The zoo in the fall

I couldn't believe we got this picture, perfect timing. It was so much fun watching the elephants eat the pumpkins. We always go to the zoo in the heat of the summer, and can barely walk through with out feeling totally exhausted. It was so nice to go when it's cool, we walked through the zoo feeling great, and there were hardly any people there.

We always have to end with the train ride. No line!

Telos Tri Champion 09

The cheerleader. I was too, I couldn't decide if I wanted to race, it was nice watching for once, but I did feel very lazy. Maybe next year.



Bart starting the race, it was a reverse order sprint.

Bart won the age group division! Again. He is really a natural triathlete. He just started this year and already is doing so great. He especially loves when he wins. Good job Bart.

Where's Waldo?

Kate and Elle having fun in the leaves. Who feels like raking them up?

Happy Halloween!

Kate marched in the costume parade, then we had the class party. I am one of the room mothers this year. We had the witches brew, played games, and it turned out really fun for the kids.

Kate made a cat pumpkin, Kolten made his usual basset hound pumpkin. I think he's obsessed.

If you can't tell who Kolten is, he's Syndrome, the evil guy, from Disney's Incredibles. I think he was a little on the old side for trick or treating, but he went with his friends. My opinion is if you make the effort to get all dressed up, I don't mind giving you some candy. He did look a little bit funny though standing by the little cute 3-4 year olds in their costumes. This was the picture before he went to school. He chose the costume, you don't really find many of these in the stores, so I had to make it. He is pretty brave though to wear a leotard to school in 9th grade.

Kate decided she wanted to be a candy corn witch. I made her costume, but this one I should have bought. She did look cute. We went around the neighborhood, then around Lucy's neighborhood. This was an easy year for us, we had the family party a different day so that was nice, a lot less running around than our usual Halloween.

Kate's Family Party "7"

We always have a big family party for Kolten and Kate's birthdays, so twice a year we have both families over for dinner. It usually is about 30 people. My kids can pick out what ever cake they want and it is my personal challenge to create it into a cake. Luckily, with the Internet, it is easier to get ideas. This was my easiest fondant cake, I guess I have figured out how to make it a little better. A class probably would have been nice. We had barbecued pork sandwiches, beans, and chips to eat. Kate had a good time, it is always a little chaotic, but that is expected.

Happy 7th Birthday Kate!

Kate has always had huge birthday parties averaging about 25 kids, usually combined with Erich Heim's birthday{one day apart}. She decided that she just wanted a small girl party this year, and invited just enough girls to fit at her table. It was much easier for me, even though the big parties are fun. She wanted panda bears, so I made little individual cakes, which I already had the molds and had never used. They turned out cute for as much work as they took. It was a fun party, I just can't believe how old she is getting!

Boston! Here Bart comes.

Bart has been training very diligently to attempt to qualify for Boston in the marathon. He needed to get a 3:15.59 to qualify. This was his sixth marathon. His first marathon was the PF Changs race in Phoenix which he got a 3:50. He ran Ogden in May hoping to qualify and got 3:19, which was very disappointing. He put in for St. George, and luckily drew out, I didn't share the enthusiasm, but I drew out too. He has lost weight, and has trained very hard for this. I have had to look at the elevation drawing on the fridge with his goal time since the day of Ogden's race. He did qualify in St. George with a 3:09.21. It rained the entire race (only the 2nd time to rain in the 30 year history of the race- not a sprinkle either!) The rain wasn't so bad, it was just the sloshy shoes. There were people who ran the entire race wearing garbage bags, but it didn't seem to slow anyone down. I finished in 4:04, my first marathon. It actually wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, the miles seem to go a little faster when you are running 26 of them. Sarah and Jonathan were there to cheer us on, which was helpful. Good job Bart, I am really proud of him and I am excited to go cheer him on in Boston, glad to be on the other side.