I am so Thankful...

...for this BEAUTIFUL Family!

 and these adorable kids...

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner was hosted at my mom's house - and it was fantastic as usual.  We are a pretty lucky family to have such amazing cooks - all the women can COOK!

And with the weather being so nice it made for a fun afternoon enjoying drinks and hanging out with the family - which I love so much!

 especially Uncle Steve...

 Eli didn't nap very well and was very crabby when he first woke up, so Uncle Steve went to great measures to get Mr. Eli to smile...which we eventually got after several weird, "What the hell are you doing" looks...

 Of course the men all took their naps in front of the TV watching football...

 Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays.  There is no agenda to the day - you just gather the family together, eat, drink and relax.  It is so simple and so great.

Although Mimi definitely needs to bring her famous cereal mix next year for snacks while we play cards - then I will be very thankful.

On Friday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Matt's family.  Which again was nice...

Especially since we all have kids so close in age, and it is SO fun to watch them all play and grow up together. 

Very thankful for the BIG families that surround us and all the love!

Now on to Christmas since the music is already playing...

Turkey Trot 10K

On Thanksgiving morning I ran in my second Turkey Trot, but this year I ran the 10K and FINISHED!  I was very proud of myself and managed to complete the race in 58 minutes!

Last year after running my first 5K ever I set the goal to train for a 10K hoping I could make that happen exactly a year later.

Well I did.

I love my new hobby of running and loved the challenge of setting a goal and training for it.  I was a little worried I was going to have to bail on the race...

Between getting a head cold with achy bones and my IT Band giving me fits the race was looking slim - My IT Band is down right painful.  That's what bad shoes will do for you, but with great advice from Allie I was able to drug myself up enough so I could finish the race! 

It could have not been a better morning to run a race and the course was great - a bit challenging to say the least, but great.  The weather was even better, my knee did great and I finished.  Just in time to go stuff my face with Thanksgiving food and beer!

I know I look pissed in this picture - but I was really happy and excited...a little thirsty though!

If I can get my IT Band under control I am going to try to train for a half marathon in June - and then I will have achieved all my running goals.

But for now I am very happy with my 10K accomplishment - GO ME!

Keystone

Earlier in November we took a trip up to Keystone to hangout with the Harm's family at their condo.  We always LOVE making the trip up their and spending some time enjoying the beautiful mountains and relaxing with our friends.

I am not going to lie - this trip was a little rough...

Most of it was due to the fact that Eli and Ashtyn were getting head colds which made for super whiny kids and we all know how much fun that is and what made it even worse is the idea that Shannon and I headed up to Keystone on Thursday night with the kids, by ourselves - no husbands.  When we first planned the trip I imagined this earlier departure being much different - it goes something like this...

We would load our cute, healthy kids up and make the beautiful drive up to Keystone, where we would grab some pizza, head to the condo, get in our pjs and watch movies with the kids till they went to bed and then Shannon and I would have "girl" time and catch up on gossip and maybe have a pillow fight - jk!  Then the next day we would wake up, have breakfast and go shopping at the Outlets until our adorable husbands joined us for dinner and drinks. 

Sounds great right?

Well that is FAR from what happened, and let's just say we spent a two hour car ride with screaming, whiny, sneezing kids.  We finally got to the condo and there were no husbands there to unload our car, so I unloaded while Eli screamed his head off.  Finally after the mounds of crap we brought were unloaded we got the kids ready for bed, but they didn't want to go to bed, so we were up till ten getting them settled down and by then us girls were pooped!

Praying for a better day on Friday...

Well again, my kids woke up with head colds, making them extremely whiny and clingy.  Ashtyn broke her elephant at the grocery store that morning which then put her in a bad mood the rest of the day...so lunch and shopping were NOT fun!

At several times throughout the day I admit I completely lost my patience. 

Probably the icing on the cake was when I decided to go to the grocery store with my kids...

Let's just say the Dillion City Market is the busiest grocery store I have ever been too.  I could barely think about what I needed to get and of course I was the idiot pushing the big cart with the car on the front around annoying everyone in the packed isles while Eli hung out the side pulling items off the shelves.  It was a horrible shopping trip and the worst of it all is I managed to lose two pacifiers - TWO!

On my way out I grabbed a Starbucks to calm my nerves, and prayed the kids would just fall asleep in the car and hoped Matt would soon arrive to save me...

The wonderful husbands did soon arrive and the trip immediately got better.  We headed to Breckenridge for the night to enjoy pizza and drinks with the Pierce's.

I never knew or appreciated how great my husband is and how much help he is with our kids - seriously I would have never survived the weekend by myself.

And for the record, next time, Shannon and I will be heading up to Keystone alone while Matt and Kole handle the kids - not getting the short end of the stick two times in a row...

