August 28-- September 1

This week was the usual-- fixing kids, fixing cars, running to activities.  We had named the new car Pepe, and have changed it's name to several other things. It is now Poopy or 2K (haha!) I drove it to Smithfield the other day and fortunately I made a stop at Jake's house to get something. He noticed the radiator was shooting out antifreeze. He filled it up and noticed we will now have to replace the radiator.  Fortunately he knows how and said he would help. Now we drive with a gallon of water in the car-- just in case! The suburban had problems too and wouldn't start and Rich and Jake (bless him) spent all day long trying to fix it. They had something that tested the power charge on the battery.  Figured it wasn't the battery, but the starter.  They bought a new starter and then, it still wouldn't work.  They decided to unhook the battery from every thing, put another tester on it and Rich found it WAS the battery to begin with. He was super frustrated, needless to say. At least it runs now, and there are much worse things in life than stupid cars.  And there are much better things as well, such as getting to watch our kids do things!

The best this week was Luke took some of his original cardboard models to his new class.  He took a battleship, a tri-plane, a tank, and a few other things. We asked how it went, and he said that several boys asked him if they could buy them.  One kid offered him $5 on the spot and held out the money.  He was pretty proud to tell them, "Sorry, they aren't for sale."  I'm sure that increased their value tenfold! Earlier, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) van came to the school and had a 3-D printer inside.  Luke's class got to have a chance to go inside and use it.  He was enthralled! He said that he and his buddy Landon designed all sorts of things on the computer program, and then the printer starts to spit it out.  They didn't have enough time to see any of their creations, however. 

Laura Lee had her first cross country meet this Friday at Utah State.  It seemed like every school in Utah was there-- at least everyone north of Payson.  There were a LOT of kids.  There were at least 6 different heats with over 100 kids in each (varsity and JV) to accommodate the number. Laura Lee ran junior varsity (there are only JV and Varsity teams at Green Canyon.) She started training with the team last week.  There are several kids in town that do cross country (thank heavens) so we can carpool. I only have to pick them up one day a week.  She was super nervous, but did a great job for her first meet. 

Before the race:

We told Spencer and Luke that they would be bored, and they should just stay home (yes I leave them alone sometimes-- it's a little risky, but it saves their and our sanity!)  Spencer insisted that we just "didn't want him with us", which was true for this situation-- but he was pretty sure it meant we didn't love him.  I said, "Fine-- come along!"  He lasted for about the first 1/2 hour, and then started to melt. He has to constantly be touching me to feel safe, and I am not a touchy gal, so I was about ready to explode.  He is a little furnace, so with him leaning on me, touching me, holding me I was about 180 degrees.  At one point, we cheered for the kids at the finish line, and the boys somehow lost us.  We were actually right behind them and they thought we had left them.  They ran all over looking for us.  We couldn't figure out where they had gone because we really hadn't moved-- just turned around!  I finally found them, and they ran to me in tears.  They probably won't be going to another meet any time soon, and I think I won't have a hard time convincing Spencer to chill at home. 


It was 90 degrees and we mostly had to just sit and wait for LL to start her heat.  Thank goodness there were tents set up-- our high school doesn't have one yet, so some parents brought one for the cross country kids to use. I noticed that cross country gets very little support-- we also subsidize the football team, which angers me to no end considering how much I paid and how little the team gets in return to help them, but I digress.... 

I was on the wrong side of the green to catch most of our team.  They are the ones in black and gray on the far side.  

Laura Lee and her friend Morgan at about 1 mile.  They had to do a few loops in a dusty area, then come back around and we saw them again. 

This is LL on the way back from the loop.  She said that she walked a couple times, but that ain't nothin' to be ashamed of! 

Here she is on the last 25 meters to the finish.  She was whipped, but she finished at a sprint. 

And here she is smiling because she finished without passing out.  The best thing about this is she will always PR after this race. Especially if it is cooler and if she will DRINK MORE WATER!! She told me later that during the race her eyes were blacking out around the periphery. (WHAT!?!?!) Then she asked me this morning if your urine is really dark, "is that bad?"(!!!!!!) I have no words. Neither do I have any influence even though I have run a marathon, three half marathons, several 10Ks, lots of 5Ks, Ragnar 2 times, and two triathlons, but when I tell her that she should be drinking more than 60 ounces a water a day, that I drink 3 liters of water a day, she blows me off! We love her anyway.  

After the race:

We just had a minor earthquake.  We looked it up and saw that it's epicenter is Soda Springs, Idaho and it was a 5.3 so no wonder we felt a little aftershock.  I didn't feel it, I was driving LL to a party.  Rich called me to see if I noticed. Nope! I have never felt an earthquake-- I always seem to miss them, thank goodness!