Extra Curriculars Begin

 Papa and I both strongly believe in being involved with extra-curricular activities. This past Friday, sister participated in her school's Jog-a-Thon and with a goal of running 6 laps in the allotted time, she ran 11! She was one lap short of running 2 full miles.  One of the reasons I switched careers this year was so that the kiddos could be more involved in after school activities.  So - Sister has been participating in running club and her efforts definitely paid off. 

It felt amazing to be able to attend without the crazy stress of having to prepare my classroom to be gone. In fact, her Jog-A-Thon was on a Friday - my day off!! YAHOO!!!

She was pretty proud of herself to be awarded a medal for being the top girl runner from her classroom.  So - seeing how much she enjoyed running, we decide to allow her to participate in a family-fun cross country run. 

She wanted to participate in the 5K, but we settled for a 2K for this first race.

Again - she did great!  Didn't stop once and had a smile on her face the whole time!

Everyone got a medal for this run, but she was still very proud of herself. You can see Papa in the back of the picture- he had a football game to go get ready for - but we just love that he took time to be at her race even though it made him late to his pre-game meetings. 

We've had a busy week this week - with our special friend, Shannon, visiting from Cordova as well.  As you can see by Dessa's pose- it's been hard work trying to keep up with this family!  We won't be able to attend this week's race as the kiddos are continuing their swimming lessons and when given the choice, Sister said there was no way she was missing swimming.  Let's see - she learned to ride her bike without training wheels this summer, is enjoying swimming lessons and loves to run - we may have a future triathlon on our hands!

Firsts...

 Such an odd picture to start with since I haven't written for almost a month. I thought for sure once everyone was back to school I would spend my Friday's catching up on all of my projects (I work Sunday-Thursday).  Instead, I find myself doing a "First" with buying close to 400 hamburger buns as part of our fall kickoff for work!  Crazy- right?!? But so cool to be part of church that truly loves and serves the community.  

Not to worry though - I have been out hiking on the weekends!  So much fun to be at a stage where they can hike right along side of me.  This was a "First" because everyone is actually smiling - ha, ha!!

It's views like this that I'm in awe that I am able to call this place my home!

"First" hike with new friend and her first time on this trail.

A "First" - they actually look like they love each other - ha,ha... We are definitely into the stage of brother and sister picking on each other. One minute having a grand time playing together - next you would think war was breaking out.  Sigh... I remember this all to well with my own brother.  

Happy "First" Day of School!

Ha - ha... I was shocked that she wasn't excited to wake up and actually did this and said, "I need 5 more minutes of sleep before I'm ready to start this day."  What a crack up!

She's growing up all too fast and had a wonderful "First" Day of first grade.  Her picture says, "When I grow up I want to be a cop and when I'm off duty a yoga instructor."  

"First" - Momma being able to drop Sister off at school each morning.  I LOVE having a relaxed morning without the stress of a long commute to work.  I still wake up early to walk the dog before Papa leaves for school, but then I have almost a full hour to myself before I need to wake the kids up.  I try hard not to use this time to do chores or something not done from the night before - but truly use this time to read my Bible, journal and take time to sending encouraging message to people on my heart. So much fun to see Sister off to school each day without all the frustration and stress of the early mornings and commute from last year!

"But I'm not tired Momma."  A "First" for brother is attending his new day care.  WE LOVE HER!! She is absolutely amazing and we are so thankful to have found her.  Brother is learning so much and he is able to go outside almost every day! She's even hung a tarp out so they can play outside when it's raining (which there's been a lot of these past few weeks).   

Fall is upon us with the "first" signs of snow in the higher mountains.  Before too long, we'll be writing about our "first" snowfall.  Until then, we are enjoying the fall season! 

Love and Miss you all!