Worst Blogger Award

Ok I win. I have been a total slacker, I admit it. I have pictures from Halloween night that I haven't even posted. Since it isn't Thanksgiving until Thursday I guess they can still be relevant right? Heres a little run down on what we have been up to...(ALOT)
I am beyond irritated right now considering all of my photos are out of order, but you get the idea,because I am not changing them!

Ryan was the cutest bat for Halloween

The Karate Kid and the ninja (Austin and Carter)

The boys at home with their stash after trick or treating

getting ready to go-ninja, coal miner, and chewbacca

I love these boys. I decided to stay home this year and pass out candy. The weather was great with only a few sprinkles of rain here and there. Chewbacca-what a great investment for that costume. I laugh every time I see it.

Preston's 2nd Birthday party at Grammys

The party goers

Birthday boy did not want his picture taken

The dinosaur cake that ran out of frosting. Don't make fun of it, I already did enough of that to James and hurt his feelings. oops :( It's cute enough right?

Kate being hannah montana for Halloween

The Relief Society was in charge of our emergency preparedness activity so we had a tasting table for those who had made things from their food storage. James always jumps on an opportunity to cook so he made two things-one were these no egg pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Pretty good I thought!

Mom and Dad at Presto's party

Magnetic Dinoaurs from Grammy which he loves! Carter does too which makes it nice!

Blake's birthday was on the 13th so he got to blow out the candles on the half frosted dinosaur cake too! Big numer 8, I can't believe it!

Carter's preschool has been talking about Thanksgiving these past couple of weeks and we were told to bring in a paper grocery bag, a large can, and think of an indian name. Carter came up with Spinning Bear as he was twirling around the kitchen. They came out of school on Thursday looking like this and I had to capture the cuteness on film. He was so proud of his little Indian outfit.

They used the can for a drum. That got old real fast!

James and I finally got a date night last Saturday to the Real Salt Lake soccer game. It was so fun! I have to admit soccer is not my favorite, but James was excited about it since we were in the western conference final game, so I decided to go. The fans were great-throwing flares and crate paper on the field. We lost 1-0, we hit the post of the goal 3 times! So frustrating! It was a fun and REALLY cold night.

The stadium was so cool looking. I had never been there before.

The other thing James made for the activity was an alfredo chicken pizza. I'm sure he will post the recipe on his cooking blog eventually. It was tasty!

This month has flown by! Some other highlights have been my girls night out to see Twilight the movie. I'm waiting for pictures from others, then I will blog about it! I loved it by the way. Yesterday I went to my BFF Karynn's bridal shower and laughed at all the lingerie she got. To be a newlywed again...haha. Last night we threw a party for my brother Kevin's 30th birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise but he found out early of course. James catered the whole thing for about 50 people and the food turned out great. Then he did a quiz all about Kevin afterward. He amazes me with how talented he is in so many areas. Needless to say, I'm tired! My eye has been twitching for 2 days due to lack of sleep. Hope you enjoyed the jumbled and random update on us!

*Thing I am grateful for today-Church. It always makes me feel better about my life. I feel like everything taught today was for me directly. I love those kind of days.

Calling all Runners

So I think I have decided to run the Salt Lake marathon in April. I know, I'm crazy, and I said I would never run a full marathon, but here I am! I am so nervous about it. It is going to be tough. I need as much advice as I can get on different tricks you use to keep you going. How do you get mentally strong? What do you use to hold your water? Which training program do you recommend? What do you eat during training and on race day? I feel like I can do so much better on my training as far as these things are concerned which I know that it will make a huge difference on race day. Any tips or suggestions would be very helpful! Thanks!

Thankful

In this month of Thanksgiving, I figured I would start it out right with a post of things I am thankful for today.
*Kosy playing Christmas music all day long on their station. I can't get enough!
*Preston saying keenk-koo (thank you) Mommy after I give him something
*a clean kitchen (for today that is)
*good visiting teachers
*a healthy body that can run, jump, and play with my kids
*I got to vote
*James' cooking and baking skills
*new shoes
*a hot shower, socks and warm blankets-I was frozen yesterday!
*thought provoking conversations
*great parents
*blogs
*our upcoming trip to Florida
*Carter being the big brother and watching out for Preston
*preschool

I have so much to be thankful for, the list could go on and on. I think with every post in the month of November I will list something I am thankful for, even if it has nothing to do with what I am posting about. Happy November!

