More Gavin....

Gavin's primary teacher asked him how Jesus died, to which he replied, "On the crosswalk." Now, I don't mean to brag, but I am such a good parent ;)

Emily's Baptism

Emily was baptized on Saturday, November 6, 2010. She was so excited for her big day and spent lots of time helping with the planning.

I was overwhelmed at how many people were there for Emily. It's amazing how much joy she brings to everyone around her. She is so tender hearted, caring and full of love.

It was so much fun shopping for her dress. I loved watching her try on dresses and twirl in the mirror. She felt pretty and she looked absolutely beautiful!

After the baptism, we went back to the church for dessert. Everything was so yummy and the day turned out perfect!

Happy Halloween

I can't believe I'm barely finishing up Halloween. It seems so long ago, I can hardly remember it. I'll start with the pumpkin carving. We ended up with 13 pumpkins, and we were all very excited to carve every last one of them. Needless to say, after four, the kids were done. There was no way I was going to carve 8 myself, so this is what we ended up with.

Emily wanted to be a 50s girl, and wanted Kate to have a matching costume. Kind of a funny story about her skirt.... I bought what I thought to be a pattern in Emily's size. When buying the material, I kept thinking that she was cutting an awful lot of fabric, but hey, I'm no expert! As I was sewing, I thought the skirt seemed awful big, but then the pattern probably knows better than I do. When it was finished, the skirt was HUGE!!! Emily could have fit three or four of her friends in the skirt with her. I put so heavy duty elastic in the waist and cut at least 8 inches off the bottom, and presto, we all had matching skirts ;) Too bad there's no pictures of all three of us.

Tyler has never been one to dress up, but he made a good looking crossing guard.

Gavin had the hardest time deciding what he wanted to be. He ended up as Heat Blast (from Ben 10). Personally, I think he just loved the mask.

When Halloween finally rolled around, it was cold and rainy. Kate only went to three houses, but was thrilled with handing out candy at home. She still got her fair share of candy, thanks to some great neighbors, and especially loved the suckers.

I think Tyler's favorite part of Halloween is sorting and analyzing his candy. He has done this every year since he's been three years old, and I am amazed that he still continues to do so.

Black Island Farms

Emily decided to have her birthday party at Black Island Farms this year. She wanted a small party, in fact she only invited 5 friends, which was fine with me. It was a lot less stressful to keep track of the kids.

The weather couldn't have been better. I was a little nervous because the day started out rainy, but it ended up perfect!

Emily and her BFFs!

I thought this was the cutest thing I had ever seen. Emily's friend, Megan is moving to Idaho Falls in the spring. It's hard to lose good friends, but Travis travels there quite frequently. Emily can't wait to go visit during one of her dad's trips.

Pig Racing! Still makes me laugh!

Kate is afraid of heights. I guess that's one disadvantage to having a tall daddy :)

Kenzy, Megan, Gavin, Taylor and Emily

Animal train

Emily loves being a big sister

Is he OK?

I loved this! There's a little cup at the bottom of this chute that you fill with grass, pull the rope to lift the cup of grass up to....

A hungry goat. So funny!

She had a great birthday party with some great friends!

My Little Pumpkins

Every year I love Halloween more and more. So many fun things to do and places to go. This year we went to several pumpkin patches and ended up with WAY TOO MANY pumpkins. 13 to be exact. Here's some of my favorite pictures of my little pumpkins :)

Emily's Birthday

My girl turned eight years old yesterday. She is such a sweet little thing. I can hardly believe she is eight years old already.

She had a very hard time telling me what she wanted for her birthday because she doesn't ever want to ask for anything. When I asked her what kind of a birthday cake she wanted, she told me just to pick. She loves Zhu Zhu pets, so I decided to make her a Zhu Zhu cake, made out of a football. I showed her the football cake pan and told her that I let Gavin decide what kind of a cake to make her. I thought it would make her mad. Instead she said, "Would you mind just frosting it pink and purple instead of brown?" She is absolutely amazing.

