Texas Round-Up 10K

Last weekend we traveled to Austin to run the Texas Round-Up race. It was Matt's first 10K. We got up early on Saturday to drive downtown. Unfortunately for us, it was already 73 degrees and 88% humidity at 6:00 a.m. Good ol' Austin weather. I guess I had forgotten. I had also apparently forgotten the meaning of the phrase "hill country", so I was surprised to find the course filled with heartbreaking hills. I think Matt fared much better than I did since he set out to have fun. I stubbornly tried to hold onto my goal, but knew I had to let it slip away before the 2nd mile was finished. From that point on, it was a struggle to survive. I finished in 48:59, 10th out of 112 women in my age group. Matt finished in 55:45, 55th out of 97 in his age group. We had a lot of fun just experiencing a big city event. There were 1164 runners in the 10K, a far cry from the number that turn out for Midland races.
The kids enjoyed a a McDonald's breakfast and some live music (see Morgan's Matt-like dance moves below). They also had fun in Liberty Hill playing in the playhouse, going on walks, helping to fill the bird feeders, and refusing to pose for pictures! On the way home we did pull over for the obligatory bluebonnet photos. And we actually got them to glance our way for a minute.



Morgan wows the crowd with his moves...

I thought this was such a great shot with the Capitol in the background...

Here I am, hurting bad...



Matt's got his game face on...

...and a nice finishing kick!



The aftermath...


This shot gives a little glimpse at the hilly terrain.



Emma wouldn't look at the camera, and was quite proud of herself for it.

Morgan is always ready to help.



We got them to look at us!

Midland TEA Party

We attended our 2nd TEA party of the week on Saturday, this time in Midland. As we expected, the turnout was even better than in Odessa. There were probably around 1,000 protesters. Morgan held his sign up faithfully through most of the gathering.

Misc. Videos of the Kids

We have quite a few videos that have piled up of the last month, so we thought we'd dedicate a post to a few of them. The last video is of Morgan playing "Prince Phillip" and singing "I Know You" to Sleeping Beauty (Emma). We laughed pretty hard at that one.

The Griffin Family at the Odessa TEA Party

Today we exercised our right to assemble by participating in a TEA Party at the Odessa City Hall. Morgan was at school but Emma was there with us waving an American flag and a sign that said "Government Spending is Stealing my Future." Ashleigh listened to the speakers and kept Emma company while I circled the crowd with the video camera. We wanted to make sure the event was well documented. We were very pleased with the turnout—I'd say a good 500+ at the start of the rally. Though the TEA Party this Saturday at the Midland Vietnam War Memorial should make this one look look like a warm-up.

Easter 2009

This year for Easter we enjoyed a brief visit from the Motz family. On Easter morning, the kids found their baskets waiting for them. Morgan threw up his hands and said, "Oh! Beautiful!" when he saw his basket. After a wonderful service and fellowship feast at church, we took the traditional Easter pictures and let the kids hunt Easter eggs. The both got really into it. Enjoy the pics and video.

Springtime

Spring has come to Midland. We've started our square foot garden with tomatoes, strawberries, beans, corn, zucchini, cucumber, cantaloupe, jalapeno, potatoes, and carrots. The kids check it everyday and help to water everything.
It's also the spring racing season. Last weekend, I raced a half-marathon while Matt and my Dad competed in the 5K. Matt set a solid PR(personal record) in his race . I won the female division in the half-marathon. Unfortunately, our camera's battery bonked at the event so we were unable to get pictures of the actual races. So we had to settle for a group shot at the house after the race.
Oh yeah, and I also threw in a random picture of Morgan in his new underwear. He has been pooping on the potty for almost 2 weeks now! Isn't he cuttin' a fine figure in his undies and slippers?