I’m Dreaming of a White……Halloween??

Yep, it snowed today.  And not just snowed—they’re predicting 12-18 inches on the ground by tomorrow night!  HOLY COW!  Here’s some pics. Poor, Poor trick-or-treaters. 

And speaking of Halloween, we decorated our annual Halloween sugar cookies this weekend.  This tradition stems back to when I was a little girl, and it’s just as fun now as it was then.  And I’m pretty sure I consumed about 20 of said cookies in about two days.  I really, really love them.

Family Pics

Landon's girlfriend Megan is an amazing photographer and she took our family pics while we were in Utah. They turned out BEAUTIFULLY. So, all you Utah folks, go check out Megan's blog and her website to see more of her work and to book yourself a session! She also just did Kasey's cute pics.

On Being A Good Example

Our church practices fairly strict Sabbath Day observance.  No shopping, eating out, housework, playing with friends etc.  We try to listen to good music, and watch only uplifting TV/movies, if any at all.  It is a day set aside for church worship and family time.
But, last week my 1/2 marathon happened to fall on a Sunday.  Racing is something way out of the norm for a Sunday in our family. 
We were driving home from the race and Halle said, "Mom, today is Sunday right?" I replied, "Yes it is."  She said, "But we're not at church."  I hesitated in my reply b/c I was trying to think what I should tell her.  But really there was no good answer.  I had taught her that we attend church every Sunday, and here I was not "practicing what I preach." Before I could answer her she blurts out,
"MOM--WHAT ABOUT JESUS??" 
Talk about being put in my place.....and how right she is!  Thanks Halle for reminding me of what is really important. 

 

13.1

That's how many miles I ran on Sunday. Nat and I ran the Denver 1/2 Marathon and it was awesome! We started training about mid July, and in some ways it's hard to believe it's over. I loved the challenge of each week pushing your body to go farther and/or faster than you've ever gone before. It was also pretty amazing to run with 9500 other people who had been training for the same goal. For the weeks leading up to the race Blake decided to stop sleeping through the night and I got sick. So, at first I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to train as hard as I would have liked. And poor Nat caught Bronchitis just a few days before the race. But we both decided we would just do our best and enjoy ourselves. I think having a more relaxed attitude helped us have more fun, and in the end we both did just about as well as we could have hoped. Can't wait to run another one!

If Nat looks a little pale in the pic, it’s because she is!  Bronchitis and running 13 miles is a little taxing on the respiratory system!
Carlie also came out for the weekend and it was great to get some sister time.  We went shopping, watched movies, and talked to our hearts content.  And Rusty sure was glad to have Carlie’s help with the kids at the race.  It wasn’t long enough, but it was so fun to have both my sisters here. 

Pumpkin time

I just love the fall time! All the leaves, colors, and smells!  We’ve been able to do a few fun Fall activities in the past weeks.  Here are the highlights. 

Pumpkins in the snow.  Holly and Dave invited us to their annual pumpkin picking party.  Unfortunately the weather had different ideas. It was snowing that morning but we decided to go anyway. We bundled up and headed to the patch. Josh didn’t last more than 3 minutes before he was in tears because of the cold, but Halle had a good time.   After we picked our pumpkins we went back to Holly’s house and enjoyed delicious soups and fun conversation.  The kids got Halloween bubbles, which pretty much made their life complete.  Thanks Holly and Dave for a fun day!

I love pictures of kids and pumpkins.  They are always just so darn cute! Nat and I took the kids to the Cottonwood Pumpkin Patch and let them run wild. They had a blast and I was not disappointed with my pumpkin patch pics. 

Chubby 4 month old

Blake is now 4 months (ok, so he's been 4 months for awhile now, and I kept meaning to post....). He is still a sweet little guy and we love having him in our family. There is something so special about having a baby in your home. He pretty much has all of us wrapped around his little finger. I thought I'd tell you a few things about this adorable boy.

1. He thinks it is hysterical when Halle burps. He laughs every time.
2. He is a CHOMPER. He always has something in his mouth, his favorites being his own fingers (which he often gags himself with) or someone else's fingers. Once Halle gave him her toe to suck on. G.R.O.S.S.
3. Along with all the chomping comes massive amounts of drool. It's really quite impressive.
4. Everyone says he looks like a little man. Or little old man. Someone told me he looked like Benjamin Button (I didn't think that was very nice). But I think he is quite the handsome little thing :)
5.He HATES to be alone. He will happily lay and play with his toys, or sit in his Bumbo as long as he can see someone. But the second we walk out of sight he starts to scream.
6. His favorite toy is paper. Or a wrapper. He LOVES it! Easy to chomp on, and makes cool noises--what could be better??

Blake's Blessing

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While we were in Utah, we had to opportunity to bless Blake at church in my parent's ward. I am so happy that we were able to come and have our family all around us on this special day. It is truly one of the highlights of being a mother to see your child surrounded by good, strong, faithful men who are and will continue to be great examples for my son to look to as he grows. Rusty's blessing was beautiful, and I feel so blessed to be the Mother to this very special little boy. Although, since church began at 9am, I was having a minor heart attack as everyone was running into the meeting just in the nick of time!

After the blessing we had a brunch at my parent's house. They just remodeled the whole upstairs and it looks so great. Sharon and my Mom were making fun of my zeal to prepare all the food the day before instead of just stopping by Costco or Kneaders to buy what we needed. But I held fast, and we had a few intense cooking hours, which I think really paid off. Everything was so yummy and it was nice to be able to sit and visit with friends and family that we don't get to see often enough! All in all, it was a perfect day. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Click here to learn a little more about baby blessings