This and That of December

Some stuff happened in December, I am sure of it.

I love taking pics of my boys sleeping.  Nate especially gets a kick out of their random positions.

Sometimes Jonah wants to do math homework with Jacob.  Yes, he is 5 and in preschool.

Nothing makes the winter brighter than good Jazz games and meeting the entire team!  Bam and Mo Williams…he was so so nice.

Jonah was the darling camel in the ward party nativity.  He did a great job.

The Relief Society Christmas party of course once again took up most of my December.  My third Christmas party, maybe 3 too many.  It was nothing like last year and yet still became as big of an issue.  The strangest night of all nights.  The food was fantastic, no surprise there.  My two side kicks who aren’t even on my committee, but do EVERYTHING to help me.  Love My Foster and Jo Jo so very much.

Thankful Thanksgiving

I enjoyed my best ever Thanksgiving this year.  I had been so busy with all kinds of things, I wasn’t able to devote as much time and planning into Thanksgiving dinner.  This was stressing me out, but ended up being a blessing.  The night before was of course the blessed pie night at My Fosters house (last time at the old house, tears were shed)

Some of my very favorite people.  Whitney, JoAnne, My Foster, Gretchen and Angie.  Love them all!

Me and two of my little girls. 

For the past few years some of my family have done the 5K at the rec center.  My brother Chris and I decided to plan our own race so everyone could do it and save money.  We made shirts, planned a route and had a fabulous time!  We did it down on Legacy trail and ended in Tiffany’s beautiful backyard.  It was perfect.  The weather was perfect, the course was perfect and the company was perfect.

Starting line festivities

My boys tried to dress as goofy as possible.

Something for everyone.  Running, walking, biking, scootering and strollering.

Everyone was a winner.  It was such a great success we plan to do it a few times a year.

I went home and had the most relaxing Thanksgiving dinner prep in the history of me hosting.  Jeff and Caitlin Beck came over and we visited for awhile.  I just didn’t worry about dinner being done at the exact moment I said it would and didn’t worry if everything wasn’t picture perfect.

Busy people helping get everything ready.

Adult table

Kids table…..I couldn’t find the paper I usually cover it with so I just left it, no stress or worry.

Pre meal weighing…..

And post meal weighing.  It is a competition each year.  Jacob gained the most percentage weight this year.

What a beautiful plate of food!

So thankful for this favorite Thanksgiving so far.

Post Ragnar Vegas Trip

It worked out perfectly that Bryan had a conference in Vegas starting the day after Ragnar ended.  We rented a condo and me and some of the girls stayed in it Saturday night.  They all left in the morning and I spent the day relaxing while Bryan and the boys left the major snow storm of Salt Lake City and drove down.
What a perfect way for me to recover!  It warmed up a little bit over the time we were there, enough to sit in the hot tub or sit by the pool and read.



The boys had a blast playing with each other in the pools and hot tub. 

They all spent many hours playing in the putting green.  Jonah probably could have stayed there all day if we had let him. 

We went to the Ethel M chocolate factory and toured and had some yummy peanut brittle.  Yes Brandon and Jacob think they are so funny.

They had these amazing cactus gardens there and they were all light up and ready for the holiday season.

Maybe the funnest part of the trip was Bryan having a microsoft sponsored party one night at Mandalay Bay with a private concert from Bon Jovi!  It was very cool.  I begged people for an extra wristband and found one to let me in.  Good times!
The boys and I flew home Wednesday night so Brandon didn't miss too much school.  Jonah was so excited to fly home.  He slept most of the way and did not wake up as I carried him through the airport, out to my Dad picking us up and all the way home.

A very nice little break from the daily and busy school days!

Vegas Ragnar

Third time at Vegas Ragnar and my sixth overall.  I actually gave up my official spot on the team about 3 weeks before the race.  I have been dealing with a couple hip issues and they were so inconsistent I gave my spot to Kylie, but came along as an alternate.  It was weird not being an actual runner, but I ended up running 3 legs.  I filled in for someone sick and ran with young Ali at night and ran with Jenny on one of her legs.  I felt better about being able to do the running I wanted to.  It was quite cold for the whole thing so it was hard to enjoy supporting each other.  We did something we had never done and rented a hotel room.  It just worked out that it was at 2 of the major exchanges so we got to sleep in it twice.  That was different, but very nice.  I missed having Whitney there terribly.  Hopefully we can run together again soon.
 
Me, Brianne, Kylie, Ali, Jen, Steve

Overlooking Lake Mead

Cheering on Kylie

Halloween 2012

(Can you tell my goal this week is to get caught up?)

Probably my favorite holiday, Halloween!  I love dressing up and looking at other people dressed up.  I don’t mind the kit kats I end up with at the end of the day either.

I didn’t plan what I was going to be until it was time to be dressed up.  So not as good as I wanted to.  Brandon was still at football practice when things got started.  He did later on dress up, but no one followed my instructions of taking a picture of him.

Jacob dressed up as some crazy hobo/clown, I wasn’t thrilled with it.  Jonah was a DARLING spider.  I loved the costume and luckily was able to convince him that it was what he wanted to be.

The night was fantastic.  It was about 70 degrees.  Lovely weather to walk around the neighborhood and enjoy greeting all our friends.

Marles

My best dog, at least during this stage of my life, died October 30.  He actually is not my dog, but has been just as much my dog as any.  Nate bought him as a new pup back in 2001.  He spent several years trying to stay alive in Logan while Nate was a college student.  He then spent years living wherever Nate was and that meant for about 3 years he lived with us.  He also spent weeks at a time with us while Nate would be traveling.  Sometimes he would just come over for a vacations.
He was the sweetest dog.  I spent many hours running with him, feeding him, scooping up dog poop and just having him in my company.  My kids adored him.  Jacob insisted he was his dog for many years.  Marley was so gentle with the kids, I never had to worry.  Boy that week was a tear jerker as he had to leave this life.  I had told him it was OK for him to die and that we would spent many hours together in the next life.
I am a dog lover and being a baby sitter to dogs is the perfect solution for us.  We don’t have to have the responsibility, but get to spend lots of time with them.

Saying goodbye to old Grandpa Marles

What a cute boy.  With Bentley looking in.