2 Thanksgivings

Every year we have Thanksgiving Lunch with Brad's Family

and Thanksgiving Dinner with My Family.

I Love it, because I get to eat twice : )

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First up is lunch at Brad's Aunt & Uncle's neighborhood park.

Have you ever noticed how kids eat the same amount they normally do on Thanksgiving, while I tend to go overboard on the portion sizes. Thus our kids played the majority of the time.

Nate Climbing
Brig Slding
Aubrey Swinging


Nate Riding

Brig playing his own version of tennis
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Next up was Dinner, this time at a church building.

Spencer & his cousin Sammi set up this table away from everyone else. As soon as I saw it, I thought of the "Parent Trap" Isolation Table. However, these two get along much better than Haley Mills and Herself. Can you tell they loved the soda's provided by Josh.
My Brother Shane with Niece Tessa

Nate enjoying the ice cream.
Lots of Food & Lots of Family!

Running in Flagstaff -- 9/26/09

My Sister Rachel and I did our first 10k

"Before the Race"My Brother Shane always gives details about his races, so I'm going to do the same. Feel free to skip to the pictures...

This was a 10k trail run, (6.2 miles)

Rachel and I ran the pink route on the map below.

Before coming to Flagstaff, I was really worried about the elevation change, but since I already live at 5600 feet, the change to 8,000 feet wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. The hardest part was keeping my breathing consistent. Whenever I started to think about Brad letting me run all those mornings and traveling to Flagstaff so I could do this race, I would start to choke up, and then I couldn't breathe, or see for that matter. He is amazing and I am so grateful for him.

There were 2 really huge uphill sections in the race. When I got to the first one, I was determined to keep running even though I was at a slow pace. As I started the second uphill portion I started to do some walking, this was just past the 3 mile marker. I loved being in the forest as I ran. I was so excited to be there and wanted to cheer everyone on who passed by me. Except for this one girl who would sprint and then walk, sprint and then walk. We passed each other like 20 times. She did end up coming in a few minutes before me, so I guess her running style worked. There was this older guy that I caught up to halfway through the race. I followed him all the way to the finish. I later saw on the results that he was 77 years old! Isn't that awesome!

I really rely on music while I run. The music keeps my pace and the words keep me motivated. Some of the most helpful songs from this race for me were...

"This is Your Life" by Switchfoot (Brad is an even bigger fan, Switchfoot lyrics are really inspiring, I have 9 Switchfoot songs on my running list)

"Change" by Lightning Seeds (this is a British group that I loved in High School, I have 2 Lightning Seeds songs on my running list)

"Vital Sign" by Greg Simpson (LDS Singer, the words talk about the forest floor and no ambulance around, very inspiring : ) I love tons of his music, but this is the only one on my running list)

"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees (I know this song is cheesy, but I really like running to it, and my kids love to dance to it)

"Best of my Love" by Vonzell Solomon (Who the crud is that?!?, She is a has been from American Idol, but I love her song and it keeps me running)

A week before the race, I ran 4 miles at the track and that still is the longest I've ever run without stopping. Now I know what all you marathoners are thinking, but that 4 miles is huge for me. I am going to run the Turkey Trot 10k in Mesa this month and I plan on beating my 4 mile record. Goals and races help motivate me. The Flagstaff 10k I did in 1 hour 22 minutes, so I have a lot of room for improvement : )

My reachable goals for the Turkey Trot are to run the whole 6.2 miles and to complete the race in 1 hour and 10 minutes. "After the Race"
They had a "Kids Kilo" that Spencer and Aubrey ran in.

The kilometer is over 1/2 a mile.

Spencer sizing up the competition

Aubrey low key at the starting line
Spencer focusing
Aubrey stretching

Spencer is ready to run
Spencer came in FIRST !!!

Aubrey was FIRST in her age group

Go Spencer !!!

Go Aubrey !!!

