Fun Times

Race Day:

David and Craig had their half marathon, they both did well, getting in the 1 hour and 40 minute range. They accidentally switched their chips, so they are flip flopped on the results. I (Cassie) had a 5K and had a personal best time around 30 minutes and 50 seconds. In my pictures I look like I am really struggling, but I actually felt pretty good. I know that time is not impressive, but for me it was, I am such a slow runner.

RESULTS
Cassie
David and Craig

PICTURES
Cassie
David and Craig

The Boys:

The boys are really liking the park, we take them on the swings and on the slide. They both like the slide, especially Skyler, who can go down them all by himself. Connor likes to just walt around and observe things at the park. He is still a climber. The boys are starting to watch TV a little. We let them watch Veggie-Tales sing-alongs and Baby Einsteins the most, and they dance to the music, it is so fun to watch. They also like books and will bring them to you and want to sit on your lap to read....for about 5 seconds, and then they move on. Sometimes it lasts longer :)

Skyler is taking to learning sign language pretty well. I started working with them on it about 2 weeks ago, and am NOT as disciplined as I should be, but he is picking up on it. Ever since we have been working on it, it is so funny how aware he is of his hands, he wiggles his fingers and just watches them move. He currently knows more and dada, he is working on milk, all done, cereal, eat, drink and kisses. Like I said, I am not doing all that great teaching him, but it is nice when he can come to me and say "more" and hand me what he wants, like crackers, milk, marshmellows and of course... ORANGE TIC-TACS. If you tell him you want kisses, he will go: "mmwwaaaa" so cute. Skyler talks... a lot, we just don't understand what he is saying. Though doing sign language is helping with his vocabulary I think. He is also obseessed with shoes still. He has figured out that if we are not around to put them on his feet, he can put them on his hands and crawl or walk around like that. He likes to sleep with stuffed animals and use them and pillows, it is kinda funny.

Connor likes to watch everything. He is such a little cuddler. It is so nice to pick him up in the morning or after a nap and enjoy having him just sit on my lap until I put him down to get them milk. And then once he has his sippy, he comes back to you and wants to drink it while sitting with you. He also LOVES blankets and chewing rags, which is kinda annoying sometimes, but hey, he likes to chew on them, and is happy with them, so we let him have them. HE also loves keys, so we had to get him some of his own to stop him from stealing ours. He isn't as fast to pick up on the sign language, but I can tell he is trying. He is such a good eater too. To think the boy who all I could get him to eat was avocados this summer, now is a garbage disposal! He seriously eats just about anything I put in front of him. One favorite is eggs, and not just eggs... loaded eggs, like scrambled eggs with cheese, onions, ham and peppers, or quiche with spinach or something. He also likes to tease. He will come to you like he wants you to pick him up, and then turn away from you and laugh.



Both the boys are doing very well, and are such a pleasure as they are growing up.

December at a glance

David ran the Las Vegas Marathon with our brother-in-law, Heber, what an accomplishment for them both! My sister, her son, and I went and met up with them at a couple different places, including our old High School, as they ran by. We saw lots of Elvis runners, as well as people in costume: super heroes, Santas. etc. There was even a Santa passing out candy to the kids on the way.




The boys start making even more messes, and getting into EVERYTHING. Nothing is off limits to my new walkers and climbers. Here they are in our treat drawer, and Connor even managed to get a KitKat open and started eating.... I went ahead an let him finish it!



Here they dumped a box of cereal on the floor and started eating it. You can't really tell, but Skyler has a huge knot/bruise on his forehead and his nose is read. He took a spill down my cousin's stairs, she said he was quite the trooper. He came away with the bruise and a floor burn down his face.


Skyler has been obsessed with wearing shoes, as soon as he sees them he brings them to you and wants you to put them on.


If you haven't heard already... It snowed in St. George, so we let the boys go out and play for a bit. I think Skyler enjoyed it a bit more than Connor.



Took some family photos.




Pictures with Santa. Connor was a little scared, so David went with them.


Boys LOVE bubble baths now.



We forgot our camera when we went down to Las Vegas for Christmas, but we had a blast with Cassie's family. We played an adult game of Yankee Swap, or White Elephant, with $10 gifts. The funniest/best gift, believe it or not, was a live mouse in a little aquairium, we laughed SO hard! The boys got this little trampoline that they love! They already kinda have the hang of timing their jumps, it is so fun to watch them.

Thanksgiving in Cali!

We had so much fun in California for Thanksgiving. We went and stayed with Papa Craigory and Grandma Teresa and Uncle Bryan went down as well.

While in California we went to the beach. The boys had fun on the swings and then it was into the sand. At first we were going to just let the boys crawl around, so we folded up their pants. They were having fun so we took their pants off. Then Skyler got into the water so we took both their shirts off, and it was just their diaper.

