Crazy Course Weekend

This last Saturday (Nov. 13) was Draper's Thanksgiving Crazy Course 5kish (I say that because the actual course was about 3.4 miles). A week earlier my friend, Michelle, asked if I wanted to run it with her and her hubby, Justin. I happened to be going out with Kyle that same night who mentioned that he would love to do a race with me. Well, I told him about this race and he said that he would change his plans to run it with me. How sweet is he!? Kyle is the guy I went to the Haunted House with (date #1) and he even brought me a present that night. The second date he brought me flowers, took me to Em's downtown, and then we went to a Jazz game. Since I was sick the night of the Jazz game, Kyle ended up getting sick too (darn colds). So for our next date he said that he would plan for us to go to a "casual" restaurant since we were both under the weather. His idea of "casual" was to go to Tiburon (ya, a pretty nice restaurant) because he remembered that they used to have a fireplace and that might be a nice setting for some sickies like us (don't you love how I like to make up my own words). Anyway, back to the race (just wanted to give y'all a little background on Kyle), Kyle picked me up and we drove to the start together. It was pretty chilly, but Kyle was so sweet and kept his arms around me so I could stay warm. Now I did something I have never done before for this race...I actually ran with someone! I stayed with Kyle the whole time (this was his first race) and it was fun to talk and run with him at the same time (I will definitely do it again). After the race we took Michelle and Justin with us and went out for a late breakfast/early lunch at Einstein's. It was so nice to hang out and everyone got along great...yay! Afterwards, I hung out with Hayden for a bit and got cleaned up. Hayden's other grandparents wanted him to spend the night so after I dropped him off, I met up with Kyle again. This was the weekend of the Christmas Show-a yearly tradition in my world-but I certainly didn't expect Kyle to want to go. However, he insisted that there was nothing else he wanted to do except be my date to the show (again, sweetest guy ever). Not only did he go with me, made jokes and had fun, but he held my hand as we walked around (I know it may seem trivial to some people, but it meant so much to me). He also didn't want me to have to walk in the cold so he dropped me off at the expo while he parked across the street. So far we are having tons of fun together and enjoying getting to know eachother. He may have this tough guy exterior, but he so nice, thoughtful, humble and sweet (and cute, funny, smart, athletic and willing to try new things). He is possibly the sweetest guy I have ever met! He plans dates and is showering me with attention, but not in an overbearing kind of way. I feel so lucky right now and I am incredibly happy!!!

Here we are dining at Einstein's. I made the mistake of having someone take a picture while some people had food in their mouth...oops!

HALLOWEEN 2010

Friday, October 29 was dress-up/party day at school. Since Hayden wanted to be a pirate this year, I decided to pull out my pirate costume from my Junior year in high school (yes, I like to coordinate our costumes sometimes). Hayden decided not to wear the pirate had at school so he kind of looks like a pirate-biker (two costumes in one). Below is a pic of him in the Halloween Parade at school.

After the parade, the kids went into one of the classrooms and performed some songs for us eager, camera-happy parents.

Hayden has lots of fun friends at school...lucky kiddo!

The next morning I ran the Provo Halloween Half Marathon. Since I did it last year (the inaugural year of this race) I feel like I will have to do it every year. That works for me since it's a pretty fun race--this year there were over 2,500 runners. I decided to dress up as a running Snow White. Below is a pic that my one of my friend's took. It was fun this year because I had a few friends running...always nice to socialize and visit beforehand.

Still waiting for the race to start. We had to ride buses up the Provo Canyon past Sundance and we were fortunate enough to be able to hangout inside of a semi-heated tent.

A lot of people caught me after the race because they wanted to see what the front of my shirt said. Even though I got off to a slow start at the beginning of the race, I managed to get a new PR (1:38). I was pretty excited and surprised, too.

After the race, I got home and ready, went to a late lunch, then headed to my mom's to make mummy dogs (hot dogs wrapped in bread dough, then cooked). We had chili, rolls, and halloween cake for dessert (like we needed the exta sugar). Since the weather was not pleasant during our normal trick-or-treat start time, we hung out and read Halloween stories and played games. I decided not to pressure Hayden because he didn't want to go out right away. Eventually, some trick-or-treaters started showing up and Hayden thought it was fun to pass out candy for awhile. Around 7:30 he finally decided he wanted to go out and try it for himself (well, he let me come too). Now trick-or-treating with Hayden is different from what most kids typically do. There's no rushing from house-to-house, no complaining about what kind of candy he gets, and no lack of socializing. We took our time, admired all the Halloween decorations, and it took Hayden awhile to ring the doorbell at each house because he wanted to read the house numbers, comment on what the doorbell looked like, and check out the decor on the porches. Then after he got the candy from the candy-passer-outer (ya, that's the official title) he would ask them questions (Do you have a dog? Do you have any other pets?). I kept wondering where all this socializing was coming from, but then I realized that I did the same thing. At each house, I also felt the need to converse with people and make a cute or funny comment about something. I guess Hayden comes by it honestly. We were out for about an hour, but that's all it took to fill up Hayden's pirate bucket (some people were handing out handfuls of candy at a time). One house gave him a ton of tootsie rolls, and again, most kids might complain but not Hayden. He exclaimed in his most excited voice, "I love those!" Just a reminder of how special my little guy is and how much I love his fun and unique personality.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday, Hayden! We actually had his friend birthday party the Saturday before (Oct. 23). It was a racecar themed party so Hayden got to wear his racecar costume from last Halloween...luckily, it still fit. The first thing the kids did when they came was decorate their racing visors.

