Draper Lights

  

    I love where I live. There is a huge sense of community here that I've never felt anywhere else. Last year they started putting Christmas lights on the trees at Draper Park.  This year they started it all off with a lighting ceremony.  It's so nice to live within walking distance of this awesome park.  The pictures don't do the lights justice, seriously this white tree is huge! I guess you'll just have to come see them yourself.  Just be sure to stop by at our house for some hot chocolate afterwards! 

 Funny Fact: My running partner and I have watched these lights go up as we run by in the mornings.  They'd usually have about one tree lit at a time for us to admire.  It was funny to cross paths with each other that night to find out we were wearing the same shirt...a must-photo moment. 

The Path of Destruction

Exhibit A: Breck & Avery in the flour/pancake mix in the pantry

Exhibit B: Three boxes of pasta pulled off of the storage shelf (at MY eye level...I still don't know exactly how they got them down) and dumped into the living room.

Exhibit C: Avery "painting" Tate's homework with mustard.  

Exhibit D: Brecken drawing with a sharpie on my favorite peice of furniture in my house, my bed.
 





FYI:

• All of these pictures were taken in the last two weeks
• I really DO watch them, they're fast and deceptive with their sweet 2-year-old faces. 
• Both found guilty as charged for making our home a wonderful yet crazy and messy place to live.

Disappointing Haircut..

      Last time Tate got a haircut he asked me to "do a mohawk."  So I did & he thought it was pretty cool....cool enough to keep.  These are the pictures of his reaction when I told him he couldn't actually keep the mohawk.  Poor Tate. 

Happy Halloween!

      My Halloween gift to friends and family that read my blog....a Halloween post prior to Thanksgiving.   Happy Halloween. 

We had a great weekend of Halloween celebrations!  Our ward hosted a trunk-or-treat on Friday which was really fun.  We have a great, close-nit neighborhood and it's always fun to get together. 

My good friend Alison dressed up as "Where's Waldo," so cute.  When people asked me where my costume was
 I simply replied that I'd gotten five costumes ready today and was burned out by the time I got to me.  



Alison's daughter Sydney is Keaton's good friend.  She went as Mr. T and Keat was a punk rocker. I
thought their costumes complimented each other very well.



Our friends the Larkin's kiddos.  Claire is a parrot and Laird
is a pumpkin.

       Monday the big boys went to school and I helped with Keaton's class party, very fun.  Then Corey took the kids trick-or-treating while I handed out candy.  The weather held out for the trick-or-treaters and everyone had a great time. 

       Avery was a ballerina.  She borrowed her darling costume from her aunt Hayley who wore it when she was two...so cute.  She really would have rather been an Indian with Breck, but being the only girl in this family she was forced to wear a tiara...sorry sweetheart, but you look beautiful!  Seriously, check out the bum on this costume...I could hardly stand the girly cuteness.  

Keaton originally wanted to be a girl, but this didn't sit well with me (call me a party pooper) so this is what we came up with....punk rocker.   It suited him well and he had lots of fun.  I need to remind him to bug my Mom about a picture of her and Grandpa as punk rockers not so long ago....

Tate wanted to be a black widow which was easy enough...pretty cute black widow.

         McKay wanted to be an Indian with Breck.  Such a sweet boy! 
                                                                                                                                               

 Here's Breck in the Indian costume Keaton wore six years ago.  So cute.  Breck is a tenderhearted kid, but has a stubborn streak and insisted on pulling the wagon with Avery in it. This was originally intended for Corey to pull both kids in, of course.  They were gone for about an hour and a half and made it to less than ten houses...pretty funny. 

 Check out that determined face!!

Cecret Lake (not so secret after all)

     After Corey's big race I was excited to do a few things with the kids.  We always have big plans for camping and hiking, but it's a bigger job than it seems to get out and camping with two two-year-olds has it's own challenges.   The kids had a day off so we called the cousins and headed up to Cecret Lake.  My brother-in-law Jared informed us that the reason for the spelling is because it was named by poor, uneducated miners...interesting. 
     I was so excited to see all of the beautiful flowers so late in the season, a benefit from having a long spring.  Halfway through the hike we met a moose.  He was about 5 feet off the trial and must have been just young enough not to care about any of us or the many people stopping to take his picture. 

