Smocking Again

I had a perfectly lovely day yesterday preparing a bishop-style christening gown for my new granddaughter, Geneva. The Expedition is having transmission difficulties, so without the distraction of shopping that I could have been doing, and with the house all to myself for a long stretch of time, I puttered in my sewing/craft area. It's been such a long time since my last project!

And since my last blog post, I've been trying to keep up with all my family's activities. Number 1 is the birth of that granddaughter, Geneva, on November 2. DD Mystie ended up needing a c-section as that stubborn little girl decided she did not want to cooperate with three attempts at turning her to a proper birthing position. That necessitated Nana (me) to spend the next two weeks (daytimes) at Mystie's home helping her care for her older four children and trying to keep up with dishes and laundry. It was great fun, but exhausting. :)  Little Knox (2) decided he liked having Nana around so much that he cried when I had to leave, which just melted my heart.

We've just this week ended the Kamiakin Braves XC season. Both boys' and girls' teams won 2nd place at State - our best showing ever. Then at Nike Regionals in Boise, the boys took 2nd, qualifying them to run as a team at Nike X Nationals in Portland, OR, which was just this last weekend. Our friendly rivals from Spokane (North Central HS) took 1st place. My son, Kyle, took over coaching duties for these post-season meets as Washington rules preclude the coaches from any post-season coaching - which is ridiculous. I think ours is the only state with that

Anyway, Nike flew all the varsity team, Kyle and one other chaperone to Portland, and treated them like stars for the entire weekend. They provided all the gear they needed, brought in their elite runners for speaking and autograph sessions, put them up in a great hotel, and provided awesome activities, besides opportunities to prepare for Saturday's race.

You may have heard tell of all the rain  the West Coast has been receiving over the last week. All that rain made for the muddiest, slippery, most treacherous course that any of those kids have ever seen. The times for this year's race were a full 2 minutes more than each kid's normal 5k times. Here's our team after the race. Don't let the sunshine fool you, it was out only during the races - thankfully!

Son Kevin took over an open slot in the community race that several of our JV boys ran in, a very last minute decision for which he was quite unprepared. He did have the running gear. What he lacked was a pair of spikes which were a definite necessity on this course! Running in his trainers, every step was a lesson in sliding and keeping balance. Kevin wasn't in it for a PR and just had a great time. And, of course, DH got media credentials and was able to get out on the course for some great pictures!

So how did the team place?  They took 7th in this very elite race of teams and individuals from all over the country!!! What an excellent showing for the team's first time racing at this level!  And our friends from North Central took 3rd! The Northwest is definitely proving to be an area to be reckoned with in XC.

So now Christmas is upon us and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get ready. Somehow I always do.

Later, friends!