Best Halloween Ever!

 We had a lot of fun this year for Halloween. We joined another ward's trunk-or-treat, because that is how we get our candy quota for the year. Ben dressed as Gru, a pretty impressive last-minute costume; Trevor was a skeleton; Karmin, Rapunzel; Lydia, Sleeping "Booty;" and Piper as the cutest giraffe ever (minus the times the other kids were giraffes). Lydia got her hand stamped at one of the cars, so instead of saying trick-or-treat, she would hold out her hand and say, "Look, isn't this pretty?" It was quite humorous.

 We took Ben & Trevor trick-or-treating one year in our neighborhood when they were really little, but that was the year we knew everybody who lived there and since then haven't done it again.
After the trunk-or-treat, we headed over to a family friend's house. When the kids got out of the car, Trevor asked, "So is this what trick-or-treating is like?" After talking to the family we were visiting, we decided that since we were in a neighborhood, we would take the kids trick-or-treating. The kids had a lot of fun, but honestly I think Grant and I enjoyed it more. We loved watching the kids run from door to door and we loved watching Lydia light up with excitement. But they were done and asking to go home before we were. Some of them were ready to watch a movie, as promised, when we got home...so the thrill of more candy lost out to Harry Potter. Another church's promise of a pumpkin breaking with candy in it, motivated others to quit. And bed beckoned the rest of them. It probably didn't help that the neighborhood we were in had acre lot parcels. It was a great night. We had a lot of fun--and we got lots of candy!

Carving Pumpkins

I wasn't too excited about carving pumpkins, so we did it pretty quickly before dinner one night. Luckily Ben likes knives so he was all about "helping" out. Lydia carved one with Ben and Karmin carved one too. She was so funny and saved each and every seed that came out of her pumpkin. We ended up drying them and will hopefully be able to plant them next summer.

More Pictures

Here you go, Mom:

Faith of a Child

Karmin got off the bus one day and ran into my arms and just started bawling. She told me that they got to bring their seeds home that day. Karmin had been talking about this seed for about 2 weeks and what they were doing with it and all the little details and colors that her seed had. They carefully wrapped their seeds in wet paper towel, put it in a ziplock baggie, and securely placed it in their backpacks for the safe ride home. However, Karmin was concerned and took her seed out to enable it to have some sunlight on the ride home. But then it slipped from her fingers and fell to the bus floor beneath them. Two of her friends helped her to look for it, but to no avail...her seed was gone. She wanted nothing else but her seed. She cried and cried, and my mother-heart broke.

The following week she was riding on the bus and she decided (even though it had been 4 or 5 days) to look down on the floor. Two rows away she saw her little seed on the ground. She went over and got it, and was as happy as I have ever seen this girl. She said that she had prayed that she would find it, and she did. Prayers are answered, and miracles do happen.

Family Pictures!

We were able to get some quick family pictures a few weeks ago. We just got them back and I am super excited about them--mainly for the purpose that Christmas cards won't be so stressful this year. (Did I just commit myself that I will do Christmas cards this year. I will cross my fingers.) So here a few highlights:

-

Goals...

This may be a long one...so if you want just the short version...here it is:
I ran a 1/2 marathon and I loved it!

Now if you can manage here is the long version:
When I was in 11th grade, my locker partner, Melissa, and I had our life-long goals that we established. And we decorated our locker with pictures and such that described us. This was one of my favorite pictures that I had up in my locker:

It is a picture of Calvin Coolidge fishing. I totally believed that I loved to fish. And I'm glad I believed this of myself because it totally helped in my pursuit of Grant. I thought I liked to fish. He thought I liked to fish. He likes to fish, so it was a winning personality trait for me. It turns out I don't really like to fish. I like to look at the water and be around the water. And this is a peaceful picture of somebody enjoying water, and I like that, but I don't like to fish.

