Katelyn's Very First High School Track Meet @ Ironwood

We were able to see Katelyn's first event at this meet before we flew out to Vietnam.  She ran the 4 X 800 Relay (following in her sister Megan's footsteps...literally!) and they came in 2nd.  It was fun to watch.  She also ran the 800 as well, but we didn't get to see that race because we had to get to the airport.  We missed 3 other meets while we were gone, and she placed top 3 in both the 800 and the 800 Relay and brought home 4 medals from both of the invitationals  she participated in, in these events!  There were even a couple of 1st place medals and they will most likely qualify for state at least as a relay!  We are super excited and pretty proud of Katelyn!  She's only a Freshman too!  She also performed well at the dual meet at Willow Canyon.  The 2 invitationals were the Buckeye meet (which is a huge meet with a ton of schools) and the Huskey Invitational at Horizon High School...which is also a big meet.  We are looking forward to actually attending these meets and cheering her on!

 

Late Start Breakfast @ Sammy's...

It was a fun morning at Sammy Holmes' house.  Both SMHS and LHS students came and it was fun for Katelyn to meet new people...guys!!!!!  

Trek Tribe Leader Training

I was not able to attend this training, because I was running the Phoenix 1/2 Marathon today, but Bill went out to the White Tank Mountains early this morning for a special Tribe Leader Training.  They went over ALL the Trek information  and trained for each of the processing activities.  There was A LOT of information... I really wish I could've been there, but Bill did his best to relay the information to me, and I was able to read through the handbook several times before Trek, so that helped.  Good training! 

The Mesa-Phoenix Half Marathon!

It was so cold this morning!  We woke up at 2:30 and left at 3:15 to head for parking to take a bus to the race start.  We got to the race start at around 4:30 so we had to wait for 1 1/2 hours in the COLD!!  We huddled around a heater with a bunch of other runners and tried to stay warm and get some stretching in.  We took care of the bathroom issues in the port-a-potties and just tried to stay warm.  10 minutes before the race started Katelyn felt like she needed to go again, so we waited in a long line to go to the bathroom again.  It's ok, because your time doesn't start until your chip goes over the start line, but we started almost 10 minutes late.  I'm glad we did though, because it's better to start late then to have to stop during the race!  Katelyn and I felt so good during the race, except for the fact that we literally could NOT feel our toes for about the first 5 miles!  It was colder weather than I've ever run in before!  But we felt good and didn't have any problems at all.  It seemed like every mile went really fast!  Then halfway through the race, Katelyn decided to run ahead of me because she wanted to try to place...and I was totally fine with that.  She said she'd meet me at the finish line (which she did!) and go over the finish line with me again (which she did!).  I was having a great run!  Mile 11 and 12 got a little hard, but then I just dug down deep and ran through the pain and tiredness.  On the last mile I was pacing with a guy just out in front of me, and I realized I could totally beat him (we were passing people the whole race-- guys, even!) so I ran out ahead of him and ended up with an 8min pace that last mile!  Pure adrenaline!  I don't know where it came from but I just sprinted it in and it felt so AMAZING!  Crossing that finish line was pure joy!  Katelyn ran with me over the finish line and we got in line to claim our medals!  We got some pictures in front of the sign.  I wanted to ring the PR bell, but decided the line was too long for that!  We went and got our free Kneaders French toast, and got in line to be stretched out.  We got some great stretching done and worked on our legs with foam rollers-- I'm now SOLD on those things!  I think I was less sore this race because of working with those, and the PT guys did a great job stretching us out, as well.  Then we went around and got all our free stuff inside the barricade...Katelyn went and got more Kneaders and then we left the barricade into the fair they had set up.  We got in line to have a massage, and I went to go get our stats printed out and get our drop bags.  I looked on Katelyn's stat sheet and it said she got 3rd in her division!  Wow!  I was so EXCITED!!!  So I went to the race officials who were doing the awards (we had barely missed the awards for her age group because we were getting stretched out) and they gave me her HUGE medal!  It looks like an Olympic medal!  I ran back to where she was standing in line and just yelled, "Katelyn!  You got third place!!!"  She was pretty excited.  I think she was bummed that she missed the medal stand.  After our massages (which were heavenly!) we went and got some pictures on the medal stand with her medal!  We walked around the booths and enjoyed the atmosphere for a while and then decided to head home.  It was such a fun race!  Katelyn said she never wanted to race again and when I asked her why, she changed and said that she loves to race but HATES the long training for it, so she said she'd race it again, but that she didn't want to train for it again.  I guess if you can get third place without really trying, you don't have to train!  I trained for 3 long months and got NOTHIN'!!!  Hahahaha! Oh well.  It was a great experience, and always such a sense of accomplishment.  And I always say that it is a spiritual experience for me!  This time I saw several people with physical limitations running the race and a feeling of complete admiration came over me when I saw them running, followed by a feeling of humility and gratitude that I have a healthy body and can do these things with minimal discomfort and difficulty.  I'm always humbled in some way when I run these things!  And I love it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half Marathon Packet Pick Up and Expo with Katelyn!!!

