The Gumtree 10K

This morning was a BEAUTIFUL morning for a race. It made me almost want to sign up on the spot and run the race. I had way to much fun watching and cheering to run.

The race consisted of over 900 people (there were 200-300 people who participated in the 2K event -- including Lisa and Preston, who ran the whole race without stopping).

Sherrie and her husband, Don - pictured below - had a small challenge to each other to see who would come in first. I, of course, was rooting for Sherrie, but afraid that Don would come in first simply because men can usually run faster than women; especially when pride is at stake. I am proud to say that Sherrie ran faster and won the challenge -- she ran a very fast 47:00 and finished 2nd in her age group.

Roan always looks so refreshed and happy -- even at the end of a six mile race. She is a true joy to be around and I am always proud of her accomplishments.

Alec did not have a good run today. He has been coughing the last couple of days and I probably should have made him sit this one out, but he was determined to run anyway. He finished 5th in his age group but his time was way off of last week -- 1:05:56. After getting home, he crashed and took a nap. When he got up, I noticed that he was running a fever. So, I guess that is why he did not have a good race. We are proud of him for persevering through not feeling well.

Kirsten ran a respectable 1:20:20 and finished 20th in her age group. We were hoping for better but she has also been coughing for two days and struggled to breathe for part of the race. She also has not run but three other times in 6 weeks, due to recovering from her broken arm. We are proud of her also for sticking it out and finishing with a smile on her face.

Three of our young Spartans stacked the field in the 10 and under group and won all three trophies. We had lots of runners and several parents run this race. It is amazing to watch them all -- the fast and the not so fast, the young and the not so young. These special people give it their all every week and I enjoy watching them all run.

Brandon won first in his age group, with a time of 47:25. We expect big things out of this little guy with big talent.

Relay for Life 5K

Ms. Heather coaches her runners for the start of this fun night race.

On the starting line... we had some eager runners to get the show on the road. Four out of the top 5 finishers were Spartans -- Zack finished 1st with a time of 19:45; Forrest finished 2nd with a time of 20:15; Landers finished 4th with a time of 21:38; and Brandon finished 5th with a time of 21:51. All the runners (that I heard) enjoyed the course and most had a great finish. Alec had one of his fastest times and finished with a time of 24:47. Kirsten had a very respectable finish of 30:47 -- this is only the third time she has run since breaking her arm and is her first race back. In other news -------- WE FINISHED SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yesterday. We are very excited around here and celebrated by eating at Mi Pueblo last night. We spent some of our day today at one of our church member's houses picking up sticks and limbs from the storm. She didn't have much damage to her house but her yard was a total mess. A total of 4 trees landed on her house but thankfully there was only minor damage. It will take weeks to clean up her yard.

It's Flooding Around Here!! But We Are OKAY

This is a picture of the bridge that leads to our walking track. It was completely covered with water and flowing debris. If you look closely you can see the benches almost covered with water.

The bathroom at the track was dry, but all around it was covered.

This picture is of the drag strip that is 1/4 mile from our house. It appears to have a total of 10 feet of water covering the track.

This field (yes, it used to be a field) was planted last month and little plants were showing through yesterday.

A whole row of power poles were knocked down at First Monday yesterday in the tornado that touched down in Ripley.

These buildings were also knocked over yesterday during the storm.

This picture shows how high the water was in Ripley at their walking track. I estimate it to be at least 6 feet high.

This roof was taken off a building in Ripley and landed in the parking lot of Mi Pueblo.

Coca-Cola 10K in Corinth, Mississippi

What a yucky day for a race! It started out storming and rainy and under a tornado watch, but the weather conditions were fair during the race.

Alec, Parker, and Carson get ready to run their first 10K ever.

Noelle, Tyler, Alec, and Brandon are excited for the race to begin. Preston wasn't too sure about this picture. Ms. Heather and her Blue Mountain team and some of the Spartan team are talking race strategy right on the starting line. And they're off with the Kenyans taking the early lead and never relinquishing the lead. It was fun to see them run. They were running a sub 5 minute pace all the way to the 5 mile mark. The leader finished somewhere around 31 minutes. I have never run a 5K under that time, let alone a 10K.

This is the winner of the race! He was super fast and finished with a time of 31:20.

Brandon blew our expectations out of the water and finished 54th overall (out of 714 runners) in 46:10 on his first 10K ever. He maintained a 7:27 pace throughout the race. He had never run the full distance before today, but that did not slow him down any.

Alec did not walk one step the whole race. We are so proud of him. He had only run 4 miles before and did not know what to expect about the 6.2 mile distance. He finished at 57:49 and was 239th out of 714 runners. He maintained a 9:20 mile.

Kirsten and Alec pose with this "cool" Coca-Cola truck. Kirsten has not run much since she broke her arm, and we did not want this distance to be her first race back.

Brandon receiving his first place trophy in the 5-9 male category.

Oh So Cute!

I took this picture at Tippah Lake yesterday of this family of geese. It was two adult geese with five little goslings staying right with them. It was so cute. Those little goslings were swimming for all they were worth to keep up with the adults. The adults were a little agitated because of some ducks that were nearby.

Spartan Practice

These are just a few pictures from practice on Tuesday.

Paint Ball War

At our church we have a morning service, lunch, and then an afternoon service. Most Sundays after all the services are over, the men and boys get together to play paint ball. This was Alec's first time ever to shoot a paint ball gun.

He was a casualty of this battle, but he had more opportunities to shoot.

In between battles, they have to reload the guns.

Getting strategies together.

Some of these guys take things very seriously.

Alec shows off his many hits.

Luke looked so funny that I had to take a picture.

Mansion 5K Race

The 5K race this morning was to raise money for the Children's Mansion in Tupelo. It was a beautiful morning for a race, but it started OH SO EARLY! We left our house at 5:30 to arrive early for the race which started at 7:00.

There was a good turnout this morning and it was a great race. Alec finished his race in 25:09 (official time) which was 10 seconds slower than his goal time. He wanted to finish in the 24s (I had told him that if he finished any time with a 24 at the beginning that I would take him to Shoney's to eat breakfast). He was a little disappointed that he did not make it, but he was happy with his time.

Some of the Spartans waiting for the awards and the door prizes. We won lots of trophies amongst our little group and there was lots of cheering for the winners.

We Have a New Toy!!

Mitch bought a new gas powered RC car yesterday. We got to run it a little today. It is awesome!

This car can run up to between 50-60 miles per hour.

Mitch and Alec work on the car to get it ready to go.

Kirsten and Alec join Mitch as the car gets going.

Alec gets his turn at driving the car.

Now Kirsten gets a turn to drive.

It is fun to drive this car!

Easter Egg Hunt

We always have an Easter egg hunt at my mother's house sometime the week after Easter. There are two reasons for this: 1) not all of my siblings and their kids are here for Easter Sunday, 2) candy is a whole lot cheaper if you buy it after Easter. We invited our pastor's kids to come hunt eggs with us, so we had a total of 13 kids to hunt eggs.

The kids cannot wait very long, so we had to take a picture and take it QUICKLY!

On your mark, get set, go HUNT EGGS!

Alec has to stretch high for this one.

Kirsten gets in on the hunting action.

Alec found this toad while hunting eggs and thought he was pretty special.

Counting their loot - money and candy.

The boys are counting their eggs also.

Easter Egg Hunting on Saturday

The Saturday before Easter we went to Mitch's side of the family's Easter gathering. We always go to his Dad's house for all holidays. It is always fun to see the whole family and to visit and eat lots of good food.

Alec, Kirsten and Wesley always have fun hunting eggs.

Happy Easter

May you all have a blessed and wonderful Easter!