​The boys have been studying really hard this semester, so it was a nice surprise when we got photos of them skiing over the weekend. I am so glad that they were able to sneak away from studying life to have a little bit of fun. Peter’s friend Julian drove them all to Park City to go skiing. Even though it was still February, the weather was quite warm which was nice but also meant that the snow was just ok. All in all, the boys still had a great time on the slopes together. 

​Driving the boys to college at the University of Utah was exciting, surreal, and a little bit sad.  We moved Peter into the dorms first. We made it to SLC right in time for him to check in and get his ID and COVID test done. Then it was off to the dorms where it was pouring rain. Luckily the U dorms do it right. The kids check out a cart and take their stuff to their rooms that way. That is genius! The dorm rooms are so spacious. We unpacked everything in record time. It helped to have 4 people helping. There are so many cool things about being a student at the University of Utah. One of those perks is that every student gets all the Adobe products for free since the founder of Adobe is a U of U alum. 
 
The next morning, we got up and moved Andrew into his studio apartment at Avia in downtown SLC. Luckily, he is right on the TRAX line so he can hop on for free with his student card and ride up to campus. It is only a 10-minute commute for him! It was fun helping him get set up in his apartment. His apartment complex has some nice perks like free rides on the green scooters and bikes downtown, discounts at some restaurants, a movie room and lounge area with kitchen plus weight room and super cool patio areas with lots of grilling opportunities. I hope he has fun living it up in such a cool place while the GI Bill helps to pay for it!

Later that night, we all went out to dinner at the Copper Onion and had the most delicious beef stroganoff. It was only a short walk from Andrew's apartment. It was a nice way to celebrate two successful days of unpacking the boys for college. The next day we toured campus with the boys and then said our goodbyes. We said goodbye to Peter first who left to participate in freshman orientation for the engineering students. Then Andrew took us around the rest of campus and showed us the buildings he would be having class in plus Peter's engineering building. We ended up running back into Peter after we finished up at the bookstore and then said goodbye to both boys. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye.

New Orleans can be done in 2 days, but one last thing that must occur when you are in the deep South is a trip into the Bayou. So, we got up, had breakfast, and headed east, just shy of the Mississippi border. We had a small boat tour of the East Pearl River and associated sloughs and bayou. It did not disappoint. It’s amazing how much life there is tucked into the grasses, bald cypress, water, and mud. From crawfish, to honeybees, to ducks, to pigs, racoons, alligators, and fish, there is a lot to see. It is a much different way of life than we are used to in super dry Colorado. Houses flood routinely, hurricanes threaten occasionally, and the humidity and heat never relent. It seems a distant world from the filth of New Orleans. It was fun to be in a different form of nature than we are used to in the mountains. There were lots more bugs and tons more water. The thought of our family living in a little cabin on the bayou makes me laugh. We wouldn’t last long.  
 
After the tour, we headed back to the city. On our way, we grabbed some po’ boys and our culinary trip to the south was complete. We went back over bridges and water to the city and our hotel. Thank goodness for nice hotels. Driving into the entryway is like arriving through the gates of the castle. It is a refuge from the world just outside in the streets. We rested a bit, then headed back to the airport for our evening flight. Then it was back to Colorado, reality, and the life we know. 

Written by Mike
​

​Sunday arrived with a trip to church. The Brady family, who clearly was a big piece of this ward, decided to move to California and this was their farewell Sunday. It was an entertaining sacrament meeting and very much more diverse than anything we have attended in Colorado. After church, it was back to the WWII museum for the Pacific campaign and the planes. It was interesting to see the boys talk about their knowledge of Japan, the pacific, and relate it to the events of WWII.  I think that they could really feel the misery of jungle warfare, the tenacity of the Japanese, and the unforgiving nature of Naval Warfare from their experiences living in Japan and being a part of 7th fleet.  
 
