Its Been Awhile

So its been awhile, lets just leave it at that!!! I can't believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I haven't blogged since the kids got out of school and of course now they are back in and doing great. Max in 3rd grade, Maci in 1st grade and Ryder's 1st year of preschool. We spent most of the summer in Utah with family. Unfortunately I can't really prove we were there because I lost my camera within the first week of being there and got a new one right before Max turned 9. So no pics of any summer time fun or 1st day of school. I always say the best moments happen when the camera isn't around and I would say that holds true while we haven't had a camera. However, we have caught some really great moments since we bought a new one. Max turned 9-WOW! Time flies. He said that it was the best birthday ever and easiest one for us. A bunch of boys playing sports and goofing off at a park, what more could a kid want? He also got the privilege of having Grandpa Dennis and Shelly for his birthday and soccer games.

Then came Halloween! Max was a bleeding skeleton, Maci was Supergirl and Ryder was Lightning Mcqueen from the movie "Cars"! We did our neighborhood gathering in the circle and had a great time! Oh, and Travis was a tea party activist!

On Nov. 7th I finished my first Half Ironman-WOOHOO!!! It was the most challenging thing I've done. It was called the Silverman and started at Lake Las Vegas. My brother Bryce did the Full Ironman-WOOHOOOOOO!!! He is quite amazing! After doing the half I was in awe that he did the full and would love to do it some day when the time is right. So after signing up for this race and telling a few people, I found out that it was one of the toughest courses-(shocking, it seems like my family likes to do things the hard way)! I was most nervous about the swim and that ended up being the easier section of the race. The bike was up and down and then a head wind the last 20 miles. Then there was the run that just continued to go up, up, up until mile 8. At this point I had to tell myself, "ok, you made it to mile 5, just make it to mile 6 and so on". It was a physical and mental battle for sure. I will admit that during the race I was wondering why I was doing this to myself and then I finished! The feeling of finishing was amazing and such a relief as well. And after all is said and done I would most definitely do it again as well as someday train for a full Ironman! I finished in 7 hrs and 22 minutes. Bryce finished in 14 hrs 28 min. I'm going to have to tell everyone that my brother ran in his five finger vibram shoes. He also did 60 miles as a pacer in the Wasatch 100 in those shoes about a month before. We had the best support team ever. My wonderful husband, kids, Dad and Alisha. I was able to see them in between each transition and hear them cheer me on! Thank you!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Mark and Amy's family. We first started the day off and the Mesa Turkey Trot. Maci ran a mile in 10 min., Max ran 2 miles and I ran the 10k. Ryder and Trav were our support crew (good thing Ryder is good at screaming) and then Trav did a nice bike ride after. Then around 1pm we gathered for our Thanksgiving "Feast" as Maci put it when she woke up that morning. She said, "I can't wait for later when we have our "feast"" She was so excited and I don't know how I got so lucky but the day before Thanksgiving I was preparing most of the food and she was right there by my side wanting to help with everything. She actually made the raspberry pie filling on her own. As we were preparing she kept telling me that we should open our own dessert shop or restaurant because I'm the best chef and I know how to make the best food. Someday she'll learn the truth but for the moment I lived it up! She is such a sweet girl and is always thinking of others, I really admire that about her!

The weekend continued to be great. Travis and I with 2 of our friends, Julie and Loren went biking on South Mountain, then we took Mark and Amy to a basketball game for Mark's birthday, and then took the kids to see the movie "Tangled". We even managed to get our Christmas decorations out, put up our little tree and even decorate it. It was a great weekend!

Now its on to the Christmas Cheer!