Witches Party

I threw my own witches party this year.
I was a little hesitant to do it, but am so glad I did!
I am definitely doing it again next year.

Kelsi did the invite for me - she designed it for her party last year and I just had her change the information.

Most everyone dressed up - wore black and had a witches hat.  We played the "Which Witch is Which" game, which was fun to get to know each other better.  And learn some interesting things! :)

For the food, I ordered bread bowls and made chili and another friend made another soup.  We also had salad, a veggie tray, and some treats.

We sat outside the whole night (a definite plus of living in Arizona...perfect weather this time of year!)  This is also another plus of living in a house now - having a very private backyard to talk and laugh as long as we wanted.   Most everyone stayed a long time....until 10:30ish.....it was a good time!

The witches - back row, left to right: Alyssa, Sarah, Kandas, Mandy, Allie T., Emily.  front row: Amy, Janet, Kayla, Alison, and Blayre.  not pictured are Kara, Allie W., and Lisa.

 same picture except I'm in the middle.

St. George marathon/Utah trip/Worland

The St. George marathon was the Saturday of conference weekend, October 5th.  By the time the race came I was so ready to run it and just get it over with.  I always get real nervous before races and ask myself "WHY" am I doing this?!  But afterwards I'm always so grateful I did because it is such a rewarding feeling.

I trained with 2 girls in my ward and wouldn't have been able to do it without them.  We had to go early, like 4am EARLY when we'd do our long runs because it was SO hot that we HAD to go that early and also because John had to leave the house by 7am to get to school.  Looking back now I don't know how we did it!  I haven't been able to get up before 7am since then! 

I drove the kids and I to St. George Friday, the day before the race.  Before we left that morning, I took a pregnancy test...which was positive!  Looking back now I kind of wish I had waited until after the race to take one, just so I didn't have that in my mind throughout the race.  I told John about the positive test before we left and he was really excited (a nice change from the first two :))  We stayed with Marc and Betty in St. George and Pete came down that night with a friend.  Saturday morning Pete took me to my friends hotel and we rode the bus up to the starting line together. 

It was freezing at the top of the canyon.  Luckily they had several fires going for the runners to try and stay warm.  I ran the first 14 miles with my friend Jeni.  Jeni and I have been running together since we moved to Arizona.  I am SO glad to have found her!  It is nice to have a running partner that is the same speed as you and consistent in going.  We ran almost every run together in training.  Anyway, at mile 11 I had to stop and use the bathroom...I hate that feeling, but thankfully there were plenty of port-a-pottys along the way.  Jeni was nice enough to stop and wait for me and we kept going.  I started getting that sick feeling again around mile 14 and had to stop again to use the bathroom.  By this point I was just getting mad and was sick of feeling sick!  I made Jeni go on ahead and wouldn't let her stay behind with me...I hate the feeling of holding someone back.  After I used the bathroom again I put my earphones on and felt much better the rest of the race.  I started texting John at mile 21 because I was so ready to be done!  He text me back things like "I'm so proud of you", "You're amazing", etc...and I finally had to stop texting him because I was getting emotional and couldn't breath :)  I also text Camille and Kelsi and their words were so helpful and encouraging too.  Pete met me at mile 24 and ran the last two miles with me.  I was so grateful to see him when I did and felt strong the last 2 miles with him.  My mom, Mike, Brooklyn, and my aunt and uncle Noel and Mary were at the finish line. 

My official time was 4 hours 5 minutes, my slowest of the 3 marathons I've done.  I was happy with it though, especially after how I felt mile 11-14.

I was so happy to see Brooklyn after the race.  

Noel and Mary were so nice to come see me finish.  They were in St. George to participate in the senior games the following weekend.

I was so glad to have my brothers Mike and Pete there, as well as my mom for support.  I definitely needed them there.

Jeni and I

We left the race and I went and showered at Marc and Betty's and then we were on the road to Salt Lake.  The kids and I stayed in Utah for 2 weeks and did lots of fun things with family.

One day we went to Gardner Village with Jeannette, Misty, and my mom.  They had all their witches set up and the kids thought they were neat.

these 3 are so cute...I love that they are only 6 months apart.

Grandma and Jake

 

Brooklyn and Sophia - I love that they live next door to my parents and we get to see lots of them when we visit.

dress up with Uncle Pete and the Bowen's

I got the kids hair cut while we were in Utah.  This was Brooklyn's 2nd haircut.  

And Jake's first...

I was a little sad to see his curly mullet go, but loved his new hair-do.  He looks more grown up and like such a little boy.

trouble

We went to Worland the second week of our trip.  It was Jeannette's kids UEA, so most of my family was able to go.  It was perfect weather while we were there and the kids spent hours playing in the leaves.  We did the usual too, Maverik runs, Taco John's, playing games, jumping on the trampoline, sewing, chatting, etc.

 

:)

We missed John/Daddy and were sure excited to see him again, but had a great trip.  The time always goes by so fast!

September randoms

We met some friends at the outlet mall that is just 20 minutes away from our house one day.  They have a fun little playground and splash pad in the middle of the shopping area for the kids to play.  I forgot to bring swim suits for my kids, but they didn't seem to mind getting soaked in their clothes.

We watched cousin Vinnie for a couple days while Mike and Camille went to Las Vegas for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary.  He was a gem of a guy and loved watching whatever Brooklyn and Jake did.  We took him just on our usual activities, music class, the grocery store, the park, on walks, to church, and he went along happily.  I put him in our pack n' play in our closet to sleep and he did great.  I didn't know it at the time that I was pregnant, but thought I could be, and after watching Vin it made me think that I may just possibly be able to handle three on my own, if they are as good as him.  We skyped with Mike and Camille each night and the second night we did Vinnie got sad.  It was me sad, yet it was SO cute because I could tell he knew them and missed them.

Brooklyn loves "pre-school" each week and asks me every day if she gets to go.  Every 4 weeks it is at our house, 3 other little boys come over, and they have a good time playing with each other.  The mom's try to teach them a letter each week, which lasts about 5 minutes, plus they have snack time, and then just play. 

Brooklyn and the boys playing with play doh.

I usually don't let kids in John and I's bedroom, but this day they were playing super heroes and I tied a blanket around each of them as a cape.  They got on our bed and were laughing and having the best time.  I couldn't tell them to get down.  So instead I just watched and took a few pictures.

Jake minds his own business and plays nicely during pre-school.

I watched my friend Alyssa's two younger kids all day one day while she was in Utah for her siblings wedding.  Her little girl and boy are my kids ages, so they had fun playing together.

It was still nice and hot so they played outside in our little pool for a long time.

Kelsi and Brooklyn

John turned 30 on the 27th.  I was lame and didn't do anything too exciting for him.  He opened his presents that night when he go home from school and we had friends over for cake and ice cream.

 Vinnie was with us on John's birthday.