happy thanksgiving

I must give credit to makeandtakes blog for this idea but it's definitely been improved upon don't you think? Erin and I made these at our little playdate. I wrote things that Ellie is grateful for on the back of each feather. My favorite one was, "Thankful that I can take deep breaths to stop crying."

feeling all cameron diaz-y

Now I can feel better about flushing wet wipes.

silly

me, emily, cammie (alissa came later)

i went to the twilight premiere. i'm embarrassed. i liked it.

turkey tri

Yesterday was the Turkey Tri! Every time a do a race, I tell Justin the night before, "Don't ever let me do a triathlon again." I get so nervous. But afterwards I'm always glad I did it. This race is pretty popular and fun because the order is backwards; so we ran, then biked, then swam in the Orem rec. It was so much easier to not have to run after biking.


I LOVE having my kids there. Justin pulled them behind his bike as basically road alongside me during the run. During the bike he would shortcut through the route to cheer me on. So many people commented to us about it because they thought it was so cool, and thanked him for cheering them on as well. Justin keeps trying to do a race with me but I won't let him because I want him to cheer for ME! Plus I would be pissed when he beat me.








It was also way fun to have our cousin Kara there too (Bankheads representing!). She won 1st overall - see her there at the starting line with only guys? Yeah, she is like a mutant ninja athlete. I got 14th overall and 3rd in my age group which I was happy/sad because I did want to get in the top 3 in my division but was hoping for top 10 overall.

Now I'm just sad because I want to do another one but I have to wait until next spring! Maybe I should spend this winter learning how to swim.

thanksgiving banner

just so I remember how cool my banners are.

halloween

This is what I was going for...


And this is what we ended up with! I loved it - even if no one knew who she was.










More evidence that Cody suffers from Second Child Syndrome. Cody in his big sisters old costume because I was too busy spending hours on Ellie's. Sorry dude.

P.S. Having boys is awesome. You hardley even have to take care of them. Just throw them food on the floor sometimes. Girls, on the other hand, are a maintenance nightmare!

partaaaay!

a few pics of family on halloween night:


The kids with new cousin Cade.


Ward Halloween Party


Some of my glamorous fam.


Aunt Calley


This is the best idea for a Halloween party ever. Matt and Jess cleared out their garage and had their party outside. The food was in the garage and the fire and haybales in the front yard. It's still a lot of work but at least your house doesn't get trashed.


Our hosts, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth...


...and their poor tramatized little bee.


"Chicken, Beef or Pork?"

broken arm: round 2

Last Tuesday was a repeat of 21/2 years ago. Same arm, same place: both bones broken in the middle of her forearm, and bent at 31 degrees, which means she had to be put under to re-set the bones. Last time she fell out of her crib. This time she fell less than a foot off our couch. Crazy.


Putting on a brave face.


Hour 5 at ER. Bone has been set and waiting for her to wake up.


Grandpa Lewie and Grandma Jannie...they were in Uruguay on a mish during the last episode so Jann didn't want to miss out this time. Thanks for the blessing and support. And especially for the stand-in blankie. How could I forget her Blankie as such crucial time?


I didn't get a picture of my dad but he was also there. He drove us first to the ER, then to Srpingville InstaCare, then back to the ER. Then waited with me and cried with me when they put the IV in Ellie's arm. Ellie was so brave...she wouldn't cry but tears were rolling down her cheeks. I told her "It's okay to cry." So she did. This picture was taken a few weeks before her last broken arm.

Also thank you mom for staying home with Cody. I'm sure she prayed enough for all of us and I'm also sure it worked. She has more faith than anyone I know.


Such a brave little girl.

And where was Justin you ask????

At school. He got there just after they set the bone. Lucky.

A couple pics of Round 1:





I know a broken arm is nothing compared to what many parents go through with sick and injured children. But I was seriously in a funk for three days after this. I didn't clean my house AT ALL, or get ready, or exercise. I just wanted to hunker down and stay home all day with my kids and watch movies. And I HATE watching movies during the day, one of my worst pet peeves. It proves that as a mothers, we have a physical connection to our children. When they are hurt, we hurt worse. This was also a good reminder to just love and be patient and play and cherish my kids - I love them so much it hurts!

Tomorrow we go to PCMC to get a real cast put on and hopefully the bone hasn't moved in the last week in her splint or we get to do it all again! Wish us luck!

why didn't i think of this?

This is something I should have thought of...arghhh.

Charles & Marie: PopMat (set of 10) – Now available in White!

moab

Last weekend was the last of our series of mini trips we've been on since coming home in September. Now I'm ready and excited to just stay home and be snuggly and do crafty things (or at least think about doing them).

We went to moab with Matt and Jess (Justin's cousin), and a couple single and hilarious guys that sold with Justin this summer, Brandon and Jesse. We camped and climbed and biked and ate really good food.


Note the sweet bike on the left. Jesse's Wal-Mart special probably made the 10 mile trail feel more like 30 miles. I'm not going to lie I probably would have made it 5 miles on that bike before throwing it off a cliff. I was pretty impressed, everyone did so well.


Jess is a natural - not scared of anything! Yes that is a cliff on her right. So hurry and get a bike Jess so we can go more!


I stole this pic from moabactionshots.com but am admitting it so don't worry about it.


Love this pic. I totally want to make out with Justin when we go biking together and he shows his cleavage like that.


We also pretened to be climbers - we were a little rusty but it was still fun.


Amasa Back - our favorite. We turned around early because the sun went down but it was just georgeous.


I stopped earlier than the guys because the view was so amazing and it was so quiet I just wanted to be alone for a bit. I hiked up on a rock and just layed in the warm sun. I love being by myself in the middle of nowhere. I used to do it a lot before getting married and I need to do it more.


Trying to be a Yogi. It's not quite as relaxing as it looks in calendar pictures.

my house, scary style

P.S. All the gourds are from Jeni Gochnour. We used to do trade with her at craft shows. Her stuff is amazing.

family vacays are the best!

Two weekends ago we went to St George with Justin's parents and three littlest sisters (i want to be them when i grow up). We had a blast kickin it by the pool, shopping, and biking.


Bear Claw Poppy Trail - the classic ride in all of St. George.
Justin, Jaime, Lew and Court (not me Court, my sis-in-law)






There is a new amazing park right by the Bankheads condo. I can't even explain the amazingness of it but let's just say there was not one parent sitting on the park bench watching their kids, they were all playing just as hard as the kids.







Justin, his dad and a friend from high school did the Tour de St. George on Saturday. They did the 66 mile ride so that we could get back in time for the APX party in Orem. In the spring we plan to to the century ride together though. I did do a fun 25 mile ride by myself through Snow Canyon. I always said I would never live here because there is no snow but laying by the pool in October? I think I could manage.