Anwyn's first cross country race

We were excited to find out this year that the elementary school that the girls attend has a cross country running team. After the great experience Anwyn had with Girls on the Run (and knowing how much that girl loves to run!) we thought being part of the team would be a great opportunity for her. The team is small, but the other kids and parents are all friendly and nice.

On September 27th, Anwyn attended her first middle school cross county meet up in Lake City (about 45 minutes north of us). Anwyn decided to run the 3000 meter and 1500 meter races. The 3000 meter was primarily for the middle schoolers (grades 6-8) but elementary kids could run too. The 1500 meter was a “fun run” for the elementary kids (personally, Jared doesn’t see what’s so fun about running almost a mile).

Anwyn tried hard in both races (running through her stomach ache from eating a little too much {1/2 a peanut butter sandwich} before the 1.5K), finishing well. Her only complaint about the 3K was that she almost got “trampled" at the start (she was the smallest one there since most were 6,7,8 grade) but made it through the start okay.

Her 3000 m time was 15:08, and her 1500 m time was 6: 58.

We had fun at Anwyn’s first meet and were happy that she tried hard.

Thankfully, there was a fun playground where the races were being held, so Zach and Lily stayed entertained. 

Finding bugs and other creatures are always exciting.

Blue Springs

Our ward hosted a fun activity at nearby Blue Springs. I think this was one of the best springs we have visited yet. The water is a constant temperature of 72 degrees year round. It felt quite chilly at first, but we got used to it. It has been very hot and humid the last two weeks (between 90 and 100 degrees), so the water was a welcome break.

There was a nice shallow sandy beach area for the kids to play. The funnest part was a high dock to jump from into the springs. Jared and I both jumped in, and Anwyn was brave and jumped too. Then she spent most of the time jumping in repeatedly with a group of girls from our ward. Jared and I jumped a number of times. It was funny to watch some of the people doing somersaults and tricks off the dock (like our Bishop). We had a nice lunch with ward members. We explored the spring run off a ways (eventually it empties into the Santa Fe river, but we didn't make it that far). The children collected a few shells, and it was a really nice day.

Here is a short video of Anwyn jumping off the dock.