October Activities

It seems like we are so busy the month of October because of all of the fun activities for the kids to do. We went to the annual Scarecrow festival the day after we got back from the cabin and had a blast. We only had a couple of hours because I was helping serve the food for my uncle Richard's wedding to Tina. (Congrats to them!) We packed a lot in those two hours and Carter was not ready to leave. Here are some of the highlights of the night:

*blow up slides

*kid friendly games

*yummy food and rootbeer

*haunted house

*pumpkins and witches everywhere

*shark face painting for Carter

Next on the agenda was the Legacy Center Halloween party on Friday. The kids love going trick or treating around the track and seeing all of the fun costumes. Carter was in front of a little boy that was Optimus Prime the transformer and thought he had died and gone to heaven. Sloppy joes and lemonade didn't hurt either!

James and our little chewbacca Preston
Carter is a blue ninja. He loved twirling around his glow necklace that he separated and turned into a light saber.


Megan, Mike, and Peter enjoying some food with us


Nate, Marie, Sophia, and Ryan watching the Spiderwick Chronicles with us while eating dinner. That movie is a bit scary for little kids.


James and I went on a date that night so we dropped the kids off at my parents house. The boys wanted to show off their costumes. Preston was all sugared up from trick or treating and wasn't in the mood to smile. This picture scares me with how much he looks like his older brother. Twins!

Thanks for watching the kids Grammy and Grandad!

Monday rolled around again and for Family Night we had to carve our pumpkins so we were ready for Halloween night. Carter wanted a vampire (I must be talking about Twilight too much) and Preston wanted a ghost. Carter learned this monkey face from my cousin Kiersten at Peter's birthday party the day before. What a little performer Carter is, he cracks me up.

Scary pumpkins

We are FINALLY getting the last of our harvest of zucchini. I won't be buying it or eating it for atleast a few weeks. We pulled all of the flowers, weeds, and plants out this week getting ready for snow. This week has been such nice weather I have been enjoying it while it lasts.

Wednesday Grammy made up Halloween bags for the grandkids equipped with glowstick necklaces, Halloween stickers, hologram cards, Hannah Montana candy bracelets, super hero candy sticks, and lots of candy. They have been whining about them ever since. That night we had pizza and cake at 5 Buck for Austin's birthday. James has been teaching him tennis lessons and so he wanted him to come to his laser tag party with him. They were on the same team and ended up winning. Happy 10th birthday Austin!

I want deedee! (candy)

Carter's preschool Halloween party was yesterday and they got to dress up and had a parade around the neighborhood. Melanie lives close by so she loaded the kids up and came to watch with me. Carter felt so special to have his cousins there.



His teacher Miss Carrie is so great and really makes it so fun for the kids. Where is Carter?

Oh he ran ahead to meet up with his cousins. What a surprise! Also notice he isn't the blue ninja anymore. He decided he wanted to be a dragon again his costume from last year. Hey fine by me, it still fits! Tonight we go trick or treating and end it all with chicken soup and french bread at Grammys house. They get one last hoorah with the candy eating and then it gets taken away tomorrow. I hope you all have a very fun and safe Halloween!

A breath of fresh air

We made our way up to the Whiting cabin (or as Carter calls it, the "cabinet") for UEA weekend to spend some quality time up in the mountains with our family. We had such a blast, as usual! I don't think I have eaten that much since Christmas! My boys loved being outside so much and I loved that they weren't watching TV. Here's a few pictures of the trip:

I had to take this picture of Preston's jeans splattered with mud literally 2 minutes after we had arrived. He was already getting into the spirit of being in the mountains!
Aunt Mellie greeted us on the 4 wheeler and Carter and Preston immediately got on for a ride. This is one of their favorite things about being up here, thanks for all the rides Mel!
We had a campfire both nights we were there and it was so much fun. Smores are the best!
Carter was constantly looking for the perfect walking stick.
Little Smoreface!
The next day James made sugar cookies with the kids and let them frost their own. Preston wasn't too interested when he had chips around. He ate atleast half of the bag himself.
Carter was pretty proud of his since it had a spiderweb on it (James helped a bit) CHEESE!!

