"Today's the big day! It's Halloween!!!" -Will

The Hunt

 Will is growing up; another milestone this month- his first hunt!!!  I remember my Dad taking Clay hunting when he was a little boy (3 YEARS OLD!), and I've always been excited for when my own son could go with his dad.  They took Grandpa Craig along for the ride, too.

Dallas said that Will was an excellent hiker.  He helped in the hunt by carrying a giant stick around and hitting trees with it.  Will said he was going to knock one of the treees down so the deer would trip and then he could hit it with his "mighty weapon" and kill it.  (The stick= mighty weapon).

No, they didn't get a deer :).

They did, however, get a grouse!  And they hunted down some pretty good memories along the way.

Huge Vegas

"Huge Vegas," as Annie called it, was a delight this last weekend. Who knew Vegas was perfect in October?  My Mom went with the kids and me for our little adventure.  After staying the night in St. George, a quick drive by the temple, we were on our way to fun!

Don't I look so much like my Mom?  We even have the same head tilt.

My kids were smitten with my Aunt Sue.  (Annie called her "Uncle Sue" for awhile and it reminded me of when we were kids and we would call my Grandpa Bill "Grandpa Lola" by accident.)

They loved playing in the hot tub the most- it was a little cool for the pool.  Will is so brave and loves to just jump in and swim around- even with his head under water without plugging his nose.  We've never put him in swimming lessons and we need to.  I don't want him to be 27 and not be able to swim like some other people we know....

Moving on.

The reason for the trip!  I hopped on a spot to run Las Vegas Ragnar with a girl named Rachelle whom I met through my running blog.  She is an incredible runner and I was excited to be  a part of her team.  Here we are at the start- we were Van 2.

Heather Dennis, Rachelle Wardle, Ken Bluemel, Julia Hubbard, Travis Wardle and me.  Van 2 from the team "7 Studs and Their Showgirls."

It was a totally different experience running a race with 5 strangers.  We all became fast friends and I was grateful that they were all so positive and great cheerleaders (which is the most important thing when it comes to Ragnar)!

My first leg was on a trail and was unsupported.  It was uphill for the first 3 miles and I gained 550 feet in elevation, and the last 6 tenths was a downhill slide.  I ran hard, had 20 kills, and finished my leg with an 8:02 average pace.  This was by far the fastest I had ever run uphill!

My second leg was at 1:30 AM on the outskirts of Vegas.  It was my favorite of the race.  (Night runs usually are!)  It was cool and I just cruised along at a comfortable pace.  I saw 4 shooting start, ran in the pitch dark, and finished chasing the lights of Vegas- so sweet.  I ran the 3.9 with a 7:09 average pace and ended up with 38 kills.

I'm not going to lie- I missed my normal running girlfriends terribly!!!  I finally got to see Mindy and Marissa at exchange 30 and it made my entire day.  As much fun as I had with my new team, it didn't hold a candle to dancing our way through the Wasatch Back.

Me with my running partner Mindy Kohler.

This is my very naive and excited smile before my final leg.  It was only 4.2 miles and I lost about 500 feet in elevation.  I was ready to rock it!  I was worried about the heat and was trying not to psyche myself out about it.... I failed.  I ran well until about 2.5 miles and then I thought I was going to die.  I haven't run in 85 degrees in MONTHS and it killed me.  I wasn't sweating, I started dry heaving, and I crashed.  Thankfully the run was short!  I still finished with a 7:43 average pace and had 6 kills.

The coolest part about this Ragnar- I NEVER HAD A SINGLE RUNNER PASS ME.

Looking Gazelle-ish, yes?

This was my third Ragnar Relay this calendar year, so I earned some major bling at the finish line- 3 medals!  Las Vegas finisher medal, Saints & Sinners (for running Vegas and Wasatch Back) and Deuces Wild (for running Vegas and Del Sol).  I learned a lot from this race and I was so grateful to have the experience of running it.

After the race was over I got my kids and My Mom and I went to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. The kids LOVED it.  Fish, elephants, gorillas, butterflies!  The price tag was worth it just to hear them exclaim over the balloons that they made for them as we waited for our dinner.

 

The trip was a success- even the 7 hour drive home!  We hope to be able to visit Aunt Sue and Uncle Mike again sometime soon.

There once was a little girl...

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good,

She was very, very good.

And when she was bad,

She was horrid.

Witches Night Out

 Halloween is here!  We've been enjoying festive crafts and endless bowls of candy at our house, but this last weekend provided our first opportunity to dress up!  I went to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village with my adorable sisters-in-law.  We had a blast gobbling up caramel apples, cinnamon almonds, and dancing until our feet couldn't take any more (literally).

Our real life kitty- Annie Kate!

What good is a witch without her kitty?

Annie was so sad she couldn't come to the "girl party" with me. I try to bring her along to most girl things I attend (showers, jewelry parties, etc), but they said that witches had to be 18 and over. Instead, Annie had a Kitty's Night Out with her brother and Daddy.

My witches!!!  Back: Me, Sierra, and Abby.  Front:  Kallie and Liesel

To top the weekend off, AMC's annual Fear Fest began last night!  That means two weeks of horror movies nonstop just for me.  Let the spooks begin!

Just an ordinary day.

It's the little things that make life wonderful- like lunch on a swing.

Will, Annie, Morgan and McKenzie

Mi Mama

Over Conference weekend my Mom and I bottled 32 quarts of peaches and 7 quarts of tomatoes for my food storage.  Of course by "my Mom and I", I really mean MY MOM.  I wanted to do it all, I did!  But something got in the way.

That something, was Annie Kate.

To be fair, she was only half of the problem.  The other half was a very sick little William.  I ended up taking him to InstaCare between sessions and the poor guy had strep.  His tonsils were so swollen that they were touching; his doctor called them "kissing tonsils".  After forcing my mother to complete my fall canning, subjecting her to a highly contagious infection, and making her deal with a temper-tantrum-throwing-terrible-two-year-old, we came home and crashed on the floor to watch Gnomeo and Juliet.

Sometimes life doesn't go exactly as planned.  It's these bumps in the road that make me so thankful for a mother that will not only do your canning for you, but do it with a smile.  She's the greatest.  I love you, Mommy.