Along with this picture I made 3 goals for myself and had pictures of some of the things that I wanted to do by the time I was 30--because 30 is the magic age I guess.
1. I did not want to watch Star Wars. It is a silly movie that too many people build their lives around. I met Grant and that went out the window.
2. I wanted to go white water rafting. My Grandma and Grandpa went white water rafting with my Grandpa's brother and his wife. I thought it was so cool that they did that. How young and hip and I wanted to be like them. I got married and had kids just a few short years after being in 11th grade and realized I am not a person who likes to do such thrill-seeking adventures. It is just not me. (I still want to be like my Grandparents though, because they are still cool.) However, I did go on the Grizzly River Run at Disneyland before the age of 30. So check. Got that one.
3. I went to a school of runners. Everyone liked to run and I didn't understand why. They liked to run long distances and that seemed crazy. So I decided that one day I would run 10 miles and just see what the fascination was all about. When I was a senior I started running and fell in love with it. The most I got to was 6 miles, and then life happened, and I stopped. But I still had my goal. In researching about running I found that if I run 10 miles I might as well run 3 more and do a 1/2 marathon. Age 30 came and went and I just couldn't do it with my schedule. However this summer the stars aligned just right, and I was able to start my training. I had a place at home that I could run on my own, and I had a friend who liked to run who had surgery on her legs. Bummer for her. Great for me. She went from being able to run a 1/2 marathon to having legs that hurt so 3 miles was hard. I jumped at the opportunity and helped her to get back in shape! Ha ha. It wasn't quite like that. I am so eternally grateful for her in helping me to accomplish my goal. And I am so thankful for Grant who didn't complain once and supported me and encouraged me when I thought I was done.

I loved the whole process. I went from struggling to run for 15 minutes to within a few weeks running 3 miles (albeit a slow 3 miles). Then came 5, and then 9 (which was a beautiful run). The week that I ran 10 miles, Emmylou threw me a little welcoming party at the "finish line." Both of our families were there. She had made up signs for everybody to hold and had a little buffet of food for everyone to eat. I got emotional at how thoughtful she was and also that I had made it. It was a beautiful run. I was so thankful for her family in supporting her and letting her spend so much time running with me. And I was so thankful for my family and their sacrifice that they have made in all the hours I have been running. I have wonderful people around me.

My cheering team

Yes, it was that cold

This last week I got pretty sick, and so I was a bit stressed about running the 1/2 marathon. But by Friday, I was feeling  like I could handle running. Saturday it was 26 degrees when the race started. That is miserably cold. But by mile 3 I was completely thawed out, and by mile 5 I was thankful I wasn't wearing layers. It was a tough course, but so much fun. I love running with Emmylou. It has been so much fun and I have enjoyed getting to know her. She was a great cheerleader. I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of doing. I know that if I put my mind to something, I can do it. I'm 2 years late, but I can count it as done.

I love running. I love how by 8:30 on a Saturday morning, I can say that I have already ran 10 miles or something like that. I love how healthy I have felt, and I love that my leg veins (that are usually a problem) don't hurt. Now I need to buy a treadmill.

The Pumpkin Patch

I was so excited to help again this year when the Kindergarteners got to go to the pumpkin patch, but siblings weren't invited this year. I think it turned out for the best though because I got to spend 1-on-1 time with Karmin--something I need to do more often. At first she seemed right at home and her normal self when we got to go pick the corn. She was happy and excited, but as soon as we were done with that, she was shy and timid. Looking back on it, we were by ourselves and then afterwards we did things as a group. This is not a side that we see of Karmin very often. I was happy that I got to be there with her. We had fun picking corn, gourds, mini pumpkins, and bigger pumpkins together.

Goats

We heard about the goats that the city is renting to eat all the noxious weeds in the area, so we had to go visit after school today. The kids loved them. The goats didn't love Piper in return though. She was so excited to touch (and pull) them. Lydia, Karmin, and Trevor had fun feeding and petting them. It is fascinating to watch them eat and eat. I think we need a goat at our house to eat our weeds too.

Sleepy

Piper is a funny girl. She is one that doesn't require a lot of sleep. I don't know if that is true. I think she doesn't like sleeping in her bed, but does just fine if we are in the car or somewhere else. So her nap is a brief 45 minutes during the day. Karmin use to snuggle her when she was little. She just loved to sit and hold her, and was sad when Piper wanted to move more than sit and be still. So in a moment of desperation, today when Piper woke up from her nap, I asked Karmin if she wanted to snuggle with Piper and I hoped that Piper and her would both be willing. And to my wonderment they both were (I'm sure the offer of a tv show helped)! And within 10 minutes this is what I found:

It was a beautiful sight on many different levels. Piper slept there for another 45 minutes. It was AWESOME!