What We've Been Up to This Fall

We've been gearing up for Halloween! The kids had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's for their annual "Halloween dinner."

We also went to the annual dinner pumpkin carving party at our friends' dentist office but ended up bringing our pumpkins home to carve so Jared could join in after football practice, which means . . .

Yep! We're still going strong. The Cowboys are in the playoffs and are one game away from the Superbowl. This means we schedule everything around football, including Halloween (smiling through gritted teeth here).


This also means soccer and volleyball are finished! Yea for Megan and Amanda! Amanda's last game was at mine and Nate's old middle school, Desert Hills, so I love going there and taking pics in the gym! I'm glad CMS won, though!

Last but not least, Bradley and I decided to get to the pumpkin patch on our own this year. We took advantage of a preschool field trip my sister teaches for and as a bonus got to hang out with my dear friend, Kirsten, and her daughter, Hayleigh. Kirsten teaches with Mindy at the preschool. They are in the center of the picture.


This is Bradley with cousin, Maddie:

Also, check out Kirsten's blog (forhisblessedchildren.blogspot.com) to learn about her exciting mission trip to China!
Happy Halloween everyone!

Eventually, if you eliminate the competition . . .

I've been somehow lured into the world of running over the past year and a half. Originally I thought it was just a more efficient way to get fit for the time I was lacking with four children to do so. Then, I ran my first couple of races and I found myself enjoying it a bit. I think the icing on the cake has been being able to run a race with some very important people in my life. As mentioned before, I ran my first couple of races with my sister who still drives me to compete and improve like no one can. We have so much fun together and this is one more way we enjoy being a part of each other's lives when we get a chance.

My longest race to date I was able to do with Jenny, who was the first person I wanted to share my "running adventures" with. Jenny has been passionate about running which was one of the first things I knew about her when we became fast friends our senior year. She has also been a roommate and supportive friend through college. I knew she would be encouraging and supportive even though she can run circles around me. It's fun to see a glimpse of what she's loved and worked at for years.

Just a few weeks ago kind of last minute I decided to do one more race before the weather turned cooler. This time I didn't have my sister or Jenny and my mom said, "I'll do it with you." My mom is very fit for her age but she does NOT like to run and I'm pretty sure she can walk longer and faster than I can run. However, my mom being the supportive mom and trooper that she is, got on board.

As the race progressed (just a 5K) I felt good and seemed to be staying with the pack. My time had improved (again, nothing spectacular but a PR for me)but I wondered where all the other runners were. I ran back to get my mom to finish with her but still didn't think that many people could be doing the half marathon instead. The next day I got a call from my sister saying a friend we knew who had stayed for the award's ceremony picked up my ribbon for me--I had won first place for my age group! She also picked up my mom's ribbon for second place for her age group. Not too shabby for two non-runners who run. I checked the race results later that week, wondering how I could have ran faster than anyone in my age group. As it turns out, there were five of us. I'm guessing the other four were pushing strollers or riding in wheelchairs or something. Everyone else my age seemed to be driven and capable of doing the half marathon. Whatever the reason, I'll take my first place ribbon--I don't think I've ever won first any individual athletic competition in my life and it was pretty fun! And of course, thanks to my wonderful mom who is game for anything if she can do it with her daughters. I love you!

4 Kids, 3 Sports, 1 Coach = Cure for Insomnia

Ahh, the time of year where I hate to admit we're overscheduled but all right there in the trenches together. Dinner at 8 pm, carpools, washing uniforms, team pictures . . . just another day in paradise. We're having fun and falling asleep before our heads hit our pillows at night. If you would like to join us see the links on the right:

Before and After, Back to School and Sher and Jer!

This is Bradley's first haircut! None of my kids needed haircuts until about 18 mos. old, so at 19 months, he is rignt on schedule. We cut all of his curls off (and saved them) and now he looks like such a big boy!






These are some first day of school shots--it was pretty cold out that day. Probably because I decided to wait until after school started to buy the kids pants.

And, last but not least . . .



We were so lucky to have Sherrie and Jeremy stay with us this weekend when they came to visit! We had a great time with them and my kids LOVED having them here. This picture was taken on my dad's boat--we went on a river tour(see Sherrie's blog for details). Sherrie, we hope you guys had a nice visit and we hope we can see you again soon!

Coming soon . . . soccer, football and volleyball schedules--here we go again!!

One More . . .

We had a great time with family in Lincoln City. Thanks for organizing it, Nannee and Papa! Great memories!

Slideshow Updates

I have much updating to do from the last few weeks! I'm going to start by subjecting viewers to more vacation slideshows. We can't get enough of those! These are from the Idaho trip. We also had a great day on the water at the Potholes with two of my lifelong friends, Trisha and Kirsten and their families. They both camped there for the weekend and I was a chicken about camping with Bradley and leaving for the coast the next week so we only came up for the day. We had sooo much fun we hope to go back and camp with them next year. I loved hanging out with Trisha and Kirsten and their families--it made me realize how much I miss them! Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for those who are tired of slideshows) I forgot my camera that day so you'll have to go to Kirsten's post http://thevickermanfamily.blogspot.com to take a peek.

Friends and Fun!

We recently had more fun reuiniting with friends and family taking a little vacation and accomplishing a goal I set for this year. First, the vacation. We attended our niece/cousin Jordan's baptism which was planned at the time of her dad's family reunion. This allowed us to spend some time with her uncle and our old friend, Danny and his family as well as the rest of the Fuhr family. We spent a day on the beautiful Spirit Lake in Idaho (minus Bradley) and had a great time on the water. I even let Danny pull me waterskiing! = ) We also spent a couple of days (one of them rather cold) at Silverwood Theme Park. More pictures later . . .
Here's Nate and Danny. For those of you who know Danny well, yes, he is touching Nate's "lober."
My good friend from high school and college, Jenny, and her kids came down just before we left for a quick stay. Most importantly though, we both ran a 10K race early Saturday morning. This was a goal of mine for this year and I believe it was the first time racing that distance for both of us. I have to just tell you, though, Jenny is my new running idol. She totally dominated--coming in first in our age group for the women and eighth for the women overall. She is amazing! I, well, er, I finished the race, which was my goal, I didn't walk and I didn't come in last! Overall, that is pretty good for me. It was so fun to have her and her kids here--my kids had a blast with them and if we decide we're crazy enough to try the race again, I'd look forward to it! Thanks Jen, for making the trip!