More catching up

This is the way you will find Natalie every time she is wanting something or playing or walking or just talking to you. I LOVE those lips! It is the best thing in the world to see those lips come out. It has had me and Tyler laughing uncontrollably at times!

We decorated for Halloween! My kids were really excited that we had decorations up so they told all their friends to come look! So funny what brings excitement to little people! Tyler made the pumpkins for me out of old books.
He is such a crafter at heart (but don't tell him that I said that)

I love how the bats are 3 dimensional! Makes it look awesome in here :)

I found this bookshelf in our basement and painted it black. My first paint job so don't judge me. I have lots to learn but it was fun being thrifty like that.

See I told you she was walking! Isn't that the cutest face ever?

She walks all over the house now and it surprises me every time I see her!
She always has such a big smile every time too.

One Sunday I came outside and found them playing together like this!
I love these precious moments of sibling love!

My bragging...

I think everyone should have something to brag about. I ran my half marathon almost 3 weeks ago but I still wanted to update about it because I loved the race and want to remember how "awesome" I did! How is that for bragging? Most who know me know that I will almost never brag about myself. But I have learned that with running, I love it and it is something that I am good at. So bring on the bragging.

It was a perfect day for the race. The temp a the finish line was 51 and sunny! I felt good the whole race and kept thinking I was going to hit a wall but I never did. I just ran and ran and ran. And it felt wonderful! I finished in 1:48 which is a good time for me, shaving 10 mins off my last half. I honestly think I could shave a couple more minutes off and be at 1:45, which is what I am shooting for in my next half in May of 2012! (the weekend before Tyler graduates!)(I stole this picture from the race website so it is blurry but it still shows that I was running! I also think I may be a very serious runner, what do you think?)

Has it really been that long?

Times slips by so quick and blogging just hasn't been happening! We have had a wonderful summer and now heading into an amazing fall. We got to go home to St. George, Utah for 2 months and boy was it a much needed time. We played, we worked, we hiked, we swam, we had sleepovers, we played some more, and, of course, we ate a ton!
I love being with family and miss them dearly. Being back home reminded me how wonderful it is to have the support of so many loved ones around you. But my favorite part was watching my kids play with all their cousins. I really hope that we end up living by all our family when we are done with all this schooling!

Natalie turned 1 last month! Wow, let me tell you what a different baby she is compared to my other 3. She is into EVERYTHING and grins the whole time doing it! She is so much fun to have in our family and we are so in love with her and her awesome personality. She started crawling the week before we left for Utah and is now walking! She eats everything you put in front of her, climbs everything around her, and smiles at everyone who comes by her. Plus, she is by far our best cuddler. Especially to her Dad. She will choose dad over mom any day and loves to lay on his shoulder and his face!

She loved her cake and dug right into it!
See the pure contentment in her face
Barry loved the cupcakes too!
awesome cupcakes that Aunt Jessica made her herlove this picture of her while we were hiking on the red hill

this is so Natalie...crawling as fast as she can to get away but always
will stop and smile at you
Barry hiking on the red hill too!

He was a pro at jumping off the rocks and climbing up them

Girls dressing up and, of course, had to include Natalie
Hallie and Annie on the 2nd day of school. Hallie started 2nd grade and Annie started kindergarten. They love riding the bus together and love school lunch!!!
We loved hiking together this summer. The kids in front of the narrows on the red hill
Annie stopping to pose
love this pic of all 3 of them
We couldn't keep up with Hallie, she was a hiking maniac
Tat chose to hike this way and dad didn't seem to mind the company

My Buddy

Being the only boy in the family can be a little rough at times. But I think Barry does a pretty good job of defending his territory. I have been having so much fun with him lately and just wanted to write down a few of the things that have been so cute.