   

 There were probably 200 people on the trail, but it was fun to mingle and enjoy the mountains together.  It also made for a few jokes about Cecret Lake not being so secret, thoroughly enjoyed by the kids. 

We were so glad to have Jar and the girls with us!  It's been so fun to get to know them better.  This picture was hilarious and highlights both girls perfectly!!  Gretel is very imaginative and is pretending to be an animal on the big rock while Kaihli strikes a perfect pose!!!  Love, love, love you girls!! 

Corey and Breck



The boys took a lesser-traveled trail and got stuck on the side of a mountain.  Pretty funny, I was grateful we'd taken swimming lessons this summer!



Park City Point to Point

     I had to write a post to follow up on my well-wishes to my husband and his big race so here goes.   This year Corey asked me to crew him which means meet him a the various aide stations and get him what he needs, ie: food, water, ibuprofen, etc.  It was an amazing experience that showed me so much more about this race.  I crewed Corey with his good friend Derek who did the race with him last year.  It was a huge relief to have him there because he knows so much about the race and how to fix a bike if need be! 
    I took my camera with good intentions but it turned out to be a lot more intense than I planned on so you'll see all the pictures I took.  It's not a ton, but it'll have to do. 
     The morning was freezing cold.  The race started at 7 am and it was in the thirties.  Thankfully another bike buddy of Corey's lent him his long sleeve jersey for the first part of the race.   Thanks Drew!!  The top picture was at the first place we were able to see them.  We waited and cheered and Derek rode down a ways to a better spot to pass Cor a water bottle. 
    It was actually pretty funny for me to be there with a bunch of bike buddy's and listen to them talk.  All day long I heard strategy, who's doing what, what gears are being ridden, why Corey shines near the end of the race, etc. etc.   Being a biking wife I'm somewhat used to the "talk,"  but this was more than usual and quite entertaining. 
     Derek did a good job of showing me the trails that the racers were riding which was amazing.  In this race they basically go up a mountain and then down a mountain, up then down, up then down, for almost 80 miles.  It's insane to see what they're doing, I was awestruck.  
     Corey races on a single speed which means he doesn't use gears (it's a tough mtn bike thing, guys who need a challenge like my husband do it ).  Part of racing single speed is that it's an open category so a 20 year old on a single speed and a 55 year old on a single speed compete.  The bike buddy's kept splits of how far Corey was from the first guys and would let him know as he came into the aide stations.  The first aide station Corey was in 3rd and about 4 minutes behind the first guy.  He looked good and focused. 
     At the second aide station he was in second place, but a good 5 minutes behind first with about 22 miles to go.  He came in asking for ibuprofen and coke and left looking a bit tired (funny he'd look tired after riding 55 miles up and down mountains!!)  I was excited he was in second place, but didn't think he could make up the time to get close to first. 

     The finish was awesome.  Derek was keeping watch out for Corey and yelled that the first single speeder came through.  I looked up and thought I'd have a couple of minutes until Corey finished when three of his buddy's groaned as he finished....32 seconds behind first.   They felt his disappointment at being so close to first, but I was amazed.   I cheered, his buddy's talked some more and congratulated him.  He spend a little time tracing his steps finding multiple places he could have made up that time, but in the end he was happy with his finish.  He beat his time from last year by almost 20 minutes...not bad.  
     Corey's dad did the race as well.  He did an amazing job in a very difficult race!   We were so excited to see him finish.  Two friends of ours, Kevin Larkin and Russ Paige were both new to biking and finished in their goal times.  Way to go bikers!!!
     To Corey, I love you babe!  You never cease to amaze me at the way you take on your goals and achieve them!!  I'm so proud of you!

All dressed up with nowhere to go

Sure lovin' this girl!! 

The Bittersweet start of school

Seriously, Keaton wasn't this excited about school, just excited at the chance to do a CRAZY picture!!

Big boy starting Kindergarden!!

Nothing like a buddy to calm the nerves on your first day of school!!

     Usually I'm quite sad about starting school.  I love the unscheduled pace of summertime.  We usually have a ton of fun with cousins and playmates at the park.  This summer was full of illness which made it easier to say "goodbye summer."
       Every year I get a reality check as to how old my kids are getting.  This is McKays second to last year in Elementary School and I can't hardly beleive it.  Keaton's in 3rd and my "used to be baby" Tate is in Kindergarden.  We've gotten off to a good start with good teachers.  Here's to a great year of school!!

