Halloween Night

Halloween night started out pretty rough. We got POURED on at the ward trunk-or-treat, so we huddled together under umbrellas and sloshed through puddles from car to car. It really wasn't too bad, but Preston was SOAKED by the time we were done because he kept running ahead of the umbrellas. But you would never know it by looking at his face; he was just as happy as ever.

We dressed up as Toy Story characters this year: Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Bo Beep, and Little Lamb. I borrowed a lot of the stuff from friends and family. Our good friends in Wyoming even surprised us and shipped us their boots and cowboy belt for Ryan because I couldn't find any his size! We were so grateful. I made Ryan's vest, Addie's chaps, and embroidered Addie's shirt. It was fun getting it all together.

Jessie!

Preston refused to call any of us by our real names that night. He yelled "Bo Peep!" when he wanted me or "Woody!" when he wanted Ryan. Oh, and if you can't tell, he's eating a piece of candy in this picture. This boy LIVES for candy! I don't know what I'm going to do with him.

Probably my favorite part of the night was trick-or-treating house to house along the street where Ryan grew up. It had finally stopped raining and it was dark, just like I remember it when I was a kid.

We visited both Ryan's mom and my parents to show off our costumes and take pictures. Here's another group shot.

Addie knew all the right Jessie poses.

Woody with his "girlfriend" Bo Peep. :)

Pumpkins

Ryan and Preston carved an awesome ghost (mostly Ryan).

Adelyn and I carved a crazy pumpkin face (mostly Adelyn).

Personalities

Adelyn has her dramatic, wants-to-be-a-beautiful princess side...

and her crazy, party-animal side.

Annalise has her serene, angelic side...

as well as her studious, adventurous, busy-body side.

But Preston, he really only has one major personality characteristic...being completely rambunctious and full of mischief!! (Okay, maybe that's two, but you get the idea.)

Gardner Village

Ryan took the kids up to Gardner Village with some of his family while I was at work. This has been one of our favorite pre-Halloween traditions. They looked in the shops, took pictures, and ate some fudge from the candy shop.

Ryan's beautiful little sister Amber.

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins...

A very intense picture of Preston with his laser sword. He looks like he just met Darth Vader.

Joy School Update

Preston has been just LOVING Joy School. He is so lucky to be able to spend two mornings a week playing and learning with his very best friends. He has already learned so much.

This picture was taken on our nature walk to Adventure Land Park. The kids were able to feed the ducks, explore nature using their "nature viewers," and have a yummy snack.

But of course their favorite part was playing on the playground. The boy just behind Preston in the green is Stanley. He is Preston's favorite little friend in the world. He lives just across the street so they get to play together almost everyday. They were even born on the exact same day!

My friend took these pictures when she hosted the kids at her house. The kids were able to roll out their own dough and help make their snack. We try to make everything we do with them hands-on for multi-sensory learning.

I think this picture is so cute because the kids are all taking a short "nap" (or pretending to) before being woken by the "wake-up fairy". Preston looks like he's totally out. Faker!

I got to host the kids a few weeks ago when we were doing the "Joy of Nature" unit. My camera was broken, but the kids had a fabulous time visiting my neighbor's huge garden where she taught them a little bit about how plants grow. Each of the children got to pick their own apple fresh from a tree and clean off all her raspberry bushes. Yum!

This is the six Joy Schoolers (plus a little sister) at their Halloween Party. They got to decorate pumpkins, sing Halloween songs, and eat pumpkin bread. Then they did a little parade for the moms to show off their costumes. It was so cute.

First Steps

Annalise is now a walking girl. She took her first unassisted steps on August 29.

Now she has moved on to bigger and better things like:

Riding Preston's tricycle (while sporting Addie's bike helmet),

And driving Mom's car.

Over the last few months, Annalise really has transformed from a baby to a big girl. She has apparently been watching us pretty closely this past year, because now that she can move, she has taken over the house.

Lately, she has started helping out with the house work. She puts the dishes away from the dishwasher (wherever she can fit them in the cupboards), uses a rag to clean up the floor, and puts the clothes in the washer to be washed (whether they need it or not).

