Over the River and Through the Woods...

Just the girls went to my Grandma's house while we were in AZ. We had such a good time. While we were there I had to stop by and see the first house TJ and I lived in. It looked just as rough as it was when we lived in it.

Grandma and the girls

We visited the Rival Rock at EAC. My dad's name is on it.

Me, Lyss, and Cass in front of the Gila Valley Temple

So pretty!

Christmas Time in the Valley

We spent the first part of our trip in Gilbert with Drew and Cassie. We had tons of fun. We went to see temple lights, hit Dairy Queen, ate pizza with all my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews (except for Joele, Jason, and Lyssa), watched Avatar, and ran tons of Christmas errands. It was fun to visit and catch up.

Uncle Kam and Bud with some of the littel boys.

Maura and Jada...always wanting to be twins.

Christmas lights at the AZ temple.

???

I bought Topher a potty seat thinking that we might be ready to start potty training....when I gave it to him I started having second thoughts....

Snow!

Topher before he got hit with a snowball....

Topher after he got hit with a snowball.


Throwing snow

Maura comforting Topher

The kids and their snowman...they were proud!

We had our first big snow last week and the kids were so excited. After a half day of school they got all of their snow gear on and went outside. They were determined to build a snowman so after 2 hours, they did it! Topher and I went out when it was finished and we had a big snowball fight for another hour. After 3 hrs. out in the snow, we all came off and had a big cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was so fun for me to get outside with the kids and be silly and laugh hard.

Thanksgiving

My friend Camille and I decided to run the 114th Annual Buffalo Turkey Trot (an 8K race (5 miles)). I was hesitant to do it at first because I've never been a good runner. Even when I was young and in shape it was hard for me to run, but she talked me into it anyway. We started training the first of November and before we knew it was Thanksgiving Day. I was so nervous the night before that I kept waking up every hour scared that my alarm wasn't going to go off. We got there just as the rush of runners started. We learned that was going to be 12,000 runners that day (a Buffalo record)! There were so many people it took us a while to actually get to the starting line, but once we were able to get a little elbow room, we were off! I started out with a big 'ol side ache, but eventually it subsided and I was good to go. We had a good chat, and enjoyed the view and conversation. At one point in the run we were on a little hill and as far as I could see in front of me were runners and as I looked back all I could see in back of me were runners. I know I sound like a first time racer, but I totally enjoyed the whole experience. It was nothing like I've ever done. As we got closer to the finish line we decided to go for the gusto and book it to the end. I got big goose bumps as I crossed the finish line and felt so proud of myself for doing it. I never thought in a million years that I would be able to run 5 miles without stopping and have energy to spare. I was thankful that day for a friend who encouraged me to reach beyond my limits, and for a healthy body that my Heavenly Father gave me to run that race. I will never forget it and I will never forget the feeling of working so hard toward a goal and completing it.

Maura the Native American.

I got to help in Maura's class when they had their Thanksgiving party. The kids were all dressed up like Native Americans because they learned about the first Thanksgiving. We got to play all kinds of fun games and the kids sang some songs. It was so cute!

Silly kids and unexpected visitors

I put my kids to work this week (actually they volunteered) and Topher was pulling out all of the stops. This is what we call "Extreme Mopping". He was on his belly just mopping away.

Maura wanted to show everyone this leaf she found that was bigger than her head.

Peek a Boo!

We looked out the window and found these visitors just beyond our backyard. If you look closely you can see five of them. They actually let me get pretty close to take their picture and then I left them to finish their snack...so cool!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! We hope your Halloween was as good as ours!

Topher tucked away in the back of the car

Enjoying the spoils of Trunk or Treat

Charlie's Angels? All of our "angels" are in the pic above (moms can have fun too...right?)

We never get pictures together so I had to add this one too.

Our Halloween dessert

Ready for Trunk or Treat (mom: CRNA, Timmy: Bumblebee, Maura: Tinkerbell, Topher: Fireman)

This was the only pic I could get of Topher with his hat on and it was with my phone...sorry for the orientation.