Candy

I subscribe to an email newsletter called, "Raise Healthy Eaters".  I generally like the tips, but this morning in their tips about how to handle Halloween candy they said that 2 year olds are "not as mentally aware and so usually aren’t even asking for sweets."  Seriously?!  They have never met Norah who is VERY aware of sweets and is ALWAYS asking for them.  This morning she dumped a box of nerds on the kitchen floor and spent the better part of an hour scouring the kitchen and eating every last one of them.  She is one diligent girl.

Run, Landon, Run

Landon ran another marathon on Saturday.  This time it was in South Jordan so me and the kiddies were able to cheer him on (even if it was only for the last 500 feet).  He cut 15 minutes off his time, so Landon was happy. The marathon itself was a small affair, they even gave Landon a personalized welcome across the finish line.  Fun stuff.

The kids worked hard on these signs for Dad.

Landon was on mile 26 when I took these pictures.  Wow, he was even able to smile and wave.  Impressive.

The weather was perfect, so the post-race stretching was nice for all of us.

 I love Aiden's sign.  It is of Landon crossing the finish line under a rainbow. 

 

Landon took a nice ice bath after the race whilst drinking hot chocolate.  Hilarious.

The fam!

We had a fabulous weekend with my entire family to celebrate my brother coming home from his mission.  It was the first time all six kids (plus four spouses, one girlfriend, and eight grandkids) have been together in four years.  It was a perfectly relaxing vacation, even though winter decided to roll in for the occasion.

We did a lot of talking and eating. 

When it got warm (over 40 degrees) we had a wienie-roast.  Turns out I really enjoy a chili cheese dog on a fall day.

Norah skipped the hot dogs and stuck with chips and... well, just the chips.

 We did puzzles,

 ...took pictures,

 ..cut hair,

 

 ...played guitar,

 ...played wii

...and played football.

Aiden turfed it pretty good,

... Norah maintained her hold on Pampa's heart,

...and Annie danced through it all.

It was a great weekend!  I can't wait to get together in another half-decade.

What a week

Last week was all over the map. 

I felt a little sick on Monday and spent the next few days getting blood tests, x-rays, heart echos, etc,. while they tried to figure out what was wrong.  Blech, not my favorite week.  Luckily I have amazing neighbors who watched the kids, brought me dinner, and made sure everything was okay.  After five days of a weird fever and sore shoulders,  I'm feeling 100% better and nobody knows what was going on. I don't have a picture representing this.  But you can close your eyes and imagine a very messy house and me sitting on the couch watching m kids create chaos. 

On Thursday my brother Mike got home from his mission.  Hooray! His flight was 30 minutes early and my parents were running late.  Bad news.  We got there and realized that my mom might not make it on time.  So Landon held up a camera sending real time video to my mom's phone.  Fortunately, Mike took his sweet time coming down to baggage claim and my mom made it with about 20 seconds to spare. 

On Friday Landon and my brothers headed down to St. George where Landon ran the marathon on Saturday morning.  I was still not feeling great so I stayed back with the kids.  But Landon sent his love on mile 24. 

Landon ran his marathon then headed straight out of town for work so me and the kids stayed at my mom's house for family time and General Conference. 

The kids snuck into the storage room for treats.  The day before they did the same thing in the pantry and Annie puked.  Good times.