We had a great day. She got to play her last soccer game, in the rain, and scored two goals! After her game, Grandma and Grandpa Shorty took her to Panda Express (her choice) for her birthday lunch. Between lunch and dinner, we just hung around the house watching movies and playing games. She chose Bajio for her dinner, which turned out a little interesting. While we were ordering, Gavin got sick to his stomach, so we ended up with Bajio takeout.

Following dinner, family came over for cake and ice cream. She was so excited about her cake, and couldn't wait to open her presents.

Grandma and Grandpa Paul gave her two Zhu Zhu pets. Ty and Jess gave her money to spend on their annual birthday shopping trip. Cari and Guy gave her Bendaroos and a gift card. Grandma and Grandpa Shorty gave her an outfit, a pair of boots, and two Moxie Dolls. From mom and dad she got a camera, a Zhu Zhu pet playground, a boat for her pets and a watch. Tyler saved his money and bought her a Zhu Zhu pet and an outfit to go along with it. Gavin chose some Pixos that he knew she would love. Kate gave Emily a Brat doll.

Travis took Emily and Tyler to the pumpkin walk after everyone had left. I felt bad that I wasn't able to go, but I stayed home and put Kate to bed and took care of a sick Gavin. A perfect ending for a great day!

Here are a few of Emily's favorite things:

Favorite Color - Pink

Favorite Food - Bajio Salad

Favorite Animal - Dolphin

Favorite School Subject - Math

Favorite Treat - Snickers

Favorite Movie (and TV show) - Hannah Montana

Favorite Toy - Zhu Zhu Pets

Favorite Game - Life

Favorite Holiday - Christmas

Favorite thing to do with her family - Camping

Emily likes to sew, play soccer, riding bikes, running, roller blading, camping, fishing, reading and spending time with her family and friends

One thing she doesn't like is shrimp

Happy birthday, Emily!

You are such a special girl. I sure do love you!

Layton 1/2 Marathon

Well, I did it!

I ran the Layton half marathon yesterday. It was a rough road getting there, but I did it! I had spent a lot of time training and faithfully stuck to my training schedule. A month before the race, I got sick. REALLY sick. I was down for three weeks, and unable to run during this time. Every Saturday that passed absolutely made me sick. I knew how hard I had worked to get to this point, and it was very difficult for me not to be able to run.

This is me during my sickness. This picture just doesn't do the infection in my eyes justice. They were red with purple eyelids and big black bags underneath. Even the bridge of my nose was swollen. I could barely open them, let alone see out of them. I looked like I had been in a boxing match.

When I was finally able to run again, I jumped at the opportunity. I ran 6 miles, and it was the most difficult run I had ever done. I came home with a headache and was sick to my stomach. I was very disappointed, and my confidence plummeted. How in the world was I going to run 13 miles ten days from now, if I couldn't even run 6? A couple of days later, I ran 8 and felt much better about myself.

Race day came quickly. I was really nervous. I ran with two friends, Kiersten Peterson and Gary Bowers, and my sister in law, Ashley. I told them I didn't want them to run with me, because I wanted them to do the best that they could. Ashley insisted on staying with me, and I am grateful that she did.

The race started out great. Around mile 4, my knee started to hurt, but I decided that I had worked too hard for too long to give up. I pushed through, but by mile 12, I was spent. My knees were so sore. I wanted to stop and walk so badly, but Ashley kept me going. She kept saying, "Just keep going. You're doing great. You only have one more mile left. You can do it!" What an awesome sister in law I have! There's no doubt in my mind that she could have finished way faster than I did, but she wanted to run with me.

I had set a goal to finish in 2:10. I finished a bit longer than I would have liked, and didn't reach my goal, but still feel so proud of myself. I ran the entire way, and never stopped to walk. I thought I would be disappointed in myself, but I'm not at all. I did the best job that I could, and there is NO WAY that I could have run any faster. Considering that a year ago, I never thought I would be able to run again, just finishing feels like a victory to me!

After the race, I was so sore. My knees and hips were aching, and my calves were so tight that I had a hard time just standing up. After a short nap and a few hot baths, I am feeling much better today.

I signed up to run the Ogden 1/2 Marathon next May. I am shooting for 2:10 :)