After the museum, it was time for a New Orleans Sunday brunch. So, it was back to the French Quarter and off to Broussard’s where the boys had oysters for the first time, chicken and waffles, and I had Josephine Benedict.  The service was stellar and the food good. The boys really enjoyed their chicken and waffles.  
 
Sufficiently stuffed, the boys headed back to the hotel for a nap and refuge from the heat. I wandered around the shopping areas of New Orleans for a little bit, then headed back to the hotel. New Orleans and the WWII museum are a fitting mix. The WWII Museum shows the very best of mankind right beside the very worst of mankind. The depravity, vile disregard for life, lust for money and power that ushered the world into the misery of WWII brought out the heroism, charity, selfless sacrifice, and courage of so many. It is both a tribute to and a rebuke of humanity.  A reminder that we must strive for the best, extoll the good, and prevent the evil. New Orleans is much the same. There is no place on earth that exhibits the depravity and worst of humanity than Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. If sin has a smell, then it is the fetid odor that stifles the air of Bourbon Street. It is truly horrific. The sights, sounds, and smells remind you that humans will resort to their bassist most animalistic natures for what they perceive is a good time. But in the end, they are only trading their birthright for a mess of pottage. It is sobering to witness. The musical, culinary, and architectural delights are almost no match for the sewage which swills around it. It endures, but only if people chose the good and not the bad.  
 
On the other side, there is the Garden District and Commander’s Palace. It may seem a bit much to take an eighteen and a twenty-year-old to such an establishment, but it embodies Haute Cuisine and fine service. You would think eating at 8:45 pm was late, but the restaurant was packed with people. The immediate thing that you notice is the service. The service is impeccable. Everything about it is refined, thoughtful, and done in a way that dignifies the gust and does not demean them.    The second thing you notice are the happy faces of people enjoying wonderful food. No one is sitting around miserable, waiting, wondering, or wishing. Everyone is enjoying themselves. And what’s not to enjoy? The food is exemplary. Peter had turtle soup and Andrew and I had the gumbo.  For main courses we all had quail (you get a quail, you get a quail, you get a quail!). Peter said it was the best thing he had ever eaten. It was quite good. For dessert, Peter the bread pudding souffle, which is divine. I had the peaches and cream, and Andrew had the cookies n’ cream. Good food brings out good conversation and the evening was awesome. I am grateful that we could be together and enjoy an evening of laughs, tasty food, and excellent service. You can’t help but feel great after such an evening.

Written by Mike
​

Getting up early to fly somewhere is always so painful, but when you have a limited schedule, sometimes, it’s all you can do. Before the boys went off to college, I decided to do a quick trip somewhere. But where to go? The boys are really into WW2 history and have lived in and studied both the major enemy countries. They are really into Jazz, Peter playing trumpet and Andrew playing trombone. They are really into good food. So, we decided on New Orleans, home of Jazz, the WWII museum, and tasty southern cuisine.  
 
Of course, we headed off on Frontier airlines, which was a little painful and certainly a little eye opening. It was the people’s flight. Lots and lots of unique, loud, and voluminous people. Once off the plane, we got our bag and then got on the rental car bus, which takes you on a 30-minute tour around the airport, to the old airport parking garage. It was not very glorious or efficient. The rental car folks still had printers from 1987, so that was interesting too. It’s like they took the entire airport and made it new and nice, except for the car rental people. They left them to perish by themselves. As if one day they are just going to open a new rental car place by the new airport and not tell anybody at the old place.  
 
Once in our California Camry, we headed directly to the WWII museum, parked, and then left for our first taste of goodness. The Cochon Butcher.  Just a couple blocks from the museum, the meats are delicious, the mac and cheese divine, and the Bavarian pretzels other worldly. A tasty way to start the day since we didn’t have breakfast in Denver. After lunch, we headed back to the museum and indulged ourselves in history. The WWII Museum is so well done, it’s just amazing.  It’s probably one of the best museums in the world in my opinion. There is so much information, so many interactive displays that you could spend hours pouring through all of it. It really is worth the journey. As a parent, taking kids to museums, they just kind of look around at some stuff and then ask when they can have ice-cream. Now, the boys were content to watch every video, read every placard, explore every nook and exhibit in the museum. It was a lot of fun. What was even more fun were the discussions that we had at dinner that night and later in the day as they drew comparisons to the lessons of WWII and current events. Fascinating.
 
