Braden turned 10 in November!

Time just goes by way too fast! So depressing when your kids get so big!

We are BIG girls now!

london wanted to get her ears pierced for christmas so I decided to do it with her. I haven't worn earrings since junior high. There were bets on who would cry more -me or London, but she did really well. She didn't cry until after. London convinced Tatum to get her ears pierced too. So we all feel very pretty and grown up now!

Hope you all had a SPOOKTACKULAR Halloween!

The Canadian stretch of the trip-

I know it is picture overload. Believe me when I say this is only a FEW of what I took. I will spare you all my giddiness and excitment about Anne of Green Gables!

New York, Boston, Maine, and CANADA!

For my Anniversary and my birthday Chad sent me with his Mom and Aunt on a 16 day trip to New York, Boston, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Halifax- Nova Scotia- Canada, Quebec city- Quebec- Canada, and Prince Edward Island- Canada. Here are some of my artsy pictures from the trip. For those of you who know me very well you know I am obsessed with the books Anne of Green Gables and so going on this trip was pretty exciting for me. For some reason Chad wasn't as excited about it so he sent me by myself. There were places that I definitly would love to go back with my whole family. This slide show is NYC, Boston, Portland- maine, and Bar Harbor- Maine and the one on top is of all the Canada Ports, Halifax, Quebec City, and Prince Edward Island.

And the Sports Season Ends!... For Now.

I am way behind in blogging, but I am only going to bore you with the most recent events. Braden's football team made it to the final four in the mini-bowl- it was very exciting! We won't talk about the last game because it wasn't good, but the game that got them to the final four was super exciting! They played Logan and Logan was ahead by 2 to 3 touchdowns the whole game. Our boys were just playing flat. There was only 4 minutes left and the score was 37 to 20 Logan. We all thought ok the game is over the boys aren't playing well and the coach told them ok if you want to make something happen you have to do it now - it's up to you boys. By this time most of them looked defeated. Then one of the boys took the ball and ran a touchdown and then they got the extra point and it was our turn to kick it off to Logan and the same kid ran and got the ball so our offense got another shot at a touchdown. All the boys kind of looked at eachother and said ok we can do this and on the 2nd down we got another touchdown. Long story short we caught up so the score was 38 to 37 for us and there was still 2 minutes for logan to score. Our defense wasn't going to let them get by and held them for 2 minutes. It was so exciting I screamed so loud that I lost my voice that night! I use to think football was boring but, now I have a whole new appreciation for the game and the heart it takes to play.

Austin's team did well. They didn't get to move up a division but they didn't get bumped down either. I think Austin wants to move up and we're good enough to move we just need more team work.

London actually ran at the last game which was an improvement. I think she only plays so her dad can coach her and give her the attention her brothers get.

Since the seasons have ended Chad has been resting up after coaching all 3 teams and we are excited to have the next 2 months off until indoor and basketball start.

Another 5K- I am CRAZY!

So Robyn and I decided to run the Hooper 5k for tomatoe days. OK, so I dragged her there, but she went anyway. Chandra ditched us (next time Chandra!)but at the last minute Austin and Braden decided to run it too. We also met up with my neighbor Peggy and Austin's friend Keegan. (Peggy is the one that drug into biking that 37 mile bike ride 2 years ago.) I thought Braden would do really well with football and everything but Austin beat us both. He never stopped and got 33:44, Me 33:54, Robyn 33:34 (yes she beat me again- she stays with me the whole time and sprints at the end and I just can't -I am too tired) Braden got 38:01 (he struggled a little but he didn't quit.) Me and Robyn beat our sugarhouse time by a minute and a half, but the difference was at sugarhouse park we finished before more than half, at hooper days we were like the last 15 to make it. Apparently only serious athletes run in tomatoe days. The top runner finished in 15 minutes! And it was predominately men.

Our 5k pictures- aren't we beautiful!

Happy Birthday to all Us Virgos!

Happy Birthday Dad, Trent, Tristin, Madisyn, Shirley, and me! And another year bites the dust!

Big Events This Week!

SO the past couple of weeks have been insane! Lots of getting ready for school, PTA stuff, and work picking back up. My baby started 1st grade this week and Austin started junior high! Can you believe that? Very Traumatic! I was very nervous about the junior high thing and I think because of that I wasn't as sad as I thought about london going to all day school. I get tons more done without having to run back and forth to pick up a kindergartener.

London had a BIG event- she lost her very first tooth and she was soo excited she wanted me to call everyone we know and tell them. She loves all day school and is busy chasing boys at recess again which makes her very happy! She is working on her cart wheel and she is getting pretty good at it.

Braden started football, which he absolutely loves. This year they only have 16 on their team so he plays the whole game which can be tough when it is 100 degrees, but he loves it! He is playing defensive nose tackle and offensive tackle. He was pretty excited to start 4th grade because now he is included with the older kids and not the younger kids.

Austin played in the striker cup which I barely got to see because I was helping with PTA and back to school stuff, but they did okay. They were tied for second to go to the championship but we were 1 goal short so the other team went. He was pretty disappointed, but then all the junior high stuff started and he quickly shifted gears. He came home the first day and said, "I'm not going to lie, it was scary, but it was a lot better than I thought." I had to laugh because I was worried about him getting picked on or stuffed in a locker cuz he is so small, but he said there are way more short people and the tall people can't make fun of them all. He also tested out of pre-algebra so he totally skips it and goes straight to algebra as a 7th grader! How crazy is that? I didn't take algebra til highschool. He is getting a big head cuz he also got the highest score in his reading class for vocabulary. He is a smarty pants and thats good cuz he can support me and Chad in our old age!

Chad is as crazy as ever! He is coaching comp soccer for Austin still, and coaching london's ayso team, and helping coach Braden's football team, and playing on 2 indoor teams, and oh ya he works 60 hours a week! He walks around in a permanent state of exhaustion.

I was inspired by all you runners so me and my friend Chandra and my little sister Robyn decided to run a 5K. None of us are athletes mind you so this was a big deal for us (I'll post pictures later- or check Chandra's blog). Robyn and I finished in the 35 minutes some odd second range (ok she beat me by 10 seconds but I'll kick her trash later!) and then we went back and finished with Chandra at about 38 min. We were pretty excited about our times because we had stayed at a hotel and went to the hot tub, stayed up til 1:30am (we got about 4hrs sleep) and we forgot to drink or bring water before we ran. Yes, we are not athletes. I have also been knee deep in school t-shirts thanks to my good friends Chandra and Judy for getting me more involved with PTA. I was on the board for 3 years at our old school and Chad made me take a break when we first moved here. PTA is one of those things that once you get sucked in, you are in forever! I have been working and taking care of the new puppy which is a lot of work. Anyone want a cute puppy- I'll sell her cheap! Just Kidding!
(P.S. I found a picture online of us finishing our 5K at Sugarhouse Park- I am behind Chandra and Robyn (in the blue hat), but remember this is the second time I finished and I'm old I can't sprint!)

Our Football MVP- Braden!

Family Pictures