Am I a slacker or what? I have been busy catching up on photo albums and family videos, and finally have caught up. So now to the blog. Lots of fun things have happened the last 2 1/2 months. Quick synopsis: zoo, hikes at wildlife refuge, HOOD TO COAST RELAY (WOOHOOO), NEWPORT HALF-MARATHON, POTTY TRAINING, Chris' bday, trip to the pumpkin patch, Halloween cookie festivities at our house, visit to our aunt and uncle in a resorty little town, and CHRIS PUT SHELVING IN OUR GARAGE (another big woohoooooo)! See below for more details!!!!!

Cookie decorating at our house (Above)

This was our recent visit to the pumpkin patch with cousins from both sides of the fam. The kids loved it, and we ran out of time and didn't end up doing the corn maize. But they got to play in the corn box (Maddy above) and jump off bales of straw (Nixon below).
So we are about 2 weeks into our POTTY TRAINING with Maddy. It actually has been going pretty well. She's only about 26 months old, and I really didn't want to start this early, but she has been showing a lot of interest. She has been doing great until the pumpkin patch. I only put diapers on her for naps and night time and other than that she is in undies. I have taken her all over the place on errands and friends' houses, and had no accidents. And then at the pumpkin patch, well, you can see we took a little step back. Thank goodness I brought another change of clothes and shoes. However, since that day we have had no accidents. Even at church and nursery.
Below: Maddy and her cousin Marren

Nixon and his cousin Bryton helped find a big one at the pumpkin patch. Thank goodness Dad is strong.
HOOD TO COAST!!!! YEA! In all honesty while I was doing it I really thought if I had the chance to do it again I would REALLY have to think about it. It was grueling starting Friday morning at 8:45 a.m. and ending Saturday at 4 p.m. We really did not get much rest. We managed to shower and stretch out in a high school gym for about 1 1/2 hours of shut eye. I need my sleep and that hour and a half just about did me in. However, after I got home at 10 p.m. that night and got a little rest, OF COURSE I would do it again if I had the chance. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I ran 3 legs of about 6 miles each. Two of those legs were rated very hard because they were very uphill. But I did it and felt great. Also, getting to know the other 5 girls in my van was so much fun. None of us really knew each other before, but we really got a long great and had such a fun time. Then I ran a half-marathon a few weeks later on the beach and that was awesome as well. I beat my personal best and enjoyed running on trails and the sand, in rain and in sun. It was great! However, I think I am taking a little break from the races for awhile.:)
This was our trip to the zoo with Chris' sister and brother-in-law. We usually go to the zoo with them once a year and the kids always love it.
Nixon in a snowcave...
Nixon really loves his Dad. He started loving me again after Dad went back to work in September.:)
Maddy has cute little pants that her grandma sewed buttons on. She loves them and hasn't pulled any of them off yet!
The kids spent a lot of time looking at the seals. Chris took this picture and I love it!

The kids loved the polar bears. They put on quite a show while we were there.

We took our cousins on several little hikes/walks this summer at a wildlife refuge near us. The kids love to see the birds and pick blackberries.
Maddy and Chris.
This is another fun excursion that we took to see Chris' aunt and uncle and cousin. Nixon and Savannah get a long great. We road bikes, went swimming, and went on walks. We love visiting them!

I had to put Chris' bday meal in here. We had Greek salad and chicken shish-kabobs, BBQ ribs, and a pumpkin cheesecake, all requested by Chris (and homemade of course). Since I am not a really huge fan of eating meat, I just ate the salad and cheesecake, but Chris loved it.

Chris worked on shelving for our garage the last couple weeks of summer. He has never really built anything and didn't have any tools, but he rocked. We bought some tools and lumber and he went crazy. He spent a lot of time designing it and obviously putting it together. His dad came and helped him several days. I am so impressed and this is not quite yet the finished product. We cleaned out closets, out from under the beds, and put everything in plastic bins. It is sooo organized and I love it. I will take updated pictures soon!



Maddy's first little french braids above and just a cute picture of Maddy.

BEACH VACATION!!