After the museum, we hustled over to the hotel, dropped off our stuff, and then headed to Preservation Hall where we were entreated to Shannon Hall and the Preservation Hall All-Star band. Trumpet, Trombone, Drums, Bass, and Piano. So close. So good. So inspiring. To see musicians who have mastered the craft up close was a gift to the senses. The pianist’s forearm muscles were like the strings of a bass bounding and pulsating in a way that made his fingers resurrect music from the worn ivory keys of the upright. The trombonist smooth and powerful while the trumpet led everyone higher and higher with unapologetic grandeur. The drums and bass provided direction and confidence to the endeavor and for an hour we were reminded that somethings in life are best enjoyed in the moment.  
 
After the performance, we grabbed some Beignets at Café Du Monde and headed back to our hotel for dinner and more jazz. The boys had gumbo, truffle oil fries, Crawfish Fet toast, and shrimp and grits. Dessert was peach bread pudding and a smore’s board. After that, the only thing one could do is go to bed.  

​Written by Mike

This was definitely an interesting swim season for Peter this year. With the addition of a new coach, things were just not the same as in previous years. Peter found himself as team captain appointed by his teammates. Those boys really needed Peter's optimism and counsel while they navigated a difficult coach who was a little rough around the edges. Peter spent most of his season swimming in the long-distance events such as the 200 and 500 freestyle and rotated between the 200-freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. He also swam the 100 fly a few times and did quite well. Peter was such a hard worker in practice and for the first month of swim he was loving being back in the water with his teammates. The very first meet his goggles popped right off during his 500-freestyle due to a tight cap and more hair under that cap than in previous years. After the race his coach didn’t have anything nice to say and it was then that I knew that this coach would be a problem during the rest of the season. I was not impressed with the coach and the way he handled talking to his athletes, but Peter quickly learned that he needed to be respectful anyways. Peter PR’d in every event this season except for the 500 free. He was only a second away from getting his best time in that event. He dropped almost 10 seconds in the 100 fly and 5 seconds in the 200 free from his last high school season during his sophomore year. Peter wasn’t able to finish out his season since he started his new full-time job the day after graduation but at least he was able to get in 5 meets. 
  
100 Fly
1:04.90 3rd out of 4 at Coronado
1:04.50 5th out of 6 at Lewis-Palmer
1:04.98 4th out of 6 vs DCC
 
200 Freestyle
2:09.20 4th out of 6 at Rampart
 
200 Individual Medley
2:26.64 5th out of 6 vs Cheyenne Mtn
 
500 Freestyle
5:47.22 4th out of 5 at Rampart
5:59.58 2nd out of 3 at Coronado
5:48.26 5th out of 6 at Lewis-Palmer
5:44.97 4th out of 6 vs Cheyenne Mtn
6:03.31 4th out of 5 vs DCC
 
200 Medley Relay
Fly split time 27.86 at Lewis-Palmer
 
200 Freestyle Relay
26.65 split time at Rampart
27.03 split time at Lewis-Palmer
26.48 split time vs Cheyenne Mtn
27.15 split time vs DCC
 
400 Freestyle Relay
27.61 split time at Rampart
27.70 split time at Rampart
29.02 split time at Coronado
30.26 split time at Coronado
28.81 split time vs DCC
30.94 split time vs DCC

We were so excited to celebrate Peter’s big day with him and so happy that we were able to have the grandparents attend. Each family got to have 8 guests and since we are a big family, I was able to secure an additional ticket from a friend so both sets of grandparents could be there. I was so blessed to be able to be at graduation since I woke up sick that morning and wasn’t sure I was going to make it. The ceremony was held at D20 Stadium, and they did a really nice job. I loved watching Peter get his diploma and then congratulate all of his friends afterwards. It was fun watching him be goofy and silly with his friends. After graduation everyone headed over to Flying Horse for a graduation lunch and then he and Grandpa Al headed on a walk at Fox Run Park in the afternoon. The day just couldn’t have been more perfect for Peter. 