But the best thing about Annalise are her hugs; they are the tightest and longest hugs EVER. She is so affectionate and loving. Anytime Ryan and I sit or lay down, she will sit or lay down on top of us (and often start bouncing). She loves to read stories, sing songs, and gabber all day long. She is such a fun little girl. We love her dearly. . .

and she can still make a mess like the best of 'em.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Adelyn had picture day at her school. I love how her pictures turned out. She looks so sweet and innocent. But immediately after I saw them, I thought of another picture I had seen once upon a time...
Who's this little kindergartner? Okay, I confess, it's me. Adelyn and I could totally be twins! The only difference is that her curls are real; mine are fake (well, they're from wearing curlers all night--SOOO uncomfortable!!). Well Adelyn is on her way to becoming just like me, despite my desperate attempts to steer her otherwise. She was awarded "Student of the Month" in her class for September. But the little humble sweetheart didn't even tell us! I found the certificate while fishing through her backpack. Who knows how long it'd been there!

And then a few weeks ago, I went to parent-teacher conferences. But because they didn't have the kindergarten students come this time, I asked Adelyn if there was anything she'd like me to tell her teacher. She said, in all seriousness, "You should tell her that she needs to give us quizzes and more homework." I laughed my head off. I really need to warn her what she's getting herself into.

Running Myself into the Ground

So, I've been running a lot lately. I started getting up at 5:00am and running with a group of multi-marathoners. After a few mornings talking with them, I started to feel like quite a loser that the longest I had ever raced (other than the Ragnar relay) was a 10K. Running a marathon has always been one of my lifetime goals. But after running a 15-mile training run one Saturday, I decided a half marathon was a more appropriate goal for this year. The plan was to run the Sojo Half Marathon on September 25. It was a perfect course: a gradual downhill descent from Copperton Park to the Jordan River trail in South Jordan. It ran right passed my high school coach's house and across many of the cross country training runs of those days, and also right passed my sister's backyard.

Race day was beautiful. We took buses to Copperton before sunrise. I saw my cousin Jenny who I have completely lost touch with and we chatted a little before the race to calm each other's nerves. The beginning of the race was wonderful. My only race strategy, however, was not to go out too fast, which was, of course, exactly what I did. Because I didn't have a GPS watch, I didn't realize I was running 6:49 pace until the end of mile two. I felt like I slowed down the next few miles, but then as I hit my split at end of mile four, I realized I had actually sped up slightly. I found this older man who was trying to hit 7:15 pace like me, so we stuck together for the next few miles. But he is apparently no better at pacing than I am and we still went sub-7:00. By the half-way mark, I knew I had to slow down and was actually starting to feel somewhat fatigued already. I had just taken sips of water at the first few aid stations, barely breaking stride. I started to slow down a little more at the stations and get a little more water in me.

Each mile got much harder. As I started to count down the miles, I really started to wonder how I was ever going to finish. With two miles to go, my body started to completely check out. It was screaming at me to stop running, but somehow my will to finish screamed louder. I dropped way off my splits and started walking through the aid stations. I suddenly felt really hot; my mouth really dry; my body completely wasted. I started seeing and hearing strange things (the psychology world would refer to this as hallucinating): the finish-line time clock, my high school coach, my college coach...everyone looking more disappointed at my poor performance. My thoughts became more negative and fuzzy. With one mile to go, I started to stagger and some race volunteers told me I really should pull out, that I looked ill. I told them I had to finish, but they stayed with me. That last mile felt like a lifetime (it was actually a grueling 24 minutes). I don't remember coming onto the homestretch, but apparently Ryan saw me and raced out to meet me and supported me through the finish line, where I fell to the ground unconscious.

The next hour was a haze of endless questions, wrenching nausea, and indescribable pain. Although I tried to convince the medics I was perfectly fine, I found myself in the back of an ambulance headed for the ER. I was completely disoriented and my body felt detached from my head. My body didn't move correctly; my voice was all wrong; the race seemed years ago. I asked my diagnosis. Dehydration. Was that really all? I had never felt worse in my life, or more scared. I felt like I was dying.

Well, to make a long story shorter and sum it up, after 4 1/2 hours in the ER, four liters of fluid, an EKG, and a battery of labs and questions, they finally said my labs had improved enough that I could go home. By then, I had come back to myself, somewhat, and knew who I was again. I went home and was still very nauseated and weak for many hours into the evening. But I was alive and that's all that mattered. I sure gave my parents and Ryan (and myself) quite a scare.

So, I've been asking myself what is to be learned from this crazy experience, besides the obvious of DRINK A LOT OF FLUIDS when you're running in the scorching heat. But the real lesson is that I need to pace myself, not just in running, but in all parts of my life. What's the point of a great start when you have nothing to give when it really matters? Too often in my life, I find myself pushing myself to my limits and then crashing, trying to fit way too much into each day or week. It seems pretty obvious that I cannot be everything and do everything I want to today, but bit by bit I can hopefully build a life I can be proud of. I also need to take better advantage of the aid stations (family, friends, and especially God), not just when I realize I am struggling, but throughout this race of life. Years ago, my high school seminary teacher directed me to a scripture that had a profound effect upon me, and I think it definitely applies: "...Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2).