*He is by far our most obedient child. I never get past the count of 2 before he whispers "Otay Mom" and starts doing what I ask him.
*He loves to run and give me a hug. All I have to do is kneel down and open my arms and he giggles and full on sprints to me.
*He is starting to talk so much and loves to say "Hi" and "Bye" to everything.( Just imagine a little southern accent)
*He calls Tyler "Dee" and is always talking about him. "Mom, that Dees vroom?" "Dee you go running?" It is seriously one of my favorite things to hear him say.
*He is having a hard time giving up his binky and blankie. He knows that he can only have them on his bed so most of the day is going back and forth between playing and cuddling with his "eees" (blankie and binkie)
*He loves to cuddle me!
*He loves trains, cars, trucks, balls, basically anything that says boy!
*He has the most adorable and sweetest smile ever. All he has to do his bat his little blue eyes and smile and he gets whatever he wants.
*He has a great sense of humor and knows that he is funny. My girls are forever laughing at him because he is so funny.

We really are so grateful to have Barry in our family. He is so tender and lovable. We love that he puts up with all of us girls so well. Love you Buddy!

Aunt Cucca and stuff

Jessica and Luke came to visit us last week. It was great to finally see Luke again. The last time we saw him he was 3 weeks old. Boy had he changed...now we can't keep up with him and constantly are laughing at him! He really is the cutest little man and we had a ball with him. We made smoothies, worked out (once), shopped, moved, ate, had smores, and so much more. I love having family around. It is so wonderful the safe feeling that it brings. Thanks for coming Cucca! remember those hot dogs cucca? They don't look much different then last time we saw them.

Jessica timed it perfectly and came the same week that we moved. Yes, we moved. 4 houses down the street. Why? Where do I begin... A/C. Oh, and cheaper rent. Trying to prepare ourselves for the poor years of residency. But I love this house much more than the old one so I feel pretty lucky that we were able to find it and still stay in the same neighborhood, same schools, and same awesome trail by us. I will post pictures of our awesome 70's wallpaper and flooring and our all wood paneling room. Got to love living the life of a student.

We took pictures of the kids the other night and Hallie and Annie took a turn taking a few. Love those precious moments that they captured.
Here are the ones of the kids. It is getting harder to take the pictures of the older girls cause they like to pose now. Every time I snap the pictures they change their pose to a new one. It is quite funny watching them. Anyway, trying to fill a cool old barn window that I got with black and white pictures. Hope it turns out as cool as it is in my mind.

Fun Saturday

Do you ever have one of those days that you smile when you think about it? We had one yesterday. It was perfect. We played together all day and it was the most perfect weather. We started the day out with racing in the Memorial 5 mile run and 1/2 mile kid run. Hallie and Annie were excited when I told them that they got to run in a race and couldn't believe that they would get their own medals like mom.Here they are right before the race. I think Hallie was a little nervous.

Hallie was pretty quick and just happy to be running.

She did 1/2 mile in 3:27. Pretty good if you ask me.

Annie is more like me when running. No smiling, just determined to get to the end. We didn't get her time but she was probably more around the 4 min mark.

Then I ran my race. I started out way too fast (6:40 mile) and didn't realize the first 2 miles was mostly uphill. I ate before I ran, which I never do, and got a terrible side ache that wouldn't go away. I couldn't even pick up my speed going down hill. I walked 3 times and had cotton mouth for the last 2 miles. It was awful. I seriously thought of just calling it quits. But I didn't, I finished and even came in 2nd for my age group (see, being in your 30s does have some advantages) and my time was 40:10. Which is the time I wanted but I felt awful doing it. It discouraged me a lot for the half that I am training for. Guess I need to really start training and not think that I can just run for the fun of it.

glad to see the finish.

Tracy and Wendy that I run on Saturdays with. They came in 2nd and 3rd in their age group too.
My support team.

Here we are with our Medals. So proud of my girls for trying so hard. Annie was so tired at one point but kept running. She is amazing. Love them both so much.

The rest of the day was spent playing with friends outside and eating popsicles. Loved it.