We all want a ride please!

Bethany and I went for a run up there and about died. I didn't realize how much the elevation would affect me. It was about 10,000 feet up there so I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. Maybe I need to train up here for my next race!
Saturday we went on a hike up to Ruth Lake. It was so pretty and Carter did pretty good to hike with us. Preston was in a backpack with James and enjoyed all the scenery from up high.
Isn't the scenery gorgeous? This family picture might have made the Christmas card but the sun is WAY too bright on my face. Bummer. Our picture from last year was up at the cabin but looks like we will have to find a different location this year.
Preston could not get enough of the Mike and Ikes. He wouldn't share with anyone.

Here is a typical Preston picture. His eyes are closed in about 75% of them. He says cheese then closes his eyes. Love this boy!

On Sunday I got no pictures which I am bummed about. We went on a nature walk and ended up turning a corner on the trail we were on and were face to face with a momma moose and her baby. We turned around immediately and high-tailed it out of there! That made James' whole trip, he is obsessed with wildlife. He even watches hunting on TV even though he doesn't hunt, just to watch the deer in action. Who does that? Anyway, we had so much fun playing games, eating a ton of food, reading People magazine (every single adult read it!), and just relaxing together. One of my other favorite things is the talks that James and I have on the way up and back. It is good for us to reconnect and forget about work and life for a few days. Thanks to Melanie and Carl for inviting us up! We loved it!

Happy News

How cute are they?? My BFF from highschool, Karynn is engaged!! I got the news yesterday and I am so happy for her. At 29 she is definitely ready! It's been a long road for her with past boyfriends and waiting for the right guy to finally come along. We went to dinner last night and I got all of the details about the proposal (he did a great job), wedding plans, honeymoon location, and some other gossip we needed to catch up on. December 13th can't come fast enough! Congrats Karynn and Derek, I can't stop smiling!!

Snow and Cornbellys

If any of you haven't heard yet, we here in Utah got snow on Sunday! Carter woke up and looked directly out the window and screamed, "SNOW MOMMY!" He wanted to get into his snow clothes immediately but I told him he had to wait until the sun was totally up. Was this really happening? October 12th? I swear it gets earlier every year. This weekend is supposed to be warm again, so I am not totally upset yet. Fall is still here for another week atleast.

Carter finally got to use his Diego shovel we bought on clearance this summer. It was supposed to be used for Grammy's sandbox but somehow never made it over there. It seemed to work just as good with the snow. This snow was totally melted by about 5 o'clock that night. Carter and James even built a snowman, but I was too cold to take a picture of it by the time they were finished! Just imagine a cute little baby snowman...
Today was Carter's first fieldtrip for preschool to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point. Well I guess it wasn't technically a "real" fieldtrip since I just drove him from our house to Thanksgiving Point because I couldn't find my keys for about 20 minutes. They ended up being in my purse the whole time, grrrr. I was supposed to be a helper mom and take care of a few other kids while we were there. It definitely kept me on my toes with Preston along! We made it there a little before the rest of the class so we took some pictures while we were waiting.

I wanted Carter to put his arm around Preston for this picture but Preston was not happy about it. How cute is that beanie?! It was Carter's and I couldn't wait for it to fit another one of my boys. I love it. We definitely needed it. It was FREEZING when we first got there.
Derek and Carter on a fun hayride that was really bumpy
The cow tractor ride was where Carter reminded me that he has a very strong personality(not that I needed any reminding). He wanted to sit up front and didn't want to share a little car (cow) with anyone. Two other girls wanted to share but had to sit in the front so he had to switch with them. Big mistake. He was kicking and screaming the whole time until the ride started. Even trying to get his picture after it was over was still traumatizing. The funny part was that I asked him on the ride home what his favorite part was and he said the cow ride! Kids are so funny. Don't you love the cowboy boots? He had to wear those today, I figured it was pretty appropriate.
I thought he would say that this was his favorite part. They had old style water spigots that you could pump water through and push some rubber ducks along the little gutter thing. He played here for a good twenty minutes and managed to get his whole sleeve soaking wet. He didn't complain, so I didn't complain!
Snacktime! Carter was in charge of the snack and couldn't wait to give out the fun Halloween frosted cookies. I think they were a hit. I went with the orange theme with the goldfish too. Ok, I only realized after I had them both but hey it works!

