Anybody wanna run???

I just signed up for the Tommy Vaughn's Marathon that is going to be in Blackfoot on May 19th.

http://blackfootmarathon.blogspot.com/

You should sign up, too!!!

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Eva's 4th Birthday

Eva just had her 4th birthday! I cannot believe it!! She is a wonderful daughter. Eva always wants to help in the kitchen. She is funny and likes to tease. She loves her little brother and is (usually) such a good sister. She also loves her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She is always saying she wants to go to Paisley's house. Eva absolutely loves horses and has been telling me for a long time that she wanted a horse cake for her birthday. I think it turned out pretty well. I didn't have McKenzie here to help me this time, so I had to do it all by myself. Eva loved it, and that's all that matters!

I think she really enjoyed her birthday. She was excited for everyone to come over and see her. She also had her first Primary Program and she did so great. She stood right up to the microphone and said her part with no help!!Sorry, I forgot to rotate these before I loaded them, so you'll just have to look at them sideways. :) Aunt Mel spoiled Eva with lots of nice things.Eva & Grandma GrimmEva & Grandpa GrimmEva & Aunt Marcy. Grandpa Anderson came, too, but we didn't get a picture. Eva, Tanner, & MicahEva got a little Barbie Jeep for her birthday. Ely REALLY wanted to ride it and was getting mad that he couldn't get inside of it!On Monday we went swimming for Eva's birthday. She really likes the water. It took Ely a minute to enjoy it, but he had a great time once he figured out he could splash.

Eva - We love you and hope you had a great birthday!!

I asked Eva a few questions and here are her answers:
What do you like to do with your family? Play horsies.
What do you like to do with your friends? Play.
Who are some of your friends? Paisley, Kierra, Abby, Sophie, Tasha, McKay, Kaci, Van, Nolan.
What is your favorite song? Sunbeams.
What is your favorite movie? How to Train a Dragon (probably because we just saw this at the store).
What is your favorite game? Candyland.
What is your favorite book? A book about horses and unicorns.
What is your favorite food? Cheese.
What is your favorite place to visit? Paisley's house.

Happy Halloween!!

We went to a pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago with Brian's mom. Ely liked trying to climb the pumpkins.
Eva picked her pumpkin out from way in the middle of the field!

On Saturday, Eva and Paisley were playing in my parent's basement. They came upstairs to show us the "snow." We went down to find that the big yellow bear you see in the background had a whole in it and the girls were having a blast throwing it around!

Brian and Dutch got another pheasant Saturday, the biggest one he has ever shot - 20" tail feather.

Ely made a cute little cow for Halloween!

Eva wanted to be Tinkerbell for Halloween. Good thing last year's costume still fit!

We got to dress up at work for Halloween, so I went as a clogger from the 90s. Oh yeah, I totally wore that outfit in high school...like 13 years ago!! It was fun walking around in my noisy shoes all day!

The Patrol Officer Physical Readiness Test

Yesterday I took the PT test for our department...not because I am planning on becoming a police officer, but because I work at a police department and if we pass the test we get an extra $100 added to our check (and you can take it twice a year). It's not like it is a big deal, but every time I take it I get really nervous. But, it's not that easy, and the women have to meet the same minimum numbers as the men. Yesterday it went pretty well. I improved in some areas over my last test, and didn't do as good on a couple things. All in all, I am grateful that I have been blessed with a strong body and the ability to even try to do these things! (And, who can complain about extra money!?!) So, here are my results:

*Vertical jump: 15 inches
*1 minute of sit-ups: 47 (All the way down on your back and touch your elbows to your knees each time.)
*Maximum push-ups: 32 (Not the girl kind! Even the girls have to do them the hard way.)
*300 meter run: 66 seconds
*1.5 mile run: 13 minutes 26 seconds

Ely Turned One!!!

Our baby turned one on Monday, October 3rd. I cannot believe it has already been a year since he was born! Ely has been a wonderful baby and is so much fun. He has tons of personality. Ely started walking last month and now there is no stopping him! Ely can say mama and dada, and uh-oh. He weaned himself from breastmilk last week and is now drinking whole milk. Ely likes to eat most things. Usually he wants whatever we are eating or drinking. Ely loves to play with his big sister, Eva, and she is pretty good about playing with him, too. She loves him! Ely was born on 10/3/10. He weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces. He was 21 1/2 inches long. At one year, Ely now weighs 22 pounds 5 ounces. He is 29 1/4 inches long.

Eva got weighed and measured, too. She is going to be 4 next month. She weighs 40.25 pounds and is 41 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 90th percentile for height.

