Family pics 2015

During one of my races this year I entered a contest for a half off family portrait session. I never expect to win them, but got lucky this time. I admit, had I not won, we wouldn't have done them this year because of the difficulty with the littles. Heston didn't disappoint and made it difficult. I told myself beforehand that if I could just get one good one, I would be happy. I got way more than one. Cindy Boehm did an excellent job, Click the link for more of them. 

Exciting yet busy weekend

So I was wrong about the end of Gage's XC season being over. About a week or so ago he found out that his team could go to state. So Steven, Ridlee, and I took him to Hot Springs yesterday. It was a 7 hour trip total in the car. Long time for a toddler. Gage was running a 5k and running as a varsity, instead of his usual 2 miles. He ran a awesome PR of 18:49.5, which was significantly under his previous PR of 19:13. He got 20th overall! He did better than he though he would. Here he is with his teammates. They all did awesome and got in the top 20. If they would have had one more person they could have scored in the top teams. For a small school as this one, that would be a awesome feat. Gage on the right.

Yesterday also brought in some really great news for Steven. He found out he passed his National Board Certification for teachers. This is the highest honor for teachers to achieve. He worked really hard for it. I am so proud of him. 

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Today marked the culmination of all my training since May. I ran my first half marathon. I did really good the first half, and actually ran under a 10 minute pace. The second had some pretty steady hill climbing and my bottom is paying the price for that. My overall time was 2:13. I was shooting for a goal of 2:25 and I did that, but after my first half I wondered if I could do a 2:10. After mile 8 and those hills, I was struggling a bit. My watch gauged the distance around 13.33 though so I believe it was a longer course. Or my watch is really off, but it's GPS, so I highly doubt that. I ended up still making it to church after. When I got home I got sick and realized I drank too much after I got done. I had to lay down for awhile and it finally passed. It was hard, I admit. I will do more in the future. The next ones aren't until Spring though. That will give me some time to get in better shape and now I have a PR to beat. 

Right before the race started.

I will just put these here as well. I took these on the same day. One in the morning and one right before sun down. I love fall. Sad to see it on its way out.