Sand

Weston and I got to spend some quality time together today. We went to the beach and played around in the little sand dunes near Morro Rock. As we walked near the sand, he started squirming in my arms like an octopus until a finally sat him down. He immediately charged up the nearest dune. He was so busy climbing hills and tumbling down that he didn't even take time to eat any sand.

Saint George Marathon

After Weston was born, I set a goal for myself to run another marathon when he turned one year old. His birthday was Oct 2 and the race was October 3. This was my 4th marathon and the hardest to train for with two kids and a husband who travels a lot for work. I was really nervous, felt undertrained and unprepared on race day. It ended up being the best marathon I have ever run with a new personal record for myself. During the race, I came to the hardest hill and was feeling tired and almost took a walking break when I saw a huge sign saying, "Run, Amy, Run! Love, Allen, Weston and Noah". I didn't know Allen had stayed up late the night before decorating the race course with signs to cheer me on. It then became a game to find all the signs he left me and really pushed me to run the whole race. He's the best husband ever. And in a way, it was his race too with the countless hours of watching the kids by himself while I went on long runs so way to go, love!

When I came to mile 23, my sister-in-law joined me for the rest of the race. If it had not been for her, I wouldn't have finished so strong. She really pushed me to keep a fast, strong pace till the end. She's the best coach ever! It was a lot of fun to see so much family at the finish line. Thank you everyone!



So 4th marathon down. Glad I did it and glad it's over.

Weston turns 1

October 2 2009: Weston hits the one year mark. We celebrated his birthday at his grandparents house in St. George the day after Amy ran the marathon. Everyone gathered to see Weston enjoy his first birthday cake. Mom, dad, brother, grandma, grandpa, uncles, aunts, and cousins. It was a perfect day.

Pumpkin Season

After our recent trip to Saint George, Noah was jonesing for a pumpkin patch. So we drove over to Avila farms and found some pumpkins, played in the hay-bail maze, and fed the farm animals. Always a good time. As we were walking back from the pumpkin patch Noah climbed up a dusty little hill carrying his pumpkin, then tripped and fell face-first in 3-inch-thick dust. As his body impacted the ground, his pumpkin popped out of his hands and rolled away down a dirt road and barely missed being run over by a tractor pulling a full load of pumpkin-patch goers.

"First is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas!!!" - Noah Gardner

Collecting Sand Dollars

It was a very low tide today, so we went on a treasure hunt for sand dollars. Noah had lots of fun just running in the 1-inch deep tidal waters.

Birds

One of these days Noah might actually catch a seagull....What will we do then?

Red Sky at Night

The sky was filled with bright red colors tonight. Unfortunately I waited too long before running to the beach to capture a photo, so only the lower portion of the sky is red in this shot. Even still, I think it was worth a post.

Baby beach bum

12 months old and already wants to swim in the ocean. I put him down in the sand and he crawls straight for the water.