Lia's First Track Meet of the Season

Lia turned out for her junior high school's track team the week before spring break back on April 4th.  Luckily all of the good friends she made this past fall during cross country season decided to turn out for track, too.  I kept on telling Lia that the band was getting back together again (which was always met with eye rolls) and that this was going to be such a fun season for her.  Since our school district is like the last one in the state to have a junior high school instead of a middle school, Lia and all her running buddies will be required to compete with their future high school next year as 9th graders for all of the sports that they compete in.  In addition, all five of these girls have decided to go to different high schools in the district, so this will sadly be last time that they all get to compete together on the same team.  This really is a bummer since they all lost out on running together during their 7th grade year due to all sports being cancelled last school year because of Covid.  Oh well.  I guess that I just need to be grateful that they all found each other and became friends this fall and get to have one school year running together.  But I digress...

So after practicing four days a week after school for three weeks, Lia's team competed against Glacier View Junior High School today in their first track meet.  Just like her first cross country meet in the fall, Lia was super nervous.  In addition, her hip and her good ankle both started bothering her this week.  At first, I panicked as her bad ankle took two years to get better, but luckily neither one bothered her during her meet today.  Afterwards, Lia admitted that her nerves might have gotten the best of her and caused these two body parts to ache.  I hope she is right as I don't think that either one of us can handle a new, chronic injury that plagues her for months and years to come.

Unlike Lia's unbelievably small and short cross country meets, Emmett and I showed up to a track field today full of hundreds of students competing in this meet.  Although Lia's cross country meets were done in less than 30 minutes, this track meet lasted from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  Track meets are so long to watch as a parent--especially when you have a 3-year old in tow.  In addition, I had to find someone to pick Logan and Ella up from the bus stop and take them to their ninja and gymnastics class which will be a problem every Thursday for the rest of the track season.  Emmett and I arrived at 3:30 (when the running events started) and I was able to get him to stand at the fence at the edge of the track and watch the first four events before Lia ran the mile.  After the mile, I took him back to the car for about an hour to eat snacks, read books, and play with toys before heading back to the track to watch Lia run in the 4x4 relay which is the LAST event of the track meet.  Surprisingly, Emmett did pretty well until the very end which gives me hope that we can do this over and over again for the rest of Lia's track season.

Lia was able to overcome her nerves and did a great job in both of her events.  She came in 4th place in the mile and PR'd with a time of 7:02.  She was so close to breaking into the 6 minute mile that I am totally confident that she will accomplish that by the end of the season.  In addition, she was placed on the Varsity team for the 4x4 relay with two of her good friends, Erika and Abby, who are the best long-distance, female runners in the school.  Due to the track meet running so late, the coaches in charge decided to do something I have never seen before and had the boys and girls relay teams all run the 4x4 together.  Lia's team not only won for the girls relay, but beat a few of the JV boys teams that were racing at the same time which was really cool to see!  Overall, Lia was so happy with her first performance and had such a positive experience.  In addition, it was just so fun to watch her flitting around the field with her various running buddies smiling, laughing, talking, and cheering on her teammates.  I am so grateful that she had the courage to try out for cross country this fall when she knew absolutely no one on the first day of practice.  That experience gave her the courage to try out for track and has also been such an answer to prayers for so many different reasons as it has provided Lia with wonderful friends, a sense of belonging to her school, a new sport to enjoy and work on, and an overall confidence that she would have never started to develop otherwise.  

Lia waiting on the sidelines with her good friends, Erika and Abby, before starting their mile race.

The girls lining up on the track before the mile.

Lia running by me at the end of her first lap around the track.

A close-up of Lia running hard.

Lia coming down the final stretch at the end of her fourth and final lap.

Sprinting towards the finish line.

She made it!  Lia crossing over the finish line at the end of the mile.

Lia getting ready to take the baton at the beginning of her leg in the 4x4 relay.

My smiling girl at the end of the track meet.

Way to go, Lia!  I'm so proud of you!

Logan's 10-Year Photos

In my attempt to get everyone's annual photos taken this past week, I dragged Logan into the JC Penney studio just two days after his sisters' photo shoot.  Although he was not thrilled to do this, he did agree to wear one of his new church shirts he received for Easter and to allow me to do his hair.  He reluctantly drove with me to the studio and produced quite a few stellar pics for me in the short amount of time we were there.  Although Logan would have rather been at home reading his latest Dragonwatch book or playing Minecraft on his tablet, I am grateful that he sucked it up and gave me several decent pictures to remember him from his 10th year of life.  Thanks, Logie.  You sure are a handsome boy!

 

A Belated Easter Celebration

After realizing over a month ago that we would be driving home from Utah all day on Easter Sunday, I quickly decided that we would need to celebrate this holiday the following week.  In addition, my family agreed to postpone our Easter dinner and hunt at my parent's house a week later, too, which was a blessing for us as our children look forward to this annual tradition every year.  The children enjoyed running downstairs yesterday morning to see what goodies and presents the Easter bunny had brought them before eating a special breakfast in the dining room and going on an egg hunt in our backyard.  After church and nap time, I piled all four children in the car and drove to my parent's house to spend the evening.  Since Ron sadly had to go into work on Sunday afternoon to complete several teacher evaluations due today, he opted to stay home last night to get some rest and go to bed early.  We were still able to have a good time without him and loved being outside on a such a beautiful, spring evening.  We all enjoyed eating a delicious Easter dinner complete with grandma's homemade, orange rolls and loved playing outside after the grandkids had completed grandma's Easter hunt.  Here are some photos of our holiday...

The kids running down the stairs Sunday morning to find their baskets in the living room.

I always love getting this shot of Ella and Logan each year as they first examine their presents before choosing one to pick up.

Emmy flashing me a silly side smile while picking up his first toy out of his basket.

Lia kneeling down to check out her gifts.

Ella holding up her new Wellie Wisher Doll, Gwynn, who is the sister/companion doll of her newest American Girl Doll, Corinne Tan.

Logan showing off his awesome, Egyptology book.

Ron and the kids enjoying their Easter breakfast.

Logan finding one of his eggs on the swing during our hunt in the backyard.

Emmett smiling for me after finding an egg in our flower bed.

Ella picking up one of her eggs on top of the playground.

Lia reaching in to grab an egg hidden inside one of trees.

Ron leading the gang onto the back bank to find some more hidden eggs.

Lia lifting Ella up high so that she could try to reach an egg that Ron had hidden on the basketball backboard.  Needless to say, it didn't work and Daddy had to come and get it down for Lia.

All four Hartland kids lined up with their baskets after the hunt was complete.

After finishing up our Easter dinner at grandma's house, all of our kids went outside to participate in their second hunt of the day.  Here is Emmett holding up a granola bar that he just found.

Logan holding a treat that he had found hidden on a tree in his designated flower bed.

Lia smiling for me while hunting for her goodies in the backyard.

Uncle Eric holding Ella up high so that she could reach one of the candies that he hid for her above a window.

The traditional cousin, group photo in grandma's front yard after the hunt was complete!

Lia's 14-Year Photos

I took Ella and Lia into the JC Penney photo studio today to pound out both of their annual photos in one appointment.  After Ella went first, Lia took a turn posing for several pictures before her time was up.  Although she was definitely feeling some teenage insecurities about having her pictures taken alone, she did a great job and cooperated for the photographer through the entire mini session.  I know that she is now 14 years old and will be starting high school and getting her driver's permit next year, but it still catches me by surprise some times as to how grown up she is looking these days...and these pictures are no exception!