Cinco De Mayo

Sunday afternoon we headed out to spend time with my family.  Courtney and Jesse were in town, and we had a family dinner.  Lauren and her family drove down, and Jordan and his family came over.  It was nice to all be together.  Nolan was especially excited to play with his cousin Griffin.  We made a quick stop at the cemetery to put some flowers at mom's grave for Mother's Day.  We had a Cinco de mayo themed dinner and it was so delicious.  We all helped bring things and then enjoyed spending most of our time outside.  We brought Jack with us since we have been gone so much lately, he has been spending so much time in his create.  He was so excited to be there and enjoyed running around and being with everyone.  Sometimes he is really annoying to bring because he isn't allowed in the house.  The weather was so nice, and we were mostly outside so we figured it would work out ok.  I was thankful we had the opportunity to spend some time with Courtney and Jesse.  My dad mentioned to Courtney that she might still have some boxes in the hayloft.  We decided to go up and investigate.  I ended up finding a box of JJ's things.  We must have dropped it off on our way to Mississippi.  It was full of his boy scouts and cub scout's thing with all sorts of fun school projects.  He enjoyed going through it and we brought some things home.  Sadly, the mice got into the box and some things were ruined.  The kids think it is so fun to go up in the hayloft.  They like playing pool up there and looking at all the things.  My dad let me clip some peony flowers to bring home.  They are so pretty.  It was a nice visit and fun to spend time with family.  We are hoping to get together once a month for family dinners.       

 

BCI Derby Gala

JJ and I were invited by the Hunters to the BCI Derby After Dark Gala. We went last year and had a lot of fun.  It was fun to be invited to attend again.  It is fun that it is Derby themed and Derby attire.  I searched high and low for the perfect derby dress and was happy with the one I found.  When we had our picture taken at the photo booth the lady said I had the best derby dress she had seen all night.  She told me I was on point and totally nailed it.  It is always hard to find a modest dress and I stress about it.  It was nice to receive such a nice compliment.  The dinner was delicious and the company at our table was fun.  I was glad they mentioned the menu in an email and said there would be shrimp as part of the meal.  I was able to email the coordinator and get double chicken and no shrimp on my plate.  We didn't stay out to late and left after dinner.  The band wasn't playing music we were interested in dancing to.  We had been so busy lately that staying out late didn't really appeal to me.  I was glad we got home when we did.  The boys had left things a mess and Lucy got home from work and was cleaning the kitchen.  The boys were still watching TV and playing video games.  Nolan never ate dinner and clearly, we needed to be there to give direction and get everyone fed and to bed.  It can be a little frustrating to not have the kids help out and be more responsible, they are old enough.         

 

GAC

Lucy and Garrett both participated in Gateway Athletic Conference central meet (GAC). Lucy ran at JV level which was a good move.  She was more competitive at that level.  She felt some frustration with being moved down.  She started the season really well and then had surgery.  It was hard to come back and be at varsity level.  That is ok!  We are proud of her for her efforts in track.  I know it helps her in basketball and overall conditioning.  She ran both 100 M and 300 M hurdles and set a new PR in both.  She was so close to earning a medal in the 100 M hurdles.  It bothered her which helped drive her to earn a medal in the 300 M hurdles.  She also ran a relay race.  She hasn't been in any running events all season.  She was a little nervous, they had her running anchor.  Her coach knows she goes to an early morning church class.  He said did you go to church this morning and she said yes, and he said then you will be fine. She did great and they took third, she earned a medal in that event too. She was proud to come home with two medals from the evening.  Garrett did a great job too, although he didn't think he did.  He did pole vault and triple jump.  He had to go back and forth from the two events which was hard.  He would do a pole vault and then a triple and just kept going back and forth.  That is hard to do.  He was so frustrated when he finished. I told him he did a good job and he said no I didn't do a good job.  We are still proud of him for his hard work and devotion to track this season.  Maybe he will be willing to try some new events next year.  We had a long night at the track.  My sister Courtney and her husband are in town from Utah.  They came up with my dad to watch the last event Lucy did.  Her relay race was the last run of the night.  They had fun coming up and watching part of the meet.  It was nice of them to come. This wrapped up the season for both of them.  We are proud of them.  It is a lot of work.  The meets are long and go late into the evenings.  Training is hard and on top of it all they have school and seminary early in the morning. 