We spent the afternoon before graduation hosting a grad party for Peter with all of his close friends. We had both Pine Creek themed and University of Utah themed treats. It was a great way to say good bye to Pine Creek HS and hello to the University life. We had a memorabilia table with some of Peter's achievements and awards, his t-shirt quilt, letter jacket and photos from every school year. It was fun to see how much he changed over the years. The biggest change, however, was between junior and senior year where he really started looking like a young man who was ready to enter adulthood. I'm so glad that Peter enjoyed spending some time with his friends celebrating the end of their high school life together. 

With pretty much all the concerts being canceled this school year due to all the COVID restrictions, I was so excited that the kids high school decided to hold all spring concerts outside. Emma and Peter had their Jazz Concert out on the balcony on the side of the school and it was amazing. Emma played with the beginning Jazz Band and Peter played both trumpet and piano with the Advanced Jazz Band. Both kids did an amazing job. It was fun to be able to sit on the grass outside and enjoy the fruits of their labors from practicing all year both at home on Microsoft Teams and in school when they went back to hybrid learning. 

It was hard to top Peter’s birthday from last year and since COVID was still around, we opted to not do a friend party and just do something with the family. The day before his birthday, Mike and I took Peter to Scheels where we bought him a brand-new camping backpack and he got to pick out his own rifle for graduation. Then we headed to Flying Horse to eat dinner to celebrate Peter. The next day on his actual birthday we had a nice celebration at home where he got to open up another present. All he wanted for his birthday was the new space shuttle LEGO set. He was so excited when he opened it up. After devouring his ice-cream cake, he headed into the dining room to start working on his awesome new LEGO set. Mike took his Stranger Things set out from the previous Christmas and started building that one too. I love that Peter is happy with the simple things in life. It’s hard to imagine that he is finally an official adult. He is such a ray of sunshine and happiness in our home. We are so lucky that he is part of our family. 

Peter has been in full swing into his off-season swim training with the PPA swim club. He swam in his first swim meet since his swim season before COVID hit. With COVID restrictions still in effect, we weren’t able to watch the meet from inside the building but stood outside and watched through the glass windows. The weather was cold, and it was snowing but we stood outside for each race and then warmed in the car. Peter swam in the 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 500 freestyle. His times were definitely better than a year ago and that made him really happy. He swam the 100 butterfly in his best time ever finishing in 1:04.97. He swam the 100 freestyle in 58.17 and the 500 freestyle in 5:50.96. It was very exciting watching Peter swim again. 
​

I love how they pray before they race. What a great tradition they started two years ago.

Warming up with masks...COVID rules

Most of the races took the top 7 but the Cheyenne Mtn. Stampede and Regionals only took 6 runners. Since there were really 8 boys on Varsity sometimes some of the boys had to sit out of the race. It was a tough season like that.

This was the fire I waited for all season long. This was his best race of the season. He rounded the last few corners like his life was on the line. It was such a cool moment. 

Any vacation wouldn’t be complete without some silly long hike. Mount Timpanogos seems like a straightforward hike, and for the most part it is, but it is a long, long hike. The waterfalls, wildflowers, and stunning views make it all worth it. Peter and Andrew basically raced up the mountain, proving that it's really annoying to go hiking with younger people with good lungs and springy legs, but we kept up with them pretty well. Emerald Lake was beautiful and there were mountain goats just hanging out alongside the trail.  Crossing the snowbanks was tough, but getting to the summit wasn’t too bad, especially since we’re pretty used to the altitude. The views from the top were perfect. It was a beautiful day to be in the mountains. The real beast was coming back down. It’s just a long, long way by the time you get back down. The entire hike was sixteen miles round trip. Sara ran down the last couple of miles and the boys spent time just enjoying all the waterfalls. Afterwards, it was a race to IN-N-OUT for everyone so we could refuel our bodies. It was such a great hike, but one we would pay for with sore legs for the next couple of days. 

