She does it again!

Just when you think it can't get any better, it does! We are lucky to have Julia visit SF every year in October! Not only because we love her, but because of this! See more of our photoshoot and her other work here! Many Thanks Julia! oxox

In October...

^Rock Band was played again for the first time in possibly a year?! 10/9

^Of course festive spooky cookies were made. I think this i3 3 years now? 10/11

^Kai obviously learned to climb and we did some rearranging of furniture. :) 10/12

Utah, St. George-marathon 10/1/10

2 months behind!!

I left Ed and the kids home and flew to UT for the St. George marathon. Thanks Ed and the friends that helped with the kids! My friend Kaylynn is the one who entered the lottery with me (we should have entered as a group), but didn't get in. :( Luckily she signed up for a different marathon a couple weeks later so we were still able to train together. :)

9/30-My high school friends are awesome supporters and decided to make a girls trip out of it. It really meant a lot to me how much they catered to me all weekend! After flying into UT and getting my hair done ;), we left a couple hours later and Alisha drove us all to St. George. Thanks to Jenn's grandma we had nice condo to stay in. We got in pretty late, but we still stayed up and talked all night. It's been so long since I've done that and I loved it!

10/1- We slept in, got breakfast and then went to Jennie's brother's pool to lay out, swim and take silly pictures. I'll have to add pictures later. Then we went home, ate lunch, hung out and got all gussied up for dinner at the Pizza Factory. We met up with Valerie- who we went to high school with as well. She shared marathon tips and took us to a beautiful place where Stephanie took some pictures of us all.

It was really fun! Steph is great! See more of her photos here.

^After pictures we got yogurt- took some uggo immature pictures in the car- my fav, and went home and stayed up a little too late for having a marathon in the morning!

10/2- I woke up around 4:15am and got all my stuff together. I met Joan (my friend Kristen's MIL) at 4:45 to get on the buses to go to the start of the marathon. At the start of the race there were bonfires to stay warm but they mentioned this race had one of the warmest starting temps ever! It was in the high 40's I think?

(Joan's friend, me, Joan)

I only have one picture at the start or the race. All the other pictures I'll have to add when I get them. On to race details...

It begins with the goal I made to run one marathon in between each baby as a way to get in top shape before my body is destroyed again. ;)

Miles 1-13.1:

My goal (always) is just to improve my time. The last marathon I ran was 4:29. I was pregnant so I didn't push too hard, so for this race I was hoping for some time around 4:15. I wanted to give myself some space so I started with the 4 hr pace group. The race started at 6:45am. I ran with out music and just went with the flow of the people around me. We passed the 4 hour pace group in the first few miles. I kept worrying I might be starting too fast, but just wanted to go with the flow and use the energy when I had it. The beginning was pretty effortless and I'm sure I had adrenaline. I was wearing a Garmin so I checked my pace pretty frequently. I trained at a 9 minute mile pace, but was surprised to see fluctuation between 7 mm (downhills) and 12 mm(uphills) but averaged 8.5mm. I was in the sun from mile 7 on, but I felt so good I couldn't believe it! I turned on my music at the first uphill and used it as my motivator the rest of the way. I'm sure people thought I was crazy when I kept throwing my hands up in the air to Akon's song, "Freedom" (Best song ever! Thanks Kaylynn), but I didn't care, I was feeling great! I had a PR on my half marathon time. (I forgot but somewhere around 1:54?) I kept thinking, "WOW, I could really get a good time!"

Miles 13.1-26.2:

Mile 14+ things got a bit harder and by mile 17 when Stephanie and Alisha joined me for a bit, I was getting tired and it was getting hot! I stopped at every drink station for Gatorade and water, GUed at the beginning, mile 6, mile 12 and mile 18? By 17 miles I poured one water over myself and drank the other. They also had misters runner's could run through to keep cool. Alisha and Steph were very gracious about trying to make me comfortable. We didn't talk, but it was nice to have them by my side. Mile 17-21 was rough so it's a good thing they were there. At mile 21 we separated and I got a good second wind until mile 23. I was hurting, but I was NOT going to slow down this far into the race! Jenn joined me at mile 23. It was a great mental break to have her with me. Once again we didn't talk at all, but just having someone to run next to me and support me was a saver! It was rough to be running through town just waiting to see the end. When I finally saw the finishing balloons I was SO tired! Those last .2 miles kicked my butt! I used all my energy to get to the end. I usually have some energy to sprint to the finish and give an enthusiastic smile for the cameras, but not this race! I was definitely depleted, but it was all worth it. I finished at-

Chip Time	3:55:50
Overall Place	1917 / 5702
Gender Place	559 / 2460
Division Place	66 / 280
Age Grade	57.4%
Pace	9:01

A definite PR and 34 minutes faster than my last. Far faster than I'd ever expected! Even though it was SO hard, the race was as good as it could have been and my body cooperated so graciously! If you run you know how crucial/relieving it is to have a good functioning body the day of the race after you've spent SO much time training. I was proud of my time- and am now feeling like maybe that should be my last full marathon since I'm not sure I could beat my time again. :) We'll see. Funny how addicting it is. ;) I was so relieved to have it over!!!

