GO GRIZ!

Thank you Grandma Sharon for our cool new Griz clothes! It was so nice out yesterday, we got to them!

Preschool Halloween Party

Thursday was the kids' Halloween party at preschool and they both had a lot of fun. Chloe was worried about all of the extra people who would be at the party and was a little scared of the unknown of what they were actually going to do at this party. But Auntie Kelly went to the party too so Chloe ended up being fine and actually having a good time! But she only wore her monkey costume for a few minutes. She told me all about the party when she got home. Caiden liked bobbing for apples and decorating his bat cookie. They got SO much candy and so many treats at the party that we wouldn't even have to go trick or treating tonight, but of course, that wouldn't happen!

Chris was on the News!

Here is the video of Chris' story on the news!! I think it was nicely done! The kids and I even got our 2 seconds of fame! Hopefully it will inspire others to get up and start running too like it did me! You are awesome Chris!

Pumpkin Carving!

Last night, Cody and Kelly came over and we all carved pumpkins. Well, mostly we watched Chris and Cody do all of the work! But it was fun! They all turned out really well and look awesome!

Good-Bye Toddler Beds!

The kids got new beds last week and they LOVE them. They were happy to say good-bye to their little beds and hello to their new big kid beds!

Kids Say the Funniest Things Sometimes!

Just had to share a few funny things the kids have said recently!

Caiden: "Mom, I want a baby brother"
Mom: "Daddy said no more babies in our house!" :)
Caiden: "You just have to ask God!"

Mom to Chloe: "I'm so lucky to have the best little girl in the whole world!"
Chloe: "You got to pick me out at Walmart!"

Mom comes into the kitchen to find a broken spoon on the floor -
Mom: "Who broke the spoon?"
No one answers
Caiden: Just ask God at church who broke the spoon and He will tell you that it wasn't me!"

Chloe watching SuperNanny: "Why she at their house Mommy?"
Mom: Because they were naughty and the mommy and daddy needed her help."
Chloe: "She knock on our door if we be naughty?"
Mom: "Maybe, so you better be good."
Chloe: "I never be naughty - I don't want her to come to our house!"

New Family Pictures!

Here are our new family pictures for 2008. I think they all turned out very well considering how shy Chloe is around new people! The photographer really did a good job getting the kids to smile for her. Hope you like them! PS - Don't mind the white spots on the pictures - there must be something on the scanner - they aren't on the pictures! :)

"Did Not Finish" Halloween Sock Hop 5K

Sometimes, races do not go as planned. Today was one of those races. First off, it was not a nice day. We had winds blowing 35mph with gusts up to 60mph. It was pretty miserable. When we get to the park where the race is supposed to start, the gates to the park are closed. Finally, half an hour later, they find a different part of the park to sign people up for the race and we go sign up. Right at this time, Newscenter 1 shows up to interview Chris for the "Biggest Loser" segment they do each week. He tells his story of growing up being the "big" kid in class and how he continued to gain weight throughout high school and college and then how he lost 70 pounds by running. and eventually qualifying for the Boston Marathon. It should be fun to watch on the news on Tuesday night. Anyway, back to the race. The kids are in their Halloween costumes and are very cold. Finally, the kids 1K race starts and Caiden and Chloe are the youngest two kids running in the race at 3 and 4 years old. I ran with Chloe and Chris ran with Caiden. Chloe did pretty well despite the windy, windy day. We finished in last place, but she knows she was the fastest 3 year old there! Caiden finished 2nd to last in front of us, but he also knows that he was the fastest 4 year old there! They all got candy at the end so everyone was happy. Time for the 5K to start! I felt pretty good at the start line; I just wanted to get the race done and get out of the wind. I knew that I would get a medal too, because there were only 3 people in my age group! :) So, I was just going to shoot for under 30 minutes as all of my 5Ks so far this year have been under 30 minutes. And then we were off! And 4 minutes later, I was done. Yes, done. Because they couldn't get the gates at the park open, we had to run around the gates and get onto the grass and go downhill. Well, I stepped up with my right foot onto the grass and when my left foot hit, it rolled so bad that when I got back to that foot, I couldn't put any pressure on it and then I went tumbling down the hill. People asked if they could help, but I just told them to keep running their race. I was so embarrassed. And then I was just mad that I couldn't finish the race. The good thing about it was that I had only run about .4 of a mile so I didn't have too far to get back to my car. I limped and jumped on my right foot back to my car as best as I could. As soon as I get to the car, I start crying and my kids are worried. So, I try to tough it out as best I could so they weren't worried that I was hurt. Chris finished the race in 21:24, which is almost 2 minutes slower than his PR - the wind really made for a hard day of running. But he did finish 1st in his age group so there is some good news! So, now I sit here with an ice pack wrapped around my ankle which does not feel good, but I know it will be good for it in the long run. I'm just bummed that I didn't get to finish my race and didn't get a medal! Today just wasn't my day!/div>

New Running Shoes!