​written by Mike

​I have to admit that we kind of blew it last year for Peter’s 16th birthday. He was in the middle of his swim season and didn’t want a party with treats since he was trying to eat healthy. We said we would do something great in the summer, but we never did. So, his 17th birthday needed to be EPIC. I had initially planned on doing a surprise party for him but with all the changes with social distancing and the quarantine, I knew that idea was out. Instead I decided to reach out to all of his closest friends and to our family members to have them write a birthday message for Peter and send it to me. I initially thought of putting together a slideshow but then thought it would be even cooler to have it all put into a book. The week before his birthday I collected all the birthday messages and photos so that I could put everything together. Being in the hospital all day on Friday really put a kink in my plans but Saturday morning I woke up feeling decent, so I hopped on my computer and put together the entire book. I don’t know how I did it so quickly. It was a real birthday miracle. I put everything in preview mode on my computer and when I showed him the book, he was all smiles. I think there is something so great about being able to see how much people care about you. The other half of his present was getting him an Oculus VR Headset. He had raved about his uncle’s VR system that he played in the summertime. I spent a lot of time trying to find the Oculus Quest. It was OUT literally everywhere I looked. Due to the high demand over the holidays, the delay in production, and COVID19 it was not looking promising. I felt so desperate that I actually bid on a headset on eBay and thankfully lost by $5. I was super grateful that I didn't pay over the original price for the headset because it was in that moment that I went back to all of the websites that sold the Oculus and by sheer dumb luck I saw that there were 5 in stock at my Walmart at the original price. I couldn’t believe it. I ordered it right away and went the next day to pick it up. What awesome luck that was. Peter knew that the Oculus was out everywhere, so he had no idea that I had struck gold for his big present. Mike and Andrew purposely leaked some info that had him thinking he was getting a giant Lego set. When he opened up his gift, he was so surprised and so incredibly happy. It was such a great moment to witness. We catered to Peter’s weird McDonalds craving and had a McDonalds lunch and Reese’s ice-cream cake. No one else likes McDonalds but every time we travel somewhere new, Peter is all about getting McDonalds. So, our inside joke with Peter became the inspiration for his birthday meal. His day truly couldn’t have been any better. 

After such a fantastic cross-country season, Peter decided to continue his training with some of his other teammates so that he could compete at Nike Cross Regionals in Casa Grande, AZ. He was extremely motivated at first, but then we were hit with a few really bad snowstorms which halted some of his training outside. Then he begged me to sign him up for swim club so that he could start swimming in prep for his HS season in February. Both of those became distractions which made it hard to the train the way he did during his HS cross-country season. Still, he managed to make it to the practices that his coach offered and did as much running as he could with his teammates on the off days to get prepared to run the same course he ran in September where he PR'd and broke 17 minutes. This time it was just Peter and I who traveled to Arizona for the race. We stayed at the Marriott in Chandler where some of the other runners from his team were staying. Sean, Josh, Peter, Hayden, Rodrigo, Dan, and Lauren all ran. They ran the same course from Desert Twilight but ran in the morning instead of the night. The weather was actually not too hot, but the sun was pretty bright. Even though Peter didn't PR at this race, he still ran extremely well, finishing the 5K in 17:01.50. Afterwards we all celebrated by going to eat at In-N-Out before heading to the airport to fly back to Colorado. 

Peter had the MOST INCREDIBLE cross-country season of his high school life so far.  After a roller-coaster season last year, this was such a reward for probably the hardest working athlete I personally know.  After his swim season ended in May, Peter quickly jumped right back into running and started running with his high school team during the summer.  He attended BYU cross-country camp in July and had a blast learning some new techniques and tips for his upcoming season.  His goal for this season started small...it was just to make the varsity team.  He did that, barely, on the time trial at the beginning of the season the second week in August.  He came in at number 7, earning him a spot on the varsity team for the first meet of the season.  In order to keep his spot he knew that he had to run well during each meet and stay in the top 7 for the boys team.  Probably one of my favorite parts of this season was watching the utter determination on Peter's face when he raced.  He had such excellent focus this season that showed not only in his times but also in his face. I can't even begin to describe how exciting this season was to watch.

