Rusty's Second Marathon...

Shortly after his first marathon, Rusty started training for the Phoenix Marathon.  It is a lot of miles to prepare for the marathon.  He ran long runs every saturday with a group of friends.  Hundreds of miles go into the months leading up to the main event.

His cheering section, along with the photog Kelcie! 

Looking strong for the finish!!!

 I knew I wanted to be at the finish with the boys.  Thankfully Kelcie came and helped me, because it was insane.  So many people, and such cranky boys!

 I got very teary when we heard his name, and knew he was coming across the finish line.

 Can you spot him?  I love that in neon orange and at 6'4" he's pretty easy to find in a crowd. When we finally got his attention he came over to the gates and said hello.  Look at that nice shiny medal! 

The race was on Russ's birthday and he ran the half marathon.  So he was the lucky duck that go to go in the runner area and hug Rusty first.

 Our (lame) signs for the runner s

 We tried to get there in time to watch Russ cross, but I just could not get my act in gear that morning!!

 Official time was 3 hours 55 minutes.

 Yes, I dressed to match him. I try to be the best coordinated running team member, since I don't provide any of the running part of the running team.

 Brenner was finally happy once he got some cotton candy!

The only way to get them all in a picture was sitting down! So proud!

Misc November...

As I am frantically trying to catch up the blog I came across a series of pictures and realized I need to make sure I put them in. So here is a random collection of our November.

Berkley finished his first season playing with Arsenal, he and Max Robison were both on team Swansea. He learned a lot this season, can't wait to see how his talent for soccer develops.

Of course, getting a medal at the end of the season made all the hard work payoff.

We also tried to warm Boston up to baths by giving him an impromptu sink bath.  It worked, he loved it and he finally warmed up to the idea of taking baths with his brothers!

Loving the head massage from his Dad!

Each month Berkley gets a project from school, this month it was to disguise a turkey. I looked on trusty Pinterest and saw a grainy idea for a peacock. This is what Berk and I came up with.  We liked it so much we did Braden's the same way a week later.

Rusty ran in a Half Marathon for Shun the Sun. He did a great job, and it is just the beginning of race season for him.

 Ami and I were faithful Baseball Mom's this season, From scorching heat to freezing cold, fall in AZ can be curious!  The late games were a challenge since they started at 7:45 so Rusty and I had to alternate who went to which game, since the other kids were in bed.

Braden finished his Fall Ball season with some nail biting games. I wasn't sure my heart could take many more games like the last 3 of the season! They made it into playoffs and were one game from winning, but lost in a tight game.  

Stratton and Braden have been playing baseball together since age 7, they have come a LONG way.

Gilbert American Little League

Fall Ball 2012

White Sox

The coach we had was great. Very positive. At the end of the season he gave each player a "game ball" and told a little about how they had improved. Braden has become an avid base runner, he can steal a base before I can even blink! He is much more comfortable in the outfield, but held his own at 3rd for a lot of the season.

Phoenix Marathon...

This was the very first year for the Phoenix Marathon.

Rusty and come of our neighbors, the Treeces as well as half of the valley, or so it seemed, went to run the 1/2 Marathon.  He finished with a personal best, which I think is amazing. Next up is his first full Marathon in June! (This is the only picture I have from the race, and I know they have closed eyes, but it was really sunny out!)

This is the race bib holder I gave Rusty for Christmas, and the medal holder we gave him for this birthday. I have a feeling it's gonna get full of medals sooner than later. And yes, he has already signed up for a full marathon next year.

Ethan's Run 2012...

This was the Third annual Ethan's Run- Hope for Heart Defects.  I love this event because it is such a great way to connect with other local heart families. 

We were super honored that Braden was chosen to be a Mile Marker.He was super excited too. It was sweet to see people recognize him.  He always gets stopped about his shirt and I love that he is getting old enough to answer them himself. 

We were so blessed that a bunch of people wanted to run the 10K on Team Braden. All in all I think we had about 30ish people there. My parents got to come this year too.  We decided to grab a team photo before the runners took off.

Team BRADEN 2012

Then the 10k started and we watched them make the loop and come back by us. That skinny thing in the top left picture is my Kenyan of a husband...

Then we started the fun run.  My parents pushed my stroller so I could wander behind taking pictures and talking to families we know. 

Not long after the fun run ended (actually some finished the 10K before the walkers did!) it was time to start watching for our runners to cross the finish line.  The first handsome guy I saw wearing a green Team Braden shirt happened to be our very own 'heart dad.'  So proud of him, he ran a great race and ended up placing 2nd overall in his age division! 

It was fun watching the other runners come across too.

While they finished the kids enjoyed the bounce houses, face painting and cotton candy!

 Remember last year when I lost my mind and made a bajilion shirts? Well this year I did it again. But I did at least have my fancy Silhouette and their uber cool heat transfer material that made my job a ton easier. Even starting 3 weeks early I was still making shirts up until the night before. Cr-A-Zy me.  I made each of the boys new shirts, new ones for me and Rusty. And for all the 10k runners we did the performance shirts.  also made 5 shirts for 'Team Tempest" and helped make about a dozen for 'Team Zoie'  I think they all turned out awesome. Braden's was my favorite. Hands down. You can't tell but the ones in the lighter green lettering and red hearts are all this fuzzy material. And the black was flat, so they had real texture.

And one last picture of Mr Boss, the littlest Team Braden supporter.

Can't wait for next year!

12K's of Christmas...

Rusty has developed a LOVE for running. The race season is just beginning here in AZ, so stay turned for plenty 'o running posts in the coming months.

His last one of 2011 was a local one called the 12K's of Christmas.  I like this run because it goes right by my in laws home so we can cheer him on and because they give everyone santa hats to run in.  But people don't just wear the hats, oh no. They wear tree costumes, dress as elves, ornaments, and the dogs are dressed up too (it benefits some dog organization so a lot of people run with pets). It is the best people watching race. And for the runners there are carolers along the route. Fun huh? The kid in the full blown Santa suit was in the top 10 or 15 runners. Dedication I tell ya. That thing had to be hot.

 I mean look at the grandpa in the green tulle skirt and tights! Hilarious.  There really isn't a lot of places for people to watch this race, it runs along a canal, so people thought the boys were so sweet for being out there.  They gave and got so many high-fives. The runners would go out of their way to come to the boys at the fence. Nearly all said "Thanks for coming out!" The boys thought it was so cool.

 But they were really out there watching for this tall skinny guy we call Dad. So when we saw him we were excited.  We waited for him to make the loop that came back by us before we left. We saw some other friends (Betheas) and Rusty's aunt Alison running too!

Rusty had his best time ever. And I really was quite shocked how close to the front of the pack of what I call 'real runners' he was.  Way to go Rusty!