5K, ok!

Morgan, Andrew, and our good friend, Mike.

Today Morgan, Andrew and I all had the chance to participate in a 5K. It was in memory of a solider who passed away a few years ago (he was LDS, too). It was put on by the ROTC organization on campus, and the proceeds are going to the Families of 9/11. We thought it would be nice to go and support our country this way, especially today. They had a nice short program before the race in Sanford Stadium. It was really nice.

I've been training to do a 5K since May, and have been able to run the whole length, and steadily improve my time during the past 6 weeks or so. So, we get to the race and everything starts out great - Morgan is moving faster than he thought he would with the stroller - I was feeling great and pumped - and had some great music going on my iPod.

Lucky me, though. Literally 4 minutes into the I roll my ankle and sprain it really bad. At first I thought it really wasn't that bad. I tried to walk it off, then started to run a little, and realized that it would not be wise to do to. Needless to say - I had to stop. (SO BUMMED... remember, I've been training for this since May) Thankfully when I started to walk back I spotted Mike's wife, Heather and her son Anders. I was glad to have someone to sit with until the race ended. I was pretty bummed about not being able to finish the race! It's still pretty swollen, and imagine it will be for a little while. I'm having a grand time hobbling around the house. haha.

At least Morgan and Andrew did well - Andrew won first place in his age group!!! (haha) Morgan was really happy that he beat the Air Force group from on campus. (sorry Air Force) I was really impressed with the Army, Navy, what have you. They all ran in formation and were doing their chants, the whole time! Some carrying flags and all.

Morgan said it was also fun pushing Andrew. He swears that at parts of the race Andrew was saying "Go, Go!" He was a good little cheerleader for Morgan.

Well, I'm hoping to be back running in a few weeks. I had plans on running a 10K in November, I think it'll only be a 5K now for me. I don't want to push it too much. I'll just have to find another 10K to do later on.

Trip to Maine

(click to enlarge)

As you can tell from the plethora of pictures - we had a GREAT time in Maine! Highlights included:

-Mimi and Papa's trampoline. He definitely knows what the word "bounce" and "jump" mean now!
-Visiting Morgan's Grandma and thoroughly entertaining her, and then later seeing Morgan's Pepere.
-Being in dog heaven! Morgan's aunt and uncle have something like 5 golden retrievers - and about 5 or 6 puppies to go with that - Andrew was in heaven.
- Swimming at Uncle Laird's pool and later at Coldstream Pond. Weather was great!
- Bangor Ward's Pioneer Day celebration. It was so nice seeing all the of ward members, eating fried dough, and competing in the two-man saw contest. (Not to shabby - 1min12sec)
-Andrew playing on the screened porch - and going in and out, in and out of the door.
-Enjoying the hammock. We felt like bad parents when we would take him out - he loved it so!
- Discovering mobility on a tricycle (thankfully we have one now!)
- Morgan and Emily going to multiple dates and outings - including a few Pat's Pizza outings and kayaking on Pushaw Lake. Crazy winds made it one crazy upper body workout! (Thanks, Mimi and Papa for putting Andrew to bed SO many times!)
- Andrew learning how to climb onto the wood stove. Er, this really isn't a highlight - but it proved to show that Andrew is just as daring as Morgan was growing up.
- Morgan being able to read something like 4 or 5 books - for pleasure! What a novelty! (Andrew got in on the reading too - haha)
- Seeing Bananas the Bear and Sims the Cat become buddies :-)


We had a great time, and true it it's motto "Maine - the way life should be" we had just a joyful time enjoying all the nice things Maine has to offer. The weather was WONDERFUL - nothing like mid to upper 70's in the middle of July. It was so nice spending time with family, we can't wait to get up there again soon!

Kayaking

Morgan and I, along with my sister and her husband went kayaking early in July. We really had a nice time together. Like always, I had poor luck with anything white water related. I don't think anyone else fell out of their kayak.... but me. I really think that if the water level was a little higher, I would have been fine. The river was super low one the day that we went.

So, on a measley class 2 rapid, I get stuck sideways. I'm trying to maneuver my way out, and then the kayak flips, hitting me square in the head (on the EXACT spot were I had a concussion about 5 years ago... now I have just one larger bump on the head, instead of two) So Morgan comes to save me. (does this sound familiar?) Soon I'm back on the kayak, pretty shook up, my head is killing me, but ready to get moving (and get this trip over with!!) Later on there was a fork in the river. Morgan said that the right side looked easier, I was all for smoother waters, it was a whole lot easier, at first. I could tell the river was picking strength, and I spotted a rock that I could stop on to assess what needed to be done. Well, thank GOODNESS I stopped. There was about a 5-6 foot slide/drop. Man on man, I have major luck, not. So, for the second time that trip, Morgan was able to paddle over to save me and I was able to shove my kayak of the bolder and then I jumped down.

Thankfully the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. I decided that I'm not much of a thrill seeker, and I'm totally fine with that.Me and Mo.Lollie and Chris. Some how Chris managed to paddle most of the river in a reclined position. He must have some major abs to do that!Yep, that's me. Stuck for the second time that trip.


We had a great time having Lollie and Chris come out to Athens. She shot some family photos for us, we had great food, rocked out with Guitar Hero, and enjoyed the World Cup.

White Water Rafting

Morgan went rafting a few weekends ago with some of my family. They had a great time! They all had a good time camping as well. They went to the Chatooga River, which is the most difficult river to raft in the south east. I was happy to stay home, especially with the experience that I had last year and the weekend before they went on this river. I skipped out on the camping this year. I thought Andrew would be a little too much into everything. Can't wait for next year though. Anyways, we all found this sequence of photos pretty amusing. Some how little Lollie was the only one to stay in the raft!!

Updates to come...

Our family just concluded a whirlwind of a vacation season! We have had loads of fun this past month, and cannot wait to share details. For now, I'll leave you with this, oh so cute picture of Little A. We are happy to be home, but missing all of the family we've had so much fun with for the past few weeks!


(And, I took this pic! Lately all the pictures on this blog have been by her and her awesomeness, but I grabbed her camera for a little bit, and had fun. Man, I need a nice camera!!)