Cross Country ~ by car, by plane, by train? NOPE Wes is running

With fall comes SOCCER, right? Not this year. Can you hear the silent cry of this soccer mom? With no team Weston decided to run with the BLHS cross country team. The first meet was in SLC and Tom and I headed down. Not quite sure what to do, we quickly found the coach and asked for guidance. We were like a fish outta water but not for long. You see you cheer at the meets and I can cheer. Tom and I cheered at the start, we jogged to the mile mark and cheered some more, jogged to mile number 2 and cheered and then jogged to the finish and you guessed it cheered. It amazes me the sheer strength these runners have. As I watched Weston come around the bend to the finish he found the energy from somewhere to literally all out sprint. Are you kidding me? I am in AWE. He has done extremely well and continues to improve.
The first meet I of course forgot he camera, then I forgot it again at the second one but don't worry I remembered it on the third meet...the one BLHS hosted at Big D Sports Park. ~ pre-race stretch and pep talk/chant


At the starting line

Here they come
Sterling
Close behind is Nicholas and Austin
yep, that is Weston not far from the pack
Weston finished this run at 18.24 ~ a personal best for him. Nicely done.
We headed to Mt. Ogden Park the next week


This was another great race for Weston.
The next week we were in Morgan ~ the rain was coming down so I left the camera at home (OK I forgot it again). The boys ran on the golf course up there and it was wet and muddy. Weston started off looking great. It was hard to run to the different pivetel points on this course so we just simply walked to the finish and waited and waited and waited.
As a mom of a young man who has had knee surgery less than a year ago I am beginning to think the worse. Even Tom mentioned something ever so soft like, "I hope he hasn't slipped and tweaked his knee." but we soon saw him coming so I began to cheer and jump up and down like a proud momma and as he ran past me I told him to FINISH STRONG. Another parent asked me if he was hurt, I replied, I don't know. As he crossed the finish line he quickly turned back around and headed towards me with a look of, I really don't know the word. He was pissed, yeah, I guess that sums it up. Apparently on the course him and another runner had words and the runner even had the nerve to knock my Weston upside the head. Weston gave him a shove and told him to step off the course and they would finish it. CRAZY. Leave it to my boy to turn cross country into MMA. Our coach witnessed the the end of the exchange of words and spoke with the other coach. All is well ~ Weston will miss region due to his deer hunt but he assured me he would meet up again with the "punk" on the soccer field.
Congrats Weston on a great cross country season. Thank you to Coach K for all his encouraging words and helping Weston find his inner runner. Good Luck to the Scots who do run in region.

The Game of Asking and Answering....

The Homecoming Dance is right around the corner, October 15th to be exact so Weston with the help of ME, his wonderful, creative, supportive, talented, .....OK you get the hint, mom, we came up with an idea. Wes borrowered some lawn deer and we made the posters. With the help of Kenzi's mom we were able to get the deer on her front lawn and sneak around the back. While Kenzi was out front reading the posters and looking around for the "other buck", Weston had entered thru the back door and patiently waited with flowers and his "buck" sign.





Thank you Weston for letting me be a part of it ~ it was fun being sneeky, sneeky. I love you bud.

About a week later Kenzi showed up at our house to scatter Dum Dums in his room. Super cute idea

Youth Duck Hunt and a Sleepover

As most of you know the Youth Duck Hunt is a holiday in the Leatherow household. The boys both big and small love it. I completley love the feeling that it brings to our home. The boys begin gathering the decoys, the calls, the camoflouge and you can literally feel the excitement that surrounds them. They get up literally just a few hours after the sun has gone down to head to the "spot". Some will sleep upon arrival others will wait patiently until the appointed minute arrives. The big boys use their expertise to call in the ducks and geese for the younger ones, who take aim and watch as either the bird falls or if only feathers fly. I don't go out with them for obvious reasons......I LOVE my sleep but I do indeed cherish the stories they bring home. I feel so blessed to have married a man who loves the outdoors and has instilled that love in our three boys. The memories that are created and shared in the marsh or on the mountain are priceless.
The big boys also carry a camera so they too can shoot.....pictures for mom. Enjoy.




Thank you to Blake and Justin for being there that morning and a special Thank you to Titan for his expert retrieving skills.

After the youth duck hunt you can literally sleep anywhere....

Later that evening the Brenkman kids came over for dinner and a sleepover while their parents enjoyed a much needed night away. These three kids are like family. Hannah has a major crush on Weston. Garett and Craig have been friends forever and Connor just fits in. It was weird having a little girl run around. Hannah and I went outside for a bit and she wanted to run in the gutter so guess what I let her do....yep, she ran and ran we laughed and she got soaked all while the boys played football. For dinner we enjoyed BBQ'ed hamburgers. The kids crashed on the living room floor and so did Katie Dog.

and in the morning I made pancakes and the monsters played with iphoto on the computer.






It was a great night. Thank you Todd and Melissa for letting your kids entertain us.