Halloween Weekend

Claire has a vampire

Claire doing her vampire face

B with his bowl of candy he got

Brent as a BYU football player

Nile as Elvis

We had a crazy Halloween weekend. We had a church trunk or treat party Friday night. Then Saturday the boys each had a hockey game and Nile had his last football game of the season. We managed to carve some pumpkins in between games. Claire really got into trick or treating this year. We were out for 2 and half hours and she didn't even eat any candy while we out walking. She had a fun time and saw some of her good friends along the way.

The Big Haircut

Claire with her new do

Claire holding her ponytail of hair

Claire before the haircut

Holli cutting Claire's hair

So Claire has been growing her hair out for awhile now. We realized a few months ago if we let it grow out a couple of more inches we would have 12 inches to donate to Locks of Love. So last week, she went in for her big haircut. I can't get over how grown up she looks now.

KC Marathon

Becca, Me, and My dad

Nile coming off the field after a sack

Jason, B, and Jonathan

B and Scott waiting for me to finish

Jason, Nile, and Jonathan

So my friend Becca, who is an ultra marathoner, which means she likes to run a lot, talked me into running my first marathon. We have been training together since the end of June. She has had us run hills, lots of hills, which helped me on the marathon because Kansas City has lots of hills. We would meet every Saturday morning at 6am to get it in before the heat and all of the kids activities. Some mornings we even went at 5am to get the runs in for the week. We came to love our Wednesday morning 8 mile run which was how many miles I was used to doing for a long run. I have come to love my long runs on the weekends. It is so nice to get outside with friends and talk for hours while we run. I think training for a marathon is almost more fun than running the full marathon.

Race day was a beautiful day in Kansas City. My friend Becca was pacing the marathon at 5 hours 20 minutes, I stayed with her until mile 11 or so when I came upon a big hill and need to slow down my pace so I could finish the race. I was happy that I finished the race and I was still able to go to Nile's hockey game later that afternoon. My body is recovering faster than I thought it would which is good considering my friend Becca talked me into running the San Antonio half marathon in 3 weeks.

I also had talked my dad into running the half marathon the same day I did the full. I couldn't talk him into doing the full yet. He was able to set a PR with a time of 1 hour 54 minutes. It was great to have my brothers and dad and Brianna and Scott and the kids at the finish line.

We had a great weekend with the family eating lots of KC barbeque both Oklahoma Joe's and Jack Stacks. I even made homemade chocolate chip cookies for my brother Jonathan who just got back from his mission.

My brothers got to ice skate at Brent's hockey practice. Jason got to watch Nile play an awesome football game. Becca had given Nile the pep talk about winning is everything the night before his game. I told him he better hit those players hard because his game was while my dad and I were running and I wanted to hear that he had a good game. No pressure or anything. He also won his hockey game later that day.

Nile's Indian Project

Nile with his project

Nile's Indian Reed House

So Nile had to build an indian dwelling over labor day weekend. He picked the reed house to build. Scott and Nile worked on it most of the weekend. He ended up getting a 100% on his project. He had to write a report to go with it. He even carved out the canoe with his pocket knife.

Clips from Nile's First Football Game 2010

Back to School

Nile the first day of school

B his first day of Pre-K

Claire's First Day of School

School has started! It feels great to get back to a somewhat normal routine. Nile started 5th grade and is trying to decide what instrument to play this year. Claire has started 2nd grade. Brent is in pre-K this year. This will be my only year having all the kids in the same school. Brent's pre-K is at the elementary school with Nile and Claire. Yes, it did the rain the first day of school but we walked anyways.

Hilton Head 2010

Claire shooting water at a pirate

A pirate

Brent, Nile, and Claire in front of the Black Dagger ship

One of the alligators that we saw

Claire, Scott, and Brent pointing at an alligator

The alligator nest

Scott and Claire biking

Claire on the beach

Nile, Claire, and Brent hanging around

The family at the beach

Nile at the beach

A windy day on top of the lighthouse

The boys building a tower on Claire

B on the beach

The kids with a turtle they found on the bike path

We went on our family vacation to Hilton Head again this year. We had a great time. We saw lots of alligators and even an alligator nest in the nature area. We also saw lots of sand dollars and starfish at the beach. The kids had a great time riding bikes all over the place. One day we even rode 10 miles to the South Beach. We enjoyed some crab legs and hush puppies at the Crazy Crab. This year we tried out the Pirate Adventure Cruise. They took the kids on a treasure hunt and had a box of treasure the kids could grab their gold coins from at the end.

My Birthday Weekend and Hospital Hill Run

Me, My mom, dad, Nile, Claire, and Brent

Post Race Becca, Me, Dad, and Jen

Nile, B, and My mom waiting at finish line

Nile picking strawberries

Me, my dad, Brent, and Nile with our signs

Pre-Race Dad, me, Becca, and Jen

On my birthday, I decided to run the Hospital Hill Half Marathon, which is the fourth hilliest half marathons in the country. My dad came in town and ran it with me. I should say he started with me and then took off. He did awesome!! I didn't realize that it was the first race that he had ever run. The heat really effected me. My friends Becca and Jen stayed with me the whole time and even sang happy birthday every time we hit a mile marker. It was a fun run. Next year, I hope to be a little faster. It was fun having my parents come in town for the weekend.

Our garden is doing awesome this year. I have picked bowls and bowls of strawberries. I have made 8 containers of homemade strawberry jam, and frozen some whole berries. I also took the kids to a big strawberry patch to pick some berries one day.

Mother's Day Weekend

B and Drew boxing

Claire and Sophia

Jason, Brianna, Grandma, Kevin, and Chris

Mom and Dad

Sophia, Claire, Brent, Nile, and Drew

Nile, Brent, and Drew

Sophia, Claire, and Lily

For mother's day we went to St. Louis so we could talk to my brother Jonathan who is serving a mission in Brazil. On Saturday, Scott took Nile and Brent up to his parent's house to help his dad and brothers build a fence for his mom. They worked hard and saw a mouse and a snake while they were building the fence. Claire and I went shopping with nana and Claire had a playdate with her friend Lily. On Sunday morning, I started out mother's day with a 10 mile run with my dad and sister. My dad is going to run the hospital hill half marathon in a few weeks with me. Then I made homemade waffles for the family. We ate a great bbq dinner while we talked to Jonathan. We were able to stay an extra day in St. Louis because Scott had some work to do so my sister and I took the kids to a bounce house. They love it!