overall (hundreds of runners) & improved his PR (personal record) by almost 50 seconds. Even better, his team ran so fast that they took first place for the entire invitational. :)

Pictures:
1. Somewhere around the 1-mile mark - shady, paved trail - Coach H. knows the best spots at every meet so their team tarps are near this point.
2. The start is a figurative brawl - elbows flying & running as fast as you can to not get stuck in the corners or tripped up by someone else
3. Teammates - Sawyer, Zach, Marc, Charlie, Jeff, Ryan & Zach. Ryan & Zach (yellow shirt) are the only freshman.
4. Ryan approaching the finish line & giving 110% effort.
5. Ryan (tired) & Mom (happy).

Cocoa krispie shake

2 cups milk
2 cups ice cubes
1/4 cup protein powder
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup cocoa krispies
1-2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

Ryan