Weekend Update: Conference Track Meet

We had a good week/weekend. We did end up making it to watch Tori play soccer at LR HALL on Tuesday (Searcy won!), and also to her Jr. High Conference meet in Vilonia on Thursday. Travelin' Arkansas for that girl! Ha! She did very well in her track meet. Clark is a sprinter and it's so fun to watch him run with quick bursts of speed...but then Tori is mainly a distance runner, and we are amazed at her endurance and speed for the longer runs. 

Joshua went to the Zoo with his group on Tuesday. He said, "We ate at the 'caf' at the Zoo. I ordered a cheeseburger for lunch...it sounded good. I took one bite of the chips and they were 'ode.' I was going to give them to Jenni, but even she wouldn't like 'ode' chips."  When we got home, he gave me the change left-over from his meal. He looked over his receipt. He said, "I got water to drink. They added an extra charge for the souvenir cup." I asked him, "oh, cool! Where is the souvenir cup?" Joshua: "I threw it away."


Arrrrrrggghhh! 

On Thursday, they had their Zumba class. Oh, how I want to watch this class! Joshua's status on Facebook after he got home: "Jenni laid it all out. She broke it all the way down. I am 'zumbud' out. Jenni has all the moves."

(heehee)

He said, "I twisted my knee in Zumba." He has a knee that tends to pop out of socket if he's not careful, so I said, "Joshua, you need to pay attention and watch what you're doing." He said, "well, we do have a big mirror, but I couldn't watch ME...I was watching JENNI!" 

(because, you know, she has all the moves!)

On Friday night, we ate at Carino's...Clark was "carbo-loading" for his conference track meet on Saturday! We ended up at the restaurant at around 5:30, and the waiter told us it was "happy hour" for several items on the menu. Our whole meal for the 4 of us was around $20! Jim was ecstatic! Holly and Aaron came by briefly on Friday afternoon...dropped off Marley, and headed to the wedding rehearsal for Aaron's friend. Holly stayed the night with us...and he stayed with the other grooms-men.

We got up early on Saturday because Clark had to ride the bus to the conference meet in Benton. I thought it was ridiculous that he had to be on the bus at 9:30 in the morning, when the running events didn't start until 1:30. He told me it was AAA rules. WHATever. Then, I ran around with Holly, looking for yellow paint to use on an old piece of furniture we had given her...and then it was time for her to get ready for the wedding...and time for the rest of us to get ready for Clark's track meet! Stacy dropped Tori off at our house and then we headed to Benton. After worrying about a chance of rain, God showed out because it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Jim's parents and his brother, Joel, came to the meet as well. They stayed to watch Clark run 2 races, and then they left. He ran 4 races in all, and had at least two personal best times.

Clark placed 7th over-all in the 100 meter dash (12.18), 3rd in the 200 meter dash (24.92), 2nd in the 4x100 meter relay and 2nd in the 4x400 relay. There was a bad hand-off between the 1st and 2nd runner in the 100 meter relay, pushing them back to about 6th place, but the 2nd and 3rd guys ran ALL OUT to make up the time. Clark ran his heart out at anchor, too...making up enough time and distance to place 2nd. They would've easily won that event because they were so far ahead at the first turn. Oh, well. These things happen. Clark ran the 3rd leg in the 400 and was AWESOME! All this while dealing with severe shin-splints. So proud. :) Bryant Boys won the conference meet! This team will do so well in the next 3 years, if they can all stay healthy and injury-free. Sure wish Clark could be a part of it...

After the meet, we decided to run to the lakehouse and have a quick dinner with Jim's family...so we did that. Clark was exhausted, and Tori and Joshua were drained from being in the sun all day...but we had fun eating with them and then came home.

Sunday was SS and church. I "resigned" from hand-bells this week. I hated to do it, and will miss playing, but I felt like it was time. The next few weeks are going to be really busy for our family. NOW, we are praying for a couple to come to us with a desire to take over our college class. It's such a great class, and we have met some amazing young adults through this ministry.

Holly and Aaron went home Sunday afternoon. Their dog, Marley, had his 6th birthday yesterday. We always miss seeing Logan and Morgan. We tell the college kids to "finish strong." It's a hard time of year for them. We have many prayer requests regarding our children...for character and strength; for school, further education, job opportunities, future mates, etc. We know God is in control. 

"He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31