Cambrie and Carter in the cute wooden train
In the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin. Carter saw his right away and held onto it. He was so proud! We are going to carve some tonight that we bought last night but got home too late. I love fall!
Preston with the pumpkin he picked. It was a little green and moldy so I kindly chose another one for him while he wasn't looking. :)
Again, how cute is that beanie?! Okay really you have to have a cute kid to go with it!
I thought that they would be totally tired out from the 2 hours outside, but they still had a little more to get out before lunch time. They had their plates ready and were chasing each other around with them. What a fun game! I think I am tired now after writing this post! Whew!

A tribute

My hair dryer (is it two words?) finally bit the dust a few days ago. I have had this hair dryer for atleast 10 years. It's like I am losing an old friend. Does anyone else feel that way maybe about a hair brush or favorite toothbrush? Am I crazy?? I went to Target looking for a replacement hoping they would have the same kind, but to no avail. I had to settle for this revlon one that is way stronger and has more gadgets and settings. It even came with a free lime green scrunchie. The scrunchie did soften the blow, but I am still missing my old conair. May she rest in peace.

Update on my boys

My boys are growing up. Some days it seems like it isn't coming fast enough, and then days like today I am just reminded how time moves too fast. Preston will be 2 next month and it literally seems like about 2 months ago that we brought him home from the hospital. He has started to get quite the little personality, and is talking so much more. Carter has always acted older than his age and lately he has been cracking me up with all the questions and phrases he comes up with. One of my favorites is when James couldn't find his keys and was frustrated and said as any normal Brit would, "Where are my bloody keys?!" to which Carter turned to me and asked, "Mommy, why are Daddy's keys bloody?" It was pretty hilarious. He also thinks he is a diver and came over to me while I was on the computer a few days ago looking like this. I couldn't resist a picture. Notice his ears folded under the strap around his head. So cute. He has learned some nursery rhymes at preschool and recited them for me on the way home last Thursday. I was floored with how perfect he remembered them all. Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Hey diddle diddle, and Hickory dickory dock are the ones he knows. I'm sure if you ask him to recite one for you, he would love to. He is so proud of himself, and gets a little smirk on his face when you tell him how good he did. His preschool class is going to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point next week which he always calls "Corntummys". He asks to go every day and can't wait for his first field trip with his class. I love this age!

I went in to check on Preston before church to see if he had woken up yet so that I could get him dressed and this is what I found. How comfortable can that be? He is my night owl and will sit and kick around in his crib for hours sometimes after I put him to bed. He doesn't cry, he enjoys it I think. I sometimes hear him growling like a dinosaur or talking jibberish to himself. He is a good little dude.

We went up to Nunns Park in Provo Canyon tonight to see all of the leaves changing. It is so beautiful! I love fall. This is when I knew that my boys were growing up. I didn't really have to worry about Carter up there this time. He kept close by us and didn't whine or complain at all. This is a big step for Carter who has been my challenge in that area. I think he is finally starting to grow out of that stage (knock on wood!) Even Preston did really well with only some wet shoes from walking too close into the river while throwing rocks. They had a blast. Hotdogs, smores, rootbeer, a river, rocks, and friends, how can you go wrong? Thanks Canlas Fam! Here is our attempt at a picture with the changing leaves. Carter thought he was so funny running away. Little punk! He finally decided one alone would be okay. I bought this jacket for him and got a 5t for some reason which is totally huge on him. What was I thinking? Well atleast it will fit him for sure next year! Well I figured the grandparents would like a little update on what has been happening with these two little cuties. For all the rest of you, I'm impressed you made it this far!

Need input

I am looking into putting together a 5k race for my cousin Sean who has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. All proceeds would go toward his medical bills and treatment. Does anyone know how to go about this? He and his wife of only one month were both University of Utah students so I am wondering if maybe the school could get involved somehow. Winter is approaching quickly so we need to act fast on this. If you have any contacts or know how this can be organized, please respond!