AUGUST 30, 2019
​WIDEFIELD INVITATIONAL
WIDEFIELD HS
5K - 18:10.00

The second meet was the Widefield Invitational at Widefield HS.  After some hard work during training, Peter was determined to finally break 19 min.  That is just what he did at this race.  He started out his race like he normally did, hanging with Hayden until about halfway through the race.  Then after the halfway point he started to pick things up a bit.  With some hills in the mix, he was able to keep pushing a little harder until the end was in sight. He was moving at speed.  I was floored when I saw him round the track at the finish.  His time...18:10. He was so shocked when he looked at his watch at the finish that he accidentally slowed down enough that the guy next to him beat him by a hair.  It wasn't a huge deal but a lesson learned to not look at the clock but run hard right through the finish.  Needless to say, Peter was extremely happy with himself at this race.  He came in 6th for his team and 25th overall.  The boys team also finished in first place for the meet.  

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
​LIBERTY BELL INVITATIONAL
HERITAGE HS
5K - 17:28.70

After last week's amazing race we were hoping that Peter would have another great race on one of the fastest courses of the season.  We went out earlier that week to buy him some racing spikes but the store was all out of blanks, which he would need for this course as it was mostly pavement.  Unfortunately we weren't able to find any before the race so he just wore his regular running shoes.  That clearly didn't stop him from doing really well on this course.  He started out similar to all his other races and kept picking up the pace the second half of the race.  When I saw him come down the last 200 m stretch of the race I looked at the clock and I couldn't believe it.  He was going to break 18 min.  He didn't just break it by a little, he destroyed it.  His time for the course was 17:28.70 which was now his all time personal best.  I was so glad that everyone supported Peter at this race.  The entire family came up to join him.  Even Andrew was able to see him run before heading off to college.  

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
COUGAR CLASSIC
MONUMENT VALLEY PARK
5K - 18:25.66

The varsity boys and girls took the week before this meet and rested from racing in the Rock Canyon Invitational.  It was a great break for these kids who had been training so hard.  Coming into this race Peter was a little nervous since this isn't his favorite course.  It's hilly and the trail is usually exposed to the sun.  This race always feels pretty hot.  Still, he ran a great race and wore his racing spikes for the first time. His previous time on this course was 19:10 from last year.  This time he destroyed that time and came in 4th for the varsity boys and ran it in 18:25.66.  Wow...what an improvement from last year.  The advice his coaches gave him for next meet on this course was to push it at the top of the hill the second time around and pick off people the last flat and downhill part of the course.  Great advice!

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
DESERT TWILIGHT
CASA GRANDE, AZ
5K - 16:46.17

The most coveted race of the season is the Desert Twilight XC Festival down in Casa Grande, AZ.  Only the top 7 runners for boys and girls who had been consistent up until this point were asked to join this trip.  Peter was so excited to be able to go and run in AZ at lower elevation.  Mike and I left the girls with friends and flew down to support Peter in this race.  Our team ran in the Sweepstakes race, which was the most competitive race of the night.  They boys ran at 9:30pm which made for an extremely fun and exciting race to watch.  Before the race Mike told Peter about the time he ran cross-country in high school and went out with a fast first mile of 5:10 (what he didn't tell him was that it was by pure accident...he crashed the rest of the race).  I don't know what it was about what Mike said but Peter took that as a challenge, and he ran his first mile in 5:09.  The course ran straight out on grass and some dirt paths and then wound back, zig zagging back to the finish like switchbacks on a mountain.  This made it so much fun for the spectators who got to see them a dozen times throughout the race.  Once they passed us on one straightway, we just ran across to the next straightway until eventually we were down to the last two and ran as fast as we could to see the finish.  Peter looked strong the entire race and was extremely close to Josh who he normally is 20-40 sec behind.  As I was watching the finish, I saw Josh and thought I had more time before Peter came in.  Then in a split second I glanced across and saw Peter on the other side from where I was, only a few seconds behind Josh. I couldn't believe it.  He ran such a great race and had an incredible time of 16:46.17 and was 4th on his team!!! At the beginning of the season Sean and Jackson told him that he would be able to break 17 min.  Sure enough, they were right.  