Summer's Grande Finale

Okay, so I'm a really slow blogger.  It couldn't have to do with the fact that I have five very beautiful and messy and demanding kids??!!  So here we go.  Before school started we made sure to make use of our season pass to the zoo and Grandma Larrabee's Grandma pass to Thanksgiving Point.  Here are some pictures so you can have a good idea as to just how much fun we had!!

       Mac and Kaihli posing for a picture by Noah's Ark.  We're so so glad to have the Houston Larrabees in Sandy!!!

Keaon and Carter



Gretel posing for a pic



Adyson being so good in her stroller!



                                                          

Breck

                                                         

  Tater-bug

                                                                                      
                                                                           

Cabin Trip

       A few weekends ago we made a trip to the Larrabee Family Cabin in Oakley.  It really is a shame we haven't gotten out there more this year, but we've resolved to do a better job of it.  For this trip we went up with our good friends the Larkins. 

       The highlight of our trip was Smith & Morehouse Lake.  The boys thought it was really cool that they could take the canoe out by themselves....even if it did make Corey nervous. 

       We paddled around, ate a yummy lunch and splashed in the water.  The water was pretty cold, but we had a few brave swimmers. 

Brittany and a tierd Avery-girl.

 

  Laird and Claire

                        Here's Corey yelling "I think we're too far away to get a picture!"  I think not ;)!!

Bike Race Fun

Anyone who knows us well knows that biking is a big deal at our house.  It's been really fun to follow Corey in all his mountain bike races and even more fun now that the boys are involved and enjoying the sport as well.  We've done plenty of races this year.  My favorite race has been the week-night series races at Solitude.   It was so nice to be in the cool mountain air enjoying the beauty just twenty minutes from our home.  They do the kids race first while all the dads, moms, grandmas and grandpas (if Stan and Blyth are there) get ready.  The boys have really enjoyed racing.  Then the "big" races start and we picnic on the grass, hike around and just play while Corey races.  It's been a fun thing for us and so fun to see how everyone does and cheer them on.   

     Now to brag about Corey, because he never would....Corey's had a great season this year.  For the past couple of years he's been getting second or third place in his division...which is great, right??!!  Not to Corey.  He's been chasing that elusive #1 place for a while and wanted it bad.  I loved how our friend Brittany put it when Corey was being modest and telling her how far ahead of him the first place guy was.  She said "yeah, but do they have five kids and two missing quadriceps muscles in their leg??"  He's amazing.  He has really worked for that #1 win and got it just over a week ago.  It was a 35 mile race in corner canyon, he was eight and a half minutes ahead of the second place guy who was previously thought by some to be unbeatable.  Awesome job Babe!!!  His big race of the year, the Park City Point to Point (80 miles on the toughest trails in Utah) is this weekend and I know he'll do great, I can't wait to see how great.  Good luck Cor!

Happy 2nd Birthday Babies!!!

(I do realize these babies are 2, but they're my babies and they don't care yet that I call them babies so I'm gonna! )

     As a Mother I find myself reflective on birthdays.  It's such a fun time to think about the birth and subsequent birthdays of your kids, but for me having a rough start with these two I do it even more.  I've thought about all the help we had during that time and how many people it took to get us through it.  Thank you so much for all your love and support, we couldn't have done it without you!!  I had to put these pics together to show y'all, or remind y'all how far we've come!!

     Here is where we started with our sweet babies.....

And here is where we're at now!

     I'm so excited to be on this end of it all.  Don't get me wrong, twin toddlers is a handful, but SO, SO much fun at the same time.  They're saying new words every day, doing new things and loving the amazing world around them.  If you've lost that feeling of wonder, come spend the day with us.  Avery is loving bugs and animals and brings me an occasional ant or worm from the backyard.  Brecken is fascinated with cars and trucks.  We have a home being built behind us and he's spent countless minutes just watching them and the kid won't sleep a wink in the car afraid he'll miss a big truck or tractor on the side of the road.  They're totally different personalities that compliment each other perfectly. 

Avery is the bossy, spunky and adventurous. 

Breck is cuddly, shy and a bit introverted. 

     They're such a joy to have in our family!!  Happy 2nd Birthday babies!  We love you both so so much!!!