Smoky Mountain Running Camp

Summer 2021, Tesfaye had the opportunity to participate in a Nike Sports Camp - Smoky Mountain Running Camp.  

We dropped him off at UNC Asheville on a Sunday, along with 300 other cross country runners, and picked him up the following Friday.  His week was filled with miles and miles of mountain trail runs in the Pisgah National Forest, afternoon track workouts, daily talks and learning with college coaches and athletes, carb loading with pasta, and getting to know runners from around the country.  His group, Group 1, ran nearly 12 miles a day!  

A highlight of camp was a zoom call with University of Oregon runners, Cole Hocker (1st in the 1500m at the Olympic Trials, representing Team USA in Tokyo), Cooper Teare (1st in the 5000m at the 2021 NCAA Track Championships), and Charlie Hunter (1st in the 800m at the NCAA Championships, representing Team Australia in Tokyo).  

T returned tired but newly energized and inspired to run his Junior season. 

Scout Summer Camp

 

Our scouts look forward to Summer Camp each year - definitely a highlight of the summer.  So glad Boy Scout Summer Camp was able to happen for Davis, Hendrick, and Kolpin this year!  

Camp 2021 was a bit different than previous years: the boys wore masks indoors, camp numbers were reduced, and merit badge work was limited (only 2 per scout) - but as with previous experiences, it was a great experience for our boys!  

Their Ohio troop was the largest to attend camp this year - they have a very active group of guys!   Our boys worked on Fishing and Wood Carving (Kolpin), Engineering and Wildlife Conservation (Davis), and Animal Science and Mammal Studies (Hendrick).   The boys thoroughly enjoyed their retreat. 

*This was Kolpin's first week-long overnight Scout Camp!

Hendrick and Davis will have the opportunity to return to Seven Ranges Camp later this summer for their Order of the Arrow (OA) Ordeals - so proud of our young men!

Puppy Kisses

Midas is 7 months old ;) 

 

He has a super cute summer haircut but doesn't pose well for pictures . . . 

Although he is very good a giving puppy kisses!

Braces-Free

After a year (without popcorn, caramels, gummies, or taffy), our 9-year-old Maclaren is braces-free!

Her smile is gorgeous :)

(Her braces were removed the day AFTER our beach vacation - we traveled home with a bag of Forbes Salt Water Taffy for her to enjoy post-braces)

OBX 2021

 

July 4th 5-Mile Race

Last minute, Tesfaye decided to join his XC teammates in running our local YMCA July 4th 5-mile race.  The boys started in the front of the pack of nearly 400 runners for the early Saturday morning race . . . 

Our boy finished 3rd overall!!!  He ran the 5-mile race at a 5:33/mile pace to finish in 27 minutes, 45 seconds.  He was the first under-18 to finish.  What a fun Saturday!   

*His teammates finished 8th, 11th, and 16th overall!

(Afterwards, Tesfaye bused tables for his lunch-shift at work and later helped us pack-up the van for our beach vacation  - a productive day!)

Walking

Alarie is thirteen-and-a-half months old and WALKING!!!!!

Our 18-pound little lady looks too tiny to be walking, but she's stiff-legged-walking all over the place.  She's on the move! (And very proud of her self :)

Alarie has been standing for several weeks and trying out a couple steps here and there - then all of the sudden, she's walking ALL-THE-TIME!   

We thought she might be walking before our beach vacation this summer . . . So proud of our girl.

Now we'll need to get her used to wearing shoes!