October

The month of October at a glance. We have had a really fun October this year. We have tried to fill it with as many fun fall things as possible. We started the month of by making a haunted gingerbread house for FHE. Peter's birthday was on the 10th (Happy Birthday-I guess better late than never!) For his birthday we got to go have a fun day of golf with his parents and a nice dinner at Benihanas and the following day we made it out to the stae fair. We have gone to Vertuccio's farm for a corn maze. Also we went to Kiwanis park for a pumpkin patch-which ended up being kinda lame so we rented some paddle boats and had a great time. We also went to Schnepf farm-which was a blast, tons of things to do there including kids rides, corn maze, pumpkin patch, and a haunted train ride. Not to mention that we have already been to one trunk or treat. We are so thankful for all of our friends that we have had so much fun with. I will post what we have done for the week of Halloween after it is over, until then enjoy some of our pictures from this past month.



The Gingerbread House

Vertuccio's Farm/Corn Maze

(We had a great time with the Wilsteads and the Spahr's)

Kiwanis Park-Paddle boats with the Wilsteads

Schnepf Farms

Ash and Ryker with their faces painted


(Above: Ash playing in the band. Below:

Ash and Maddi on the haunted train)

(Above: Ryker on a pony ride. Below: Ryker,

Ashlyn and Jacey at the petting zoo.)

Daddy and Ash on the climbing wall

The kids on some of the fun rides

Trunk or Treat with the Mack's

(Above: Ashlyn(batgirl) with Jayni.

Below: Ryker(batman)

Accomplishment

This last Saturday we made the trip to Flagstaff so I could run my first marathon. I have a hard time writing about myself and posting pictures of myself so this post is more for my family and friends who has supported me every step of the way.

I think finishing a marathon is an amazing accomplishment for anyone, however there is a reason that it means so much to me. For those of you who don't know I have had asthma my whole life. It is not just a mild case of asthma, it is to the point that I take medicine nightly to control my breathing. My whole life at least once a year my wonderful mom would have to take me to the E.R. because of asthma attacks and I would only get to leave if I was lucky-sometimes I would be hospitalized for a couple of days. Even Peter has taken me to the E.R. a couple times since we have known each other.

A little over a year ago I was put on two different medications to control my asthma. They have worked very well, to the point that I can actually run without using the rescue inhaler every time I exercise, and they also made it so I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night needing my rescue inhaler. Also, a few months ago I tried a new vitamin supplement which has helped tremendously with everything. In an earlier post I has stated that my sister-in-law Tia called me up a little over 4 months ago and wanted to run a marathon. It really has been a dream of mine-but my whole life it was only a dream because I thought there was no way my body would ever allow me to run one. We trained for 18 long hard weeks. Blisters all over my feet, toenails missing, and about three weeks before race day my body gave out. I was tired to the point I didn't want to do anything all day long-let alone run, I would get dizzy, and I was having troubles breathing once again and I wanted to quit. I didn't care how much money I had paid to run the marathon-I just wanted to quit. I felt like it just wasn't worth it. Thank goodness I have a wonderful husband and great sister-in-law who kept me going.

Sat. morning it was beautiful, I had my husband and kids there to cheer me on which meant the world to me. Tia, Beth (a friend who also ran with us), and myself were all excited and at the starting line. The race began and I noticed that I could not keep up with Tia and Beth, for the life of me my legs would not move any faster and it was really hard to breath. This was a race like no other-considered to be one of the top 5 hardest marathons in the nation. Flagstaff is 8000 ft. above sea level, and you climb 2200 ft. in elevation throughout the course of the marathon. Not to mention that it did not take place on the pavement, we were running through the woods-it seemed almost as though I was on a hike most of the time. The first mile was hard for me-I began to wonder how on earth I was going to run 25 more miles. Well I kept running and I made it to 13 miles-the half way point in which once again I wanted to quit. Peter and my kids were waiting for me at this point and I couldn't have been happier to see them. I really was just exhausted by this point and didn't know how I could go 13 more miles. At this point Peter put his arm around me and said you are doing great, I know you can do it, and Ashlyn ran a little ways with me-this is the only thing that kept me going. Three hours later I crossed the finish line. While I am not proud of taking 2nd to last place in a time of just over 6 hours, I am proud that I was able to accomplish something that I never thought was possible.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way. Thanks to Tia, Beth and Lois for training with me. And thank you to my wonderful husband who has bent over backwards to make this possible.

Ashlyn's 1st soccer team-Dollphins

These are some pictures from Ashlyn's first season of soccer. Her teams name is the Doll-phins. It was so much fun, especially according to her because her team always win. She said, "it would not be fun to be on that bee team because they lost!" It was fun to watch and I had to do everything to keep myself from running onto the field and and telling her exactly what to do. I think I am going to be one of those parents that the coaches and referees hate! LOL!

Ryker's first day of Preschool

Yesterday was Ryker's first day of preschool. He goes to school M, T, W from 1:20 to 3:40. I officially have 1 1/2 hours all to myself during the day! Ryker loved preschool, he goes to the same teacher that Ashlyn had last year and we of course think she is the best. I was a little worried about him because he has never really been away from us and on his own before(not even in nursery because I have been the nursery leader ever since he was old enough to go in). Well he did great, I got him out of the car, he walked right up and said, "bye mom". When we picked him up he said, "I had fun". He is so cute. We love him so much.

Goooooooooaaaaaaaalllllll!!!

For those of you who don't know Pete and I very well, we love the game of soccer. Ashlyn had her first practice yesterday-I don't know who is more excited the parents or Ashlyn! She must be pretty excited though because Monday we went and bought her cleats and shinguards and she HAD to wear them all night (literally) you can see she fell asleep in them. Same thing Tuesday night, she came home from school put the cleats on, took them off to ride her bike and take a bath and then back into the cleats and once again fell asleep in them. We are so excited and can't wait to watch her play her first game.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Ryker

Yesterday was Ryker's 3rd birthday. Wow, what a big boy. We had a great day with him yesterday. To celebrate his birthday we went to Dave & Busters. The food there is great and the arcade is endless amounts of fun for the kids. After dinner we headed back for his Harley cake and some ice cream and opened presents. His fav. presnt was the garbage truck he got. He had to sleep with it last night! He was so happy, we love him so much and are so greatful to have him as our son.

Ash first day of Kindergarten, No more training wheels, and Ryker potty training.

We have had a couple of firsts and a potty training miracle!

Ash Started her first day of Kindergarten today. She was so happy and eager to go, we are so proud of her. She goes to school at Pathfinder Academy(charter school) M-Th from 7:50-3:00. She had a great first day but was exhausted and fell asleep at 6:00 pm and slept the whole night through.

Yesterday on the way to church Ashlyn said, "I want to take the training wheels off my bike." We were like okay, she is 4 1/2 she could probably learn. So after church we get home, Ashlyn brings her bike inside the house so dad can take the wheels off and then out we go to give it a try. Well needless to say we didn't even have to teach her how to ride it-she did it on her first try and didn't want to stop. She is very strong willed and can do anything she puts her little head to.

And last but DEFINATELY not least Ryker is finally potty trained. He hasn't had an accident for a week now and I am shouting for joy! I was feeling kinda down since Ash was potty trained by the age of 2, and here Ryker is almost 3 and still wasn't doing it. But last week he decided to be my big boy and has gone on the potty all week. I guess I can feel somewhat accomplished-at least he isn't 3 quite yet!