We went home, I took a nap and then we went and got pedicures. I felt so nauseous for a while I was SURE I was going to throw up, but once again my friends rescued me and I was feeling okay by the end of the pedi's. When we got back we got ready and went to dinner and then went home and talked all night again. I've missed out on a lot of time with these friends and it was good to have some deep conversations, to relate, to get to know everyone better, laugh, cry and be immature. A well needed successful trip. Thank you ladies! Let's do it again!

(Stephanie, Jenn, Alisha, Jennie, Me)

10/3- Sunday after our drive home I got to meet up with my family for dinner. Missed my man and my babes, but a trip away makes you appreciate everything more. Thanks for everyone who make the trip possible!

Bad Baking- 9/25

I have to document one of my worst baking disasters. I had to remake the recipe FOUR, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4 times!!

Our stake made a cookbook and I submitted a recipe for Cake Cookies. I was asked to bring some samples to the RS Broadcast, Sept 25th. So Saturday well before the broadcast I started to make my cookies. They are so simple! I made the mistake of thinking I memorized the recipe.

Here is the recipe:

1 box cake mix (I prefer lemon)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. flour

Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and flour; mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. Makes 24-30 cookies.

These are the mistakes I made-

Cake box#1 (chocolate)- Didn't look at the recipe and made it just like a cake but added the 1/2 cup flour called for in the recipe. I thought this was the only change from a cake but WAY too runny when I finished! -So I made cupcakes.

Cake box #2 (strawberry)- Didn't look at the recipe and made it like cake directs with only 2 eggs instead of 3 and added the 1/2 cup flour. STILL too runny so I scraped this cake.

Had to send Ed to the store to buy me a another box of cake, eggs that were smaller (i thought that might be the cause) and different oil (I was using oil I haven't used before. Thought that might be the cause)

Cake box #3 (lemon)- Glanced at the recipe just to notice the oil was reduced and one less egg than the cake calls for. Far too runny! Made a lemon cake with this one.

Had to send Ed BACK to the store! Seriously! This time he bought 3 cakes back with him. :)

Cake box #4 (lemon)- Finally looked at the recipe to notice YOU DO NOT ADD WATER like the cake box asks... and so I made it like the recipe above and I was late to the broadcast in order to let my last batch of cookies bake! I felt like a total nut job! The cookies turned out great!

^My Kitchen was a disaster!!! 3 bowls of batter left for Ed to bake and clean up. He was very accommodating. Thanks Ed! You married a crazy woman!

Randoms

^My boys!-9/12-10

^Sarah's 3 year check up! I haven't been as good about my updates about my kids on my blog, but I do have a calendar with the new things they are doing. :) I don't know where I put all of her measurements (%s) and everything from her appointment!?? She was 33 pounds and 3 ft 2 inches. A lot has happened in the 3's. They can be challenging at times, but overall Sarah is such a sweet girl. I like that she has a strong personality. She is so smart. Just before her birthday she conquered potty training! Finally! I probably tried to force it too soon. What else? Sarah speaks very clearly, can be timid in large groups, loves to sing princess songs, etc., Eats most anything, goes to bed around 7:30pm, wakes around 6:30am but doesn't come to us until 7am if we're lucky, has an hour of quiet time every day, will sometimes fall asleep in quiet time-2/7 days, tests her boundaries every day, loves Kai but also torments him, loves princesses, puzzles (40 piece) and coloring, prolongs bedtime, loves Little Einsteins, changes her clothes multiple times a day, loves dress-ups, tantrums decreasing, loves to be chased, loves riding her bike, the park and going on walks. I love watching her learn. She is still our punkin and snuggle bug.

