St. George 10k

     On October 25, I ran my very first 10k! I happened to sign up for one in St. George because my friend Kelli had just moved there and I needed a good excuse to go visit her! It was a quick trip since Nate only had 2 days off work. We left Boise at 4pm and drove to Provo and got some ice cream with my little brother about 10pm and then jumped back in the car to finish the drive and arrived about 2am.

     The next day we did a little shopping, went to sushi, and then walked the race course. I had looked at the course previously and wanted to know more about the hill I'd have to climb. It was a pretty nice route on this path that followed a river until mile 4 which was a straight up hill! I was not prepared for any hills so even just walking it scared me a little bit. It was only a gain of about 315 ft but it still wore me out pushing a stroller and all. On race day Nate was awesome and met me at the bottom of the hill with a gatorade and ran up it with me. My time was 1:13:02 which wasn't my best but also wasn't my worst and I never did see another 10k runner pushing a stroller :)

     When we got back in the car Nate said, "you don't smell nearly as bad as you did after your 5k." He sure knows how to give a compliment!

**yes, I have more running clothes than this but I didn't want to take any chances so I wore the exact same clothes that I always do my best running in.

HALLOWEEN!

     To prepare for Halloween this year we ran in a costume run with some friends the week prior. I really enjoyed it (probably because I didn't have to push the stroller this time) and it was FREE and there were prizes!! What more could we ask for?!

     Nate and I dressed like the guys from Duck Dynasty to go with our little duck. Spencer was 3rd runner up in the men's costume division. But Nate was the grand champ! First he won one of the many little prizes, a pair of nice running socks. Then he won one of two overall grand prizes; an ipod shuffle, earbuds, a free entry into the turkey day 5k and 3 months free of rock my run!

     On the REAL Halloween I took Spencer trick or treating at the mall with a couple of my friends and their kids. It was fairly busy, but a lot of fun! Spencer didn't get it, but he had fun grabbing handfuls of candy and playing with each new piece he got! He decided he LOVES suckers and ate them almost immediately. When we got home I took him trick or treating at the neighbors and then kept him dressed up for a while to answer the door for all the kids that came. Can't wait to decide what we'll be next year!

2nd Anniversary!

     October 20, marker 2 years of marriage for Nate and I! We're still figuring life out for our little family. But we've had some fun adventures and there's no one else I'd rather be figuring things out with! It feels much longer than 2 years (in a good way!) and we can't wait to see where life takes us next! Unfortunately, Nate worked that night so we did nothing to celebrate. But the previous night we did have a family cuddle and watch a movie so I guess that counts!

Harvest Festival.

     A few Saturday's ago, a local garden center had a harvest festival for kids so we took Spencer and had a fun time! There were lots of games for prizes, a haunted house, a hay ride, a seek & find, guess the weight of the pumpkin, etc.
     Spencer's favorite part was playing in the hay trying to find the hidden turkeys!

The Farmstead.

     My sister asked me to accompany her and her boys on a little field trip to a pumpkin patch called The Farmstead. Spencer had a good time with his cousins and it was fun to see all the animals, play hard, and enjoy a nice fall day!

Spencer loved riding this cow train with Lincoln, they did it a few times.

"the creature" was a little too scary.

he loves the mini straw maze!

and he tried to jump on this bouncer with the big kids but never could make it up past this...

11 months.

     We officially have a walker! Just this week, feet have become his main mode of transportation. He is toddling around, getting into everything he can find, and he's getting pretty fast too! 

      He is such a little puppy dog when it comes to begging for food. He will stand at your feet and just wait, or follow you around until you give in and give him a bit of whatever it is you're enjoying without him. We don't think he'll be much of a picky eater (unlike his mom). He prefers grown up food to baby food, hands down.
                                               
      He doesn't love hats, or socks. He is still not a great sleeper but we have been working on it so hard the last week! I was determined to have him sleeping through the night by his 1st birthday, and while that goal is a little high, I'm now hoping for 5 hours. Please bless that can happen! I finally broke the habit of nursing to sleep and that was hard, but since then things have been easier. He can fall asleep in his own bed with his back rubbed or patted and then can sleep 2-3 hours. After that he ends up in bed with us nursing the rest of the night. Old habits die hard, but we're getting there. Like I said, 5 hours is our new goal. His best naps are still taken in the stroller so we do quite a bit of walking and running.
                                              
     He is turning into such a little boy, he loves balls and anything with wheels. He still LOVES to watch other kids play. Last Sunday was our ward primary program and it was the best he's ever done through sacrament. He just wanted to sit on my lap and watch almost the whole time.

     His "talking" has really taken off. He babbles and goos at anything and everything. He yells and makes all kinds of funny noises. He likes to "converse" with just about anything as well. But in public he's pretty shy when people try to talk to him. No smiles, just grabs onto his mom.

     He loves being outside or inside looking out the window, playing peek a boo with his dad, being tickled in the armpits, pointing out your nose, opening every possible cupboard door, turning the pages of books, playing with the toys at the library, and going for runs in the stroller.
     We can't believe he's almost 1!

Nate-ism #21

     Nate came home from a long meeting today and announced he had another meeting Thursday. When I told him I thought 2 meetings in 1 week was a little excessive his response was:
Don't you know the 14th article of faith? We believe in meetings, we hope for meetings, we pray for meetings and we hope to be able to endure all meetings...
    I concur, Nathan!