Estrogen-only weekend

We've had a fun-filled last few days. