Catching up...

So here we are in November and it has been three months since my post. I figure I better get one more in before the end of the year. Summer and now Fall has flown by so quickly. Especially now that Gavin is in Kindergarten and Xander in preschool, I feel like I live in my car with the pick-ups, drop-offs, volunteering, errands, sports, etc. It is so very fun and busy. Lets see...

Over the summer Jason and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. Wow, has that much time really gone by? It was the perfect day. I decided last year we would take turns planning our anniversary, so this was Jason's year. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was a day of "all the things we have said we will do and haven't since having kids". He planned kyaking in the mountaions, horse back riding, the adult denver art museum, dinner downtown, and a movie at a VIP theater. Again it was the perfect day! And I am so glad to say after so many years, I am still head over heels for him .

I just ran my first half marathon in Moab, Utah. It was amazing. I hadn't ever run further than 8 miles (in my training), and ended up running the whole thing and shaved 30 minutes off my predicted time. I think I will stick to 5K and 10Ks for a while, the training is way too time consuming with little one's still home. To all you that run full marathons, your my hero, I could never do that! Jason, thanks for all your support and such a fun little trip:)

After lots of persuading, I finally flew, by myself, with our kids to visit my family in Vegas. The kids had a blast and it was fun to spend Halloween with their grandparents. Piper only threw up once on the plane, but besides that the kids did great. We might just have to make this a yearly tradition during the 2 week fall break:)

Crazy Lady...

See how horrible I am about posting. I have been running around crazy these last couple months. Now that school has started, I might just be on a better schedule. However, I am pretty intimidated by all of your blogs. So updated and fun! My cousin even has a tracker on how often everyones blogs have been updated, so this is for her, now my ticker won't say 2 months it will say 1 day:) I will try to post some pictures in the next couple weeks. This is still a work in progress for me.

Breckenridge

We took a quick weekend up to Vail to watch Jason in a mountain bike race. This is the first one I have taken the kids to. They had a blast, I was suprised how many kid friendly activities there were in Vail. I'll say the trek up the mountain to see the race wasn't so friendly though. And if I do it again I will be taking my burley stroller, not the giant double stroller. Yeah crazy lady pushing her kids up the mountan into holes, roots, etc. Besides making sure Xander wasn't constantly running to the overflowing stream behind us, the kids were really great and it is always so great to see Jason in his total element, doing what he loves:)

The Boulder Boulder 10K

What a rush! In my life the farthest I have run is 4.5 miles and that wasn't even recently. Until the Boulder Boulder. For those not local to Colorado, it is a race of about 54,000 runners that falls on Memorial Day. My goal wasn't to run the whole thing just finish in under a certain time, especially since I hadn't really trained for this distance and an certainly not an athlete. Well, I ran the entire 6.2 miles and made great time. It was so much fun I am going to start training for a half marathon in October.

I owe many thanks to my own personal cheerleader, thanks babe:)

BYU girls weekend

I couldn't believe it, my sisters, sister-in-law, mom and I were all able to make it to BYU women's conference. This is a first as far as girls weekends go and hopefully not the last. It was the time of my life. It was so fun to hear uplifting speakers, do service projects, and just be together. We were even lucky enough to hear the Prophet as one of the speakers. Even though I had such an amazing time, I was so excited to get home and implement all that I had learned. I felt my tesimony grow, and I continue to be so grateful to be apart of this great gospel. The joy and direction it brings to my life is indescrible. I am so glad there are experiences like these available. This has made such an impression in me:)

Me, Jen, and Viktoria (my sister-in-law)



Our Prophet, President Monson

(Sarah, me, Mom, Jen, Jason, Adam)

It was also nice to see my brother and his family, before they move to his new job in Texas. He gratuated from BYU in May.

Jason did an amazing job with the kids while I was gone. I told him not to worry about taking the kids around, but being the great dad that he is, he took the kids everywhere. They had a blast, but were glad when mom finally came home:) Thanks for being the best dad ever Jason! Here are some cute snapshots they took while I was gone:) (will have to post later, scanner isn't working)

Xander turns 3

I can't believe my little boy is three! He is growing up so fast and getting bigger and bigger. So I usually try to make the kids cakes (no other decorative baking). Past years have't been so bad, this year however, not so cute. Xander asked for a ice cream train cake. At least it tasted yummy:)

So we did all his favoite things..... Train ride to downtown Denver...

Mac and Cheese Lunch.....

Carmel candy apples with Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Erin....

And water balloon tosses in the backyard. Happy Birthday Xander!

Gavin's Graduation

Kind of silly they have graduation for Pre-school, but I think it is more for the parents than the kids. Graduating from childhood to growing up. Gavin will start kindergarten in August and even though he is very ready, I'm not too sure I am. We were so lucky to get such an amazing teacher this year. We will miss her tons. Congrats Gavin:)

Perfect Day

We love to hike and some go better than others, but this was one of those perfect days, not to mention perfect picture.

Happy Mother's Day!

How lucky we were to have Jason's grandparents come for a visit over Mother's Day weekend. We just love getting to see them and can't believe they are still making the drive from Utah to visit. I love seeing them surrounded by all of their family and get teary seeing what has come from just the two of them. I am so grateful my children have these treasured times with them. Thanks you two, we all love you so!

Moab

I can't get over how beautiful Moab is. Of course I probably won't ever see it from these angles in person, since I am not as crazy as my husband in the biking department. I love to Bike in the Mountains (paved trails, crushed gravel:). But Jason's biking takes things to a whole new level. The rides that are sheer uphill for miles, climbing over rocks, roots, with a feeling of wanting to puke from the exersion, is his kind of ride. He has really gotten into the racing side too. My favorite :( is the 50 mile mountain bike race in Keystone. All I can say is crazy.

Here are some shots from his yearly Moab trip with his friends. Now I normally don't have a problem with his trips, but this time Piper decided to get sick for the first time and puked non-stop for 5 days. This I have to say was a first for me. I guess everyone has to have puke all over their house at least one time, now hopefully the last.

Papaw and Mimi

What a blast we had when Papaw and Mimi came for a visit. It was the cutest thing, Piper who is Miss. Picky when it comes to who holds her (no one but Jason or I), took to Papaw instantly. Talk about best friends. We always wish they could stay longer, hopefully we can get out to Vegas to see them this summer. The boys would just be in heaven with all the tractors.

Happy Easter!

It is holidays like this that having a girl is so much fun. Of course Xander can not be without a car and Gavin is just smiling hoping one of these shots will turn out:)

I'm not sure why we didn't try getting a family shot.

Piper's 1st Birthday!

So Piper is sharing her birthday with Easter this year. Today is her birhday and the day of our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. The boys had a blast and Gavin even found the golden coin, among hundreds of eggs, and won a cool basket.

Piper is also lucky enough to share her birthday with her Grandpa Reynolds. We had a big celebration for her, Grandpa, and Aunt Erin (March 24) at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I can't believe my little girl is one. Time is flying by way too fast. (I think this picture above looks a lot like my sister Jen when she was little:)
Ever the dainty eater.
Grandpa and Piper, March 22nd birthdays:)

Cute Hair or Cute shoes?

So I thought one of the benefits of having a daughter was enjoying the cute hair with ribbons and clips. Well Piper will have no such thing. And yes, I have been trying since she was born. The hair things either end up in her mouth, lost, or with one of her brothers. So in trying to create cute hair, without clips, I tried curlers. I think the pictures speak for themselves. Either I don't know what I am doing (most likely) or she just doesn't have enough hair yet. Bozo the

clown anyone?

One the rare occasion she is distracted enough to not notice, or she has fallen for the booby clip, it looks so cute! I will say one thing, she may not like things is her hair, but my little girl LOVES! shoes. She loves putting them on, wearing them, and is alway seeking them out. In my closet, the store, etc. I guess shoes are a pretty good trade off.

Welcome 2008!

It wasn't exactly the way we planned on spending the new year... Xander ended up in the hospital with RSV for 5 days, right through the new year. Since we were pretty much thrown off, OUR actual new year started on the 7th:) Xander made a full recovery and we were able to make it to one of our favorite traditions, the Zoo Lights. Thanks so much, family, for all your help, calls, emails, and prayers. They were much needed and appreciated.