Matty the Runner

Matty got to participate in his first race last weekend. His Aunt Dawn signed him and his cousin Emi up to run a kid's 1k with her. (Turns out their age group only had to run half of that.) The night before the race, Matty got sick with a huge headache and fever, but the next morning he still wanted to run his race so we let him. He was definitely moody that day from being sick, but he still had a good time.

The race was with Run 13 and benefited Racing the Cane Foundation who tries to improve the lives and education of children in the Dominican Republic's sugar cane fields.

They got their numbers, did some "stretching, and smiled for pictures.





After waiting a while, it was finally their age group's turn to go around the track. They went to the back of the group at the start line so that Emi would have lots of room to move with her walker.


Emi's dad, Sean, walked with her while Dawn ran Matty's lap around the track with him. As you can see, she was a little distracted cheering Emi on at the beginning so Matty had to pull his aunt along. LOL

Coming down the home stretch. I was impressed to learn that Matty ran the entire way! This is a kid who always says "I'm too tired" after just running 10 steps, so now I know he can do more. Plus, he was sick that day! I'm very proud of him.

Crossing the finish line. He was exhausted but immediately wanted to go play in the bounce house they had. Go figure!

Emi wasn't quite halfway around when the rest of the group finished and the next group was starting. The announcer told people to keep cheering her on, so several people went over and followed her around the rest of the track. There was one lady who when Emi first started the race turned to me and said she couldn't watch or she'd bawl. She was so impressed by Emi. I told her I was Emi's aunt and she just started crying about how wonderful it is to see Emi do this race and how it makes her appreciate her working body even more. She could not stop tearing up over Emi, which of course made me cry to.

When we caught up with Emi on the other side of the track, Dawn and Jossy decided to join her in the rest of her race.

By the time they were down the home stretch, the rest of the races had ended and Emi had the crowd's full attention. Hundreds of people were following her and cheering her on.

Everyone was so inspired by her and taking her picture. I'm her aunt and I could barely get one at this point!

Everyone was cheering and several crying as Emi finished. The announcer said it was one of his all time favorite moments this year from all their races. Several people have mentioned the highlight of seeing Emi finish in their comments about the race on the website.

She was immediately given a "gold medal" for finishing, something special just for her.

One lady said to me, "Can you imagine what this will do for her self-esteem!?" The thing is Emi doesn't understand really what she did. She went for a walk in her walker. She was tired and kept going because people were cheering her on. The medal doesn't mean anything to her. But what's really amazing is how she inspires others. That's why what she did was so meaningful.

And to not forget the amazingness of Dawn, she finished 2nd in her age group for her 3K run. Yay Dawn!! Thanks for all the fun the kids had!

Flashback

I love this picture, Matty watching TV while Jossy rests her head on his. It's from over a year ago and one I don't think ever made it to the blog. Just had to share.

Family Pictures

If you've ever tried to take your own family pictures, you know what a struggle it can be. And it really doesn't help when you get all the way to the location, get everything set up, and THEN realize that you have not one freakin' memory card on you!! We had to pack up, drive back home, get a memory card, and drive back. We were lucky the sun was still up by that point.

Taking our own pictures also just points out to me once again that there need to be two of me. If there were, then I would have been able to see behind the camera all the faces Jossy was making for just about every picture. NICE!

Here are a few that we were at least happy with enough to hang in our home.


This first one is my FAVORITE!!! I love love love it! It's now an 11x14 upstairs in our house. What's funny is it was a total last minute, unplanned picture. I was watching Dan and the kids watch the sun go down and thought, "Why don't I jump in?" I had less than 30 seconds to set it up and jump in the picture. I'm so glad it turned out well!

Red Butte Gardens

On Labor Day Red Butte Gardens at the U of U had free admission. We'd never been interested in going really, but free family time on Labor Day? Sounded like a plan.

The kids had a lot of fun. It was mostly walking, but Matty enjoyed being our "navigator." (I'm sparing everyone all my flower pictures.)

Matty led Jossy by the hand through the kids' maze.

One of 2 hummingbirds we saw while there

Looking for water skippers

My Fresh Guinea Pig

I got my first studio light semi-recently, but my kids are such stinkers about posing for me (even when candy's involved) that I never get to play with it! (Who turns down candy?!)

Fortunately, my poor innocent niece doesn't know any better. So when I babysat her last week we may have had a little fun playing with my light.



Oh, how I love chunky baby limbs!! Wish mine were considered that cute. ;)

A Girl's First Love

Family Camp Out

The Friday before Labor Day, we had a backyard campout at my sister's house with my family (those in the area at least.) We have never taken the kids camping before, and honestly Jossy has never even slept outside of a crib or pack n' play before, so we knew we were in for an adventure.

The kids loved playing in the set up tents.

There was a potato sack race with some neighbor kids which Jossy quit before it even started. Matty had a meltdown when he fell down near the beginning but made it to the end with Dan's help. Oh fun times!

Then some late birthday cake for moi. Jossy was kind enough to help blow out candles since turning . . 8 is so hard.

We had fun spelling Jossy's name and drawing shapes with sparklers.

Finally, it was time to get ready for bed. The kids were SUPER hyper from all the excitement of sleeping outside.


Jossy shows off her warm socks (that are 3 sizes to big) to Grandpa


Not a flattering shot of me, but I'm sacrificing vanity for the sake of showing a family picture. :)

Matty didn't calm down and fall asleep til 10, and Jossy not til 11 since she was a little scared and kept telling me she wanted her "eyes open, Mommy." Normal bedtime for them is 7 or 8, so yeah, they were tired the next day. Dan fell right to sleep since he has a natural ability to sleep ANYWHERE. Unfortunately I was not blessed with such a gift and never sleep well except in my own bed. (Even then I wake up at least 5 times a night.) I think I got 3 or 4 hours off and on all night. Between the neighbor's crying dog, the flood light on next door, the airplanes constantly flying right overhead, the stray dog sniffing around our tents with it's collar jinggling like Rudolf, trying to make sure the kids stayed covered since it was freezing outside, trying to stay warm myself, and the construction truck parade that went by around 2 and then again at 3 AM (seriously???), it definitely was hard to get sleep. My sister Ardice was sharing a tent with us and she was up about as much as I was. Still, we all had fun. And at least this camp out came with running toilets and a warm house to go to if we wanted. That's my kind of camping! :)