After the beach we went to the Marina to eat at a Fife Family Favorite restaurant, Andreas, for fish and chips. The problem was that Skyler's shirt was all wet. Luckily Papa had an extra shirt, so he got to wear that. From there we walked around the Marina and the boys took some fun photos as well as the adults. Then.... Uncle Bryan and Grandma Teresa took Connor and Skyler on their FIRST Merry-go-Round ride. So much fun!

We had so much fun at the beach we decided to go back. Skyler was a daredevil. Loving the Water. Connor enjoyed it as well, but also like being snuggled in a warm towel. Both the boys did a little buggy boarding.

Half Marathon

Last week I (Cassie) did my first Half Marathon (13.1 miles) with Craig (David's Dad). I am so proud that I did it, I have been wanting to do one since before I got pregnant. I am not going to lie, it was tough, but I did it and I am so glad I did. They said there would be aid stations with water and Gatorade at miles 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This was true for the most part. We had them at approximately mile 3, 4.5, 6.5, 8.5, which was all good, but then not another one until almost 11.5. I was about to DIE!!!! My first 3 miles were probably about a 10 minute mile pace. Mile 6-8 was maybe an 11 minute mile pace, and then 8-11 probably 12 minute miles. Miles 11-13 were probably like 15 minute miles. I listened to my iPod while I ran. I was using David's Garmin GPS watch which turned on fine before the race, but when I looked down to start it when the race began.... it was off, dead, NOTHING. I didn't even bring a regular watch, so I basically ran blindly (time wise) and asked random people the time. Like I said about mile 11-12, I was about to die, when Craig came back to finish the race with me. He was already done, but kind enough come back and push me (literally push me at some times) my last 2 miles. About the last quarter mile I was so dead and told him I NEVER wanted to do one of these again. He said, "you say that now, but you will change you mind." He made me pass a bunch of other ladies in the last 1/2 mile that were in front of me and then the last 100 yards were on the track of the high school, he got about 4 feet behind me and said I had to sprint to the finish, I couldn't really do it, so then he said I couldn't let him pass me, as he proceeded to sprint.... Craig is sure a great motivator! He and David have been trying to talk me into doing another half in January and the Marathon next year. Well, I still don't know that I will ever do a marathon, but I think I might try another half someday... all in all it was a good experience. I finished in about 2:33:35 at an average of 11:43 minute miles if I remember correctly. This surpassed my expectations as I was aiming to finish before 3 hours and maintain a 13 minute mile pace. As per usual my pictures were not flattering at all and nothing to brag about... in fact quite ugly. Zazoosh was there taking photos, so if you want to go view them, go here.

I should also thank my friends and family that were so supportive of my desire to do this. I had a lot of questions and people were so patient and understanding. Also, thanks to David who was SO awesome to watch the boys so much as I trained. Next up, David has the Las Vegas Marathon he is running with Heber (my brother in law).

As for the boys, they are finally starting to walk a bit more. They still crawl more than walk, but they are sure practicing a lot. I had to go to work today and David watched the kids, and when I came home, he had buzzed both their heads. Connor's, you can't really tell other than his mullet in the back is gone, but poor Skyler.... Let's just say I can't wait for it to grow back! Kudos to David for doing a great job, and taking the initiative to groom the boys, what a GREAT daddy!

SKYLER BEFORE AND AFTER


CONNOR BEFORE AND AFTER

Fall Fun

Well, we have been having a lot of fun this fall, and I have been SUPER bad about documenting it. First off, last weekend my sister and her two boys and my mom came into town for the weekend while my hubby and my sister's hubby took off up north to go to the BYU football game. We went to the What Women Want Expo and found some GREAT deals. We have somewhat made that a tradition!

Staheli Family Farm

While my sister was here we went to Staheli Family Farm. I didn't know what to expect with how young the boys were. Well, they had a BLAST. They had a hay tower with a tunnel, and the boys had so much fun crawling through the tunnel. The older boys, including my cousin Cinthia's son, had fun going down the slide only to land in a pit of corn kernels. I thought about sending my boys with one of them, but decided that they would probably eat the corn, so I opted out, maybe next year. They had a small petting zoo and they boys liked to touch the animals. Connor was especially fond of the sheep. He would lean over and touch the fur and laugh, it was so funny.

HALLOWEEN

For Halloween Skyler was Fred Flintstone, and Connor was Barney Rubble. They looked SO cute. We went to a High School "Hall-oween" thing with my cousin Cinthia and her son Wolverine. We went up and down the halls "trick-or-treating". After that we went to a Trunk-or-Treat for our neighborhood. David went as 3-hole punch Jim, and I went as "DAVE" (just a name tag that says "DAVE" both from The Office. We had a lot of fun!

Day Trip

On Saturday we went up to Virgin to go "camping" for the day with my brother and his family. It was super fun. They had a small park there and I did send the boys down the slide with their cousin this time. They have been down little slides at the park before, but this was a larger one. We had fun there just visiting and eating dinner. I didn't get any good pictures though, maybe next time.