October 2009

As much as I have loved the changing seasons, I have to say that October has been an exhausting month. We started it off with two trips in a row (marathon and Disneyland). Then, one week later, I had a few procedures on my veins. Mix in all 4 boys getting sick and you've got yourself a bit of chaos. Thanks to my mom and good friends for taking care of us. It's a good thing that we don't live close to my mom...I'd be way too needy for her help.

Halloween, Disney Style 2009

Yes, we went again. One of my favorite things about this trip was how cute Nash is with the characters. He is at the stage where he is fascinated and not scared. When the bears in the pictures below sat next to him he looked, stared, and then did a funny chuckle. Another important milestone- Blake got to ride California Screamin'. He thought that day would never come...

Tide Pool- So. Cal.- 2009

A few catch-up pictures to share...

Darren and I took the boys and a few cousins to a tide pool when we were in So. Cal. this summer. There were lots of awesome shells and plants to check out. There were more creatures this year, too! Crabs of different sizes, fish, and tad poles to name a few. It's a perfect spot to take the yung-uns on a beautiful beach morning.

Piano Team

Ethan was asked to be on a piano team this summer. He and four other kids his age played a duet-of-sorts (except five kids at the same time) of the classic "Mary Had A Little Lamb". It was a lot of extra team practices but it ended up being a fun experience. They got a superior rating at the recital. Not Baaaaaa-d!

I can't get the video of the performance to download, so here are a few pix...


Ethan's a Ladies Man....are Ewe?


Showing off the bling...


I had to include this for a good laugh. It's not hard to see who Ethan would mess around with during practices...

St. George Marathon 2009

You think that pictures scary? Imagine what I looked like AFTER the race! Seriously, do I have cute friends or what! This picture was taken at 5:00 am just as we were boarding the bus ride out to the start line of the St. George Marathon. This began what turned out to be a perfect day for a race! It was so much fun to have friends to bum around with at the start line...good laughs...time flew by and before I knew it we were lining up to go! I forgot my headphones (had the ipod) so I ran without my tunes. Guess what- it was actually kind of nice. I made a few new friends on the go and I think that without music I was forced to enjoy the basics of running. Even though I started to feel my quads and hamstrings around mile 22, I still really enjoyed this race! It was fun knowing that there were lots of close friends and family out there pounding the pavement with me this year. I finished the race with a personal best of 3:15:17. This qualified me for Boston and the plan is to go and race Boston in 2010 with 5 other couples that we love to hang with. I told Darren at the end of the St. George Marathon that I must really like to run because even though I was sore and tired I could honestly say that I love to run and I had lots of fun doing this race. I think he may have caught the bug, too, because I think I have him toying with the idea of doing a half marathon early next year! Yeah!

Boomers- Aug. 2009

The boys love Boomers- a little amusement park that we go to in CA. These pictures are of our trip to this place when we were at the Bryan reunion. The older kids ride go-karts and basically get kicked out for ignoring rules while the little ones ride smaller rides and play mini golf. Honestly, this place is a rip off but we always get suckered into going. This year we got in a bit cheaper- Ethan fell on a puddle of water outside the restrooms. I talked to the manager and he asked if I wanted to fill out an injury report. I said no, but I'd take free tickets. Cha-ching. That's how it's done, sista.