Mixed Nuts: August 2013

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Friday, August 30, 2013

Race day photos - take 2

Here is the next set of photos - enjoy!

Getting ready to start the races. Mat makes an announcement and Finley starts them off:

The 10K racers start off:

10K - look at them go!

The 5K run/walk gets started:

My Aunt Renee and cousins Alissa and Kirsten bringing up the rear!

The part of my family that didn't race. My sister in law, Tricia, and my brother, AJ ran the 10K and 5K.

Our finish line - our sponsor this year was Connellsville Walmart:

Our first finisher! This is Eric Reger - he finished the 5K run in 17 minutes, 46 seconds:

Setting up our trophies for our top winners:

We missed pictures of a lot of our finishers, but this is Laura Gardiner. She was our 3rd place finisher in the 10K

This is Joe Bierhals. He was our first overall/male finisher in the10K. He finished it in 39 minutes! Pretty amazing!

2nd place 10K place finisher: Eric Laurent. He finished in 42 minutes, 7 seconds:

This is David White - our 3rd place winner in our 10K. He finished in 44 minutes, 8 sec.

This is our first place 5K run winner - Amy McGoinon. She finished ins 23 minutes, 7 seconds.

This is our 2nd place 5K run finisher: Debra Byble. She finished in 23 minutes, 32 seconds:

This is the triplet SISTER of our 3rd place 5K run winner. Winner is Kenzie Grenell. 24 minutes, 6 seconds. She had to leave, so her sister accepted for her.

Our first place 5K run winner again - Eric Reger. 17 minutes.. Incredible.

2nd place 5K run winner: Jordan Adams. Came in at 18 minutes, 49 seconds:

This is our 3rd place 5K run winner - Walter Bennett. He came in at 19 minutes, 30 seconds.

This is our first place 5K walker Debbie McGee. She came in at 31 minutes, 15 seconds:

This is Amber Trump - our 3rd place 5K walker, Came in at 38 minutes, 8 seconds:

This is our first place 5K walk winner - Jason Soltis. Came in at 32 minutes, 6 seconds:

Dennis Cropp - 2nd place, 5K walk winner. Came in at 35 minutes, 28 seconds:

Thursday, August 29, 2013

So here is the first round! I am going to divide them up for a few days because there are many. MANY. Which is good. Many pictures is good! So just keep checking back and I will keep posting them.

So.....round 1! Set up and race check in:

The first of the really big tents goes up:

Sally - Mat's mom - starts to work on the basket raffle set up:

Aunt Betty and Helen Branthoover also helped set up the basket raffle:

Our basket raffle selling table - most popular spot!:

Putting up huge tent number two. No instructions. Who needs them!

Our amazing bounce house donated to us for the day by Hip Hop Hooray Rentals:

The ladies start to get organized.

Third huge tent to go up. They got this:

Our registration table ladies - they are ready:

Toni and Stephanie Kostelnik get their volunteer assignments from Lynda Witt:

Look at those serious faces!

Aunt Betty gets a head start at the basket raffle table:

Early registrants start to show up:

My three pre-registration helpers. Thank goodness they were there!

Toni was in charge of making sure those registrants filled out their paperwork. Not one was wrong!

Our super big tent is almost up:

Racers start to look at the basket raffle before they run/walk:

Pre-registration is moving right along now:

Getting the volunteers their name tags:

Mary Louise - my amazing Godmother - wrapped every basket (after organizing them into beautiful arrangements) and tagged them all and then spent the whole day selling tickets. She is awesome.