I picked Katelyn up early from school today and we headed out to Mesa to pick up our runners' packets and enjoy the booths at the Expo.  We got free chair massages and enjoyed getting all the freebies at the booths.  We bought new waistband running pocket and I got Katelyn a cute silicone bracelet with the marathon insignia on it.  It's one of those magnet bracelets that's supposed to be good for you... either way, it's cute.  After the expo, we headed down to Allison's house where we stayed the night.  We had a yummy dinner with her, and then went to bed early around 7:30pm.  We were excited and very jittery for our race the next day!!

 

Katelyn's SMHS Basketball Banquet

Tonight was such a fun and enjoyable night with Katelyn.  We got to go with her to her SMHS Basketball Banquet.  It was a great program to be a part of and Coach Dilworth was such a good coach!  We love her as a swim coach and now we love her as a basketball coach!  Katelyn got the Mighty Mustang Award for being at every single practice and game throughout the whole season.  Only 2 other girls got that award, and it is hard to get!  Coach gave them t-shirts for that.  The team voted and chose to give Katelyn the "Best Offensive Player" Award, as well.  Wow!  Katelyn had a great season and was the top scorer for the team at almost 300 points!  She was also crazy with steals, rebounds and assists, as well!  I love that girl, and I love to watch her play.  She does it with so much purpose and focus and she doesn't stop until she gets the job done!  I felt such a calm, amazing spirit tonight at the banquet.  I enjoyed hearing all the recognition they gave out to the players, and Katelyn was definitely blessed with a great group of girls and athletes to spend her season with this year!  She had a great experience playing as a Mustang this year!!  (The last 4 pictures are of Katelyn at games, taken by Coach Eager's dad, who was at most of the games taking pictures.  The 2 middle of the 4 pictures are of her taking the shot and making it, and a steal...)  The last one is a serious team picture!  They all decided they weren't going to smile!

The Proposal!!!!!

Todd and Megan's trip back to Utah got delayed due to a storm up north, so we got to spend almost the whole day today with them today!  (They were going to leave early this morning to make it back to Provo today, but instead are just going to drive as far as Vegas tonight-- they might miss some classes, but we felt like it was better for them to be safe, and the roads are supposed to be good by tomorrow!) 

It came out in conversation yesterday at church after Jamie Livingstone questioned Todd about the ring, and he actually HAS it here with him!  He was so cute-- he wanted to show it to everyone without Megan knowing, so we had to distract her so we could go into his room to see it!  It's so pretty and so perfect for Megan! 

So he decided that we wanted to propose to her TODAY!  I thought it was so cute that he wanted us to be a part of it and that we got to help plan the details of the whole thing!  Jamie was so excited!  She offered to come take pictures and video of the whole thing last night, when she was here videoing them for a game we are playing at the Bridal Shower.  Jamie is so much fun!!  I just love that girl so much!  So we headed over to the Gilbert Temple (where they'll be sealed) this morning.  Of course Megan was suspicious!!!  She didn't want to go all the way out to the temple to just walk around the grounds, but when Todd insisted they go, she figured it out pretty quickly!  Poor guy has a hard time surprising that girl!  McKenzie couldn't go because she ended up having class...we were bummed about that!  Bill drove separately because he took Todd's car to see about a check engine light, but it worked out perfectly because he and Jamie were able to meet just a bit earlier at the temple to set everything up.  We got there a little early, so they had to hide from us as we walked around the temple grounds.  (We went the wrong way!)  PLUS, it was SUPER WINDY!!!!  All of Todd's plans got ruined by the wind, but we laughed because it made it so much more fun!  He ad a speaker set up to play the song, "I'm the Luckiest" by Ben Folds-- their song, and you couldn't even here it because it was blowing so hard.  Then, the vase of flowers tipped over and broke because the wind blew it over!  But Megan didn't even care!  She was so happy when he proposed and immediately said "YES!!!"  They were so cute about it and Megan was giddy for the rest of the day.  She absolutely loves her ring!  They are so happy and it was fun to watch the day unfold!  We went for an early dinner at Café Rio-- where they ate for their first date!   These pictures are a little out of order because I got a bunch from Jamie that she had taken, but you get the idea!  May 19th here we come!