The Oregon Half and A Birthday Celebration

Preparing for a race definitely requires a time commitment, and Scott, Maddox, and I had a lot of fun training together. Maddox is a good coach and pushed us hard. The Oregon Marathon and Half over in Banks, OR sounded like a good idea. We could spend time together running, would get in better shape, and spend more time outside in the awesome Summer weather. And then the rain came early and poured on race day... It was a cold, wet one! The rain actually wasn't terrible while we were running, but pre-race rain was not cool and post-race it was just plain miserable. Despite the weather, it was a great race. We ran on a paved trail, which was beautiful with all the leaves turning; Fall is absolutely stunning here. Scott and I stuck together and finished in 2 hours 1 minute (we started in waves, that's why our official time is different than the clock in the video below). Brittney ran the whole time and finished within her time goal. Tara pushed through a hurt foot and sickness and finished not too long after Brit. This was the first half marathon for my sisters and for Scott, and I am really proud of everyone!! And thank you, mom, for being such a great support and capturing our finish!

My favorite/most memorable thing from the race: Tara, "Brit and I joked about how old ladies were going to pass us. Haha. And then they did..."

Since we had family coming into town for the race, we decided that Saturday would be a great time to have a birthday party for Maddox. Half marathon in the morning, birthday party in the afternoon... it was a busy day! We had a lot of fun though. Originally, we were planning to be at the park for the birthday celebration, but the rain thwarted those plans. Instead, we hosted 30 adults and 10 kids in our home. We called it a mustache bash and loved celebrating Maddox with so many family and friends!

Maddox wearing a stache for the invitations... he wasn't a fan...

The main event at the party, of course, was Maddox eating his cake. For those who don't want to watch all these long videos, here is a summary of what happens: Maddox timidly begins with just a finger licking the frosting, then he gradually moves to handfuls of cake to the mouth, and wraps up with massaging the cake with both hands. He delivered on the entertainment portion of the afternoon! Huge thank you to Melinda for the beautiful and delicious cake and cupcakes!!

We followed up dessert with opening gifts. Maddox is blessed with generous friends, and he came away with a lot of fun toys. I don't know who was more excited about all of them, Maddox or Scott.


We're excited for another year of this awesomeness!