Logan's Last XC Meet of the Season

After running last Saturday at the Association Championship meet in Seattle, Logan qualified to run at the Regional Meet today at Chambers Bay with the rest of the 11 to 12 year old boys on his team.  Since it had rained so much this past week, the course was really wet and soggy, making it harder for everyone to run on.  As a result, Logan was not able to PR, but still had a positive experience running on this beautiful course right on the Puget Sound where Lia has run several times before with her high school.  Logan ran a 12:20 last week for his 3K run (1.8 miles) at Associations, but was only able to run it today in 12:50.  Regardless, he was in good spirits at the end of the race and stood at the end of the finish line and congratulated all of the runners who crossed the finish line after him (which is something that he started doing last week).  I am so proud of how well Logan has handled his first season of XC.  He has had such a positive attitude each week and has enjoyed learning how to pace himself while running long distance runs.  Although Logan's age group on his team qualified for the Nationals meet in Indiana next month, we are not going to pay for last minute plane tickets to fly out there ten days before Christmas.  As a result, Logan's XC season ended today and I can't wait to see him run on the track this spring.  Well done, Logan!  We are so proud of you!

All of the 11 to 12 year old boys taking off from the starting line.

Logan running towards us.

Logan giving it his all as he runs right past us.

Logan approaching the finish line.

A tired Logan poses with Emmett after finishing his 3K race.

Some of Logan's teammates posing with him after their race was over.

FINALLY, The Braces Are Off!

Just a few weeks shy of three years, Lia finally got her braces off today!  Since she didn't start wearing braces until 8th grade due to losing her baby teeth so slowly, Lia was one of the only kids in 11th grade at her school still wearing them.  In addition, thanks to her impacted canines, Lia had to endure an extremely painful surgery and many months of uncomfortable and painful orthodontic appliances in her mouth that added an extra year to the already two years that she needed to wear braces.  Month after month, this poor girl endured wearing these horrible things in her mouth to finally be rewarded with a beautiful, perfect smile today!  We both couldn't get over how white her teeth looked as we walked out of the dentist office.  I am so proud of Lia for being so brave with this difficult challenge in her life these past few years and am so grateful that she can finally enjoy the last 1.5 years of her high school experience with a braces-free smile.

Kristina, one of our favorite orthodontist assistants, was the one who removed Lia's braces today after Dr. You gave Lia the green light to have them taken off.

Lia smiling for a picture this morning for the last time with braces on.

And showing off her beautiful smile afterwards!

Lia Performs in Mamma Mia!

After 2.5 months of daily rehearsals after school, Lia performed in five shows of Mamma Mia at her high school theater.  Although Lia was really sad when she was not cast in one of the six, female lead roles (which were only given to senior girls), she managed to get over the disappointment and really enjoy the experience of performing in one of her all-time favorite musicals with her school, theater friends.  Lia had a great time attending rehearsals every day with some of her closest friends and loved singing her heart out to all of her favorite ABBA songs.  I attended the first Saturday show with two friends from church (while Ron was camping with the three younger children), and then all five us us went with my mom on the second Saturday to watch the show on closing night, which was sold out for the first time in ten years!  Lia did such a great job in the ensemble and was so fun to watch.  She is always so animated and gives it her all.  Overall, the show was a huge success and we had such a fun time cheering her on.  We now only have three more weeks to wait before we get to watch Lia do it all over again with NWTL when she performs as the feather duster in Beauty and the Beast!

Lia dancing away while singing "Dancing Queen."

Lia dancing with another ensemble member to the song, "Voulez-Vous?"

Lia sitting on the dock next to her closest friends, Emily and Isabelle, during the song, "Does Your Mother Know?"

Lia striking a pose while singing, "Super Trooper."

Lia and the rest of the cast singing "Waterloo" during the closing scene.

Lia dancing away in "Waterloo."

Several of Lia's friends from running, church, and NWTL came to watch her.  Since I only saw two of her five shows, I only managed to get a picture of Lia with her friends on opening night.  Here is Lia posing with two of her closest NWTL friends, Olivia (with her sister, Dahlia) and Alex. 

We were allowed to go up on stage after the shows to take pictures in front of their amazing set.  Here is Lia with her three closest theater friends from school, Isabelle, Jared, and Emily.

The five us us, plus grandma, posing with Lia after the closing show.

Lia was able to get a picture on stage with all of her directors after the last show.

From left to right:

Mr. Wisness (the music director), Maddie (the choreographer), Mr. Marco (the theater director), Lia, Mr. Serio (the set designer/builder), and Mrs. Marco (costume designer)

Logan's End-of-Season XC Banquet

Although Logan still has two post-season meets left, his club hosted their end-of-the-season banquet tonight.  Emmett and I joined him for dinner and a program in Lia's high school gym which is right next door to the theater where she was performing in her third night of Mamma Mia.  Overall, Logan's first season of running XC was a very positive experience.  He was blessed to be able to have a great group of coaches and to run with several friends from his junior high school.  He enjoyed training with his team twice a week in the evenings and PR'd at almost all of his meets on Saturdays.  He ended up being the fourth fastest runner in his age group of boys and appears to have some talent in long-distance running.  Since I am such a huge fan of XC and the wonderful group of friends that it provides for my children, I am so grateful that he had such a positive first experience with this sport and hope to cheer him on at many XC meets for years to come!

