Gavin's Halloween Party

Happy Halloween! I decided to throw a Halloween party for Gavin and some of his friends. They are a crazy bunch of kids and we all had a great time! Gavin couldn't decide wether to be a skeleton or a pirate so he did both!

We went on a parade down the street. I even borrowed a costume and dressed up as a witch. I was actually pretty scary looking since I was so frazzled getting ready for the party that I didn't have time to put any make-up on.

We did a cupcake walk (or I'd more appropriately put a cupcake run). The kids ran around and around the coffee table while spiderman stood in the corner and watched.

The Halloween girl. Her shirt is so cute and says, "Ghouls Rule!" Grace thinks Gavin and his friends are so cool and funny.

Thanks Gram for helping with the party. I couldn't have decorated, organized games, fixed lunch, watched Grace, done crafts, went on a parade, and kept 6 kids in line without your help! And to top it off, you dressed up for the occasion. YOUR THE BEST!!!

The 2 tooth princess

Grace is now 10 months old. She still only has 2 teeth. She has the bottom front teeth, which are very prominent when she smiles. We get comments all the time, "look at her two teeth!" It cracks me up. I wanted to post some pics of her while she still has only two teeth. Grace is currently in the process of cutting 6 teeth! Yeah.... all six top teeth decided to come in at once.

She has a big smile and a dimple on the right side only. What a cute girl!

Grace's hair is finally long enough to put in pony. My friend Tami helped me make some bows last week. She calls them B.O.B's (Big Outragous Bows) As DaNae would say, "Go big or go home!" The red bow in this pic isn't big, but the bow in the next pic is! I think that they are adorable... Grace still needs some convincing.

Grace lights up when she sees her Dad. Brent is really good to play with her, take her outside to swing or hang out on the hammock.

This is her 9 month picture with her doggie. Is was taken when she was 9 months and 30 days old. I guess this last month flew by for me.

26.2 miles Baby!

I can hardly believe it myself, but I actually ran (and walked some) 26.2 miles... in a row! David, Dianna, DaNae and Ben ran the St George marathon this last weekend. It was quite an adventure. It was only the second time in 30 years that the marathon was in the rain. We were soaking wet, running in puddles, sloshing in our own shoes... for 6 hours! Now I can cross off "run a marathon" off my bucket list. It was a once in a lifetime miserable and at the same time most memorable experience. I have learned that you can push your body WAY beyond the bounds that you think it can go.
Thank you David for running with me. It made the marathon more fun to run with someone. Sorry about all the bathroom stops.... we could have made it under 6 hours if it weren't for my weak bladder.

The marathon gang. We registered the marathon as a group so that if one person got it, we all did. It was nice to be able to call eachother this summer and commiserate about sore muscles, running tips, and the dreaded long run of the week.

A special thanks to Brent and Gavin (who says he is so glad that I won the race) for their support . Also thanks to Mom and Dad for the babysitting during some of my long runs. Stacey, my physical therapist who helped me overcome an injury and 7 weeks in therapy. And DaNae for her crazy idea, otherwise I would have never dreamed up the idea that I could actually do 26.2 miles!

Gavin, the preschool super star

My big boy is growing up! He was so excited to go to teacher Rita's for preschool. I am most excited that the preschool is just down the street! Gavin's first day of preschool was a great success. The day before school started he told me how he wanted to wear his white shirt and tie and church pants so that he could look "so handsome." I convinced him that perhaps a more casual look would do better. Then he asked, "can I still wear a tie?"
We couldn't go to school without his Handy Manny backpack. It cracks me up that the backpack is almost the same size as Gavin!
Our superstar Gavin. He saved the sticker and put in on the wall in his bedroom. Great... thanks Gavin.
After lunch we took a "quiet time" and Gavin refused to go to sleep. So what happens then at 3 pm while watching a show? He just moved over the laundry pile and went right to sleep. I am glad that the laundry is so comfy for a nice nap. (please note that the laundry you see is after returning from a vacation.)

Silver Mt.

This past weekend we drove to Kellogg, Id and rode the gondola up to the top of the ski mountain. Then we rode two chairlifts to get to the peak of the mountain were a fire look out is. Gavin at the peak of the mountain. This is one of the only pictures that we have of him when he isn't sticking his tongue out. On the way to the mountain he said, "If I see some snow I am just going to lick it." Good thing we never saw any snow!. We are on the chairlift on our way to the peak. Grace was in the Bjorn. It was time for her nap so she started to get really fussy on the 2nd chairlift. I was really glad that she was strapped in because she was sure being a wiggle worm. .
The fam at the fire lookout. We finally got Grace to sleep. I am very thankful for the Bjorn. It is a great thing!
Then we went on a nature walk and picked huckleberries. The mountain was covered with them, but they sure are labor intensive. We came home with a sandwich bag only filled 1/2 way.
Silver Mt has the longest gondola ride in the world. Gavin passed the time playing with his pamphlets. He found about 15 of them and then nicely put them in a row to show us. Then he saved them until Sunday dinner and distributed them out as gifts. How thoughtful!

8 Crazy Years!

I can't believe that it all started at Ricks in math 110. He was fresh off a mission and I was fresh out of high school. Wasn't I a cute teenage bride?! We've had a lot of laughs, some cries, but all in all, it's been a great ride. I love you Brent. Happy anniversary!

Gavin's Summer of FUN!!

Since Cousins camp Gavin has been to an airshow at the Air Force Base and to the Circus. Plus he got to ride a camel and a elephant with his BFF Morgann. The pictures of intermixed because I downloaded them in the wrong order and didn't want to take the time to redo it. Boy, my type A personality is slowly fading. I think it's because of kids. Who has time to be a perfectionist when you have kids?
Brent and Gavin at the airshow. They had a great time. Brent loves airplanes and it was fun for them to be able to see the insides of all these cool planes. Grace and I opted to stay home. It was a good choice since 200,000 people were there over the weekend and the whole event wasn't exactly stroller friendly.

Gavin and Morgann. They look so much alike it is a little crazy. I swear, if I took them anywhere by myself people would think I had twins!
The elephants joined the circus at the very end. Gavin got bored watching the acrobatics. I almost took him home at intermission when he was trying to sleep on my lap. He did think that the elephants were cool. He came right home and found his toy elephant so he could make a circus.
Gavin in front of the mini airplane. I love it how Gavin is adamant about buttoning the top button of his shirt. He says he looks better that way.
I am pretty sure Gavin has a disease. It is called Ligyrophobia- Fear of loud noises. Brent wanted to stay to watch the Blue Angels fly, but the loud noises were freaking Gavin out and so they bailed out early.
Gavin said that the camel ride was "kind of bumpy." He and Morgann had a great time riding the animals and I actually took the camera and got some pics taken (usually that's Brent job so I was really proud of myself)
They cram as many people onto the elephant as they can. I still paid for the ride. I figured... how many times is he going to able to ride an elephant?