Happy Halloween 2010

Happy Halloween!!

From the gypsy, the witch and the cowgirl.

The Little Peony that could.

We have two peony plants in our backyard. They are beautiful plants but for some reason they don't produce many blossoms. In fact one of them has never produced a blossom and the other one finally had a single blossom last year and again this year. One is better than none. This little flower has made me so happy today so I thought I would share. (If you have any suggestions on how to get my peonies to produce more blooms I would love to hear them.)

That Pete sure is neat!

Peter competed in his 3rd triathlon this weekend. He came in 2nd in his age group and 39th overall. Wow, imagine what he could do if he would train a little bit. Congratulations hon, we are proud of you.

I have a million things to tell you... (it's a little long)

First, Lillian turned 2 last month.

What? I know I can't believe it either.She is such a happy, fun kid. She is so dang friendly. Always a smile on her face and an infectious joy that she spreads to all those around her.
She really knows how to relax and enjoy each moment, something I am trying to learn from her.

And she loves chocolate cake. Happy Birthday Lilly!


Second, Bella made it to age 7. (There has been some question around here whether or not she would!)

She had a fun afternoon picnic with some of her friends from school.I hired the lamest clown (not on purpose, of course. Ugh!) Turns out 7 year old girls are too old for clowns. Who Knew?! Needless to say it was a very awkward and expensive hour. We love having Isabella in our family. She is smart and funny and has a very kind heart. She loves to have friends around and never minds being the center of attention. I hope her wishes come true. Happy Birthday Bella!

Third, Peter participated in his second triathlon of the season last weekend in St. George. My brother also did this one so our family and his family all went down for the weekend and shared a condo. We had lots of fun watching them both fully compete this year. Last year they did the same tri and the swim portion got cancelled the morning of due to wind but this year it went off without a hitch. They stayed pretty close throughout and finished within just seconds of each other.

They are somewhere out in front. They really did fantastic on the swim.

Here's Pete coming out of the water and heading to transition to get on his bike. I wasn't able to get any pics of him on the bike due to the way the course was set up and the children I was left to haul around were distracting me.
Here's a terrible picture of him finishing. His time was 1:22:15. He was 35th overall and 5th in his age group. Here's a crazy picture of my brothers finish. His time was 1:22:27. He was 36th overall and 6th in the age group. Close huh?!


After the triathlon we went back to the condo for some family pool time. Bella and Ayva love playing in the water. Lilly likes to play next to the water. She gets that from me.

Ayva jumping off the diving board.

She could do that all day. She loves it!

Has her noodle, but doesn't want to use it.

(Turns out I didn't get any pictures of Bella at the pool. Oops)

OOOOO-la-la!!!

Later that evening we splashed in the water at a local park that the kids love.

Cool plant I took a cool picture of.


Fourth, Ayva graduated from preschool last night. (Thank goodness) In our rush to get there on time I neglected to check my camera for its memory card. I should of. Therefore I didn't get any pictures of her graduation (hopefully I will get opportunities to redeem myself in the future). I did take one of her as soon as we got home.

Ta-da! Bring on kindergarten.

In other news:

we got a new car (2010 Subaru Outback. So sweet!)

and

I will be competing in my first triathlon this Saturday. Wish my luck, I will need it!

And last but not least today is our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe I was able to fool him into marrying me and have been able to keep him fooled for 10 years. I truly am not worthy of him which makes me that much more grateful for him. I love you Peter.

Ta da!

I have been working on a Happy Birthday banner for the past couple of weeks and finally finished it today. We have a nice long shelf in our kitchen area that I plan on hanging it from when it's someones birthday. (Well, I mean you have to live here and have a birthday. Otherwise it would be up all the time and wouldn't be that special.) I am happy with how it turned out. I was difficult to get a nice picture of it but you get the idea.

While I am here I may as well give an update on the kids.

Lilly is a bit of an odd duck and this makes her a joy to be around. She is a talker like her big sister Bella was at this age. (which is 2 next month) She asks questions and tells me what she wants using complete sentences. She loves to sing and dance and keep her toes clean.

Ayva is enjoying preschool and swim lessons and in her free time she likes to play Zelda and Super Monkey Ball Blitz on the Wii. She is very imaginative and kind but will always speak her mind. (not always a good thing)

Bella is also enjoying school and swim lessons. She is also a tremendous help at times with her sisters. She loves to read to them and lead them in games she makes up. I can't believe how mature she is getting. It really does just feel like yesterday that she was born. Wow.

That's all I have time for today. Thanks for checking in.

Let's go swimming

Today Lilly wanted to try on Bella's swim cap and goggles. Hilarious!!!