The lean, mean, running machine

I'm catching up on some things I wanted to post, so this is old news. The first weekend in Oct was the St. George Marathon and Paul finished it for the third time! We were all there to cheer him on even though it was the worst weather they had had for the race in many years. It rained the whole time. Paul was a trooper and did great. His time was 3:17 and he was 6th in his age division. He's pretty speedy. He also raced in two triathlons this summer. One was in Idaho and we didn't go with him to that one. A man actually drowned in the heat before his so he didn't get to swim. It was tragic. The other tri was at the Jordanelle and he raced it with this brother so they suffered together. When asked if his marathon running days were about over, he said probably not so I guess we will be ready to cheer again.

Pumpkins we won't be carving

I wanted to show these fun pumpkins we we did for a craft activity. My friend Merilee found a picture of them on the internet and we went and got some good textured fabric and real pumpkin stems. They were super easy and I thought they turned out so cute for a fall centerpiece. Every once in awhile the crafter in me comes out!

kenzie can dance

This is a funny thing we were playing around with on the internet. And Yes my kids like High School Musical!



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The Warmest Halloween Ever!

We had a great Halloween this year. We didn't even have to cover our costumes with coats it was so warm. There was a little rain when we first started to trick or treat but then it passed. Kenzie made it around the whole neighborhood this year. She was so excited about the candy! Here's some pictures of the girls. Tanner left with friends later when we were already out with the girls so I didn't get any pics of him, but he was a hippie-Groovy!

Kylie the laundry basket

Maddie the Witch

Kenzie as Cinderella

Cutie Cousins

Last Saturday my niece Abby was baptized and I got some cute pictures of the girls I thought I would post.

Maddie and Abby

Kylie and her favorite baby, Elizabeth

Kenzie and Brooke

The champions- again!!

Last night we got to sit in the freezing cold and watch football! It was all worth it because they won!! Tanner's junior high football team went undefeated the whole season and finished it off with a championship. It was so exciting! I made Tanner bundle up enough that he said he wasn't cold but let me tell you- it was. We even had some snow the day before. It feels like winter is here, but it could change again. I took some pictures of the team after but they really didn't turn out. Curtis- I need your excellent shots- can you email me one? I need a better camera at some point- mine just doesn't do well in the dark. Tanner gets one day to bask in the glory and then basketball practice starts tonight. Moving on...

California here we come...

The kids get a Fall Break from school in October here. Paul said it started because of the deer hunt, but I'm not sure. It does seem to corelate every year, hmm? Anyway I guess the kids (or teachers) need a break from school and we decided to get a break from Utah and go on a little road trip. The catalyst for the trip was actually an offer from Rod & Rona to watch our kids so Paul and I could get away. The call to visit the Magic Kingdom was strong since we were in the vicinity so we went there for a day. We got there the day before the rest of Utah so it was actually not very crowded. We got on every ride we wanted and never had to wait in bad lines. Kenzie was excited about absolutely everything, and we all had a great time. I think we went on Space Mountain 3 times. It really is the happiest place on earth!



The next day we said goodbye to the kids and Paul & I headed to San Diego. We had a nice relaxing long weekend and enjoyed every minute of it. The weather was beautiful and warm so we tried to soak it up. We went and walked around La Jolla and Coronado, went out for some nice kid free dinners, slept in and basically enjoyed being grownups. We also got to see my friend Bunny from high school and my brother Ryan who is there getting a masters at the University of San Diego. It was so nice- Thanks to Rod and Ro!!


So while we were wondering if we were bad parents for leaving our kids on their school break, the kids were living it up. They got thoroughly spoiled and got to swim whenever they wanted and played with the dogs and the new kitty. I don't think they missed us at all! They even got a ride in a Hummer limo to get ice cream and go to the pumpkin patch. Not too bad! So we got over any guilt real fast!

Good Times at the Lake

We had our annual trip to Lake Powell in September. This video is one that Kylie made for a competition at school called "Reflections". The theme this year was Wow. We had plenty of wow moments on Lake Powell so it wasn't hard to decide to make a video about that. We had such a wonderful week! It was probably the warmest it has ever been-it was so gorgeous!! This year we had some friends go with us- the Hansens and Lamoreauxs, and Paul's brother Kendal with his family. Kylie also got to invite her good friend Mikayla this year. The kids (and adults, too for that matter) all got along and we made it without any major injuries or dangerous incidents. Paul and Richard both pulled their backs waterskiing, but could still function. We had fun swimming, boating, jumping off cliffs (even Kenzie found a tiny one she could do), wakeboarding, tubing, eating, sunning, fishing, playing games, and generally getting away from it all!! Though Marci did figure out that you could get cell coverage in the middle of the lake so she could keep up with her texting. :-) It's amazing to me how long kids can play in the sand and be completely happy. Where we parked the boat this year we had a nice hiking area up a big sandstone formation. We had some good exploring- the kids found a cave, a graffiti wall, and lizards. The other thing that was amazing this year was the sky at night. We could see the most stars and even the milky way. In some past years we have had a full moon which is nice too, but it really cuts down on the stars you can see. I've added some other pictures on the slideshow at the top of the page so you can see how beautiful it is there. Unfortunately, my pictures don't even do it justice.