Chris bought me some new running shoes. Now, before you start saying, "oh how sweet, what a nice husband he his" he had an ulterior motive. It turns out that if he bought a pair of Mizuno shoes, then he would get a free $65 running shirt. And he thought since he just got a new pair of shoes, he better not get new shoes AND a new shirt. So, I got the shoes and he got the shirt. I got the Mizuno Wave Alchemys 8s. I have never worn Mizunos before, but after running in them the past couple of weeks, they seem to be pretty similar to my Brooks. I compared them online too and they are a lot alike. I really like running in them, but I haven't raced in them yet so we will see today if they will be my new favorite shoe. Halloween Sock Hop 5K here I come! :)

Belle Fourche Broncs Go Undeafeted!!!!

The people of Belle Fourche are very excited right now for their high school football team. We played our last regular season game on Thursday night and with a win over St. Thomas More 37-3, we went undefeated. Of course this win was especially exciting as we hadn't won against STM since 2001. You could say they are our arch-rivals. For those of you from the Bitterroot Valley, it's like when Hamilton and Stevi play against each other. The Broncs also won their conference this year and hadn't done that since 1988! That's 20 years ago! We also haven't won state since 1983 so this is big news here! Right now, the Taco Johns billboard reads, "St. Thomas No-More" :) We have 2 playoff games next week, one on Tuesday against Custer, who we already beat this year and one on Friday where we will probably have to play STM again unless they lose. I smell a state appearance coming our way!!! Go Broncs!!

Black Hills Trifecta

This summer I completed 3 out of the 4 half marathons in the Black Hills and for my accomplishment, the best race director in the whole world, Elaine Doll-Dunn gave me a very cool running necklace! I wear it everytime I run now to remind me of my success! Thanks Elaine - you are the best!

Caiden's Last Soccer Game

Fall soccer is over for the year and Caiden is sad to see it go! He loved soccer, especially scoring goals. When asked if he wanted to play again in the spring, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Yes!" Duh Mom! :)

Fire Safety Week

Last week was Fire Safety Week and the Belle Fourche Volunteer Fire Department paid a visit to Caiden and Chloe's preschool. They showed the kids all of their fire gear and talked about fire safety. They also let the kids climb on and in the fire truck. All of the kids had a great time!

Pictures from The Crazy Horse Half Marathon!

Here's the website to all of the pictures they took of me while I was running the Crazy Horse Half Marathon. They took a ton! Usually they get a couple of you at the start and finish, but they had photographers everywhere this time!

http://www.allsportcentral.com/photoGallery/index.cfm?PGConfigID=50&CatID=366&PhotoID=1&BIB=401

Thanks for looking!

We Have Snow!!

Wouldn't you know that 2 days ago it was in the 70s and we were outside raking leaves!

Now, the temps are in the 30s and we have a few inches of snow! It started last night and then stopped for a while, but now it's snowing again. The kids are beside themselves with excitement! The only problem is that all of their snow stuff is too small and and I didn't think they would need stuff at the beginning of October. That will teach me. After all, we DO live in South Dakota!

Megan Juno Gonzales

Late Wednesday night, at 11:28pm, our niece, Megan Juno, was born! She weighed 9lbs and 1oz and was 19.25 inches long. Kristin and the baby are doing great! The kids are so excited to have another cousin. All Chloe talks about is how she is going to help change the baby's diaper and hold the baby and feed the baby when she sees her at Christmas. Welcome to the World baby Megan! We love you!

A Beautiful Fall Day in South Dakota!

On Tuesday, the kids and I went out to rake some leaves and enjoy the beautiful day! I knew that days like this would be numbered as it was supposed to snow by the weekend! They had so much fun trying to fill their bags up with the most leaves!

Caiden Scores 4 Goals!!

