Giving Thanks...

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is always a joy to spend holidays with family and friends.

We traveled to Bakersfield, California to visit my family. The trip takes about 8 hours. We left on Wednesday and it RAINED hard the entire way. It was a bit strange to travel while it was raining since we haven't had any rain in months. Thanks to John we made it safely.

On Thanksgiving day and after a few cups of coffee, I started off my day with a short, 6 mile run (yes, the streets were wet), but it made me feel better to get out and exercise before I started eating everything. My mom, Sydney and I worked all morning getting the bird ready and all of the goodies that go along with it. She had her house decorated so pretty. She usually goes all out. Everyone started to arrive about 2:30 p.m. My Nana, my oldest brother, Scott, and his wife, Janell, and their girls, Jenna, Allison, and Emily all came to eat with us. Jenna and Allison brought their boyfriends. It was really great to visit and eat together. Of course after we ate and cleaned up, we dug into the pies.

My kids love to visit Pa and Mema. They love playing with everything at my parents house. My dad has a workshop in his garage with everything in it. They build things and then paint them.... they could spend all day out there. Lucky for me I get to bring it all home. Thanks dad! They live in a cul-de-sac and the kids also enjoy a good old game of catch.

At 4:00 am on Friday we started home. It was great because the kids went back to sleep and slept for 3 hours. It made the trip quicker.

Happy Halloween


Halloween is always a fun time of year. We get together with friends and walk around the neighborhood. This year one of my neighbors had the street blocked off (at both ends). This made it easier for all of the kids to run across the street from house to house. Once we circled the entire neighborhood, we came back to our street and the block party began. There was so much food. We stayed out way too late, but had lots of fun.

Sydney was a pirate, and Jack was Iron Man. LJ decided to go as a football player since his friend was dressing up too. He didn't have to try too hard to put together his costume. I think that LJ JUST wanted the candy. The kids really love to get as much candy as they can.

Running like the wind...

Ok, most of you know that I am training to run the PF Changs Marathon in January. I have been training with my neighbor, Becky. This will be my first; however it will be Becky's second. I can't believe what an awesome running partner she is. When we decided to run the full marathon, she printed out a training schedule and away we went. We have been working so hard. I hope getting up at 4:15 am to get ready for our runs is worth it. We are now up to 18 miles (2 hours and 49 minutes) which we just ran this morning. Since we start when it is still dark, we thought that we better purchase some headlights. We laugh and wonder how much more stuff we can carry with us while running. We wear reflectors, carry mace spray (watch out - we know how to use it), water/gatorade, and gel refuel stuff. Here we are with our headlights on. We look like dorks, but they are so cool. They really help us see. While it is dark, we have been very careful running. We went through one part of the canal (by Gilbert downtown) that had some pretty bad construction going on. I am surprised that we didn't break anything or fall in a hole. Here we are with the before and after pictures from this morning. Do we look tired? Thanks Becky for keeping me on track and getting me back to the house in one piece. You are AWESOME!

Before

After

Happy Fall!

Ok, I am now just updating my blog. I know I have been bad. Shame on me.

We have been very busy. John and I finished up our final "mini tax season." Hope everyone remembered to file their tax returns. Yes, this is always a lovely time of year, but glad it is over. Hint: For those of you who are late filers, START ORGANIZING YOUR PAPERWORK AND FILES NOW for next year. You will love me for giving you this advice by the time April 15th comes around...

I am still running, and my Sunday runs are now up to 14 miles. Next week I will run 16 miles. Gee, can't wait. John has been running a bit as well. He takes Sydney and she is now running 2 miles without stopping. She is awesome. Keep up the good work Sydney!

We had spring break this week and have been enjoying our beautiful weather. Even the dogs love the sun. Aren't they cute! Wouldn't it be nice to NAP in the sun all day?

The kids have also been busy. They have been swimming, playing, and bowling. LJ beat me in four games. He is getting really good. At this point I still bowl more strikes than he does (which is pure luck, by the way) and he still wins. Go figure.

The kids are still enjoying the pool. I can't believe how cold the water is already. My kids are crazy. After they swim, they run upstairs and take a very long warm shower.

LJ is still playing football on two teams and doing well. He prefers flag football to tackle. We only have a few more games and then he will be done with both. He was excited to hear that he made the All-Star team for his flag team at school.

Next up is Halloween. We have so much fun. I will send pictures of the kid's costumes. Bye for now...

Meet Our Family

Our oldest son, L.J., is now 13. Yikes! Time goes by so fast. He is now in 8th grade and plays on two football teams (flag for his school and tackle with Top Flight). He LOVES his video/computer games and is quite good at them. He buys a game and beats it within a few hours.

Jack is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. He is such a sweetheart. Jack is always trying to please everyone and works really hard at school. He loves to watch sports on TV and really enjoyed watching the Olympics. Good job USA! We rock!





Our princess, Sydney, is 9 years old (going on 21) and in the 4th grade. She is VERY competitive when it comes to sports and is quite the swimmer. You just wait, she will be in the Olympics winning gold medals for the USA! She is a very good student and loves to read, shop, shop more, clean house and make dinner... She is a huge help to me in the house.

We also have three dogs (all yellow labs), Jet, Lucy and Zin. They are awesome dogs but a handful at times. They love to swim in the pool (we're talking taking laps), sleep, eat, and poop.
Here are some pictures of Zin. He is the only one who will pose for a photo.

We had a great summer. We started off our vacation with a trip to Disneyland with FASTPASSES! They are a MUST for a Saturday trip to Disneyland. We didn't have to wait to get on any ride. We even went on some more than once. Then we headed to good old Pismo Beach, California (about 2 hours north of Santa Barbara). We met family and friends and had a wonderful time. The weather was much cooler and the food was yummy! (What's up with my hair??)

We also took a trip to Sedona. It was beautiful. We had a great time on our Pink Jeep Tour and climbing on the rocks.

The kids have been back to school now for about three weeks and are adjusting well.