XC Meet #2

I feel like an over obsessive mom when it comes to Sarah's Cross Country meets. We all see those moms at a game that get out of their cars carrying a camera, dinner-in-a-sack, jacket, unfoldable chair, umbrella, first aid kit, and the occasional poster saying "Go Billy!" I use to think wow I feel bad for the kid who has to deal with that. But now I understand the thrill that drove Super-Mom to such measures.

Ever since Sarah's first Cross Country meet I fell in love with being one of the spectators. As much as I would love to be out there running in the mud and rain, I think, in this case, being on the sidelines could be considered a workout as well. I've learned to come prepared for exercise. Once that starting gun is shot for runners to go, and I've taken as many pictures of Sarah as possible before she's out of sight, I have to run to the next best spot for another glance of Sarah as she rushes past. The secret to being where the runners are every chance you get, all you have to do is follow the coach.

I'm a little embarrassed to confess that I can be very aggressive when it comes to getting to the best-picture-spot before the professional photographer takes it. I know, about half my friends are professional photographers and y'all are prolly scowling at me right now. I cant help it. My little Sarah is growing up and I need every picture I can get.

Anyway, I'll be turning over my obsessive parent role back over to my parents when Lacrosse season starts, but for now it's all mine.

Sarah's 1st Cross Country Invitational

Last week I went to watch Liberty compete in the Cross Country invitational at Rood Bridge Park. I had never seen a XC race before, so what I saw was ten times more intense than what I had expected. Sarah ran a 5k race in grass, dirt, and over bridges and hills. One girl even had to be taken away in an ambulance. The race was very fun to watch and I cant wait to see the next one.

The LHS XC team prayed before the race, which I thought was cute ;)

This is my friend Makenzie White. She about died after the race.

Pictures at the Portland Oregon Temple

For a young women's activity we headed down to Portland to visit the temple.

I love going to the Temple!

Rappelling

Last weekend I went Rappelling with the church youth group at Lewis and Clark Park. On the way there I was telling Katie how I was going to rappel head first (Sarah did it and told me i should.) My dreams were shattered when I hiked up to the cliff that I was supposed to rappel down. I'm usually a dare devil when it comes to things like rock climbing, but when I saw the cliff drop off I found myself clinging to the nearest tree for safety.

After a while I faced my fears and went to put on the harness. Rock climbing looks easy from a distance, but when your up there you cant see where any of the foot holes are. I got probably a wimpy twelve feet up the cliff face before my arms were dead and I gave up. One day I'll go back and conquer that cliff, but for now I'll stick to the REI rock wall.

Here's Kelly climbing higher than everyone.

Here's Katie Rappelling.

If you look close my tongue is stuck out for major concentration.

At this point I'm clinging for my life to the wall. I never quite got it through my head that if I slipped the rope would catch me....therefore, every time I moved up for another foot hole you would hear me nervously saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

I had a great time rappelling with my buds.

Youngest-Child-Discrimination

Once again I, Lizzy Fotheringham, am being discriminated for being the youngest child in the family. Many would say "oh that Lizzy, joking around and saying shes discriminated against." To all you who dare to think of my discrimination as merely a "joke" can think again, 'cause this time I have hard evidence to back me up.


Around the year 2005 I was introduced to the New York Yankees. Ever since then I have been a hard core fan of them. I've bought the jerseys, hats, shirts, blankets, and yes even the Yankee tooth brush. I have only broken one rule in the Yankee hand book. Many are shocked to hear that I am also a Boston Red Sox fan. For those of you who don't know a hoot about baseball...the Red Sox and the Yankees are long time rivals....to put it in simple terms, they hate each other's guts, and it is not a good idea to put them in the same room.

Anywho, my dad, a Boston Fan, of all people should know that I would LOVE to go see the Yankees play ball. I have even been talking about wanting to see them. But what does he do? My dad books a vaykay for him and my mom to go see the Yankees play the Mariners. When I first heard of this tragedy my mouth dropped in astonishment. My dad, not even a Yankee lover, is going to not only see a team that I love, but a team that he hates.

Now would you say my discrimination is a "joke"?...I think not.

Summer Beach Trip

My summer can officially be over now. The one thing that I have been dying to do since the start of summer was go to the beach. Most of my friends that I had planned to go with had already gone several times during my absence. I made sure to say that I wanted to go to the beach everyday since I've been home. Finally my efforts had been noticed. My mom said "you know what? Tomorrow we're going to the beach." I was so happy.

We left for Seaside Wednesday morning. When we arrived I rushed out to the Seaside Walk. My only disappointment came when no one wanted to walk out to the water. Oh great, why did we even come? If you go to the beach and you don't even step on the sand, that's like painting a beautiful picture and sticking it on the wall backwards. I quickly got over my disappointment when my mom said we could come back when she was able to walk out with me.

We went to all the little shops in Downtown Seaside, and we ate lunch at Ping 'n Pancake. Sarah had to be back home for Cross Country soon. Before driving back, I went into a candy shop and got myself a treat.

RedRobins

A group of my friends and I got together for our birthdays. Sarah, Mckinna, and Arrigotti's birthdays were on August 22, 24, and 28th, and my birthday is on September 9th. We all thought it would be nice to celebrate together, and I wasn't about to let a chance to open presents early pass me by.

Saturday night came and Sarah and I planned out when we would have to be done getting ready in order to show up at RedRobins at exactly 8:30. We hopped in the car and eventually we pulled into RedRobins at exactly 8:30. Feeling good about being on time, we walked into RedRobins to search for our table of friends. Minutes had passed with no luck and no friends to be found. I decided to call Katie to see if we were the first to arrive. I was relieved to hear that they were already there. She gave me directions to their table "Straight down the main isle, take a left, then you will see us." I did just as she directed, but no one was to be found. I went over her directions over and over again until I realized that the waiters had started to look at me with curiosity. I walked out the door and quickly called Katie once again. After I told her she was definitely not at RedRobins, she said "well, what RedRobins are you at?" I said "The only RedRobins in Hillsboro. Where else would I go?" She began to laugh and I walked to my car as I realized what had happened. Sarah and I had to drive an hour away to a RedRobins that, in our minds, did not exist.

I don't know how to quite describe the events that took place in the car as we drove to our new destination. Lets just say there was a lot of crying, screaming, yelling, confusion, and stress on the way there. The first of the yelling occurred when the stop light wouldn't turn green. I sat quietly until all of the sudden Sarah yells out "turn green, Gahhh!" Sarah tends to yell really loud when a situation gets too much to handle. Just to fit in, I yell too. Basically, at every light on the way to Beverton we would be screaming and yelling. To make matters worse, Sarah had been fasting for her patriarchal blessing, so she was getting lightheaded from screaming and her eyesight pretty much sucks without glasses....she didn't bring glasses. Can you just imagine how her driving was at this point.

The yelling and screaming came to a dramatic end when we got pulled over by a cop. Yup, Sarah's driving 'skills' weren't at their best that night. I'm totally kidding...just makin' sure you're paying attention. Anyways, my yelling and screaming turned into tears when we missed the turn off and had to go across the highway. My crying was a mix of laughing and crying. I was crying because we had been driving forever and my throat hurt from yelling, and I was laughing because I couldn't stop crying. But seriously, the car ride was crazy. I just wish I had recorded it.

The party turned out great. We ate, took pictures, opened gifts, and had fun.