Sunday, January 17, 2010

How our life started with motocross

** I wanted to load some pics here, but the website isn't cooperating, so I will do so later when it isn't acting up.

In 1997, Cole was 8 years old, and he told me that he wanted a dirtbike for his birthday. I said, "Oh. Uh . . Yah. . maybe when you are like 10 years old." I figured that if I made him wait a couple of years then he'd change his mind by then! I was a bit wrong! Of course, when Cole turned 10 . . . on on the day of his birthday, Travis was outside riding around in the cul de sac riding on a new Yamaha 80 for Cole! Picture that! I wish I had a picture of that!

So of course, since Cole had a dirtbike, Josh thought that was cool and wanted one too! But we'd made Cole wait two years when he asked at the age of 8, so it wasn't really fair to buy Josh a bike when he was 8. Travis relented and ended up buying a sort of clunker cute little bike for Josh. It was basically a little frame run on a lawnmower engine! We do have pictures of the boys on their first bikes! They are in one of my Facebook photo albums.

Living in the city of Lynden, in a cul de sac doesn't exactly give the boys room to ride their bikes. We often went down to the Nooksack river to ride. Travis and I also had trail bikes. Over time, the boys' bikes got bigger and faster. Eventually, a friend of the boys and Travis (Robert Jansen) mentioned that Hannegan Speedway might be fun for the boys. Cole and Josh started racing Hannegan Speedway that Spring on Thursday nights. Soon enough, the weekend series races came into play. This got our family traveling on the weekends to follow races throughout Washington and sometimes into Oregon.

Eventually, Kyleigh and Abigail wanted to participate in school sports such as basketball and soccer. And so began our separate weekends. Sometimes the girls and I would go along, but more and more often, we would stay home for their sports games and events. It was also important to me not to be skipping church every weekend to go away with the boys. Church has always been a large part of my life, and I knew there were blessings for putting the Lord first. It was hard on me not being with the boys, especially after a few of their injuries. I felt kind of guilty not being there. I do remember one Sunday, tho, sitting in the pew at church. I felt overwhelmed by this peaceful, loving feeling. I can still feel(I mean that . . I FELT) the words that came to me: "You are in the right place." I knew that I was where I belonged. I also know that when we do what the Lord expects of us, we are blessed. I knew that as long as I was at church and doing His will, he would protect my boys. If for any reason, one of the boys got hurt, it was His will, and I was able to hand that over to Him when I wasn't there with my guys. I have often prayed while in church and asked for "any blessings that I was earning to be handed over to my boys in way of keeping them safe." As I type this, I remember, also, praying a few times in church and asking the Lord to send my guardian angel or angels to leave me and protect them. It's amazing the things we, as parents, are willing to sacrifice for our children's safety and health! Cole and Josh have definitely experienced their injuries, but I still feel that we've been blessed with safe and healthy years of motocross! I am so thankful for this!

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