Logan posing for a group picture with the other 11 to 12 year old boys on his team who attended the party tonight.

From left to right:

Isaiah, Kasen, Micah, Jack, Micah, Andrew, Logan, and Ryan.

Emmett's Character Award Assembly

Emmett has transitioned to Kindergarten this fall as smoothly as I could have imagined.  He absolutely loves his teacher, his class, and everything about his day from learning to playing at recess to eating the school's hot lunch (that is free this year).  He runs off to school every morning after I drop him off and never looks back.  After meeting with his teacher a few weeks ago for parent-teacher conferences, I learned Emmett is doing an amazing job in class.  He teacher said that he is an excellent listener, follows directions, works hard, and is an excellent example to the rest of his class.  In fact, his teacher even went on to say that Emmett is the class leader in everything they do, and that he can tell an immediate difference in the class' overall behavior when Emmett has to leave 15 minutes early once a week when I check him out of school to take Ella to gymnastics practice.  I was so proud of him after hearing all of this positive feedback from his teacher.  

As a result, it came as no surprise to learn a few days ago that Emmett had been selected by his teacher to receive one of the character awards at their first assembly of the year.  Ron and I made plans to meet at his school at 3 pm so that we could cheer him on as he received his award.  In addition, Logan and Ella were also able to join us since Logan was already out of school for the day and Ella had stayed home sick with a bad cold.  Emmett looked so happy and suprised when he saw the four of us sitting on the front row of the chairs at the back of the gym as he class entered the room.  He was so cute when he went up to receive his award for the character trait of responsiblity and just kept on flashing us the biggest grins until the assembly was over.  Way to go, Emmett!   We are all so proud of the amazing, little boy that you have become!

Emmett walking up to the front of the gym after hearing his name called.

Emmett standing at the front after receiving his award.

A close-up of my cutie.

All six children who received an award for responsibility posing for their families after the assembly was over. 

Emmett posing with Logan and Ella before heading back to class.

This is the message from his teacher found on the back of his certificate:

'Emmett is always quick to follow directions and always demonstrates responsibility by putting his best foot forward.  He is attentive and follows directions quickly and is a role model to his peers."

Celebrating Ron's Birthday

After working Monday through Wednesday, it was just as busy of a second half of the week with Halloween on Thursday, Lia's Homecoming dance on Friday, and Ron's birthday on Saturday.  But I managed to summon all the energy I needed to get through a very busy Saturday with multiple children's activities and then host Ron's birthday dinner that evening.  Par his request, we had a delicious dinner with ribs and all the fixings.  We then sang "Happy Birthday" to him and enjoyed eating a homemade, pistachio cream pie for dessert, before watching him open up a few gifts and cards afterwards.  It was nice way to spend the evening together as a family and celebrate the life of our favorite guy!

Ron posing with the kids before we sang to him.

A funny picture of the children teasing him after the candles were blown out.

All four kids crowding around their dad before opening his first gift.

Ron showing off the toy that Emmett wrapped for him last minute with Ella's help.

Girls' Night Out to Hoco

Although Lia is no longer running with her high school, she and several of her running friends decided to go to their high school's Homecoming dance together like they did last year.  Luckily, Lia's Mama Mia rehearsal was cancelled after school today so that everyone could go home and get ready for the dance.  So Lia raced home to curl her hair and get dressed before meeting her friends at the abandoned bridges in Orting at 5:30 for a photo shoot.  The rest of the moms were happy to leave the job to me, so I was the lucky one that got to pose these darling girls numerous times on both bridges to take several pictures of them in their tiny dresses in 50 degree weather.  Since it had been raining all day long, we were all just so grateful that it had stopped raining about an hour earlier so that we could do this photo shoot.  After 30 minutes, we finished taking pictures as the sun was setting.  All five girls piled into Ani's car to drive back to Puyallup to eat dinner at Olive Garden before heading into Tacoma to attend their school's dance at the beautiful, Tacoma Convention Center.  Lia had a great time dancing with her buddies until they all left early around 8:45 to go home to get to bed since they had to run in the big, District's race the next morning.  Lia spent the rest of the dance with her good, theater friend, Jared, who had come to the dance alone.  The two of them then drove back to his house together to watch a Harry Potter movie before he brought Lia home at midnight. 

The girls posing in front of some of the beautiful, autumn colors.

From left to right:

Esley, Lia, Erika, Ani, and Willow

The girls standing in front of the first bridge.

The girls posing on the other bridge.

A cute, action shot.

A fun pose that Lia suggested they do with the girls making hearts with their hands.

The last picture I took of the girls before they left for dinner with the beautiful sunset in the background.