Fall Pumpkins!

This year I planted pumpkins!

It has been so fun to watch them take off and grow!
Our one little pumpkin plant has produced 5 pumpkins! One for each of the kids! It's cute because the kids have been going out and claiming their pumpkins. Carsten insists, "I get the smallest one!"
I think the pumpkins are all just about ready to harvest. Well, all but one of them. This green one has been so slow! I moved it out away from the house so it could see more of the sun and it's finally starting to get it's orange color. I can't wait to display them on my front door steps! I'm one proud pumpkin farmer!

Aunts

Aunt Sally, Me, and Aunt Nancy

Aunt Nancy and Aunt Sally came to town for a few days to visit.
We all met up at Wendy's for lunch before they headed back to Washington.

Lil' RED Running Hoods!

I ran in my first relay race!

The Red Rock Relay was September 9th and 10th.
I was on a team made up of 12 female runners. We were divided up into 2 vans and each of us ran 3 legs of the race. The race started at Brian Head Ski Resort just outside of Cedar City, UT. and ended at Zions National Park. The race was 174 miles long lasting 2 days. It was an amazing adventure!

My friend Wendy Barron invited me to run on her team. Wendy and I were in the same ward in Phoenix years ago. We have both since moved to Utah and taken up running. Wendy was the only person I knew on our team. But luckily for me, I don't have any problems making friends!

Our team name was
Lil' RED Running Hoods!

One of the girls on our team that was in van #2
made the cutest cookies for all of us.

My friend Wendy was Runner #1. {She's the one in the middle.} The start of the race was at the top of Brian Head. She took a 20 min. ski lift ride to get to the top. Once at the top the race began!

I was Runner #3
So I ran legs 3, 15, and 27.

My first leg was 8.4 miles long and according to the guide map it was considered to be hard, but it was all downhill. Here is what the guide map said exactly...

LEG #3
“CEDAR DISCO BREAK”

Description: The Cedar Breaks National Monument and scenic over looks surround this leg. Runners will run a slight decline on their way past some of the most beautiful Red Rock vistas known to man. Team vans and runners should be sure to take some time to breathe the mountain air and enjoy this part of the RRR journey!
Safety: Fairly low traffic with a good shoulder to run on. Continue to be aware of oxygen levels. You are still running at 10k feet!

So this is all the warning I received to train for this little MONSTER! And let me start by saying that the first 1 1/2 miles was straight UPHILL! And the rest of the 7 miles had some decline but it was definitely NOT all downhill! And when they speak of oxygen levels... They weren't kidding! 10 thousand feet is a killer to breath in!

Notice the INCLINE!
Oh and don't forget to notice some of
the most beautiful Red Rock Vistas known to man!

I'll be perfectly honest... I was sucking wind so bad {weather I was running up or downhill} that I wasn't noticing anything beautiful!

Once again... INCLINE!!!
So nice to have picture proof of my misery!

But I have to say that it was still kind of fun at the same time. My support van would drive up a mile or two and then get out to cheer me on. And a girl from my ward was on a team racing close with us and so they would cheer me on too! I had like double the support! Well right up until my friends MOM passed me! They call that a KILL. Some vans keep track of how many people they "KILL". Our van didn't keep track. But I kept track of my own. It was super easy! I had 2 kills TOTAL! And I wont mention how many times I was KILLED!

Here's our van!

In this picture I'm passing off to Krista after completing Leg #15.
Leg #15 started right at dusk and it was a 4.6 mile run and considered to be a medium level of difficulty.

LEG #15
“DESERT SOLITUDE”

Description: A hundred years ago, prospectors wandered these lands looking for GOLD... you’ll wander them looking for an energy bar & an adrenaline high. The first half is up (summit at 2.3 miles) and the second half is down. The exchange is located at the bottom of the hill at a 4 way intersection.
Safety: Extremely low traffic, possible cattle guards or uneven surfaces.

If this leg was really 1/2 uphill and 1/2 downhill, the uphill part felt A LOT LONGER than the downhill part! Just saying!

After we passed off to Van #2 we headed up to our next van exchange. There were literally hundreds of people in sleeping bags lying in the grass around an LDS church house trying to get a little rest.

#1... I'm not a good sleeping bag sleeper.
#2... I'm not good at falling asleep amongst hundreds of other people. Some of which were not sleeping however they were yelling in a whisper "Running with scissors?" "Running with scissors?" Not to mention the team at my feet that decided to make themselves a hot breakfast with like a little camping stove or something!
Which brings me to point #3... I think I maybe got about 30 minutes of sleep! And something I learned about not sleeping at my age... It causes nausea! Weird huh? And to answer your question... No I didn't throw up!

So... my last leg was just 2.56 miles long and quite EASY!!!
I began my run just as the sun began to rise.

