Trick or Treat

Once again I was able to convince Anna to dress in a costume to match her brother. Really it wasn't that hard, she actually likes matching costumes with Luke.

Best Friends Jessie and Woody hanging out before Trunk or Treat. I am so grateful for my mom who helped me make these costumes. Each year I wonder why I spend so many hours and late night on costumes. But then when they are all done I realize that the time spent was so worth it. No one piece polyester jump suits for us this year. It's all about the sewing, glue, markers, duct tape and rit die.Jessie, Ham, Woody and Spider.Luke spent the first part of the evening asleep in the wagon. Poor guy missed out on candy.Oh my little Ham!Luke was fascinated by this monster guy. He just kept staring. Tonight we enjoyed a yummy dinner with lot's of family and a great night of trick or treating. Tomorrow it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

All things Pumkins

Fall=Visits to the Pumpkin Patch.

Last week we visited a pumpkin patch with Anna's preschool.

Always happy to have my mom along to help me out. Plus the kids love having her around.Which one to pick...this one...or maybe this one?

Where's my mummy?Last weekend we meet Charo and Sarah at the Pumpkin Patch. So much fun for the kids because they had a petting zoo, (A germaphobes worst nightmare and I forgot the hand sanitizer!) a giant slide,and lot's of great places to take pictures.She thinks she can lift it.

Honestly, could this kid be any cuter? (I know that coming from his mother but if I saw this kid on the street I'd think the same thing.)

Flashback

For the last three months I've been planning and preparing for the Ragnar Relay, Las Vegas. And now as I sit here trying to record my thoughts it seems so far away. It's like a blur. Did I really run the race? Was I really just in Las Vegas two days ago? I really ran in the middle of the night by myself down a dark deserted road? Was that really me running 3 miles at 3am? Did I only get two hours of sleep in 48 hours? YES! YES! and YES! What an amazing experience this ended up being for me. I was able to prove to myself that I could run even though I hated it. To be completely honest I still really don't like running but I made it through the race with not much complaining. My team my feel differently about that but they were so supportive and without Aaron, Alycia, Emily, Megan and Kevin I never would have made it the last three miles. The cheering and support they gave me at 3 a.m. was what I needed to get me to that last exchange point. I was most surprise by my brother. Usually he can be a bit negative and critical but through out the entire race he was so supportive. He continually told me I was doing a great job and that I just needed to do my best and not worry about anything else. He has no idea how much his positive attitude towards my lame running skills encouraged me to keep running. I was also so fortunate to have my close friend Alycia running with me. She is a true athlete and no matter how hard her runs were she made it happen. Up hill in the hot sun, she ran. Five miles at 4:30am with only two hours of sleep, she ran. She was truly my inspiration for when the going gets tough you stick it out and keep running. Best of all I had my mom their to hug me after every run. She was our number one cheerleader. This is one experience that I will never forget and look forward to doing again.
It's 6am and I'm trying to get some sleep on the ride to the start line.Van 1. Alycia, Me, Aaron, Emily, Megan and KevinI'm looking a bit nervous. This is the start line and I remember thinking "what have I gotten myself into?" Ahhhh! The thought was caught on camera thanks to Mike.My first leg of the race. I was nervous and excited. I remember just feeling like I wanted to cry because I knew I was going to loose our lead and because I wasn't sure if I could do it and because I was excited that I really was running in the race.

My own personal cheerleaders. Mom and Livie running beside me and cheering me on. I'm almost to the end of my 3.5 miles.

Hanging out and trying to get some rest before our next set of runs.

Crossed the exchange line of my last run! After my last run as I'm cheering on my team I can't figure out why my flip-flops feel funny. Finally after about an hour I decide to look down and figure it out. One was mine and one was my brothers. That's what happens when you've had two hours of sleep in 24 hours.

Favorite Memories

The End!Although I am ready for my next ragnar I know that I will be more cautious and aware of my surroundings. This may have been a great experience for myself and my team but tragedy struck for another team. A runner was hit by a drunk driver and killed. My heart and prayer go out to Mike Kunz and his family.

Big Boy.

Luke was invited to his very first 'solo' party. What I mean by solo party was that only Luke was invited, no family or Anna. I wasn't sure if Luke would go only because he is usually so attached to me. The morning of the party I tried to really talked it up and when the time came he was ready to go.According to Chris he had a great time. The only part that became a problem is when he had to leave the present with the birthday boy. Apparently Luke thought he was going to be able to bring the dinosaur home with him.

Anna.

Anna's days are spent being a wonderful big sister. She loves Livie and always wants to hold her. I have to say she is such a big help when I need to get things done around the house. She will always hang out and play with her and watch her. I love her helpfulness!

Anna loves to play dress up. On this day she was a cowgirl princess. I asked why she had on rain boots and she informed me that I have never bought her cowgirl boots and rain boots were the closest thing she had. Luke's not in the picture but he's got his sword and shield ready to play with Anna.

Anna's new favorite thing to play is Hair Salon. So when she doesn't have her BFF Leah to play with she uses Luke as her muse. So proud of her up-do!

It's all SPARKLES!

Our new favorite thing to do. Grab some pink nail polish and super fine pink glitter and voila you have

SPARKLE TOES!

Miracles do Happen!

Although Chris thought it would never happen BYU beat OU! Yahoo! Good thing we had the party. It made the the win so sweet.

Decorations

Good Foodand Fans!

In my footsteps

Seeing Anna and Luke with our shoes on made me laugh and wonder. Laugh because they can be so silly and I love their innocence and love for each other. Wonder because it made me think that I am their example and they follow in my foot steps. I try everyday to be the best mother I can be but I know I have so many faults. Do I yell too much? Yes! Do I play with them enough? Probably not. Do I teach them how to be polite well mannered children? I try. Do I set a good enough example? Sometimes. Do I give them enough love and attention? YES! That I know. I love each of my babies so much it hurts. Really, sometimes I look at them and just want to explode. There is not enough time in the day to give them all the kisses and hugs that I want to give each of them. Every opportunity I get I whisper "I love you." It's sometimes surreal to think that I have three children when it feels like just yesterday I just longed for one. I am blessed to have these wonderful beautiful children in my life. My hope is someday when we look back at this picture they can say without a doubt that I was a good example to them and they are proud to have followed in my footsteps.

In the spirit of Yo Gabba Gabba (lukes favortie show)
"Don't stop, don't give up. Keep trying, keep trying!"
I will always keep trying to be better!

Another year

I can't believe summer is almost over and we are back to a schedule. Anna is back in school and all I can think about is how quickly my sweet little girl is growing. She was thrilled to be back at school but I still miss having her home all day. She's my ray of sunshine and my little helper. Not to mention she helps keep Lukie busy. It does make me happy that she loves school and loves learning, I hope this continues through out her life.

2008 First Day of School
2009 First Day of School

Remember this picture? She was not wanting her picture taken at school.Well not much has changed this year! She just wanted to get to class.Anna first day was great just as she'd expected. She was excited to play with her friends from last year and meet some new ones. Miss Shelby says that Anna is a model student and is quite the little helper. Being that she knows the ropes Miss Shelby can really count on Anna to help out and show the new students around. I know she enjoyed this because it was one of the first things she talked about when I picked her up. She also was proud of the cookies she and I made for her teachers and it made her happy that her teachers loved them. We are looking forward to a year filled with lots of fun!