Halloween Half Marathon

Talk about a fun race!  Between the crazy costumes and the freezing cold, how could it not be fun?  I signed up for this race back in April when I signed up for the Timpanogos Half Marathon because I had heard that it was a blast.  It did not disappoint.  I was lucky enough to be able to train and run with my fried Kelli who had just come from running the St. George Marathon earlier in the month. She's amazing!  Our friend Jen ran too, but she is SUPER fast so we only saw her before it started and then again at the finish.  One of the things that keeps this race interesting is all of the different costumes that you see along the way.  It keeps your mind off of how many miles you still have to run!  We wanted to dress up but still wear something that would be comfortable to run in and Kelli came up with the idea to do 80's.  Perfect!  From our big haired heads to our leg warmered toes, we were decked out!  .

 

I stole this pic from the website to show what a dork I am. There were several more terrible ones... those poor photographers!

Here we are grabbing high fives on our way to the finish!

There is nothing like finishing a race with a support crew waiting for you at the end!

Such a relief to see my guys!

My dear sister Steph came and brought her boys to cheer us on!

Cort came down and it was so fun to have her there!

Kelli's mom Jeanie even made us a sign.  She's the best!

We were spoiled with our cheering section!

Thanks so much Kelli for running with me!  I couldn't have done it without you!  Can't wait for the next one!

Rocktober Randoms

I've heard it from lots of people and unfortunately it has been happening to me too.  Instagram is killing my blog.  I am trying to stay caught up but it gets away from me too quickly.  So here are some randoms for this month from my phone. 

My flower garden is doing pretty well.  Although some of my flowers died most of them are taking off.  The top picture was taken shortly after planting in June.  The lower picture in October.  Unfortunately my Calla Lilies are past their prime in the lower pic and not even noticeable in the top one.  

These boys sure do love their dad!

Not sure what is going on here,  but it's funny!

The boy with the binky.  Luckily now it is only for nap time and bedtime!

Some people play games for entertainment, and some play with spoons.

All I can think when I see this picture is "Tommy Boy"

Griffin loves to snuggle.  We usually wind down each night after Luke is already in bed and get some one on one time with Griff.  It is our special time with this boy who jabbers non stop. Looks like Dad is having a hard time staying awake in this one.

We took Griff to the movie theater for the first time to see Hotel Transylvania.  He did really well as long as there was a steady stream of popcorn and treats going into his mouth.  When we got home he was on a crazy sugar high and then about 10 minutes later he hit rock bottom and was sobbing and exhausted.  It was awesome.

Sometimes Luke eats dirt...Iron deficiency? Maybe.

And now that it is cooler in the mornings I really have to bundle these two up to take them running with me.  It's kind of nice to keep their arms contained for a while so they can't hit each other.  On this particular morning, Luke got his hand out of the blanket so Griffin bit him.  We were about 10 minutes away from home and all I could do was run... down the road... with a screaming baby in my stroller.  Yep I'm a good mom.

Griffin's 3rd Birthday!

Griffin is three and I really wish time would just stop.  He is at such a fun age right now.  Learning new things everyday.  He is so smart and having a conversation with him is like talking to a mini adult.  He is so awesome and I am so grateful for him!

We celebrated in the morning with a doughnut,

And in the evening with a special cake just for him!

He was so cute.  He loved when we sang to him and after we were done he said, "Hi, Luke!  Say Happy Birthday to me!"

We celebrated that weekend with our families and I managed to host the least stressful party of my life!  That's because I didn't do any invitations, decorations, food or favors.  It was just good ole cake and ice cream and lots of fun!  And I realized, "What was I thinking before when I went all crazy?"

So here is the cake.  Griffin LOVES trains.  We can hear them from our house, but we can't see them.  Every time he hears one he wants to hurry to get in the car to go see it, (unfortunately that doesn't happen very often).  He was delighted with his cake and promptly started to eat the candy out of the train cars as soon as he got the chance!

