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!

Autumn Racing

Wow, do I need to catch up. This post is mostly about some of the recent races I have done and it is a little bit backwards. Above is a pic from the Layton Half Marathon which was October 9. It was an out-and-back course and I ran it in 1:43. It was a flat course, but not too scenic. I still had fun and I even took advantage of the post race massage. I didn't find out until later that I had taken 2nd place in my age division.

The St. George Marathon was the weekend before that--Oct. 2. Hayden and I drove down to St. George the day before with the Andersons and Michelle's mom, Lisa. We hit the expo when we got there and then headed to the house...great house, btw. It was super nice inside and right on a golf course. I made a pasta dinner that night which we enjoyed outside on the patio. It was an earlier night for Justin and I since we had to get up early for the race.

The next morning Michelle drove Justin and I to the buses a somewhere after 4 in the morning. It was pretty warm...supposedly the warmest it's been for this marathon. After the bus ride to the start we had plenty of time to hangout and eventually enjoy (?) the fire. It actually felt like an inferno standing inbetween all the fires they had going--that's how warm it was. The race itself started out pretty good and I was glad to make it up the huge hill in Vejo around mile 7. Overall the course was much hillier (is that a word?) than I expected. Around mile 16 or so I started to run with the 3:30 pacer which was nice because he was pretty talkative which was a great distraction. I can't remember exactly when, but somewhere around mile 18 or 20 I did stop at the aid station and had one of the volunteers put icy hot stuff on my calves and hamstrings. This felt great at first, but then when it turned hot it wasn't the greatest feeling considering that I was already running in the heat. I expected it to be more downhill after I hit mile 20, but it wasn't. Every time I saw a water mister I ran through it just because it was so hot (I guess there were about 1000 runners who didn't finish and I am guessing it's because of the heat). I was so glad once I crossed the finish line and I immediately stretched, grabbed some water, and then rested on the ground for a bit. Eventually I met up with everyone and then got my cool shirt and medal from Wasatch Running Center for having finished all the Grand Slam marathons.

After we got back to the house, Justin and I took the kids swimming while Michelle and Lisa went and ran a few errands. That night we enjoyed some Cafe Rio and the girls watched a movie together (it was great to have some girl time, too).

The next day I made some french toast and eggs for the group, we packed up and headed to Sand Hollow before heading for home. The kids loved playing in the water and along the beach.

The week before the St. George marathon was Sojo (the South Jordan marathon). I ran the half marathon along with Lisa and Aubrey (another friend and Michelle's sister-in-law), Michelle did the marathon, and Hayden ran the Kids K. Michelle and I both got first place in our age divisions which means we have free entry into next year's race. Plus we also won some cool customized plaques.

Hayden did a great job finishing his Kids K run.

Hanging out with Abbi and Ty

The finishers: Aubrey, me, Michelle, and Lisa

Thursdays

The premiere of "The Office" was last Thursday, so I finally decided to have a themed party to celebrate its return.

In the episode where Jim and Dwight forgot Kelly's b-day, Dwight made a sign saying "It is your birthday." That's where I got the idea for "It is an Office Premiere Party." The period at the end is significant, too.

Classic!

Pam's microwave note

In memory of Sprinkles (no bags of frozen food were clawed and destroyed inside the freezer though)

Again, classic line and another classic Dwightism

In honor of Ryan or fire guy

Oh, Michael and his great ideas.

Another one of Michael's ideas--this comes from "The Merger" episode when he tries to welcome new employees.

Honey Mustard Pretzels are from the episode with the gift baskets.

Party favors

The food

I even wrapped my foot in bubble wrap, but I didn't go to the full extremes by actually burning it on a George Foreman grill.

My inspiration and helpers (my mom and sister).

Pirate Island

The Thursday night before the party was spent at Pirate Island. It was tons of fun to go with my family, and of course, Hayden loved it.

So I couldn't let fear get the best of me, and to prove it I'm on stage singing in front of everyone. Brooke and I were singing "Love Shack" by the B-52's. I was trying not to pull a Cameron Diaz from "My Best Friend's Wedding"--not sure if I succeeded or not. I guess the important thing is that we had fun.