Chasing squirrels at the hotel

Football at the park

What a Great Dad!! What a Great Day!!

Playing on the Playground

We come to this park whenever we come through Flagstaff.

Our kids love this tradition.

Susan

When I was on my mission in North Carolina, my Companion and I often asked Sisters from the ward to go with us to appointments. That is how I met Susan. I served a good part of my mission in her ward or nearby, so she would often pick us up for appointments and when we served in her area, Susan and her husband Steve would have us over for dinner. Over the years Susan and I have kept in contact through Christmas cards and email. She has been a great friend.
So last month when she emailed saying she had business meetings in Arizona and wanted to come visit us, I was so excited!
We had a great time and the kids loved the presents she brought for them. The only time I remembered to take pictures was at Lyman Lake, where we hiked to the petroglyphs there.

On the trail... Susan, Spencer, Aubrey, Nathan, Brigham
In the mud... Spencer, Brigham, Aubrey, Nathan

Spencer took this one... Susan, Amy, Nate

Thanks for coming Susan, It was so Great to visit with you!

Brigham

Yesterday at naptime Brigham learned how to climb out of his crib. So before bed last night we moved the mattress down a few inches to the lowest setting. This morning he climbed out again. Spencer was our only other one who learned to climb out of his crib, but he was an early talker, so we could have a conversation with him about staying in his new bed.

So now we need to get out the toddler bed, and have some sort of conversation with Brigham regarding naptimes and bedtimes. Brigham can say.... Uh-huh, No, Hi, Go, Dad, Mom, & More. He can also do animal sounds for a chicken, owl, dog, tiger, & cow.

I can already tell this conversation is going nowhere.

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The pictures below are a preview of my next post.

We went to Lyman Lake with my friend Susan Benton, from NC.
Sometimes pictures just happen perfectly.

Here you get a glimpse of The Briggs : )

What a Personality!
HERE I AM!
Crib or no Crib, this kid is super cute!

Ten Years

Brad & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last month.
We stayed in Greer at a place called http://www.peaksaz.com/.
The same place we stayed at 10 years ago. So fun to go back.
This picture was taken right outside the lodge.

We took a few pictures of the Little Colorado River nearby. As we hiked, we even found wild rasberry bushes. Such a beautiful place.

Brad is of course, Amazing!

Thank You for 10 Amazing Years, Brad!!

In Honor of Picture Day

Today was Picture Day at Spencer & Aubrey's School...

So in honor of the blessed event,

Here are there 1st Day of School Pictures.

Taken: 8-17-09

Aubrey: This is her true personality This is the most serious picture moment I could get from her.

Spencer: He wanted to wear this exact outfit for pictures today

Nathan goes to preschool 2 mornings a week.
This was his first day of preschool
Taken: 9-8-09
Nate: Wearing his new train shirt for the event,
his new Monster Truck shirt was already in the laundary.

Summer Highlights

On our way home from Utah we went to this dinosaur museum.

Nathan & Aubrey were pretending to be dinosaurs in this picture. Brigham and the dinosaur get to know each other better.

We went to our Palmer reunion in Thatcher and they usually have a huge waterslide. Spencer decided to run instead of slide.
Brad took the YM Priests on a super activity to Durango, CO. They camped, went 4-wheeling, went river rafting, and jumped off an 80 foot bridge into a lake. They had a great time and everyone came back in one piece : }
We visited the Snowflake temple with the kids. Aubrey & Spencer
Of course we can't leave out our Ward camp-out
Can you tell Nate just finished his Smore : )

By the campfire:
Eli, Ellie, Aubrey, Raquelle, & Aubrie
Brig wanted to sit on Nate's lap
Nate hiking the next morning, the camp out was at Greens Peak which is north of Greer. This summer we also took a quick trip to Mesa. Out to lunch... Brig & his cousin Tessa
My Mom Barb, Dad Bob, Uncle Andy, Nate, Aubrey, & Grandma Roz
All Done with Summer !!!