LEG #27
“CANYON OVERLOOK”

Description: After your hand off, you will jump on the running trail adjacent to hwy 18. This has some crazy rollers and crazy views of the canyon. Just look to the right and behold nature’s majesty! The total elevation drop on this baby is around 1k feet so be ready to blaze these 2.5 miles.
Safety: Extremely low traffic, on path. Be aware of potential poor visibility due to early morning hours.

I did it!
I completed all 3 legs of my runs equaling 15 1/2 miles.

Van #1 from left to right
Tania, Krista, Tammie, Laura,Wendy and Stephanie.

And the entire team at the finish line... minus 2!
We finished the race in 33 hours and 27 minutes.

GO LIL" RED RUNNING HOODS!

I decorated a cake!

I know that decorating a cake isn't something new for me, but I haven't decorated one in a long time and this one was a little different.

It's hard to see from this weird angle but it was really late at night when I finished and I was extremely tired and due to the fact it's football season right now my big zoom lens was on my camera and I was too tired to go change it out. So I got really far away and took the picture at this weird angle just so that I could be done with it and most importantly... GO TO BED!

Ethan is really good at graphic design stuff on the computer. I'll have to post some of his awesome work. He can take a regular photo and create a cartoon character out of it. It's really pretty cool looking. So when my cousin Deana called to see if I would decorate a cake for her son Adam's birthday/American Fork JV & Varsity team football dinner, I got the idea to have Ethan cartoon one of his football pictures and then I could just put a picture of Adam on the cake. By the time I thought of this fabulous idea, time was running out and Ethan didn't have a lot of time. Doing up close faces is more difficult to do so he did one of his full length body pictures instead which just so happens to be a bit harder for me on the cake decorating end. But beggers can't be choosers and I'll have to admit, I did beg him! I think it turned out pretty good. Not my best work but I'm excited to do this cartooning idea again. I think it has potential!

FINALLY a school boy!

I think I mentioned previously about Talan being so bent out of shape when I brought out my August back to school decorations and he wasn't in any of the pictures. It was a sad day in the life of Talan! He cried real tears and everything! So I assured him that when it was his first day of preschool, he too would have his picture taken!

Well it happened! Talan started Preschool!
And he couldn't have been more excited!

We got one of our back to school apple decorations
and headed to the front yard to take a few pictures.

He loved having his own little photo shoot!

It's fun to watch the kids grow up!
On the morning of his first day he was very cooperative.
Bath? Sure mom!
Do my hair? Of course!

"Look at me mom!
Take my picture now!"

And then off to school we went.
Talan is going to Miss Cindy's class.
Miss Cindy is in our ward and teaches preschool in the basement of her home. Carsten and Reagan both went to her and LOVED IT!

And here he goes walking up to her door!

When we got downstairs we saw the Cat in the Hat with lots of fishes!

Then we found Talan's fish.

He went to class like a big boy just as excited as could be!
FINALLY A SCHOOL BOY!

Student of the Week... Carsten Adair!

At school one thing about having a last name that Begins with an A, you have a pretty good chance at being first! First in line, in the front of the class, and the first student in the class to be the "student of the week!"

Of course I wasn't informed about the need to have a student of the week poster until it was already a few days late! But that's okay because that's how I roll... remember L8ASUSL! We made a frantic dash to the store to get a poster board and then to work we went!
Carsten helped pick out all the pictures for the poster.

I came to his class along with Talan, his Aunt Staci and cousins Jack and Abe. Carsten's teacher hooked him up to a microphone to present his poster to the class. He was not too sure what to say! His teacher encouraged him to just tell the class about the pictures on his poster. He did it just about as short and sweet as possible. It was kind of cute watching him squirm!

Then the teacher asked if I could say a few things. Well heavens knows that I don't have any problem talking to a bunch of 4th graders being the cub scout master that I am! So I talked for a few minutes and then the class asked Carsten questions. He's so cute... and funny!

Carsten is a HUGE fan of Gummy Bears so I brought in a HUGE bag to share with the class. Of course trying to set the precedents that when it's your turn to be the student of the week, you had better come with treats! We'll see how our master plan pans out!

Cute Jack playing with his gummy bears.

And adorable Abe!

After the cute little student of the week presentation I took Staci on a tour of the school making a visit to Bradon and Reagan's classes too. It was a fun little field trip!

L8ASUSL

David has always wanted to get me my own personalized license plate. For years he has pondered what he would put on it. He's asked me over and over again what I think it should say. I never came up with any great ideas and then David came up with this!
L8ASUSL
I think it's been at least a year since I've been driving around town with this here little beauty. At first I was quite irritated that this is what he would come up with. You see, me being late to stuff is one of Davids biggest pet peeves. And putting it on a license plate, proclaiming it to EVERYONE... Well, it was a bit of a sore spot for me!