I love Kristin's face in this one!  She's holding Ashlee's new baby, Alexander, and talking to him, but it looks like she's blowing out Griff's candles with him!

As soon as we sang "Happy Birthday," Griff grabbed a cupcake an dug in!

Luke was all over the cupcake too.  It's so much easier to just strip this kid down when eating anything.

We are so happy that our families could come celebrate with us!

Here are Jeff, Gabby, Carole and Savannah.  Such a darling family!

Papa Mick

Taylor and Grandma Mick

And of course presents.  This guy got tons of great stuff!

Toots the train was Griffin's big gift from us (also from Aunt Steph as it was a hand-me-down from her kids).  Griffin absolutely loves it!

One of Griffins favorite gifts was from Grandma Mick--freeze dried pomegranate yogurt bites from Thrive Food Storage.  He LOVES those things!  We have never actually hydrated them, he just gobbles them up dry and they are probably the most healthy thing that we can get him to eat!

Two days before his birthday I decided to whip up this train quilt for Griff.  I had bought the fabric over a year ago and thought it would be perfect for his train centered birthday.  I'm really good at procrastinating and then having to stay up until 2 am to finish projects, but hey, I always get them done!

So there you have it! Griffin was conductor for the day and got everything he wanted and more!  Thanks to all those who celebrated with us!

More in the Mountains

Apparently we just can't get enough!  We went up and attempted to take family photos today.  Here's something I would like to know- At what age do your children make it possible for you to take a decent family picture?  It sure was a challenge today.  The boys won.

Also, about 1/2 hour before we left to head up the canyon, Griffin decided to walk down the hallway with his forehead on the carpet and then came and showed me the lovely rug burn that was a result of such a fun activity.  So the picture below is a blooper of Griff and his rug burn.  It's all about the memories, right?

We Camped. Well, Some of Us.

Since we have been enjoying the mountains we decided to go hardcore and spend the night up American Fork Canyon.  Marc's sister Ashlee and her family had a trailer and found a spot next to it for our tent.  Marc and I used to spend a lot of our weekends camping (before we had kids), so we were anxious to give it a try with the kiddos.

This was the view outside our tent!

The boys spent lots of time throwing rocks in the river.   When they weren't at the river they were busy hitting each other.  Parker and Griff were butting heads a little this weekend.

This guy is always climbing on something. So adventurous!

Ashlee and brand new baby Alexander

Lukie and I staying warm by the campfire

After the campfire things got a little ugly.  I am a terrible mother and I brought Luke's milk but I forgot to bring a bottle.  Hence the night time routine didn't happen.   So after some tears Luke finally fell asleep... for an hour.  So at 1:00 a.m. Luke and I loaded up and headed home.  I wasn't gonna fight through this all night.  Poor guy didn't get his bottle and I was worried that he was hungry.  So on the way home I remembered that I left the milk back at camp so I stopped and the grocery store (1:45 am) and bought some milk.  When I got home I made him a bottle and he only drank one ounce before he fell asleep... guess he wasn't that hungry, just didn't like sleeping in the tent.

Anyway,  Luke and I got up the next morning and headed back up to camp to hang out and have some breakfast.
Griff was getting really in-tune with nature...

Luke was so proud that he climbed into this chair all by himself,

but not so happy after he face planted and got a mouthful of dirt.

And here is where we attempted to sleep.  Luke was in the pack and play and Griff was in between Marc and I.  

Griffin did not talk until 2 am like our last camping adventure.  He did talk for a little while saying,
"Hi Mom. Hi Dad. Hi Mom, you see dad?  Dad you see, Mom? I wanna snuggle you."  There was lots of rolling from one of us to the other and lots of touching our faces too.  But he fell asleep pretty quickly and slept right through Luke and I leaving in the middle of the night.


So all in all we had a great time and the trees were absolutely gorgeous.  The drive up to Tibble Fork could not have been more beautiful.  Thanks Brent and Ashlee for letting us hang with you!