RUGGED

I'm a couple weeks late on this, but I'm going to blame that on my work computer since it died on my trip last week. As long as it's in before Katelyn's birthday I'm good, right?

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I participated in a little event called the Rugged Maniac. The Denver version was just your standard 5K run across a motor track through old tires, under barbed wire, over walls and, of course, through lots and lots of mud. I signed up for the 10:30 wave with 17 others that made up our team, the Mormon Maniacs. It was the most difficult fun I've had in a long time.

There really isn't a very good picture of the whole course, but even if there was, it wouldn't do it justice. There were some pretty mean looking hills, but you couldn't really get the full effect until you were struggling to run up or down them. Even walking was difficult at times because the ground was rutted with motorcycle tracks and you had to be really careful where you put your feet.

The whole course was ups and downs, but the first hill took me by surprise and I ended up sprinting down just to keep from doing somersaults. Then it was nearly straight up the next hill before the other obstacles hit...

The taller walls had a "helpful" board for the shorter people, but I ended up helping a few because it got so muddy and slippery that it really wasn't that helpful.

One of the concerns was that the race was in the middle of October and that it would be cold. Well, the weather was nice enough, but that's barbed wire we had to go under and the water felt like mountain runoff so we got our cold experience.

The end of the race was marked with a big slide into a pool of water with buoys to go over or under. It was very nice of the creators to give a place to clean off and it worked pretty well. If only I could see what way I was supposed to go...

Here is most of the group. As you can see, we made up matching shirts with our team name and slogan on the back. The race advertised a free beer for each of the runners so we on the back of the shirts it said "Mormon Maniacs" and then below "you can have my beer."

It was a lot of fun and most of us can't wait to do it again next year.

Time Out

Last Friday and Saturday I attended Time Out for Women with my sister and mom. We had a great time listening to speakers, music, and laughing. Juliette was so good. On Friday night she got really tired and cried a little, but Saturday I didn't have to take her out once. She was perfectly happy sitting with us, eating, and napping. All the speakers were wonderful. The highlight for me was listening to Hilary Weeks sing. I love spending time with my mom and sister and are so lucky to live close to them.

Our very own Wendy

This beautiful girl is my niece Anya who is now 10. We were able to go see her last week in her first ever play. They put on Peter Pan and she was Wendy.

Friends and Family all waiting for the play to start.

Anya did a great job. This was Sadie's first play and she loved it. She is now coming up with all sorts of ideas of what play she wants to be in with Anya.

One of our days

Our day starts by walking Katelyn to school. Kindergarden starts at 9. Katelyn rides her scooter and Sadie rides it home. Juliette usually takes a nap on our walk home.

While Sadie plays and I clean, Juliette sucks on a finger or two. We pick Katelyn up from Kindergarden at 11:45. The afternoon consisted of nap, quiet time, homework and/or watching something.

We also get a lot of show productions at our house. We have dinner when Nate gets home and some time in all this we have:

Tummy time!

After dinner we go ride bikes and then when the sun goes down the kids go to bed and I relax.

Four months and sick

Juliette has been sick for the first time. She coughs a lot and has been really congested. Sadly I added to this problem by taking her to her 4 month appointment and getting 3 shots. She was a bit cranky that night. I think it was the first time she has really screamed and been unconsolable. We felt awful that we couldn't help her feel better. Other than that, she has been doing great. Her stats are:

Weight: 17lbs 10oz (99%ile) Height: 26.4in (98%ile) Head Circumference: 41cm (59%ile)

Am I suprised that she is 17 pounds? No. I carry her around all day and try to fit her in clothes. Plus all my babies have been similar. At 4 months Sadie was 18lbs 13oz and Katelyn was 16lbs. I love those cute chubby legs.

A few weeks ago Nate called me to bring the camera. I found Juliette with a bubble hanging off her lip. It was pretty cool.

The amazing bubble