So at first I found it to be embarrassing!
But now I have fully embraced it!
YES THAT'S ME... LATE AS USUAL!

I have had more people {and when I say people, I mean strangers.} approach me about my license plate. They think it's so funny! So cleaver! So perfect! They even go as far as insisting on taking a picture of it!

So I guess if you must be known for something, it might as well be the truth!
Ladies and Gentlemen... I'm Late as usual!
And if you have a problem with it!
TALK TO THE PLATE!

SURPRISE!!!

Last Sunday about 15 minutes before it was time to take my Mother-in-law Jeannine to the airport our doorbell rang. Huh, I wonder who that could be? The kids ran to the door and opened it up while I walked to the door behind them. I saw a boy standing there who looked an awful lot like my nephew Jack. I thought, "Wow, that kid looks a lot like Jack!" I walked a little bit closer and LO AND BEHOLD there was my sister Staci and her husband John and their other little boy Abe! OH MY GOSH, IT WAS JACK!!! I had no idea that they were coming! What a wonderful surprise! And they were in luck too, because our guest room had just become available!

We hadn't seen the Kramer family in over a year and a half! It was so good to see them! It was so good to have the kids see each other! They had so much fun together! Talan and Abe are just 18 hours apart in age and they couldn't have been more fun to watch. They were both so competitive with one another! "I'm more potty trained than you are!" You know, that kind of stuff! It was too funny!

I'm kicking myself now for not taking more pictures. I have a few but that's it!

As you can see from the look on Talan's face he was more than thrilled to have a little playmate his own size! They had just about everything in common!
Talan just saw this picture on the computer and said, "Abe's just wearing underwear and not pants! But I'm wearing pants!"

Jack is getting so big and grown up! He's the size of Carsten. {Not that that's saying much since Carsten has proclaimed that he's going to become a midget someday!} Carsten and Jack had so much fun together!
It was fun getting to know Jack a little better. He's such a cute kid! And such a good artist too! He actually has a lot in common with Ethan! It must be a first born thing!

Abe felt pretty comfortable with Ethan. He just snuggled right up to him. Ethan seems to have this effect on young children. They always seem to seek him out and mess with him. I'm thinking that children must be a good judge of character!

I felt bad that my life is so busy all the time and I wasn't able to entertain them more while they were here. I hope that they had a fun visit with us because we sure enjoyed them.

Staci and I spent one afternoon together shopping and hanging out while David babysat the kids. It was a blast! I wish I could spend more time with her more often. About 3 years ago when she came to visit we went to the mall and bought ourselves silver CZ rings. Staci's wedding ring is made of white gold and she's allergic to it. My wedding ring has a lose stone in it that I worry about. So we got ourselves new AWESOMELY FAKE ones! Fake wedding rings don't last forever nor cost very much so you can just get new ones whenever and change them out. It's kind of fun! Especially when people look at my ring and tell me, "Your husband is a keeper, hang on to him!" Oh YES he is! Anyways Staci and I decided that this will be our new SISTERS tradition. So while we were at the mall we got ourselves some pretty sweet rings!

John flew home to go to work and so Staci had to drive the kids home by herself a few days later. I felt bad that she had to sacrifice so much to visit us but ABSOLUTELY FLATTERED that she would do all that for me! It was a wonderful week with only one regret... I should have taken a picture of Staci and I together, and a picture of all the kid together too!
Next time! I guess there is always next time!

National Geographic Week?

Apparently nature likes us!

This last week we discovered that we have an AWESOME black wasps nest in one of our trees in the front yard. It's totally cool looking! It's absolutely amazing that those wasps can build such an awesome nest! I'm debating weather I should call the pest control company to get rid of it, or just wait until winter for the wasps to vacate the hive and then spray it myself. It's super cool and I would hate to destroy it!

Then not only that....

But we had the pleasure of having a
hummingbird visitor too!

This cute little hummingbird flew into our garage and couldn't seem to find it's way out! We tried everything we could think of to help it find it's way and then finally gave up and shut the garage door so that we could all go to bed.

Do you know the sound a smoke detector makes when it's battery is low? Well that's the same noise a hummingbird makes! As I walked through the house turning off lights and locking doors after getting the kids in bed, I heard this high pitched beeping noise. I followed my ears to see what it could be. I opened the garage door and realized that it was our cute little hummingbird!

The next morning when David lifted the garage door to go to work the hummingbird finally escaped! I think it just needed some natural sunlight to see it's way out!

Quiet is NEVER a good thing!

"Talan, what are you doing underneath the kitchen table?"
"Talan you have written all over your face!"
"Where did you get that marker?"
And "Why did you do that?"

"But I made a mustache!"

Angry eyes!

Seriously, how could I get made at a face like this?

Talan strutted this look for several days
hence the "permanent marker!"

Pure Awesomeness!