GUM, GUM and more GUM!

(Before)

(After)

Today was a big day. Brooklyn had her braces removed. She has had them on for 8 months and 12 days and she has been fabulous with them. She doesn't complain, she brushes and flosses, and she has stayed away from all the candy she loves including GUM. Now she can chew all the gum she wants for 12 whole days until the holding arch gets placed and the retainer is fitted. On to the next phase of braces.

I gotta Feeling...

Why do I run? I wish I had a tally of the miles I have traveled on my feet over the last 10 years. The night before a race I always wonder...why? Well let me mention just a few reasons WHY:

1) The feeling I feel when my daily run is over, especially if I have pushed myself. There is something about running that makes me feel like I can conquer the world, let alone, conquer the rest of my day.

2) friends - I love the people I run with. They make it more fun and inspire me to keep moving.

(Stephanie, me, Jenny, Denise, Carol, Jenesey, Rachel - morning of the 'Run From the Sun')

3) family - The best part of race day is sharing the experience with my family. It is so much fun to find there faces and hear their voices screaming you on as you come into the finish line.

The 'Run From the Sun' is a new race to the valley and they did a great job. It was organized very well and I hope Deseret A&L keep bringing it back.

'I Gotta Feeling' as long as my body will carry me, there are many more races in my future.

Boys in the desert.

The kids were out of school for veteran's day on a Wednesday this year so Am took the girls to a movie and shopping and the boys and I headed for the desert for a over-nighter. Just 90 minutes south of home we camped in a area I am familiar with and have hunted many times. It is wide open country full of cactus and and barren sandy washes but is beautiful none the less. We hunted, spit, scratched, started fire and chopped wood and did all those things that men do.



We were totally alone and seldom even saw a car on the access road. Clayton set up a target range in camp and shot for hours. Nathan was more into swinging the hatchet, poking at the fire
and walking around camp in his socks.

I got the boys orange hunter caps on clearance at Big 5 and they never took them off. In fact after his shower when we got home Nathan put his back on and wore it until bedtime.

We did have some success with quail despite the low numbers this year. Clayton drove the ranger up the wash and I would hop out and chase em. Nathan read a book in the back and ate pringles and was a good sport when we made him get out and chase the birds too. At one point he got a cholla cactus in his leg but did not panic, and with the help of his brother plucked the thorns out with out much complaining. It was a great manly man outing.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween was tons of fun this year. The kids had a couple opportunities to get dressed up and collect candy and that extended the holiday for them a little bit.

We love staying in our neighborhood on halloween, most of the neighborhood is out in front of their houses visiting with friends and watching the parade of children all dressed up. We had the Schwenke's over and they brought along their portable fire pit and we sat out front from 5:30 to 10:00 pm eating Mexican food, visiting, laughing and passing out candy. We even did a little off-roading in the ranger. It was a blast!

October Camping on the rim!

The forecast called for one last warm spell the middle of October so we headed for the mountains. We camped 20 miles north of Strawberry on forest road 300 in Kehls Springs campground. This campground is just off the forest road that winds along the edge of the Mogollon rim and the views were incredible. We were not sure what to expect having never been in this area. The campground was old and had restrooms and a lot of history but no running water and fortunately few people. Because of the perfect weather we decided to just sleep in our landscape trailer and it fit all six of us just fine. We were all a little cold the first night so the second night we threw a tarp over the top of the trailer and man did it look fancy! We must have looked like a traveling gypsy family.

Among the endless pines we found groves of deciduous trees that flashed Fall colors and reminded us summer was over.

Brooklyn does not like the rides at Disneyland but wanted to get close to the edge of every lookout point we found!

We spent part of the day hiking "the tunnel trail" to ...you guessed it! A tunnel! The story is that it was excavated in the late 1800's in hopes of the railroad passing through the mountain some day but was never finished. It was amazing that 70 ft had been completed in one summer considering it is solid rock and is in an area that took us 45 minutes of tough hiking to get to.

This summer Clayton completed his hunters saftey course through the Az Fish & Game. It was squirrel season and his instructors had told him that squirrel hunting is not only a ton of fun but a good way for a novice hunter to get some experience. This one he got all on his own. Later that weekend we went out as a family chasing them up the trees so Clayton, and sometimes Dad, could take a shot or 3 or 10. Sorry Grammy:)

Our white-trash campsite!

On the final day we took the ranger for a six hour adventure exploreing the forest roads. One of the many beautiful places we stopped was Potato Lake. The kids posed for pics and caught crayfish while Scott and I took in the scenery.

Last Chance at Canyon Lake

Once October hits I would say that most of the Phoenix Valley is ready for the cooler weather. Our family would agree but...cooler weather also means an end to boating season. This season was cut a little short when we messed up our boat trying to rescue a family during a Lake Powell storm, at night. The boat was in the shop for 6 weeks. Anyway, here's to one last outing...

It has been so fun to watch Clayton this year. He has gotten very comfortable behind the boat and goes back and forth over the wake with ease. There has even been a jump here or there.

Brooklyn is quite conservative when it comes to boating...Chloe, on the other hand, doesn't like dad's put-put driving. Here she was yelling "faster! faster!"

The Happiest Place on Earth!

I don't quite know what it is, but there is something very magical about Disneyland. There is nothing like walking down main street with your 4 children; the smells, music, excitement, anticipation, happy people. It had been 3 years since we had gone and all of the kids, Chloe included, were so excited. We spent 3 days between Disneyland and California adventure and we loved it all. Here are just a few magical moments...

Pat (my brother) and Genine and their kids met us for a day at Disneyland and we all had a blast. Sharing memories with cousins always makes things more exciting. Thanks again for making the trip to spend the day with us.

We stayed at the Carousel Inn and Suites, which is within walking distance from Disneyland, and by the time we made it there each night the kids literally crashed into bed. Chloe gets so excited now when there is a Disneyland commercial and then sings 'It's a small World' for the rest of the day.

Double Digits

Brooklyn is 10!

Brooklyn I want you to know how much I love you. You have brought light and laughter into our home since the day you were born. You have so many gifts and talents to share with the world and I hope you will believe in yourself and find the confidence to FLY.

Some of the things I love about you:

your sense of humor

your creativity

your helpfulness

your mother instinct

your organizational skills

your big dreams

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

School? Really?

1st day of school

Reality hits so hard. It's hard to believe that on July 27th 'summer' is over and it is time to get back to the grind. As long as you're cute and you have good teachers you can't help but succeed-you guys are on the right track!

1 last getaway

La Jolla, California here we come! We had such a great fanily weekend. The weather was perfect, the hotel was fabulous and we were able to see Pat, Genine, Colton. Noah & Sariah. (Thank you guys for making the trip down to see us). Here are some of the highlights...

Seeing the San Diego Temple (It meant alot for Scott and I to get to share some memories of our wedding day with the kids.)

playing in the sand

roast marshmellows

catching some waves

protecting younger brother from tiger sharks

just being cute

catching sand crabs

Ohhh, we don't want to go home!