Happy Birthday Little Boy!!

Andrew turned 6 this year. I just can't believe how grown up he has become. He has enjoyed every minute of school this year. He loves learning to read and is doing so well with his sight words. They celebrated his birthday at school and he got a little birthday hat he was so proud of. I had to take him out of school early so he could go to the veterans day parade to watch Kelsie and Avrie and he was so proud to wear his hat.
We celbrated his birthday on Saturday since I would have to work on his birthday. Andrew chose to eat at applebees for his birthday lunch and enjoyed every bite of his steak. He is a meat lover and a very picky eater unless it's chocolate milk or fruit snacks! He is such a joy in our home. A true BYU fan for sure. He loves every sport there is to play and probably has an outfit for each one. You are bound to see him wearing blue and running around the house pretending to play football or basketball. So far he hasn't broken anything with a ball inside while playing but I'm sure it is only a matter of time. He is my sweetheart though always wanting hugs and saying thanks. He's a handsome little guy too with his sparkly blue eyes. Love my sweet boy!

Grandma Allred sent him some money in a card and then made a trip down on his birthday to take him shopping. He knew exactly what he wanted and was in and out of the store in 10 minutes. He enjoyed the time with Grandma. Then he wanted dickey's bbq too so we enjoyed another yummy lunch!

Andrew does NOT like cake, cookies, or brownies but....he LOVES ice cream!!! so drumsticks (with no nuts of coarse) for the birthday celebration was the perfect treat for him!
Andrew has been waiting and waiting to get cars 2 and he had no idea he was getting it. He was so HAPPY!!

I found some smurfs cereal and thought they would make perfect BYU rice krispy treats. They would have too if I would have found a recipe instead of trying to make them by memory... I added a little too much butter. Oh well everyone else still ate them!

Halloween Fun

This year Halloween turned out to be much better than last year!! Especially since Andrew wasn't sick in the hospital like last year and all the kids were able to go trick or treating around the neighborhood. We have always gone to trunk or treats and never around the neighborhood so this was their first year doing that. They loved it. Kelsie and Avrie were both BYU cheerleaders. The kids had a lot of fun at school with their class parties and the parade.

They also had their halloween party with the neighborhood friends. They had mummy dogs, pizza rolls, apple nachos, and green punch with jello skulls. They made green goo, played ping pong, ate till their hearts content and watched a movie to top off the night. I think it was another success.

Andrew was supposed to be a pirate but didn't end up liking his costume (even though he picked it out he wasn't a fan of the wig but Randy liked it!) so he wore last years baseball outfit. I figured it wouldn't matter since he didn't get to use it last year anyway ;)

Trick or Treating at Dad's work was another highlight! They got so much candy and had a blast being with dad at work!

Veterans Day Parade!

This year Kelsie and Avrie are both in their school choir and they were able to be in the Washington City Veterans Parade. After the parade they sang in the park to honor the veterans. They were so excited and had such a fun time marching in the parade and singing away!!

Kelsie was one proud girl that she got to wave around a flag!

Kelsie turns 11????

11 I know I can't believe it!!! I can't believe I have a kid that old and I can't believe how grown up she is!! Kelsie woke up a happy camper and ready to be another year older. She even had the day off school since it was fall break. What a lucky girl her birthday always seems to fall around break time at school. After lunch we headed to the mall. Kelsie loves to read and wanted to spend her birthday money and find some books so we headed to Barnes and Noble. After the mall we headed home to open presents. She had picked out her present so she knew what she was getting...not too much of a surprise but she was thrilled to finally get her princess dolls to play with. (YES I am excited that my 11 year old is still into barbies!!!) Kelsie has an amazing imagination that can keep her entertained for hours. She can also stay buried in books and be perfectly content. After presents it was time for yummy cake... better than anything cake. It was yum!! Happy Birthday Kelsie we love you and are so glad you are part of our family.

Avrie bought her a bracelet with her own money and

was so happy to give it to her for her birthday Jaci and Andrew were excited to share in the birthday celebration

We went to dickey's bbq for lunch.

That was her choice and it was delicious!!!

Earlier in the week Grandma Allred came down and took Kelsie to Tuachans production of The Little Mermaid. She loved it and loved the time with Grandma.

St. George Marathon 2011

Well we did it!! We finished the 35th Annual St. George Marathon. It was another hot year and not too fun but we did it! I told Randy I was ok with him going ahead of me but otherwise he just had to stay with me because I was afraid to leave him. I was worried about it being his longest run EVER, the heat, his shoe choice, his clothing choice, and I told him heart attacks were allowed but strokes were not and I was just NERVOUS for him. I did it last year so I knew what to expect.

