iowa day 1: cc meets

this past weekend was so much fun + i took a lot of pictures (and considering its probably the first blog-worthy thing i've done since starting grad school)... i think i'll make a post for each day's events.

it was go! go! go! on thursday - in a good way.  we woke up thursday morning {night} at 3:45 in.the.morning. to catch our flight out of salt lake at 5:45 in.the.morning.  that was the first time in years i saw that time of day that i almost forgot what it looked like - and it's not something i want to see for another few years.  anyone who knows me, knows that the fact that i made it out of bed with minimal snoozing and to the airport before the sun rose is a minor miracle in my life.  anyway, straight from des moines, where we met my older sister's fiancé, a major reason we traveled to iowa in the first place, we drove to ft. dodge for my younger brother's cross-country meet (and 3 of my cousin's meets AND my younger sister's boyfriend's meet as well!)

my dad ran cross-country in high school, which spurred my older sister to run xc, which spurred me to run xc, which spurred my younger sister to run xc, which spurred my little brother to run xc, and oh yeah, which spurred more than half of my younger cousins to run xc as well so far - all of who live in iowa!  anyway, cross country is a sport i actually like to watch because you can watch the progress of the race throughout the course and this being the first race i ever saw my brother run made my heart burst with pride - seriously, i couldn't stop yelling/cheering.  

{me: "HUNTER! get up that hill!!!!!"} 

well me and my sisters with tanner and chris ran all over the course for my brother's, 3 cousin's, and sister's boyfriend's races  and i'm pretty sure we were just as tired as the people actually running the races...

we ended the day relaxing in my parent's living room after going to el azteca, drinking delicious (even if cancer-inducing) coke and eating taco salads, enchiladas, and mexican steak.  couldn't have asked for a better start to our fall trip - especially knowing all the while it was snowing in utah.

oh yeah, and in case you're wondering, {remember the purpose of our trip?} we totally love chris.