Thanksgiving time

(sorry the pics are all out of order again.) Playing in Micaela's fun yard.

Trying out the new car seat..

Me, Russ and Gracee made a quick trip down to AZ for Thanksgiving. It was sad that I couldn't see everybody I wanted to see--quick trips are tricky that way.

We got to continue our tradition of running a turkey trot thanksgiving morning--only this time we shared it with Diane, Dad, and Slade! It really was a blast! (dad, can you send me what pics you have?) Me and Slade had so much fun just being goofy and silly like old times. We ate dinner with everybody at the Stokers, it was cozy and yummy.

This is Gracee modeling the dress Grandma made for her birthday. She loved her visit with grandma! She slept there and when grandma had to get up in the night to change her diaper--Gracee was just THRILLED!! She kept smiling at her in the dim light saying, "Hi!" over and over again! She definately remembers her from when she used to live with us here in UT! Grandma was very relieved about that!

The day after Thanksgiving Micaela did a photo shoot for us--pictures to come! Thanks for sharing your talent with us Kala, you are such a dream!

We enjoyed our visit with the Adams family and fish boys. Gracee loves her cousins. Thanks everybody for hosting us! We are lucky to have such fabulous hosts!

Run for Fun? What the Heck kinda fun is that??

Ok, so as usual my photos are all out of order. Cute. Anyway, the first annual Halloween Provo Half Marathon rocked! I did it with my good friend Kimberlee. It was an honor to run with her for her FIRST Half! Congrats again Kimmie! We started up by Aspen Grove Family Camp. We got to stay warm in the lodge while we waited for the race to start. That's actually a HUGE perk for a race, cuz usually they make you wait out in the freezing cold and your muscles and nerves get all crampy!

They blocked off the main highway for us to cross over to run on the Provo River trail. I felt som important as we ran passed at least 100 vehicles. They weren't even annoyed-acting that we messed up their morning commute. They cheered fur us and all of the fun costumes.

As long as my knees do okay, this run will be a yearly tradition. It was on my favorite running path and was organized very well. Thanks for reading!

silly sock friends...next year there'll be a better costume.

chip off the old block..

Momma and Gracee usually have the munchies... lucky for us, we usually try to make it something healthy...

if possible!!

Ha! I love this one. As soon is the refrigerator is open even for a second, she bolts over and immediately starts going for the carrot bag or the apple drawer. She takes a nibble or two out of each one and moves on to the next.

What goes down must come up!

We are so happy to have our Gracee back to health! The last two weeks were rotten rotten rotten! She had a virus that gave her horrible blisters in her mouth! She was so miserable and wouldn't eat or drink for quite some time. It was very traumatic for us. Russ had to pick up the pieces of myself I kept losing throughout each day. He was such a big support.

Luckily, she's been catching up on sleep. Yesterday she didn't wake up until 11:15am! (17 hours of uninterrupted sleep). I was just talking to a friend who is waiting for me right now at a play group. At about 10:30am I was telling her WHY Gracee was still asleep, "Well she went to bed soooo late last night! It was almost 9pm!" She said, "Nora went to sleep at 9pm last night too, but she woke up at 5am!" She says I'm a "lucky dog"!

But hey, we deserve it after the last couple weeks, right? We knew that when Gracee did feel better, it would be so much more wonderful and magical than we ever remembered health being! What goes up must go down...the reverse is also true.

Confessions and addictions

I am addicted to Foyle's War. I want to watch it ALL THE TIME. But I don't. I practice a great deal of self-restraint. But just know that it is because of this series and Gracee girl being sick the past while that I seem to have dropped off the face of the blogging, texting, cell phoning earth. Sorry, if you watch it you'll understand. I promise. Stay tuned.

Follow the Yellow brick road!

So we couldn't find a straw hat, but Russ is supposed to be a "mildy-dressed" scarecrow and I was Dorothy. I think doing family-themed Halloweens are so fun! Russ just humored me. What a trooper.

Gracee and her friend Lily. I loved the medal she wore as the cowardly lion. It was such a nice touch, dontcha think?

Gracee and her friend Maddie. "ROAR! Who says I'm cowardly??!"

A love affair

Are you one of those people who can't go to bed with the kitchen messy? Bed unmade? Are you one of those people who has to lick your plate in order to feel satisfied? (I hope you're reading this Star!) Are you one of those people who feels incomplete unless they have vacuumed? Dusted? Do you have to have a bowl of cereal EVERY morning? Not eggs, not pancakes--it has to be cereal, otherwise you will be starved the whole morning?

I AM!!

Russ and I both have a deep love affair with cereal. It's an expensive habit! Recently we've had to get creative and start thinking of other snacks at night and for skipped meals (Russ's dilemma when I am not at home.) I am putting up a list in our cereal cupboard that says, "Wait! Is this just a snack? Have you already had cereal today? Try another option FIRST:" We have put our heads together and come up with about 10 other snacks that we could settle for--in order to reserve the cereal for breakfast. We will have to muster a lot of self-control, but as I always say, "We CAN do hard things!"

The love affair will continue--oh yes--there's no doubt about it. But perhaps it will feel more special each morning to know that I won't be able to have another bowl for at least 24 hours...

Do you have a love affair you'd like to share?