We stayed together about the first 2 miles and then something just clicked for me and I slowly got ahead of him. He told me it was ok to go ahead. I could still look back and see Randy and then before long I think he was hiding from me. I was doing a really good pace and was a few minutes ahead of the 4:30 pacer. I stopped at mile 14 for a potty stop and had to wait a few minutes. That is where the pacer past me. I got to mile 15 so happy to see my friend and took my sweet time wondering how far Randy was behind me. I waited about 2 minutes and saw him coming. I waited for him to get through the aid station and we began running together again. He informed me he had a blister and we made it to mile 16 before he needed to walk a little. I was fine with that and we stayed together again until about mile 19. I told him I really wanted us to finish together. I pictured us holding hands across the finish and we needed some pics together. We got one at the top of mile 19 and then my legs needed to get moving again or I knew they would get too stiff to do any good. Before I knew it I was ahead and couldn't see him anymore. Potty stop at mile 21 I saw him coming to the aid station then I left again. I felt so bad I wasn't running with him but just had to go. By then I had our time 9 minutes behind the clock because our delay at the start. I kept thinking I could get in under 5 hours so I just kept going and hurting and wanting to cry. I guess the race started 2 minutes later than scheduled and I came across at 5:02. I would be dissapointed but truth of the matter is.... I was 9 minutes faster than last year and I finished! Another great thing....Randy finished too at 5:15!! It was a good experience, however painful, to say I've run it again is good for me. I know I will never be a 3 hour marathoner, but hey I still trained and worked hard and in the end WE DID IT!!!

Randy in the white shirt and black shirt ready to cross the finish! great job babe. I'm so proud of you!!
Mom wasn't sure how to use the camera and was hitting the wrong button but at least she got me by the finish line. lol I'm in the pink, next to the guy with the poster. I guess my backside was better than my exhausted face!! I'm sure it looked pretty scary. I think I had 3 different people ask if I was ok when I crossed the finish line I felt a little delirious but I did alright to wait for Randy to come across. (they only had to tell me 3 times to stay behind the white line lol I kept forgetting and thinking the line was farther down. oops)

Yes A New Post!!!

I know I have really been slacking....like almost 16 months without a blog post. Well I've been a little busy and yeah a little lazy too. My last post was all about racing and last year I had a goal to run a marathon. I did it and never even posted about it. This Saturday I am running it again with Randy! In the last year I was able to accomplish my goals for turning 30. 1 was to run a marathon 2 was to graduate college. I ran the St. George Marathon and graduated in December with honors from Dixie State College. I have enjoyed this summer and fall off of school. I will begin again in January. I will start the respiratory therapy program and it will take me 4 consecutive semesters to complete. Since July I have also been working in Central Processing for the health and performance center with Intermountain Healthcare. It was been exciting to learn new things but I have learned I don't want to be there forever. I really miss patient care.

Other than that life has been going so quickly. Kelsie started 5th grade!! Avrie is a 4th grader and even got to keep her same teacher as last year...that has been a huge blessing...she really understand Avrie and is so willing to help with her. Andrew started Kindergarten and didn't even look back for me when he entered the class. He is learning so much already and picking out his sight words all around town on signs. Jaci is just enjoying being home and has her little friend over to play a few times a week because they can't seem to get enough of each other...even though they don't always get along they ask for each other everyday!!!

I know I should probably play catch up but that would take way to long so unless I can think back to something really amazing...we did go to disneyland again this summer...then I probably will only try to post upcoming events in our lives!!

Sorry for the long absence for anyone who still checks out our blog!! just for fun here are the kids school pics I did this year. Last year Kelsie seemed so grown up in her pictures...this year it was Avrie!!! Can't believe my babies are getting so big!

Running Weekend Again!

Last weekend was a race weekend for both me and Randy again. Randy went and ran a 10k in the Utah Summer games. He did awesome. He finished in 57 minutes and the kids loved running across the finish with him.

After his race we headed to Provo so I could pick up my packet for the Utah Valley 1/2 marathon. He was a little stiff when we got there. Man payback sucks right honey!(I had to sit in the car all the way home from provo after running my first 1/2 in may) Anyway we made it and went to Park City to pick up another pair of running shoes (the ones I just bought are now being upgraded so I had to get the last pari at the Nike outlet) It was also nice to see what the course would be.

