Happy Thanksgiving 2009!!!

This Thanksgiving was unlike any we've ever had before, this was the first time that we ate out at a RESTAURANT instead of cooking the big meal! I thought this would be heaven on earth, but I have to admit I missed cooking all the Thanksgiving dishes! Actually I missed cooking WITH someone :) We had such a great time at Hilton Head, SC. Tyler and Anna and their family drove and met us too. We figured out that it is almost exactly the middle point between us because we each drove 5 hours to get there. What a BEAUTIFUL place! The island doesn't let businesses have their signs above the tree line and so it just looks like mostly trees and then tucked behind them are all the restaurants, stores, etc. And everything is so beautifully maintained. The beach was gorgeous, and the funnest part is that everyone rides bikes around the island and there are bike paths all over.

We got a call months ago from a time share company trying to sell us on a condo and they said they would give us a great deal for 3 nights and 4 days. I never try those things because I know that with the great deal you have to listen to a 90 minute presentation on their property and as Matt would put it, "that is as fun as getting kicked in the mouth." :) But we did it anyway and went to the presentation and were able to tell the no. In fact we ended up going to 2 presentations, a Marriott Vacation Club representative saw us at one of the touristy areas and gave us a deal that if we listened to their presentation then we could have $100 dining gift certificate, or free golf, or 10,000 Marriott reward points. Matt wasn't thrilled but he was gracious enough to humor me and go to the presentation. Let me tell you...the Marriott timeshares are NICE!!!! If we had a ton more money I would have been sold! :) Luckily reality kicked in and again we were able to say no after the presentation. It was fun to tour their property AND they had a play area for the kids to do crafts, play video games, etc. So the kids didn't mind that one :)

Thanksgiving dinner we ate at Red Fish. It was a very nice restaurant and very good food. Then we went back to the hotel and played games. The next day we took a fun bike ride around the island and stopped at the beach and then stopped at a fun cafe for lunch. And then of course we had to hit the fudge shop and get our sugar kick. We also went to see the light house on the island and the kids had a blast playing on their playground that had a very cool tree house. It was so fun to just hang out at the room later and let the kids play games and use their funny little imaginations together, and then we ordered pizza. Saturday the boys went golfing and the girls went to lunch and then swam at their indoor pool. That night we ate at a VERY nice restaurant thanks to the Marriott :) It was hard to see the weekend end and say our goodbyes. Our kids are at the perfect ages to play together, and they couldn't get enough of cute little Brayden. (As you can tell by the pictures where they would take turns passing the poor boy around :)

I love Thanksgiving and to hear all the kids think of to be thankful for....I had the kids each hold up 10 fingers and name something they are thankful for on each finger.
Here's Luke's list:

1. Mom
2. Dad
3. Brother and sister
4. playhouse
5. our house
6. our 3 pets (fish)
7. our family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins)
8. the beach
9. DS
10. Playstation

Here is Emma's list:

1. mom
2. dad
3. brothers
4. Jesus
5. food
6. my heart
7. my legs
8. gymnastics
9. friends
10. cousins

And I am thankful for so many things that this post could turn into it's own novel...here is my condensed list:

1. My husband
2. my kids
3. my parents and the way they raised me
4. my brothers and sisters
5. my wonderful in-laws
6. the Gospel
7. Jesus Christ
8. my ward
9. my home
10. Matt's job
11. that I can stay home with my kids
12. my health
13. exercise
14. sleep
15. food
16. food that I don't have to make
17. a clean house
18. when my kids help clean the house
19. Christmas lights
20. my kids teachers
21. Florida weather
22. my bed
23. my new shower head
24. the playhouse in our backyard
25. legos
26. when my kids say I love you without prompting :)
27. technology
28. cell phones
29. my calling in Young Womens
30. the leaders I work with in Young Womens
31. the Young Women in my ward!
32. vacations
33. blogs
34. phone calls with my mom
35. lounging in my pj's
36. Christmas
37. weekends
38. hot shower
39. the beach
40. my friends
41. the scriptures
42. naps
43. clean sheets
44. a clean car
45. family home evening
46. chocolate
47. my kids Halloween candy :)
48. airplanes
49. board games
50. when my kids are laughing and playing together and getting along!

THANKSGIVING DINNER....

Thanks Grandma for our Thanksgiving treat :)

It was cracking me up everytime Matt would turn and Emma would hang on for her dear life :) Of course she is very dramatic and made it look worse then it actually was :)

Gavin did a face plant right in the sand....it was too funny not to take a picture :) As he is crying I asked "Can I take a picture" and through his tears he says "Ya".

Ella wanted to make a human stack for a picture...it took us a few times and a few crashing towers but what a cute picture :)

We hate goodbyes!

RAGNAR!!!!! I survived!