 

Well child visit

I took Nolan for his well child visit at the pediatricians.  He is growing and healthy which is always wonderful news.  He is very active and was disappointed to be sitting in the doctor's office when he could be out riding his bike or fishing with his friends.  He was more than willing to pose for some pictures of him in the office.  He flexed his muscles for me in all different poses. He is such a fun little guy.  He is full of questions lately and is always asking us about things.  When we ride in the car especially he has a lot to say.   

 

Football trivia night

JJ sponsored a trivia round and bought a table at the football trivia night.  I usually don't like trivia nights because I don't know anything.  The rounds at this trivia night were fun and well done.  I still didn't know many answers, but it was entertaining.  We invited the Quinney's, Flecks and Tutterow's to sit with us at our table.  It was a fun table with a variety of knowledge.  Our table tied for first place!  It was a late night for us.  It was the evening of JJ's marathon, so he was especially worn out after a long day.   

 

St. Louis Marathon

JJ has been training for months to run the St. Louis marathon.  He has spent many early morning hours running in the cold and the dark to make sure to get his miles in.  Lucy had to work but the boys and I went down to cheer him on.  We had to get an early start so we could get downtown.  I prepared and packed the car as much as I could the night before.  We borrowed a utility wagon from someone in our ward.  I knew that we were going to need to bring things and there would be lots of walking around.  We got there just in time for JJ to quickly use the bathroom and get to the starting line.  It was fun to have several friends running the race too.  Avery and Spencer did the half marathon but it was the same course until they split to finish at the half.  They all started the race together.  As soon as they left the boys and I headed to the arch to watch for him.  We saw him around mile 5/6 come under the arch.  It was a fun part of the course.  We then started walking to see him at mile 12.  We got a little lost and the map we were given wasn't very clear.  We asked a police officer for direction and were able to find our way to mile 12.  This was the point that the half marathon runners and the full marathon runners split.  We saw Spencer and Avery heading to finish their last mile.  We then saw JJ and Ian was not far behind, but we didn't see him.  When we saw JJ he said he was struggling.  His time was starting to slow down.  Becca was a few minutes behind Ian and JJ.  After we saw Becca we packed up again and headed to mile 20.  We knew it would be a little while before he got there.  Ben was at mile 14 and 19 so we knew when they were almost to us.  By time JJ got to us at mile 20 Ian had caught up to him and they were running together.  By this point JJ had realized he wasn't going to reach his four hour goal time.  It was hot and windy and everyone was running slower.  We saw Becca a few minutes later.  We decided to wait at mile 25 to see them one more time.  There were lots of down and backs so mile 20 and 25 were the same intersection.  I knew the finish line was just a few blocks away and we should be able to get there in time once they went by.  I know when he ran his first marathon he said the last few miles were the hardest.  I wanted to be there to cheer for him and hopefully make that last mile easier.  We got to the finish line just as they were crossing.  I actually missed it but caught them coming down the other end of the finish line.  I was so disappointed I missed that but knew I made the choice to see him on the course.  I was glad that Andi was there and got them on video finishing together.  JJ said he was so thankful that Ian finished with him.  They really helped each other out.  They started running four minutes on and one minute walking.  That helped.  I think they were both dead and the heat and wind were exhausting.  They were both so exhausted and glad to be done.  We waited to see Becca finish.  Everyone commented on how hard the race was. JJ was disappointed in his finishing time.  He was over the four hour mark.  We were proud of him and his efforts to train and finish the race.      

 

Freshman Invitational

Garrett participated in the Freshman invitational at our high school. He did pole vault, triple jump and a relay race.  He enjoyed being able to do some running events again.  He has been doing a lot of jumping this season and not a lot of running. JJ was able to come watch some of the meet after he got off work. 

 

3 1/2 weeks post op