Bright and early (3AM) ok not so really bright, DARK actually I got up and Randy took me to get on the bus. It had rained and rained the day before and still had a little sprinkle. I was about to vow I would never run in Provo again. Then I started the run. It was beautiful despite the rain. I cut 9 minutes off my last time so it was good for me. I was in the top 55% overall and 65% in the women so I didn't come in last. That's all that mattered to me! Oh yeah and no Marathon Runnner passed me either that was the 2nd goal!

got to the love that Randy only took one picture of my after the race and I was totally cheesing it just trying to be silly! Geez I can't smile as big as Dave even why I tried. Trying to show off those braceless teeth! Got them off just in time to go up north. We were planning on family pictures so the braces HAD to come off! Too bad it rained us out. Oh well family pics in a few weeks and I will pray for good weather this time!

Working out with DAD

Happy Fathers day Randy! We didn't do much for father's day since I have been in class all weekend but Randy did finally get his p90x and he's been working out! The kids also tried it out. I guess that means before long we will be one hot smokin' family right??? well we shall see!

Silly Boy you can do it!
Avrie is our toughie! she can do it too!
Kelsie, Well, she is like me... can't do it!
Jaci loved just hangin there! Don't know what was up with her shoulders but it was freaking me out! Andrew was having too much fun playing in the other room and didn't join the fun. I guess he thinks he is already buff enough.

slip-n-slide

The kids had a fun time on the slip n-slide. Took them a while to figure it out but then they were having a blast. Jaci however was not liking it so much. She LOVES the bath but hates swimming pools or any other water. She freaks out just stepping in a puddle.

Randy Turns 36!

Holy Moly he's old! lol. We sure love him though. We were hoping to make one last minute trip to Disneyland to use our passes one more time before they expired but things just didn't work out so instead we planned a fun day here. The girls had gone to meet their new teachers at Panorama so they were out of school. They came with me to take dad a cake at work so his co workers could celebrate. They also made him a candy bar card and took him his presents. We didn't make it to Disneyland but the kids gave him a digital photo frame filled with pictures from all our trips he LOVED it. After work we went out to dinner. It was a great day. Hope he knows how much we love him and how grateful we are for all his hard work! I forgot the camera at his work bbut I did manage to get a picture of his Candy card.

The new Family Pet

Avrie came home from school with a school lunch milk container filled with water and 8 tadpoles! I was shocked even though I shouldn't have been this was Avrie afterall. I got alittle more attached to tadpoles than the gold fish and was determined to help them grow into frogs. I think it brought back some memories of the tadpoles I would catch as a kid. Besides frogs are cute! We cut open a gallon milk jug and put in some water and fed them fish food. Avrie fed them a little too much the first night and one died. A few weeks later we went to the river and got some good water for them. We continued to feed them fish food and they were even getting their legs. Then I fed them one morning and the food came out too fast. I thought it would be ok but an hour later they were all DEAD. OOPS. I guess they can eat too much! I guess we will have to try raising tadpoles again next year!

my MVP and Imagineer

I don't think Randy could be a prouder Papa. He has a boy that is ALL boy! Andrew loves sports of any kind and is always wanting to play with Randy. Every morning before Randy leaves for work Andrew is asking if he will play baseball when he gets home. Andrew is obsessed with BYU football and even knows Red and Utah are the BAD guys. It's so dang funny. He loves to kick the soccer ball and throw the baseball and football. He's still working on his catching skills but he's doing great!

Besides being a sport fanatic Andrew also has a great imagination. He loves his own boy dress ups. One day we went out to the garage and got his rope (his fishing pole), grabbed the girls blanket (the lake), and sat on the back of the couch. I asked what he was doing he told me he was fishing! He also makes a handsome knight in PJ's!

My Rock baby

Jaci has been a busy baby too and trying to be a big girl. She loves being outside and just wants to be like the rest of the big kids. I love that she is a happy little helper. When she is outside if she notices the rocks on the sidewalk or grass she will pick them up and put them where they belong. She is so smart for 17 months and just so dang CUTE! She follows directions and cleans up her toys. She is learning new words but my favorite is Momma. Even though that is what she even calls Randy. I love to hear her just calling Momma Momma in her sweet little voice! I think potty training is right around the corner. She will pat her bumb and say poo poo and wants to sit on the toilet. Unfortunatly it is usually right after she just peed but at least she is realizing she's going.

Jaci also LOVES suckers and I HATE giving them to her. It's too big of a sticky mess. So I improvised and gave her the sucker in the bath. She was one happy baby!