 I woke up in a much better mood Saturday, and even though the kids were still feeling yucky we stayed cooped up all day in our pjs relaxing and snuggling in the condo - which I think is a perfect way to spend a cold, winter day.  It was even snowing on Saturday which made the atmosphere that much better.  I made some yummy Tortilla Soup for dinner and we watched movies the rest of the evening!

 This picture pretty much sums up Eli's time at Keystone...

 Even though the trip started out ROUGH it ended great.  I think our kids are just at the age where it's going to be alot of work to do anything and not every trip is going to go perfect.

So this trip will be one I will never forget and hopefully one day it will no longer be a reality for me and I can just laugh at it all...

Thanks Harms for a weekend away - sorry we weren't better company.

Until next time...

R&R

 On Saturday, Matt surprised me with an overnight trip to Steamboat!

After the past month being filled with drama and stress this could have not been a better surprise - it was just what I needed - what we both needed!

We left the kids behind and headed to our favorite mountain town to spend a quick 24 hours being just us!

The drive was beautiful and it was crazy on the way up - there was no snow until we hit Rabbit Ears pass and then Boom - Blizzard!  It snowed the entire time we were in Steamboat - like a winter wonderland - PERFECT!

 As soon as we got into town we headed straight up to the Strawberry Hot Springs - We love this place!  It is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen and VERY romantic.  While we were hanging out, we did think if they had swim up bar and served cocktails it could even be better, but we still enjoyed relaxing in the natural hot springs!  And plus, it snowed the whole time we were there - again PERFECT!

After hanging out for a couple hours we headed back into town and went to our favorite bar - The Tap House, where we had some beer - I drink beer now! and some appetizers.  It was so nice to ENJOY a meal and again just relax.

We were in bed by 9:30 and with the time change we managed to sleep 12 hours - STRAIGHT!

That alone was a dream come true!

We of course missed our sweet babies - but it's always nice and VERY important in my book to get away with your honey for some R&R!

Thanks babe for planning and surprising me with a fantastic, romantic night away!

I LOVE YOU.

Kid Kwotes

Today, after a very busy afternoon and with Ashtyn behaving so well, I swung through Wendy's to grab her a Frosty for a treat.  While we were driving home I looked back to check on her to see how she was doing, and she looks at me with chocolate all over her face and maybe a little bit up her nose and says...

"What was Jesus thinking putting bumps in the road?" - Ashtyn Trujillo

I love her.

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween!

On Monday, I only worked half the day so I could spend Halloween with the kiddos!  When I got home from work we had some lunch and then changed into their costumes so we could head to Pearl Street to go trick-or-treating with Nana...

 Eli HATED the hood to his monkey costume and would scream when I put it on!  So I never did get that cute "Halloween" picture of both my kids - heartbreaking I know!

Oh well, there is always next year...

 Tinkerbell riding her bike around...

 We spent the afternoon Trick-or-Treating on Pearl Street mall which they specially do for the little kids.  The weather was beautiful, so it was a nice afternoon to spend at the mall.  I couldn't believe how every store/restaurant participated - BJ's Brewery even gave small samples of beer for adults and homemade cookies for the kids!

They also had craft tables set up, games and other activities throughout the mall for the kids to enjoy.  Ashtyn loved it and got TONS of candy!

 That is a HUGE bowl of candy...

 Again, Eli didn't care for trick-or-treating and just wanted to play at the rock park.  So while Nana took Ashtyn up and down the mall, Eli and I played on the rocks...

Whatever makes the Monkey happy!

 He loves walking or now running across this bridge - over, and over, and over again!

 He finally pooped himself out!

 This is my ONLY picture of the two of them in their Halloween costumes - not exactly what I was hoping for, but it will do!  It has too...

 I needed my Halloween treat, so we rounded out the afternoon at Starbucks!

...and then headed home for dinner and MORE Trick-or-Treating!

This year we went trick-or-treating with the neighbors - Sarah, Todd, Carlin and Louie.  I have to say this was the best part of the day.  First off we always have fun with them, it was very laid back, the weather could not have been more perfect, and the neighborhood was very "happening". 

It felt like the good ol' days of trick-or-treating!

 They all enjoyed themselves running or "flying" as Tinkerbell did from one house to the next.

I was impressed with all the decorating of the homes and the treats people were giving out - full candy bars even!

 Eli even got into the spirit!

 Carlin was Spiderman!

 Louie was a Dragon!

 Carlin cracked us up when he was at the door.  He would not only take candy for himself, but also explain to the person handing out candy he needed some for his big brother Wiley and his little brother Louie - the kid totally made out with Candy!  I just wonder if he actually gave his brothers their share?

Oh, Carlin - you will be such a good business man when you grow up!

 Eli is always trying to kiss Louie and Louie always pushes him away,

maybe they can just HUG?

After about an hour we headed back home and while the kids dumped out their bags of candy and played, us adults enjoyed some beers and conversation.

I LOVE our neighbors and our neighborhood - we enjoyed our Halloween Evening for sure!