11 other friends and I ran in a relay that went across Florida! It started at Tarpon Springs (the gulf side), and ended in Daytona Beach on the east coast. It was a total of 202 miles of blood, sweat, and tears :) The way it works is that we are broken up into 2 vans. Van 1 starts and the 6 runners all do their leg of the race and then van 2 meets them at a switch point and then van 2 runners all run their first leg. I was runner #12 which ended up being a little difficult to sit and wait all day for my turn! Our first runner started at 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning and I didn't run until about 5:30 or 6:00 that evening. So it was an emotional roller coaster of getting the butterflies, hoping I was eating/drinking enough so I would have energy, and then sitting in the car. My turn finally came and it was dark. So I had to put on a head lamp, a reflective vest, and a light on my back. My first run was 8.8 miles, my second was 3.6, and my third was 7.6 miles. It was a little nerve racking on that first one because I was running against traffic on the shoulder and so cars would come and I would feel their wind and hope and pray that they saw my light. At times it was pretty dark and it was also very foggy and so it looked like I was running into a dark tunnel. It was so exciting to see my team as I came in.



My second leg was only 3.6 miles so I was expecting it to be pretty easy but it was actually very difficult. It was not along the road and so my van could not follow me. I had it easier then the rest of my teammates that had to run along dark paths. My poor friend Brittany was the leg before me and her whole length was on this PITCH BLACK path, and she had to go 9 miles! 4 miles of it she didn't see another runner or race marker. So she was in the dark by herself! Everyone that came out of the woods after that leg were all very freaked out! She passed the baton to me and I started on the pitch black abyss trail at about 5:30 am. I only had to run on the dark path for about 2 miles. It is so weird to have just your head lamp. I was praying that the batteries wouldn't decide to die!!!! As I came off the trail I saw my van drive past and I was so tired I wanted to flag them down and catch a ride! :) Right toward the end of the run I had to run up a little bridge that crossed the road and was surprised how much effort that took. The sun was coming up by the time I reached my team at the switch point.


We were a little behind by my last leg and so I had to run in the dark AGAIN! I shouldn't complain because some of my poor teammates had to run in the heat of the day with the sun glaring down on them! But I had to put the lamps and vest on again and off I went for my 7.6 miles. Little did I know that I had to run across the CAUSEWAY!!!! The causeway is a huge bridge that leads to Daytona Beach. It was pretty brutal and when I reached the top I put my hands up and gave a little breathless yell! It was fun to see both vans pass me and hear them honk while I was chugging up the causeway. It was funny because I was so concerned with getting all the night gear on that I forgot the bracelet/baton. So van 1 met me at the bottom of the causeway and gave it to me. The whole time during my last leg I could see a guy ahead of me about a block away. I noticed he was stopping every once in a while to walk and I tried with all my might to speed up and pass him (or road kill him as we were calling it). I was only about 20 yards behind him at the very end and he was able to kick it in gear and speed up. By that point I was too exhausted and let go of that little goal. :) I felt famous because van 1 kept parking in front of me, getting out and taking pictures and then driving off. I pretended it was the paparazzi :) My van stopped a couple of times to give me water and I knew if I stopped I wouldn't get my legs to go again and so I would take the water bottle, drink and then throw it to them. The BEST was when I came to the beach sidewalk and as I ran up to the finish line I could see Matt and the kids!!!!!! Luke and Emma started running with me, each holding one of my hands, and I started to cry! My team met me just before the line and we all ran in together!!!! Talk about an accomplishment!!!!! It was the best feeling ever!


Another fun little thing was that before the race my friend Beckie talked about how gross we were going to be sitting in her car all sweaty. She wondered if there was some way to rig up some kind of shower. Well her neighbor is quite into building things and he heard her idea and built upon it and we had THE COOLEST SHOWER EVER!!!! It attached to the trailer hitch and ran off that. It had a pump and a switch and he also welded a hoop that attached to the top and had a shower curtain hanging off! It was amazing and we were the most popular people in the race. EVERYONE was coming up and taking pictures of it. It was nice until some how we burned out the motor and it stopped working. The worst part of it was that it stopped working RIGHT before Beckie could use it!!!!! So not cool! It still came in handy when we wanted to change our clothes.


We saw all kinds of crazy teams with funny names like Road Kill, Normal People Would Drive, Blazing Blisters, We Thought this was a 10K, Are We There Yet, Dude Where's My Van, and it was so fun to meet the team Run Like a Mother because they were LDS ladies from Georgia! So they were our buddies that we would see at each switch point. Our team was CTR - Chicks That Race. What a fun experience with GREAT friends!!!!


I was so sore the next day that I had the kids take my rolling pin and go up and down my legs! Feeling much better now!

Coolest shower EVER!!!

Van #2!!!!! Jessica Martinez, me, Brittany Pratt, Amy Lopez, Andrea Rediske, Beckie Lowe


Hanging out in the hotel before the craziness began (we were all on our phones texting...thought this was a funny picture)

After 1st leg

This is the Daytona Causeway I had to run across.