Bismarck Half

Usually we try to leave to Bismarck on Fridays around 3pm. It allows one of us to attend the temple on Friday night and that makes Saturdays less busy. However, we were not able to leave Williston until 6:10pm on Friday! Our late departure made it possible for us to go to the Williston High School Homecoming parade though. We went to the parade last year and it was so cold that day. It was amazing weather this year and such a fun parade.

Declan was dancing to the marching bands and it was so cute. He steals the show everywhere he goes.

We stopped in Minot to put the boys in their pajamas because we were not getting to our hotel in Bismarck until 10pm. That meant that we missed the packet pick up for the race. For the third year in a row, Sam competed in the Bismarck Half Marathon. He was hoping to win another jacket which would require him to finish in the top three in his age group. Edison asked Sam, "Are you going to beat the big kids?"

It was a beautiful morning and we waited at the finish line for Alex.

He was slightly (less than a minute) slower this year than the past two years but it was still enough to get him first in his age group and 16th overall.

We went back to the hotel so I could change clothes and then they dropped me off at the temple.

Sam put the boys in their swim suits but then went back to the race for the awards ceremony. He forgot to bring the boys' shoes. Our white trashiness is reaching new levels daily. After he got his jacket, they went back to the hotel to swim and pack up.

Sam and I switched places and I took the boys and he went into the temple. We played at the park for a few hours.

After the temple session was over, we went to pick up Sam and headed to the Applefest. It was a crazy windy day but warm and we had so much fun.

We made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby so I could return unused supplies from Alex's birthday party and then drove home to Williston. We had an incredible weekend. It made me grateful the temple is a few hours away because it gave us the opportunity to have this experience. Funny how trials keep turning into blessings.