Halloween

This Halloween was so much fun. All three boys were so excited to go trick-or-treating, even Rhys which is funny cause he had no clue what it was until after we went to the first house. This year Rhys was old enough and could stay up with the boys so he went the whole route. Christian was so excited we had to tell him to wait for his brothers. Gavin was such a cute big brother, he helped Rhys up and down the stairs of each house. On the route we went by a lot that was building a new house and there was a Bob Cat tractor and when Rhys saw it he stopped and said "Wow, that is cool" and it took a little bit to get him going again. He really liked the tractor. The boys got a lot of candy and had so much fun this year. Christian was an Army Dude, Gavin was Bat Man and Rhys was a Duck but his duck hood would not fit, it was to tight.

Races

Rhys watching the boys' races.





Gavin about to cross the finish line.
Christian your doing great!
They did a huddle before each race.
The finish line is in sight.YES!!!

Over this past weekend I ran my first Marathon, the Chicago Marathon. My day started at 4 a.m. so that I could eat and make it to the train station before 5 a.m. The race started at 7:30 but since there were so many runners I didn't cross the start line until about 8. While lining up at the start I met another runner which I ended up running the whole race with except the last 3 miles when we lost each other. I am really glad that I had her to run it with otherwise it would have been hard since I didn't train all that well. She kept me going when I felt like stopping and walking. I know the next one I do I definitely am going to train much better for it. The weather was a little cold.I don't think it reached even 50 degrees. In a way it helped I never did feel overheated or real thirsty. I enjoyed being able to see the boys and Ross right before I crossed the finish line. It was a lot of fun to be able to run through all the different parts of Chicago.

The boys also had races this past week since they are in their schools running club. There were three different races that they could choose to do, a half mile, a fourth of a mile, and a full mile. They chose to do all three. The weather was cold and rainy which made it a little muddy.
I am so proud of them being able to finish all three of them. Gavin did the mile in about 9 min 55 sec and Christian finished it at 10 min 16 sec. They did so awesome!!

First Day of School

The first day of school was August 19th. But the boys missed the first three days of school because we were still in Utah visiting with my brother Jeremy since he just got back from being in Iraq. Gavin and Christian were excited for their first day, but were a little disappointed that MOM was going to walk them to school. I had told them that they could walk to school all by their selves this year since they are 1st and 3rd graders and only have to cross one street which has a crossing guard. But I still wanted to walk them the first day, so that I could get pictures.

Hot Dogs and S'mores Up the Canyon

We love going up the canyon and having campfires. One night while in Utah we went up the A.F. Canyon and had hot dogs and S'mores with family.It was fun, we sure do miss being able to do this.

Lets Take a Walk

Here is the rock he carried for half the walk.



One of our favorite things we used to do on Sunday while we lived in Utah was to go on a walk near Cedar Hills golf course and look for golf balls. So one Sunday Nana, Aunt Leslie and all of us took a walk. The boys both found 6 each. On the way back Rhys was slowing down quite a bit so how we got him to pick the speed up is we gave him a golf ball and he would throw it down the path and then go chase it, he loved doing this. If he was not able to get the ball because it went in the bushes he would hauler at the boys to get it for him, he had them trained just like puppy dogs. He also carried this huge rock for half the walk, I'm not sure why though because it had to be a little heavy for him. We really enjoyed our walk!

What a mess

Rhys found eye shadow and has watched mom put it on and thought he was able to do it also.


He also found a green ink pad.
I guess I should have been watching him a little more closely. It took a few days for the ink to come off of his hands. When we asked him what color his hands were he would say "orange", it was cute, but I guess I need to teach him his colors.

Happy 6th Birthday Christian!!

We were in Utah when it was Christian's birthday and he really enjoyed that because all his extended family was able to come to his party. When we asked Christian what kind of cake he wanted he said he didn't want a cake, that instead of a cake he wanted Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Which was a hit with everyone. One of the gifts Ross and I got him was a new back pack since he was going to be going to 1st grade when we got home. He is growing up to quick.
Happy Birthday Christian!!

Gavin's Baptism

I don't believe that Gavin is 8!! Where did the time go? Gavin was baptized by Ross on Aug 1st in our old Cedar Hills ward in Utah so that all out family was able to come and witness this step in Gavin's life . It was a wonderful experience for our family. I am so proud of Gavin and all the choices he has made in his life. Gavin has such sweet spirit and is such a great big brother. I am so glad that he is my son, he brings joy to my life each and everyday!!

So I am going to be updating my blog about the things we did over the summer but it may be out of order so bear with me.

Rhys' 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Rhys' birthday while we were in Utah. He is way into Curious George so he received a lot of presents "George" related. Ross and I got him a George that would tumble and do summer saults which my brother J.D. was opening when Rhys disappeared and when he came back he had his own play tools so that he could help open it, I guess J.D. wasn't going fast enough. It was cute that he wanted to help. We got him a cookie monster cake which was just adorable. Which at the age of two we stripped his shirt off of him to eat the cake other wise we would have had blue frosting all over his shirt. When we would ask him who's birthday it was he would say " Rhys happy day". I love this stage when they are starting to talk and you can actually understand what they are saying. But now we have entered into the terrible two's lets hope there isn't to much fit throwing.

Fishing With Grampy

On one of my dads days off we went fishing up to Deer Creek. Christian caught 2 fish with the help of mom on riling them in. He was way excited, but he was a little disappointed that they were both the same type of fish. I really enjoyed it cause I didn't have to chase Rhys around cause on a boat there was no where for him to go. Every once in awhile Rhys would get all flustered and want his life jacket off but once he noticed I was not going to take it off he stopped fussing. Gavin got several fish to bite but since he was trying to rill them in by his self he never actually caught one. But he would be the type that could fish all day long he has the patients for sitting around to get a bite, he really enjoyed it. Christian on the other hand, after he caught his fish and the excitement was gone and we were just sitting around waiting for the fish is when we heard a lot of complaining that he was bored and wanted to go. Grampy was not really able to fish because he was untangling fish lines and baiting the lines. Poor Grampy. Other than the complaining, we had a great time with Grampy and my sister Jamie fishing!!