Wow.

We are officially old. At least we are if the qualification is that you have a child who is 16. Wow. I've said that word a lot lately over the past two days. Wow. He was successful and got his license yesterday. Funny story...our vehicles all have September 23 as their expiry date for the insurance. I had forgotten to put the new pink slips in the cars. So, when the Driving Instructor checked the insurance, it was expired. He came into the office, inquired about it and told me sternly that I had a homework assignment when I got home. I felt like I was 16 again.

When they arrived back, Parker winked at me and gave me a discreet thumbs up behind his back. Wow. Did I say that yet?

This morning, he and Matt got in the Smart Car and drove off to seminary. Wow. We're growing up!

X Country Sweep

When we woke up this morning, we did not plan on a red ribbon day. In fact the morning was a little rough. Everyone was late, breakfast was sub par and tempers may have been a little short in one child or another. (We won't mention any names.) But, as they say, the show must go on. So, without eating our Wheaties, we all headed out the door. Matt and Sara had the City Cross Country Meet this morning at Nicholas Sheran park and I hoped they would not self destruct from lack of sleep and food before they even got there.

Dave and I biked over there to watch, cheer and take pictures. We were almost late as well, arriving at 9:13 for Sara's 9:15 start. Guess chaos can sometimes breed success (I hear my siblings laughing now...) because they both did really well. In fact, they both placed first! There were 96 girls in Sara's field. She ran 2k in 8:30. Matt had a smaller field but pulled away from the pack immediately and ran out front the whole time. He had to run 3k. We have been unable to confirm his time yet.

So, it was a red ribbon day. Actually, most days are in my book. But this one really was after such a slow start - and we even have the ribbons to prove it. Great job guys!

"Tri-ing" Something New!

Suffice it to say that we had a really great time in the thriving metropolis of Burley, Idaho. It's a small town in the SW corner of the state - full of potato fields and cowboys. But, it does have the Snake River that runs through it and that's why we chose the Vikingman Triathlon as the ideal spot to "try" our first triathlon. Parker and I signed up for the Olympic distance - 1500m swim, 40km bike (turned out to be 46k) and 10km run (turned out to be 12k through a cow pasture). Dave, and his cousin Bruce decided they were up for a bigger challenge and entered the Half Ironman - which we now call the 70.3 (which is how many miles they complete) because Bruce pointed out that saying you complete half of something sounds a little less than remarkable. He's got a point! They swam 1800m, biked 80k (more like 90k) and ran 13 miles. If I say that we had a lot of "fun", would you believe me? Actually, we did. Thanks to all who helped us train and cheered us on - especially Amy - the best one person support crew anybody could ever ask for. She prayed so hard for us that none of us would get a flat tire on the bike. She has a lot of faith because none of us did! Unfortunately, she got two on her bike as she biked all around tying to follow us and throw us food, water or whatever else we might need. I think she did more miles than the rest of us that day!

I'm pretty sure we'll be back to "try" again. We may all be addicts now!

Why Does Summer Have to End?

It's September 21 and maybe, just maybe, we are getting back into a schedule. Despite our best efforts, summer did in fact come to an end and we had to conform to societal rules and go back to school. Here's what three of the four of us looked like. Parker started school at a different time so he has still evaded the camera. Don't worry, we'll get him! Hannah started Grade 4 with Mr. Howg. Matt started high school and Sara started middle school. Where has time gone?