Okay, so we have had a lot of stuff going on!!!!!!! We have had such a good time the last two weeks, so there is a lot to catch up on! Nixon and Maddy have been having a great time with their Montana cousins (above is Marren) and especially love eating the batter!
We have enjoyed going to the wildlife refuge near our house. We went with our other cousins, now living down the road from us. We actually saw a pelican this day. We went on a couple of walks near ponds. Kymry, Nixon's cousin below, really liked it too!
We can not forget Maddy's birthday. She turned two years old. I made her a white butter cake with orange zest cream cheese frosting and her favorite berries on top. I don't like to brag (ya right!) but it was delicious!!!!
Cheslie, her aunt, as well as her Nonna, Aunt Rachael, and cousins from Montana celebrated with us. It was really fun to see her open presents. This is really the first time she has kind of understood the whole present thing. She really enjoyed opening them!

Now for our beach vacation that we just got back from!!! We met up with my cousin and his family for one of the funnest vacations ever (or at least we think so). They did the majority of the driving and met us on my birthday.We did so many things, all documented with pictures, of course!
Jack, is their youngest of three. He was such a cutie and sure loved to play (and eat) in the sand!
Maddy and Nixon really had a blast on the beach. We spent 7 hours out in the sand the first day, starting around 9:30 a.m. You can't tell by the pictures but the weather was absolutely beautiful. Perfect amount of sun and breeze. Loved it!
Maddy and Jack playing in the sand together.
Everyone having fun burying Isaac up to his neck!!!
Maddy was a pretty good sport about napping on the beach. Unfortunately, I could only get her to fall asleep one day out there on the beach. The other days we brought her back to the rental or one day completely skipped the nap (not such a good thing).
Nixon and Max enjoying the seagulls and water.



We also spent a morning at some tide pools (below: Ken & Suzie). We saw lots of starfish, see urchins, anemones, fish, etc. The kids climbed a lot of the rocks and got really wet and sandy!
Nixon and Max exploring
Nixon with his short new do (it took us forever to convince him to get his haircut and he refused to let them use the razor).
The beautiful beach we spent one of our mornings on!
Maddy, Nixon, and Max (in the very back)
Another fun escapade - we rented a nine person bike/rickshaw thingy. This was a pit stop at our rental because the kids were hungry. We made quite a scene in town with 5 kids and 4 adults riding this thing around. It was tons of fun, but it was quite a workout!!!!
On the bike - Chris and Ken
Okay, the bumper/squirt boats were not such a good idea for Maddy and me. I was the only dumb adult who decided it would be fun and I wouldn't get that wet. Isaac happened to get the only boat that had short range shooting capabilities. So he would corner us and soak us. Maddy and I were completely drenched by the end of the ride. We had to go home and change both of our clothes!!!
Below: Max who also got soaked and Isaac, the little devil!:)
I was surprised Nixon didn't scream and cry more. He did not want to get wet at all and he also was pretty wet by the end of the ride. He wasn't too good at avoiding Isaac.
We also rode go-carts. Maddy hated it! She wanted to get out almost as soon as we started, so I had to go really slow. Suzie was a champion racer. I think she lapped everyone like 4 times!
Chris and Nixon caused some problems in the go-cart track. Chris forgot he was on a go-cart and not a bumper car a few times. I am surprised he didn't get kicked off the track!!!
We spent one morning visiting a bunch of caves at low tide. It was pretty fun to walk back in them. The kids had a lot of fun running around and exploring.
Below: Ken & Suzie
Below: Maddy and me!

We did so many things in just 5 days! We also went on the carousel. Suzie and I went a couple of times with our youngest while the guys did bumper cars.
Maddy
Nixon & Maddy
We flew a kite. Nixon really got it quite high as you can see!
Maddy and me
Nixon got really interested in collecting crab parts. I would just help in the location efforts. I am kind of a girly mom. I really don't like touching slimy, smelly, gross things. And crabs, especially dead crabs and their various body parts, fit into that category. He collected a whole grocery sack full of smelly parts. He would only pick up the claws that still could move if you tried to open and shut them. He broke off parts he didn't want so much. We finally talked him out of wanting to bring them home. Thank goodness!!
Ken and Suzie left a day before us, and it just wasn't quite the same without them!:) Weather started turning bad!! We spent our last day there going to a maritime museum (see below). We also were able to watch the coast guard come in on a big ship which Nixon and Maddy thought was pretty cool. That afternoon after Maddy's nap we spent our last moments on the beach!
Our vacation was so relaxing and fun. Our rental was really nice and we had fun with my cousin and his family. Couldn't ask for a better vacation!!!!