Outer Banks, SC

This year for Thanksgiving we went to the Outer Banks with my sister and her family - and 7 other families. We rented a LARGE beach house with 14 bedrooms for the entire week. The week was a much needed and very enjoyed vacation!!! We were able to hang out at our own pace and enjoy the ocean/beach every day.
The water really wasn't that bad with some wet suits on. We enjoyed some sit-on-top kayaks for paddling fun :) Logan went out everyday to paddle, but I only went out the last day. It was kind of complicated to both get out there with a baby napping and a 3 year old to watch. It was beautiful weather everyday! Some days started out windy or rainy, but they all turned into fabulous days.

After our 3.6 mile walk on the beach out to the a pier. We laughed because it was much longer than we anticipated.
Trevor loved the walk and kicked his feet and talked the whole way. Brennan on the other hand didn't quite make it. Who can blame him? It had been a long days drive in the car the day before and a crazy first night with a party house!

Trevor in our beautiful business class suite. We loved having a large room for both of our boys to sleep in the same room with us.

Hartford 1/2 Marathon, etc.

 Random shot of the runners. I kept my eyes peeled but I never did get a picture of either of the girls running!

Finishers! Jana and Heather

 The cheerleaders! Heather trained well for her first half marathon and met her goal, coming in just over 2 hours. Jana was hot on her heels just a few minutes behind. Brennan, Trevor and I enjoyed the sights of Hartford and then waited at the 12 mile marker to cheer them on!

 Bushnell Park and the State Capitol Building, with a fountain topped by a stag (or "hart" for Hartford).

 The Memorial Arch, or "Soldiers and Sailors Memorial" built in the 1880's to remember the 4,000 soldiers from Hartford who fought (and 400 who died) in the Civil War.

 Buffalo Zach's Cafe in some small town whose name I forgot. We stopped here to get gas on the way home and I ran into a family at the town's only gas station who was collecting money to pay medical bills for their daughter who has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). I had to stop and talk to them, and donate what little cash was in my wallet, because I cared for many patients with SMA as part of my pediatrics rotation at the U of Wisconsin which is nationally recognized for its expertise in caring for SMA. Such a horrible disease! 

 Shelves for our new basement "pantry."

 Some random photos - cleaning up the leaves. Brennan was quite helpful actually, helping to hold the bags while we stuffed them full.

 Daddy's new car (a 1995 Geo Prizm) to get me to work when it's too rainy or snowy to ride my bike (and for my February pediatrics rotation at U of Rochester which is no trivial 15 miles away).

Our Japanese Maple in full fall color glory! We got this for free from a neighbor who pots the seedlings as they come up from her trees. I made some admiring comments about her maples which are the biggest ones I had ever seen - large enough that they no longer hide her house!

The Boys

Trevor has been enjoying graham crackers for the past few days. It's something I can give him while I'm working on our meals and he stays entertained in the kitchen (without getting into things). He sure does love them! Trevor has also been eating small pieces of carrots, sweet potatoes, bread, and cheerios. His little pincher grip is getting better and better and he practices each day.
Brennan is there to always sneak a taste of whatever Trevor is eating. I saw him take a graham cracker out of Trevor's hands the other day, take a bite, and then give it back to Trevor. I swear, Brennan eats more food off other peoples plates than his own. If we want him to eat something all we have to do is put it on our plate (I'm not kidding). Funny kid.


Brennan has really started to enjoy playing with Trevor. I love how Brennan talks to Trevor like Trevor is 3. I had to laugh the other day while they were playing in Brennan's bedroom with this gumball/ball toy set. "Trevor, oh no! You just knocked over the balls. . . Here you have this one . . . Shake it like this Trevor." It sure makes me smile.

He's starting to know what the camera is and want to come grab it! Classic.

Back Yard Park

We have a park two houses down from our house. We LOVE to go there whenever time permits. It doesn't matter now that we don't have a swing set in our back yard, because we're able to head over to the park.

