Millinocket Half Marathon 2017

A year ago, after the 2nd Millinocket Marathon, I signed Gabe, Noah and I up for the half marathon thinking that we should hold spots just in case we decided to run it.  After our 10K Blueberry Festival run in August and Noah's comment about only running 5Ks from now on, I thought there was very little chance we would run the half marathon.  In September I checked with Noah to make our running schedule for the fall and to confirm that he definitely didn't want to run the half.  I should have known better... he was excited to run a half marathon and despite my efforts to stress the amount of training, etc. he would have to do he was still on board. So, we (here I mean Noah and I, Gabe thinks he is still young enough just go out and run 13.1 miles with minimal training) have been working hard all fall to be ready.

The race itself was a really cool experience simply in the volume of people it attracted.  We arrived the night before to check out the finish line with my nephew's log truck and to take some pictures.  The weather was really quite perfect and the sky was clear enough to see Mt. Katahdin from the Golden Road. We all had a great race, but were glad to be done;) Noah got to meet the race director, Gary Allen, after we finished and Gary gave him a special sea to summit medal.  Now Noah is determined to earn his own Sea to Summit medal next year, so I guess that means we will be running two half marathons next fall;)  

Chester Greenwood Day 2017

This week was a wild one, but we did get to check Titcomb Mountain auction, Chester Greenwood Day, getting a Christmas tree, Noah's violin concert and James' basketball off the list... that and some school mixed in there somewhere;)

Gabe finally got to march in the Chester Greenwood Day parade with the juggling group!  He wished he hadn't had such a fun time the night before, but he pulled through and had a blast. The kids and I always enjoying watching this parade and seeing all of the great floats.  It isn't often you get to see a parade in Maine in winter and when you get to watch it with friends, it's even better!

After the parade we stopped and picked out our Christmas tree... or two trees.  Gabe wouldn't allow us to get the biggest tree (per usual and probably for good reason) so the compromise this year was to also get this little tree for $15 that Ben insisted (adamantly) that we get.  What would we do with two trees?  Stay tuned, I'll try and remember to post a picture... as it turned out he had a specific plan in mind all along.

This week also brought the first concert of the year for Noah who played the violin and sang in the chorus.  James was also busy playing basketball this month on the Celtics.  He is really getting the hang of the game this year, but sometimes gets a bit too aggressive and forgets about going for the ball and not just the person with the ball.

School is going really well so far this year with more independent work for Noah and James while Ben and Audrey are filling their days with some work, but still more play than school work.  We are revisiting the human body in science.  

Karate and Advent Parties

Saturday we took a long day trip, but well worth it, to an awesome birthday party!  The kids look forward to Oliver and Isaac's birthday party every year and this year did not disappoint.  The kids all had their first dojo experience and loved it.  I loved getting to catch up with Jack and Rebecca AND that we took all 7 kids to dinner and it was actually close to relaxing;)

This week also kicked off our Christmas celebrations with the family advent party at church.  The kids decorated cookies, made crafts and enjoyed a Christmas story.  Let the festivities begin!

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Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving was a little bizarre this year since it was just the 6 of us.  It was a really wonderful family day spent relaxing, playing games with the kids, reading books, and cooking.  The best part was that we didn't have to pick up or do the dishes before we ate.  We missed our usual Thanksgiving family and friends, but we were happy to be able to relax together as a family before Gabe had to go back to work:)

Trench Digging and Turkey Trotting

The shed is almost as done as it is going to be before winter.  We finally got the wire to get electricity out to the shed from the house.  It was a fun race against the ground freezing to get the trench dug... we literally got it done the day before the ground froze.  We (we here really just means Gabe with minimal help from the rest of us) turned out tons of boulders and even discovered an old horseshoe... good luck, right?!?!?!? While we were moving dirt, the kids were playing santa in his sleigh from the roof of the bulkhead and generator shed... it was safe... enough;)  When we made it the 100 feet out to the shed, Gabe realized that he had drilled the hole in the floor in a bit of an inconvenient spot in relation to the floor frame. We both struggled to bend our arms in an impossible direction and failed.  Noah to the rescue!  His arms and wrists were the perfect size to maneuver the wire around the boards and up through the floor.  That is certainly a job we all hope we will never have to do again!

The pigs are growing well and have so much personality.  These ones seem like to rub and bite a bit more than the previous pigs, but they LOVE to have a daily massage on their backs and heads.  It is really a bizarre thing, but they will lay right down when I am rubbing them... I hope that bodes well for the dreaded part where we have to load them into the trailer in February...

This weekend was the annual Turkey Trot at UMF.  This year Grammy joined us to run with Ben and Audrey in the kids 1 mile fun run.  Gabe and James ran in the 5K and Noah and I tackled Noah's second 10K hoping it would be easier than his first.  Noah and I actually both ended up winning a pumpkin pie for our age categories, but the real truth is that we were the only members of our age categories...;)