For Ely's birthday we had lots of fun. We went to the ISU Homecoming parade and to the football game. Aunt McKenzie made adorable monkey cakes for Ely. They turned out so cute!Ely and his cake...looks like he's not too sure about eating it.How about with some milkTry the spoon, maybe he doesn't like the squishy feeling in his hands. What a day!! Isn't he just adorable?We had lots of family come for the party (36 people there altogether!!). Ely had lots of fun opening his presents and just loves his new toys!Thank you to everyone who came to spend time with us and celebrate Ely's first birthday. It was so much fun!!

Simplot Run 10K

We had our last 10K of the summer series this month. Eva was at my parent's house, so we just had Ely. He rode happily in the stroller. We finished in one hour and they served breakfast at the end. It was fun! And, Lindsay won a nice pair of Smith sunglasses!!Eva started her dance class this month. She was so excited! They do ballet and clogging. She loves to put on her dance shoes and dance around at home. It's way cute!!
By the way - Ely started walking last week!!

The Pocatello Marathon - I did it!!!!

I did it!! I completed my first marathon!!

That's right - 26.2 miles - in a row!!

I decided earlier this year that I wanted to do a marathon...so, I paid my entry fee for the Pocatello Marathon, http://pocatellomarathon.com/, found a training schedule online, and tried my best to stick to it. Once I paid my money, there was no turning back! I think I did pretty good with my training, but, before the marathon, the furthest I actually ran in one day was only 14 miles. Summer is just so busy! Needless to say, I was very happy with my time on my marathon - 4:58:05. Yeah, less than 5 hours!! That's awesome, for me anyway!! It was a great experience, and I just might do it again. The scenery was beautiful for the first half of the marathon, not that the second half was really bad or anything. Here I am at Mile 12 waiting for the porta-potty. Luckily I only had to use those once :)My sister-in-law Holly met me at Mile 15 to run with me to the end. It was great to have someone there with me when it started getting hard and my legs were getting worn down. Only 1.2 miles to go!! The end is so close!!I made it!! I still have to get the pictures off my mom's camera of me actually crossing the finish line. Thank you so much, Holly, for coming to run with me. Just like the good ol' days, but we are way better runners now!! My Mom, Marcy, Zach's family, and Jeff's family were all here to help take care of Eva and Ely while I was running and they were there to cheer me on in a couple spots along the course. It was so nice to hear encouraging words along the way.

So, anybody want to go running?? Brian and I are running in a 10k next weekend, the 17th. I am running a half marathon on November 5th. It's all downhill!! You should come join me.

August Recap - Lots more pictures

So, blogging monthly is better than nothing, right?!! Hopefully you like all the pictures. My Grandma Knoeppel came to visit from Kansas so we went to visit her while she was in Logan. It was so fun to see her. Ely cuddled right up.

Eva just loved Great Grandma!! Hope she didn't wear you out too much, Grandma!!

Brian turned 28 this month!! Here is Eva giving him a big birthday kiss. He didn't want cake, so I made him chocolate chip cookies with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inside, cupcake style. We love you, Brian!!

Another 10K. We ran in another city 10K on the 13th. This time we pushed Eva and Ely in the stroller. Well, Brian pushed mostly. Thank goodness! My finish time was exactly one hour. Brian sprinted a little faster than me in then end and finished about 20 seconds before me. He would have been done long before if he hadn't stayed with me to push me along. He's such a good husband. :)

FYI - That is a Phil & Ted's stroller, and I love it!!!

The whole family after the race.

That weekend we also had the Raymond & Verletta Anderson Family Reunion in Elba, Idaho. It was a lot of fun!! This picture shows my Dad with his siblings and their spouses. There is only one brother and his wife missing from the picture.

This is (almost) everybody at the reunion.

Eva and McKay at the reunion.

The Grimm Family at the Rush Triathlon. Brian did the Rush Triathlon this month. This was his third time. He improved his time from last year by almost 9 minutes. We thought he did great!!

I didn't get a good picture of Brian coming out of the lake from his swim, but here he is getting ready to take off for his 14 mile bike ride.

It looks like Brian is posing for the camera here! He is actually coming into the transition area after his bike ride.

Brian's sister, Melanie, came to support Brian in his race and help me out with the kids and the dog. Thank you so much!!

Ely was using Brian's hat to block the sun. He was such a good boy that day, thank goodness!

Crossing the finish line. Yippee!!

Ely loves water, and I think he is so cute!!

Grandpa Anderson went to Sturgis this month and brought back some cute outfits for all the grandkids. Thank you Grandpa!!