Brennan loves the swings and climbing on the play ground. Once in a while Logan will meet us here when he gets home from work. Brennan also knows when he goes running with me (in the double stroller) we stop at the park when I'm done running.

Two of my favorite women

We had the pleasure of both my mom and sister Maria visit for a few days, separately unfortunately. Maria helped us pick apples, and my mom helped us make applesauce. We'll miss the scrabble games, pumpkin pie, homemade bread, and many long conversations. Good times!

Heather (with Trevor) visited her sisters in California and my mom watched Brennan for a few days, then Brennan and I went camping together that weekend.

Crazy October

October came and went. We had something major going on every weekend and during the week as well.

We started the month out with General Conference . Logan and I did a lot of painting while we listened to the speakers. We painted trim around Trevor's room and the windows in Brennan's room.

Logan has been working on the garage all month long. He installed an electric garage door opener on the right door. He's been putting lots of hours out there when we can. It's finished now and we're able to park our car inside.

I planned a birthday party for Brennan this year with friends. Making sure things were ready for that took some time and planning. That same weekend my sister Beth flew out, from California, to take my sister's family pictures (Jana's). Since she came all this way we drove to Jana's to visit, see Beth, and have her take our family pictures as well. That was a busy week.

The following week I was trying to finish more lunch bags from my Etsy Shop . I had another large order for a lady. She actually bought them at a cheaper rate to sell in her shop in Tacoma Washington. This is the first time I've done "wholesale" and am not sure if I'll do it again. It was an interesting experience. Being super busy this month didn't help. I sewed and packed for our trip to Hartford Connecticut.

Jana and I ran the half marathon in Hartford on Saturday. Logan took Friday off work and we drove 5 hours to CT. The race was fun and I felt I was well trained. I was one minute shy of my goal time so I was pretty happy. I will definitely do this distance again in a race. I've always wanted to run a marathon, but after running this race I may just stick to half marathons and try to improve upon my time? We'll see. Next year Jana and I want our husbands to run it with us. Logan's knee has been bothering him again so he didn't end up running.

Maria, Logan's sister arrived the Monday after we got home from Connecticut. She stayed for two days. She was on the east coast for a wedding and visiting friends so it was great to have her stop by. Logan mom came three days after Maria left.

Julienne was so much fun to have visit our new home. We showed her around the area a bit and enjoyed her wonderful cooking. She also helped me paint some alphabet letters for Brennan's room (a post for another day).

Logan's mom came to visit and stay with Brennan while I went to California for my "Sister's Weekend". I took Trevor and flew to southern California to be with all of my sisters for four and a half days. It was a wonderful escape to laugh, cry, and be silly with my sisters. I look forward to this weekend every year.

While I was gone I missed the adventures Logan and Brennan enjoyed. Logan took Brennan camping with the Young Men in our ward. It was 32 degrees the night they went. Brennan loved it! He enjoyed the fire, the tent and the sleeping bag. But at 2am he did not enjoy being in a tent. He woke up in his night terror mode and so Logan packed everything up and headed home. The next day was our ward Halloween party. Brennan wore his robot suit and walked from car to car during the "trunk or treat" part to get candy. What kid wouldn't enjoy that part?

Since I was gone on Halloween Brennan went to a friends for the day while Logan was at work. He enjoyed a second evening of trick or treating with his friend and Logan joined them after work. He went to bed around 8pm only to have Logan wake him up at 11:30pm to come and get Trevor and I at the airport. He slept the whole way there and on the way home was a bit sad. He went to bed well after eating one of his lolly pops from that night.

Today is the first day of November and I feel like summer and fall have raced by. This was just a touch of our October events. We were busy with entertaining two boys daily and enjoying the fall weather outside with playing at the park across from our house and going on many stroller (for the boys) runs.

In two weeks we'll be heading to South Carolina to enjoy our Thanksgiving holiday. Until then we're trying to get projects done and enjoy our new home.