OCTOBER 9, 2019
5A METRO LEAGUE FINALS
FOUNTAIN FORT CARSON HS
5K - 18:58.03

After an amazing experience at Desert Twilight, Peter knew that coming back to elevation would be tough.  The varsity kids had another week of no meet so that was nice coming off a really fast race in AZ.  Unfortunately, two of the varsity boys were not doing so well.  Caleb, their number one runner, was already out for the season with a stress fracture.  Jackson and Taylor both had small injuries and Jackson didn't end up running in this meet.  The weather was kind of nutty on race day.  It was extremely warm and very humid for Colorado and the wind was pretty strong. The race was moved a day earlier due to the predicted snow storm. No one had a particularly great race during this meet.  Peter said this was the hardest race of the season so far for him.  He came in 3rd for his team and ran the course in 18:58.03.  This definitely wasn't his best time of the season but a personal best for this course.  

OCTOBER 17, 2019
5A REGION 5 CHAMPIONSHIPS
MONUMENT VALLEY PARK
​5K - 17:45.00

Today was the final meet of the season and Peter was determined to run this faster than last week and the last time he ran this course a few weeks prior.  With the advice in his mind from the last time he ran this course, he was determined to end his season well.  He looked good the entire race.  I decided to cheer him on at different points of the race.  I made it a point to be at the top of the hill so I could remind him to push it at the top just like the coach had told him.  I could tell Peter was in the zone because I'm not sure he even saw me or heard me cheering him on.  After the last push up the last hill I booked it to the finish.  He did what he set out to do and finished his cross-country season with another great time.  He ran this course in 17:45.00, beating his time a few weeks ago by almost 40 sec, placing 3rd on his team.  He was extremely happy with his time and his performance but a little bummed that some of his fellow teammates didn't have great races, landing their team in 7th place overall and not making the cut to go to State this year.  With all their teammates healthy and uninjured they were between 3rd and 4th for the region.  Only the top 4 teams are eligible to run at the State race.  At least there is always next year for Peter to make it to State.   

Every year at the beginning of the school year the youth program at our church has a combined activity where they go ice blocking down the grassy hill at Cottonwood Creek Park.  I decided to surprise Peter and Emma this year and snap a few photos.  I loved watching their expressions as they flew down the hill on a tiny block of ice.  They were both so excited to have their own block of ice this year.  According to Peter and Emma, Andrew hogged the block of ice last year.  It was easy enough to get them their own this year.  The thing I loved most about watching Peter and Emma was their interactions with their friends.  I love that they are two social butterflies. I hope this year brings them good friendships and good memories with their friends.

Ever since the last high school swim season, Peter has had some workouts that put his heart rate over 200 and sometimes as close as 210.  Although it never seemed to effect his performance, it was a little concerning going into this year's cross-country season.  His pediatrician ordered a exercise stress test and echo cardio exam.  Everything looked good on his EKG and his ultrasound.  The next piece was the exercise stress test which he passed with flying colors.  It was pretty spectacular watching him run his heart out on that treadmill as the speed and incline increased.  Turns out his VO2 max is 65!!! That is at the superior level for someone his age.  The only thing the doctor noticed was his oxygen output was a little restricted when blowing out which meant that he could benefit from an inhaler before racing or swimming really hard.  We are so grateful that there was nothing wrong with his heart and comforted to know that his HR going above 200 is ok.