My mom, Brooke and Gage. They came a little early to help with the set-up.

Party food--pizza, carrots & cucumbers, pb&j sandwiches, juice, and traffic light rice krispy treats.

I took pics of each of the party guests inside Hayden's racecar. The kids played for a bit and then we played a guessing game (How Many Cars Are in the Jar?). I didn't get any pictures from that game, though. Next we played a race track version of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." I blindfolded each of the kids and they had to try and get their car as close to the finish line as possible.

After the games, it was time for Hayden to open presents. I taught the kids how to do "Heavy, Heavy Hangover" so they each got to bump Hayden on the head and he had to wish them each something special.

Time for the cake and icecream

I attempted to make a race track cake using cupcakes for the track and two small cakes in the middle. I just thought it would be easier to serve this way. Plus, the kids were able to take a cupcake and a car, too.

Blowing out the candles

Later that night Hayden and I went to a huge Halloween Party. I wish that I had gotten pictures from that night...it was pretty fun. Unfortunately, we had to leave early because I was going rock climbing indoors.

My first rock climbing experience! I had to learn not only how to climb, but how to tie different kinds of knots, attach all my gear on myself and someone else, and hold the rope (this has a specific name that is not coming to mind right now) for the other person to climb as well.

The next day (Sunday) my dad, Donna, Kaley, and Bethany came over to celebrate Hayden's birthday. Hayden was so excited for them to come over and he kept checking the window all in anticipation of their arrival. Below are pics of Hayden with some of his fun gifts. The present below was from Tawni and both Danika and Kaley made him some super cute hats.

His Grandma and Grandpa gave him some cool markers which he pulled out immediately after our visit with them.

Kaley's hat

Danika's hat...I wish I would have cleaned the chocolate off of Hayden's cheek (sigh).

On Hayden's birthday (Wednesday) he got to open presents after school before we went to Boondocks. I just posted a few pictures of him doing gifts, but I failed to take any pictures at Boondocks. We went with my mom and Hayden got in free because we are part of their birthday club. Hayden did some arcade games and played in the indoor slide/climbing area, and then we had dinner there. Of course, Hayden went right back to playing as soon as we were done eating (you can imagine that dinner was a little rushed because someone was anxious to go back and play). Eventually, Hayden's dad came to take him for the night since he was in town--an unexpected visit, but we made it all work out. I actually took advantage of the opportunity to go out on a date to a Haunted House which ended up being tons of fun. If you want any more details on that, just ask me. With Aaron being in town I actually went on four first dates in one week (so not typical of me, but after my last experience I've definitely changed). I will say this much...yes, there is someone that has a lot of potential :)

The next day was my birthday, and some of you may know that the last thing I want to do is feel old. So here we are celebrating karaokee-style at Pirate Island. My sis, Brooke, insisted that we sing a Vanilla Ice song (ya, we're a little old-school) and I invited some preteen boys to come up on stage to help us out. Can you believe they had never even heard the "Ice, Ice Baby" song before? So much for not feeling old. Oh well, it was still fun and there was quite the crowd there and a bunch of people were dressed up, too.

Our group minus a few people (my fam and the Herrud fam)

Gardner Village and Cornbelly's

So in mid-October (during the UEA break) we decided to venture out and enjoy some of the autumn festivities. We met up with the Blackburns at Gardner Village one day, and boy was it crowded. The kids had fun checking out the witch displays, and hey, it's free! Above is Hayden with Paige and below are Hayden, Paige, Aubrey and Ethan.

The next day we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point with my mom. I am convinced that we could have spent all day there because there were more activites there this year than last year. Of course, the first thing Hayden wanted to do was the bouncing pillow.

Eventually we made our way over to the cow train. Who's that crazy lady in the first car and who seriously allowed her to ride this thing?

It was a short ride, but Hayden still enjoyed it.

Then Hayden went on over to the trike area where he had to ride around some obstacles.

After playing on the slides, horse swings, and having some lunch, Hayden scored a sweet lizard tattoo.

We did end up in the corn maze, too (and yes, we got lost). Still fun though. Who can resist a good photo opp below.

Duck Racing...probably one of Hayden's favorite things he did there.

I just had to take a picture of this sign because I didn't understand the significance of the 5.36. I have to admit that I probably went over the speed limit in the parking lot...oops!