Houston Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving morning:
5:30- arise, bundle up
6:15- leave for downtown Houston
7:00 hung out in WARM McDonalds
8:00 Ran a 5K with friends, Shirley and LUCy (Shout out to Lucy who is only 8!!!)
8:30 Finished race (now, mind you have to delete at least 3 minutes off my time as I was back in the pack!)
9:15 Christian ran his first RACE!!-- a kids 1K....Ok, it was SUPER cute! And he got a medal on top!
10 Went back to hotel to shower, check out and get some post-race grub...

The rest of the day we spent with my cuz, Deb, and her fam...including her parents that came in from CA. It truly was a wondrous time to be near family and feel a part of a bigger whole. It got me really excited for Christmas time, where I get to be with my family...including ALL my brothers and sister. This is a big deal since our family has been rocky, at best, for many of the last many years. And even more eventful because my bro, Joe, is coming home from his mission on December 28th!! We have missed him greatly. Our Shane got to meet him at his birth but hasn't seen him since he was a week old. YEAH for the holidays that make all of these great things happen.
Back to Thanksgiving...on Thursday I had several thoughts of the countless blessings I am grateful for. Here are a few:
1) I am most grateful that my husband is here with us. Being a part of military often means, deployments during this time of year. And for his presence and the promise that he won't have to leave us, I am so very thankful for. He is serving our country here in TX...doctoring up our brave pilots.
2)As one who has struggled FOREVER to be a mom, I feel so eternally thankful that I have been able to have my two boys. They bring Gavin and I so much joy and laughter. I love to see them growing and learning...even though it is sometimes mischievously. I would be a mom a million times over if I could...my children are such miracles. Not to say, I do not HOPE and pray that I can have a girl some day. But for now, I am all about swords and wrestling!!
3) As I ran Thanksgiving morning, I could not help but be so grateful for a healthy, vibrant body. I love to be active and adventurous...and I recognize this blessing in my everyday life!
4) Where would I be without my knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father. Amidst all the challenges I have faced in my lifetime, my constant has been the overwhelming comfort of my Heavenly Father's love.
I could literally go on forever...but here are a few key ones!
We hope everyone else enjoyed some delicious goodness, over-endulged, and are enjoying the rest of the holiday weekend.

Reality Show Junky

I admit it freely...I love many reality shows. My latest fetish was The Bachenator (as Gav calls it). But I am also a hopeless romantic and was SOOO dissappointed with the finale. How lame is that? Why even have a show like that all to end up a single, loser dude. At least date one of them and let me think the romantic notion is possible. ARgHHHHhhh!!

To say the least, I was very disappointed. Well, at least we'll have American Idol in the new year. Some of these reality shows are lamer than the cartoons I have to listen to day in and day out....but there are a few that are very intriguing. And obviously, some produce real results...weren't there several AMA nominees who were AI alums.

Ok, I'll get off my reality high horse and go pack my stuff for Houston. We're going to spend Thanksgiving running a race and having yummy goodness with Debs and the fam!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!!!

End of Soccer = Free Saturdays= No more Soccer

This morning was our finale soccer game for Christian. He had a fabulous season...and closed out the season with 8 goals against a team with players usually a head taller than most of our team!



He even got his trophy today at the Season-end Pizza Party. What a fun experience! I feel bad that my parents chose not to put most of us kids in more (or any, for that matter) sports....they missed out on these fun family experiences (not to mention, us kids were pretty gypped!) But, to think optimistically, we did learn how to work hard every Saturday morning!!



Here is the season video I put together for everyone.

Shawna was sick of seeing the scary Burger King guy at the top of our blog, so I'll help her out with a new post. My birthday was just over a week ago and when I walked in from work there was a sweet new board waiting for me.......my wife is the bomb ! It is a fun little 'fish' that is perfect for the Gulf surf. And of course, I already got in trouble for riding it the 3 days in a row right after I got it. But why did she buy me a new board if she didn't want me to surf ????????huh??????????

Holiday Cheer

Shawna said that she was ready for some cheerful Holiday music, so I thought I would post my favorite Holiday tune. Its beautiful.

Anybody need some CANDY??

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We took a pretty chill outlook on Halloween this year. We had a great night of fun with our friends-- dinner, a belated cake for Gav and trick or treating, of course!! We had a few parties earlier in the month...and today we all awoke with a sugar hang-over. And a LOAD of candy...which I am already sick of. That's pretty bad for someone with a sweet tooth like mine. My Halloween decor came down today and now I've got to find my Christmas music. The end of Halloween marks the beginning of the "feel- good holidays"...and since there is really no Thanksgiving music...I get to listen to my Christmas music. It only means I have to search for it...wherever it landed in the latest move. We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Halloween also.......