Trick-or-Treating at Southglenn

Tonight we met Michelle, Kinnan and Kendall at the Southglenn mall for their annual Trick-or-Treating event.  It was very well attended, and we especially saw a lot of Hopkins friends there.  Almost every single store had something to hand out, and several had special coupons for the adults.  There were face painters in a few different spots so we hardly had to wait in line for these masterpieces:

There was also a pretty neat Ghost Busters haunted house.  We will have to rent Ghost Busters later, I guess we are failing as parents because my kids haven't heard of this movie before.  

Our Marathon Man

When Matt turned 40, he made a goal that he would run another marathon this year. He wanted to do better than his first marathon. And he wanted to beat Oprah. Early in the year he talked about doing the Rock 'n Roll marathon, but we never pulled the trigger and signed him up. I found a half marathon that I wanted to run on Labor Day, and Matt did it to try to get his training going. But it wasn't until 5 weeks before the Rock 'n Roll marathon that we officially signed him up. He tried to train the best he could while coaching 2 soccer teams and doing some reffing on the side. He was usually able to run about 4 times a week - little 4-5 mile runs with a long run on Saturday. The longest run he was able to get in was 14 miles with Justin Marshall two weeks before the race. Then he got a 9 mile run in late in the evening a week before. Yesterday, the day before his race he reffed 2 soccer games! Then came race day! We decided we would support him as a family. We plotted out all the places we thought we could park and wait for him. The course was along a trail that wasn't always accessible. 

So we dropped him off way up north and went to our first stop. We had plenty of time to make some signs and get in position

And we were excited to see him here at mile 2. 

He seemed happy and full of energy. That was a good sign!

We made our way to another spot about 6 miles into the race. More high fives for our favorite runner. 

At the halfway point Matt was right on track, running a steady 9:30 pace. 

When we were plotting out our stops, Matt felt like he would probably need a gu around mile 18. He wasn't sure how he would be feeling at that point. We were shocked when we saw him in the distance about 10 minutes ahead of when we thought we would see him!  He told us he felt pretty good still. 

I didn't get a picture of the second to last spot that we saw him. At mile 22 he ran all the way up a hill that we saw tons of people walking. As he passed us he said he was starting to feel tired. I couldn't believe how awesome he was doing!!

Then we saw him .2 miles from the finish line. Howie, Nina and Cameron ran with him the rest of the way, even across the finish line. His time was incredible!! He got a 4:15:09!!! 

Matt told me that at mile 23 he saw the pace runner for a 4:15 time coming up behind him. He hadn't realized how fast he was going and when he saw that he could actually finish in 4:15, he told himself he would stay with them. At mile 25 he was starting to fall behind the pacer and he was struggling to keep running. With a half mile to go, the pacer turned around and encouraged Matt to pick it up a little bit. Then he saw is and the kids encouraged him to finish strong. I am so proud of Matt and how amazing he did today! All of the kids were proud of him too!! 

And not 1 minute after this picture, Rex got lost and we spent 20 minutes frantically trying to find him. Turns out he went and sat on a bench when he couldn't find us and started crying. A race volunteer saw him and brought him over to the information tent. I went to that tent to ask for help finding him and there he was playing on an iPad. I'm so so glad we found him!

Friday Night Football - Broncos edition

Littleton High School got selected for the "Broncos Game of the Week".  Basically, this meant that there would be several Broncos related activities going on before the game.  There were some booths with face painting, little handouts, a few trophies on display, opportunities to meet Miles and some Broncos cheerleaders, as well as a few former players.  There were some current practice squad players too who took time to play with and talk to kids.  We were able to convince a couple of our kids to stand in line to take some pictures with Miles.  And of course, Nina wanted to get a picture with the cheerleaders.  

Catching Grasshoppers

During halftime of the Bronco's game today Matt took all the kids down to the trail to gather some food for our poor, neglected geckos.  Rex is a champion grasshopper catcher!  The other kids would spot the bugs, then call Rex over to catch them.  Quite the system.  It was so nice to get out and enjoy the weather, while spending some fun time together.  

Loving Our Neighbors

When we first moved into our house almost 7 years ago, we had the only kids on the block. We prayed for more kids and for good neighbors, but also tried to get to know everyone on our street. Our lives have been so enriched by the relationships we have formed with our neighbors.  Although I always talk about wanting to buy a new house, I don't know if I would ever go through with a decision like that and the biggest reason is because I really love my neighbors.

Today I was chatting with Carla and her daughter while they were working on a little yard project.  Then I offered to move a few bags of mulch while we talked.  Before we knew it, Dusty and Amber and Jason and Teresa were there with rakes and gloves and we all finished the project together.  I don't like to sound all mushy, but this was a super touching moment and I am very grateful for the wonderful people in my life.

To the Zoo with the Littles

Every once in a while I get a chance to spend some time with our kids in smaller groups. It's a great chance to see parts of their little personalities that shine when other siblings aren't around. Today just me and my two little buddies took a trip to the zoo. 

We spent more time than we normally ever do looking at animals and talking about them. We measured how long we could jump many, many times. 

And because I only had 2 kids to pay for, we rode the carousel. It surprises me that Rex is too afraid to ride on an animal that goes up and down. Maybe I need to take him more often....

Swimwear Malfunctions

After one of Nina's races today, she ran over to me and smiled this huge smile. I couldn't tell what she was getting at until she turned to her side. 

Then I noticed that those goggles were barely hanging on! I'm glad they didn't fall off during her race. And she was glad she has something to show anyone who would look at her!

And then a little later I was the one with a big smile on my face when I caught Rex playing in the pool. 

And then Cameron just looks cute.