We love you Sarah!- 9/14-10

^ A picture taken NOT after our 20 mile training run would probably be better looking :), but this is how we usually see each other. This is Kaylynn. Tribute to one of my best friends and we have spent so much time running to together this year. Everyone else has kind of dropped out of the running world due to pregnancy or other things. ;) I LOVE this girl! Talking with her is so therapeutic. I seriously feel like she is more like a sister than a friend. She is so open and real and honest with me. I am so comfortable around her. She has a way. When we run together, we share, and sharing makes us so close. I'm so happy and lucky to have such wonderful women to surround myself with that enrich my life in so many ways! I value great friends. Although there are not many pictures of us together, I see her more than a lot of my other friends. We trained together for a marathon and it was so wonderful to have such great support! Here's to many more years and memories! Thanks Kaylynn! OXOX-9/18/10

^Snuggle bugs and blankies- 9/22/10

9/10-11/2010: Camping with Busby's- Petaluma KOA

It was apparently a busy camp weekend and our Yosemite trip fell through so we booked a site at the Petaluma KOA. I obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into. You see, when I usually go camping- it's not on a 10x10 slab of concrete just feet away from other strangers, or just blocks away from a freeway. I should have done more research. I couldn't let myself camp that way!

So we upgraded to a small cabin that had a queen size bed mat and a bunk bed- not much else. It was actually a pretty awesome set up with the kids.

^His shirt says it all! The kids had a great time playing in the dirt. The cool thing was that after they got all dirty, we went to the community hot tub and they basically had a bath. Brilliant!

^Just before we put the kids down.

We slept on the queen and Busby's slept on the bunk beds. Sarah was on the floor in her camp bed and Kai was in the pack-n-play. We were crammed in our little cabin, but we were warm. Other than Kai waking and crying for an hour when the adults came to bed, we all slept great!

^Sarah will buddy up with anyone willing to play. She was Ryan's little buddy. She is so fond of males??

^Our family on the porch swing of our little cabin.

^Shannon and Ryan

^I learned that the KOA is a great option for families with young children. After breakfast we took Sarah to bounce on an inflatable tramp, then we all went to the pool (It was a super hot day) and then we went to the playground and petting zoo.

^ When I turned away one of these goats mistook Sarah's hair as straw and started chewing on it! Luckily I noticed quickly enough and gave Sarah more straw and told her to keep her distance.

Later when we got home, we put out a sprinkler toy and Sarah played in the fake rain with her umbrella.

Love this little boy!

We have a pre-Preschooler!

Pre-preschool is really common in California. Sarah is so eager to learn! Plus this way they get to deal with all the messy crafty stuff I usually don't do at home. :) She is loving it!

^9-6-10- Sarah making sure she gets good rest the day before school starts. :) She does this every once in the while. We'll be in the kitchen or somewhere and come out to find her in the hallway snuggled up and asleep.

^9/7/10- First Day of Preschool. What a cutie.

^A little apprehensive about the whole thing at first. :) Look at that glare! She's just making sure they know not to mess!

We love visitors

We love having visitors! Visitors mean fun things! Morghan and Duke came to visit for a weekend so we went to a San Jose Giants game with them. Very kid friendly and not as far away. :)- 9/4/10

Good kitty

^ 8/26/10- Auzi seriously takes A LOT of love/abuse from the kids. She is so patient. What a cute kitty in a baby's crib. Who needs dolls when you have a cat? :)

^8/30/10- Giants game with Cheneys. Glad they ended up delivering. :)

^8/31/10- This kids chillin' at Whitney's while I went for a run.

Sarah's 3rd Birthday! 8/24/09

Sarah decided to have a princess party this year. Guests were instructed to dress like a princess- boys could wear another dress up. :) Sarah was Cinderella. (Figured we get one more wear out of her Halloween costume) The weather ended up being in the mid 90's so some kids opted for cooler clothes. :) We fed the kids pizza for dinner and had some fun activities inspired by some of the Disney princesses.

I wish I'd had time to take better pictures of each set up beforehand, but alas as usual I ran out of time. :) Upon arrival the kids walked in on a red carpet to a table where they could put on a little lip gloss, eye shadow, blush and stick-on jewel earrings.

Princess SNOW WHITE activity: during dinner they had bites of apples with their dinner.

Princess (Ariel) LITTLE MERMAID activity: They fished in the ocean for prizes

Most prizes were a different princess themed toy.

For a craft, they decorated crowns to wear with jewels and stickers.

Princess CINDERELLA activity: They went on a hunt to find little glass slippers full of candy.

Princess JASMINE activity: Ed and David so graciously gave them rides on a magic carpet. ;)

Princess SLEEPING BEAUTY activity: They all had to fall fast asleep until they got a (hershey) kiss on their lips. :)

An ARIEL cake requested by Sarah

3 YEARS OLD!

Sarah sat on a special throne while she opened her gifts.

She had such a great time! Thanks to all her little friends that came!

This little one pretty much crawled around and entertained himself. :)