Caiden's team had a game on Monday night and although it was pretty chilly, it was a lot of fun to watch. He loves every minute of soccer. He is always ready to go. When he is waiting for kick-off, he is jumping up and down ready to pounce on that ball! He is a good team player too and runs up the field when a teammate has the ball to help them out. But mostly, he loves to score those goals! He scored his most ever in his game on Monday - 4 of them! Which he thought was very cool because he is 4 years old too! He gets so excited when he kicks that ball into the net. He will clap for himself and then go give a high-five to his coach. It's much different from the first game where he was very reserved and thought he would be in trouble if he took the ball from someone! He only has one game left and then he has to wait until the spring to play again. We are so proud of the hard work that he puts into every single practice and game! Go Green Monsters!

Crazy Horse Half Marathon Race Report!

Me and Christa before the race

Around Mile 2
Headed to the finish
Finishing!
John, Christa, and I after the race
Me and my medal!

On Saturday, I ran my 4th half marathon at Crazy Horse Memorial. It was my 3rd half marathon that I have run this year all within 4 months of each other. I completed the Black Hills Trifecta completing all 3 of the Black Hills races in one year! I had such a great time with this race - it was a lot of fun. I didn't really have a time goal in mind except that I wanted to beat my June half time. I knew I wouldn't PR as my August half was ALL downhill and the fastest course ever. My time at the June half was 2:16:14 so I was pretty confident that I could run a little faster than that. I knew I needed to stay right around the 10:00 minute/mile mark to get a 2:10 so I decided that I would try for that.

Because Caiden started soccer this year, we decided that Chris and the kids would stay at home so Caiden could play his soccer game on Saturday morning so I went up to the race with a friend of mine (also named Chris!) who was also running the same race. Friday night, we headed to Rapid to pick up our packets and eat some dinner. After picking up our packets, we made our way to the Olive Garden where I got to meet a few people from a website that I go to a lot, sparkpeople.com. It may sound weird to meet people that you talk to online, but it's not...really! It was such a fun time eating with her and her sister and brother-in-law. I really felt like I already knew her just from being on Sparkpeople! Thanks for coming to "MY" side of the state Coop! :)

After dinner, my friend, Chris, and I headed to Hill City (where the race would finish) and got our motel room and I was in bed early as I was already tired from watching 10 kids all day! 4:00am came fast, but I had slept really well so that was a plus. We headed to the finish line where they would bus us up to Crazy Horse. We ended up getting there at 5:30am and the race didn't start until 7am so we were there for quite a long time! I mostly just rested my eyes and did some stretching and of course went to the bathroom about 4 times!

We all walked up to the start line at 6:45 and I saw Christa and her BIL John ready to run! I also saw another local runner ready to go, Rachael, and she said she was going for a sub 2 hour half so I didn't think I would be seeing much of her during the race!

At 7:00am on the dot, we were off! The first part of the race was TOUGH. Lots of up and down and the hills were pretty steep. One in particular kicked my butt and I had to walk a litte bit up it which just made me mad! But after mile 3, we got onto the Mickelson Trail and it was smooth sailing from there. Also after mile 3, my miles were very consistent staying within the 9:50s for each mile. Mile 2 was the only really off mile with that big ole dumb hill in it. I felt really well during most of the race and didn't really start getting tired until the end of mile 11 where I met up with Racheal and she asked me how long we had been running. I told her it was almost 2 hours so she was bummed that she wasn't going to get her sub 2 hours, so we ran together for a little while, but she was hurting pretty badly so she stopped to walk for a minute. I was also very tired, but I figured if I walked, it would take me that much longer to finish! I got back into Hill City and started hearing the cheering and I could see the cones leading to the finish. I was almost done! When I got to the finish, the clock was ticking closer and closer to 2:12 so I sprinted to the end so I could end with a 2:11 something.

And I did! My official time was 2:11:34, which was a little slower than I wanted, but still faster than the Deadwood Half so I will take it! I ended up 133rd out of 239, 70th out of 154 women, and 19th out of 32 in my age group (25-29). Here are my mile splits - can you tell where the biggest hill was??? :)

Mile 1 - 10:02
Mile 2 - 10:52
Mile 3 - 9:54
Mile 4 - 9:55
Mile 5 - 9:56
Mile 6 - 9:51
Mile 7 - 9:45
Mile 8 - 9:54
Mile 9 - 9:52
Mile 10 - 9:57
Mile 11 - 9:54
Mile 12 - 9:56
Mile 13 - 10:04
Mile 13.1 - 1:00

So, there it is! Thanks for reading! It was a very fun race!