I have also thought a lot about death. It has never been something real to me until this race. I'm not sure how serious my condition really was, but I know that without the good care I received, I would have been in serious trouble. How terribly fragile our bodies are! A measly 13-mile run in the heat and I totally lost myself physically and mentally. That's pretty frightening. I feel like I have been given the opportunity to see my life with new eyes. I see my family, especially my husband and my kids, with much better clarity. Am I living every day I have with them to its fullest? Do those closest to me know how much I love them? I'd like to think that this experience has been somewhat of a gift. Although I am not at all looking forward to my outrageous medical bills, I figure it is a small price to pay if I actually learn something meaningful and live a little better as a result.

For the unabridged (even longer) and slightly more personal version of this story, click here.

Back to School

My dear little Adelyn started kindergarten on September 1st. She was very excited! I thought she would have no problem at all, but as I dropped her off the first day she was squeezing my hand really hard and I asked her how she was and she said, "I am REALLY nervous Mom." I helped her introduce herself to a few girls which helped a little.

Here she is in front of the big tree outside the kindergarten entrance.

She's ready to join the line of kindergartners and march into school. I drove away and was just sick the whole time she was gone. I was so relieved when she came skipping out to meet me at the end of the day. I knew we were both going to be alright.

Adelyn also learned how to ride her bike without training wheels this past month. She is absolutely lovin' it and finds every excuse to ride her bike. We biked to her school one day during the first week of school and she was able to show Preston her playground. She thought that was just about the best family activity ever.

Preston also started Joy School this last week. He and four other neighbor boys (along with one girl) have a blast learning about different things. The moms take turns hosting all the kids and teaching them about the Joys of life. The first unit is on the Joy of the Body. Yesterday he learned all about his five senses and got to taste, touch, smell, listen, and see many new things. It has been really fun for him and he is very proud that he is big enough to go to "school."

For Just Two Dollars...

...We get to have a blast every Tuesday in August at Thanksgiving Point. Admittedly, I am quite a cheap person overall and hate paying full price for ANYTHING. So this Two-Dollar Tuesday thing is a very joyous experience for me. We rarely visit Thanksgiving Point any other time of year, but totally get our fill in August.

We went to the Children's Garden the first time with my mom and two sisters (Camille and Rebekah). Adelyn's best friend in the whole world is her cousin Eliza, who she doesn't get to see very often now because she lives in Washington. But they had a blast at the garden together. The above pic is Addie sharing her towel with Eliza at the splash area.

The next time we went to the Children's Garden, we brought our neighbors from across the street, William and Leah. Incidentally, Leah is one of the only other girls on our street (there are about 20 boys!) so Adelyn and Leah have become very good friends lately.

Annalise LOVED playing in the sand. She got it everywhere, but it was definitely worth it to see her this happy.

The whole crew at the garden's caterpillar.

The kids went to the Dinosaur Museum twice as well, once with Ryan while I was at work and once with me while he was at work. They always have a great time, although Annalise was stuck in the stroller most of the time.

A cute dinosaur picture of Addie and Preston.

We also love Farm Country. Adelyn takes advantage of any opportunity to ride a pony and seems to get more confident every time.

Preston, however, prefers wagon riding to pony riding. He also just adores seeing all of the animals. He still talks about Farm Country often and wants to go back everyday.

Annalise had her share of fun too. Here she is with Ryan looking at the rabbits.

A darling picture of Addie with a peacock feather. I heart Thanksgiving Point! Thank you for making my August Tuesdays memorable.

Annalise's Portraits

My little baby girl is one. She is such a joy to have in our family. She is pretty mild-tempered, although she does not like being thwarted in anything. She has no interest in learning to walk yet, but she can get anywhere she wants to using her amazing speed-crawling and climbing skills. She eats like a horse, but no one believes it because she is still so little. She prefers to drink from a cup, even though she spills it all over her. She already refuses to wear a bib. She loves people and animals, singing and laughing. She still lets me cuddle and sing her to sleep in my arms, for which I am very grateful.

An eye-lash shot.

This is an expression I see a lot from her.

Oh, those eyes...

A more serious close-up.

Seeing her with these flowers reminded me of another one of her talents--getting into things and making big messes. Adelyn and I have nicknamed her "Baby Bulldozer!" She is very curious and determined. She is so fun to watch.

Annalise is such a precious little girl. We love her so much.