2019 November Notes

The first event that happens in November is Graigry's birthday. He's now officially 16 and of driving and dating eligibility. When I asked him what he wanted for a birthday cake, he said pecan pie and/or cheese cake. I purchased both. Graigry put candles to the pie and then we at the cheesecake slices. (Below is the video of us with his cheescake; I hope it works - I've been having technical difficulties lately.)

Graigry of course got the package from Grandparents Hibbert, arriving with the annual $50 and other stuff. When kids get to be teenagers, it's hard to know what to buy. Graigry got multicolored socks and a real bowtie - one he has to tie. In his opinion, it was a little bit of an atypical package - nothing excited him very much, minus the cash and the gift card to McDonalds.

On Saturday November 9, I ran my first half marathon, the Monumental Marathon. I had a wonderful running buddy, Victoria Wilkinson, who trained with me and is the reason that I was able to do it. The law school had a team that signed up and Victoria said she needed a training buddy and was willing to pay for it. Training has been a spiritually insightful experience and with Victoria's encouragement, friendship and follow-up in regards to getting our runs in.

It was the coldest start to the Monumental, ever, like 27-28 degrees to start the race. Thankfully the sun came up as we got going and that helped. It was interesting to watch, at the beginning of the run, how much clothing was pitched as people started run. I was able to run 11 miles without stopping, then my knees started screaming at me and I told Victoria I needed to walk a bit. She slowed her pace to stay by me until I picked up again. Then I had to stop and I told her to please go ahead and not feel bad; I knew she wanted to jog the whole route, which she did. I jogged the last 1/2 mile and crossed the finish line after hearing a "Go Camilla!" from the crowd, from I assume Gage Wilkinson, Victoria's hubby. It was such a good feeling to cross that finish line and know that I actually finished something that I thought was previously impossible.

I was so proud of myself

My stats; not to bad

When I got home and after I showered, I was excited enough and it turned into a nice enough day, that I wanted to get the kids outside. I convinced Nate and Neta to bring Opal and go to Holladay Park. They were willing to oblige my need to be moving and outside, so we went.

Climbing the Spider Web

We had fun taking Opal up through the jungle gym.

One...

Two...

THREE!!

Love to play in the leaves!

Someone help me up, please!

We went for a walk down to the White River.
Opal wanted to follow every squirrel she saw.

RANDOM PICTURES AT THE RIVER 

Looking down over the White River

On November 10, after church, we took dinner up to Aurora at Ball State in Muncie. It was chicken and rice, which is one of her favorites. We ate in the kitchen area in her hall and played try to get the candy corn into someone else's mouth by throwing it (see video below). That got some good laughs. Before going home, we played a couple games of pool. I can't remember who won, but we were spending time as a family. That's what's important.

Playing pool as a family

"Ready? Aim? Strike!"

There are different family adventures as the kids grow up and leave the house. I am grateful for these moments as children begin to reach a peer type level, but at the same time, I miss simpler times and younger ages. :)