A Load of Thanks

Although Christmas is blaring its commercial face in every store, I simply want to pause and give a bit of thanks for the events of this week.
Ryan's primary teacher lets him fall asleep on her shoulder.

 Austin very carefully prepares the littles for bed.

 Ryan and I set up our Thanksgiving table.

 He decided to lead family home evening from on high.

 Everyone was in attendance.

 We never got around to carving our pumpkin for Halloween, so I used it to bake dinner.  It was a hit.

 This sour dough bread is becoming a staple -- with no sugar or oil, it really is a win.

 Thanks for this, Meg!

 Maddie performed in the Veteran's Day program; she very confidently sang a lovely solo and clearly spoke her part.

 We watched.

 I ran around the Colosseum and recognized each bit.

 I found this wood in the garage and wanted used the chop saw and belt sander to make some blocks.

 Maisie helped me stain them.  Eddie helped me paint the letters.

 The big girls helped me finish up the blocks.

 Andy was very sick this week.

 Molly was very happy.

 Maddie's cat socks cried for a cat-eared headband.

 Meg raced at state for cross country.  She ran so well.  These are all the people who drove the two hours just to watch her.  She really is terrifical.

The other huge event of this week is that our apostle, Gary E. Stevenson, came to our stake.  He testified of the love of our prophet, our Savior, and the truthfulness of the gospel.  I share in his testimony.

Week of Halloween

This week was just another week full of happy-life events.

I finally bought Molly some new digs.

 We think Andy looks just like Austin when he was 15.

 More new digs.

 Water-bottle master.

 Everyday while I read and nap, this boy sits on me to watch his show.  I really love his warmth.

 Tuesday night was our annual Halloween dinner.  Maisie set the table.

 Andy was in charge of the dry ice.

 I made the most beautiful bread, ever.

 These two were cute in their Halloween clothes.

 This year we all dressed up as "The Incredibles."  Please notice Eddie's side mask, Molly's fierce pose, Meg's booty, Andy's swag, Nick's flexed muscles, Maisie's nonchalant expression, Maddie's grace, Ryan's pouncing pose, and Austin's leadership.  Happy Halloween!

She posed with those blade hands all night long.

He really is enchanting.

He loves candy.  Not because he eats it, but because he saves it.

Popped leg (those navy tights were not quite what I had in mind, but she rocked them anyway).

His last year living the trick-or-treating dream.

Those two big kids are walking arm in arm.

After-math.

All my long hair.....

Is gone!  My first shoulder-length cut in my whole life.

Waiting for the bus with that trendy hair that is almost curled?

I trained this month for the McDowell Mountain Trail Ragnar on our treadmill.  I ran through Positano (and recognized most of it), Patagonia, Argentina, Peru, France and Flagstaff. 

Friday morning Meg had her sectionals race for cross country.

Here's her team.

Here she is about a mile in.

She took 21st and qualified for the state meet next weekend.

 She was the star of the paper again this week.

Molly, Ryan and I drive a total of five hours to watch her 21 minute race -- it was totally worth it.  We watched three movies in the bus.

Then!  Austin and I drove 2.5 hours south to run our Ragnar with our captain, Mickey and the rest of our team.

We ran all night long.  

Here is our glamping head quarters.

We are waiting for Austin to race.

Here we are all finished.  We each ran 15.5 miles, and our team finished 11th of 347 teams.  I was only behind our team leader by a couple of minutes each leg.  It was really rewarding.

I had never raced with Austin before, that was incredible.

Once finished, we went to Smash Burger for lunch....

then we went to Chipotle next door.  That was fun.

It felt really good to do something so physically demanding.  I've been dealing with so much emotionally, that this race was a perfect release, but also a perfect way to prove that I'm pretty awesome (so is he!), and I can keep up with the big boys!