Myah

August 7, 2007 to July 19, 2012

We had to put Myah down just shy of 5 years old yesterday.  This beautiful girl (Lex) and her daddy stayed by Myah's side through the whole procedure.  Myah was an amazing dog and will be missed.  We are looking forward to retrieving our new golden retriever in early September. 

HERSEY'S TRACK MEET

 In May these kids approached me on a Friday and said mom, the Hersey's track meet is tomorrow, can we go?  I said, where is the paper with the information?  Nojah says I forgot it at school.  I think it starts at 9 or 10.  Having never been to one or heard it was going on, I was apprehensive but we packed up and drove 35 minutes, last minute and sure enough, there was a track meet.  Not a well advertised track meet, but one nonetheless and these 2 won 5 out of their 6 events making them believe they were true superstars qualifying for State at the U of  O at Hayward stadium on July 7th.

 They also had a track meet in LG later in June and those competitors also joined us from EO at the infamous Hayward Field.

 Lex qualified for the standing long jump and jumped 5 ft 5 1/2 inches in Eugene.....and around 5ft2 at home, so there was improvement, but she still took 8th overall.

 Nojah qualified for the standing long jump, the 400m dash, and the 800m dash in our local meet and competed in the 400 and 800 in Eugene due to an oversight on the directors part of signing him up for the long jump.  Anyway, I believe he came in 7th in the 800 and 9th in 400?? He did have a PR for his 800 which he was very proud of as well.

Lex placed 9th or 10th in the 200m Dash.  It was a hot day and due to the many events they had we were there all day.  It was fun to watch all the athletes and events.  Some of these kids were amazing.  My kids realized that you get out of things what you put into them and know they didn't really train like they should have, however they had fun and enjoyed the whole weekend full of running, playing with grandparents, swimming, shopping, and eating out.

 We had a more than adequate cheering squad with Grandma Teri and Grandpa Wes who drove all the way over from LG to see the special events.

 and Grampa Tim and Gramma Karen who luckily live there came to watch and provided us shelter and fed and nourished us all for the big day and afterwards :-)

On the way home we tried to find a good hiking spot in the gorge but it was super crowded and we didn't have much luck and by that time and the long drive.  I just wanted to get home.  We did stop at crown point and go through the museum and take pictures much to Lexy's dismay and then stopped to swim in Arlington in the 110 degree temperatures :-)  Overall it was a fun experience and maybe next year if they are lucky enough to compete and win they will train for the big one in Eugene :-)

Beautiful Montana

 A month ago my wonderful friend moved to Montana..  I was already having Sandy withdrawals, so we went for a quick visit.  I was lucky and got put on call the night before we left.  I was going to leave anyway but it was MUCH nicer and MUCH safer for us to drive after actually sleeping.  The trip took us something crazy like 12 or 13 hours, which I didn't expect, but the kids, dog and I finally rolled in about 9pm her time.  We did take one wrong turn that probably added an hour or so and some unnecessary construction, but, we wouldn't have ever gone that way otherwise so now we can say we have.  I guess that's what I get for having Nojah look at the map and give me directions :-)

 On Thursday morning Sandy and I went for a 2 hour mountain bike ride, while the kids hung out with Karl.  The ride was incredible.  I could move there for the mountain biking opportunities alone, although I don't plan to mom (so you don't have to worry).  The amount of bike trails and hiking trails is absolutely amazing.  We have trails and BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS, so don't get me wrong.  I LOVE them.  However, they are all in the "wilderness" and biking is not allowed so we are limited to only walking most of them in this neck of the woods.  After our bike ride, we packed up and headed out camping at a nearby reservoir for a couple nights. We hiked to Emerald lake on Friday, which was only about 4 1/2 miles in to the lake, hoping Myah would be able to make it.  She did fabulous, pulling the whole way up and the whole way down.

 The best part was relaxing in the sunshine, eating, and playing cards.  We spent over 2 hours up there enjoying the lake, each others company, and surrounding beauty, after we were bombed with snowballs from the kids on the way up.

 Because she is declining I think this was Myah's last big hike so I am glad we got some pictures with her.  She did wonderful, but I am not sure I have the guts to take her that far out again.  I brought my camera but forgot the memory card, so I have to thank Sandy for all these pictures.

We spent a day playing tennis and Bocce and dining at the Chicago Pizza Joint.  We spent our last night in Missoula just to get us part way home and then drove 8ish hours home the next day just in time for me to go back to work.  It was a great trip.  Love Montana and cured my withdrawals for now.