Cole goes to school

Cole is going to the Five Bright Stars Mommy school! At first he told me he didn't want to go to school because he didn't want to grow up, but after his first day he loved it and can't wait to go back.

This is the first time Cole has worn jeans in over a year! I told him that you had to at school. :) He changed as soon as he got home, but I think that is progress!

A night away

After all our hard work it is a good thing we got to spend the night away the next weekend. I had a gift certificate for a night here:

It was fabulous! We got a stone massage Friday night and then had a delicious breakfast the next morning. The kids were very happy playing with our friend Shelley. Ethan didn't want to go home and cried all the way saying "Shelley's house."

A true labor day

The weekend of labor day we did this.

It was a lot of hard work! We moved the grass to another spot in our yard, installed the wood, ground cover and then bark. It looks great though!

It's not every day you get to kiss an alpaca!

We live near a Kangaroo Zoo and it is very fun! We went out with a few friends to take a tour. You get to pet the kangaroos, wallabies, turtles, donkeys, llamas and alpacas. They also have lemurs, ostriches and an angry miniature horse. It is a small scale operation but very interesting! The boys had a great time.

The tortoise.

The kangaroo. A couple of them had babies in their pouches! Their tails are amazing up close.

Trying to get the boys to pose for a picture.

They have you feed the alpacas with your mouth! It is kind of funny. They are very stinky animals.

A couple of things

1. The boys are really starting to play with each other and sometimes we catch them side by side!

2. We have frogs that live by us and a few that come into our backyard. The boys love to catch them and hold them a few minutes until we let them find their mommies.

3. Sometimes days are just too long to last until bed time. Cole fell asleep at the dinner table at 7!

4. I have a new calling. I am now the nursery leader! Ethan will be thrilled as he still hasn't warmed up to the idea of going to class without us.

5. Cole gave a talk in church today. It was hilarious. He mumbled everything until Matt started saying his lines and then he repeated every last word really loud. So much for practicing!

6. We made Thai food for dinner. It was delicious!

A Marathon

So, I ran my marathon. It was painful. I had a few friends tell me not to run the particular run that I ran and I should have listened to them! For any of you who think you might run a marathon don't start with a trail run. Apparently they take a lot longer and by the end of the run I had blistered on the bottoms of my feet because of the uneven terrain. Even though it was painful I am so glad I did it! It is a good feeling to know that I can push myself to that level. I got lucky and ran with a woman who was running her 29th marathon. She was a great support and kept me going up until the end. It was eventful to say the least. I got stung by a bee, got lost (I know that sounds kind of weird, but it was on a trail back in the woods and probably only 25 people ran the marathon and we weren't the only ones either) and even ate a few blackberries along the way. I was incredibly sore for three days and particularly struggled with stairs and getting up from sitting. However, every time I think about it I can't help but smile.

Running to the finish.

Crossing the finish line.

My fan club.

My new running friend Marilyn.

My dirty feet from the trail.

It was supposed to be my one and only, but I already have the bug to do another one, on the road this time! We will see, it will probably have to wait awhile.

Matt turned 30!

This year Matt turned 30. I think he had more of a crisis about it then I did when it happened to me, but it all went well. Friday we met for lunch with the kids to get things started. Then on Saturday I made him breakfast before I took off for my marathon! I am such a good wife I let him spend his special day with the boys. That night we went out to a very fancy dinner with our friends Seth and Amy at El Gaucho (thanks to Microsoft and their nifty discount card) and went up the Space Needle.

The next day we made cake and ice cream and invited over Dan and Daniel to share it with us.

Matt insisted on the goofy smile for all pics!

Our 8th Anniversary

Matt and I know how to party up for our anniversary. We had a night in, dinner with the kids and then went all out and made dessert! We agreed to not buy each other cards or gifts although Matt did come home with some flowers. Sometimes it is just like that.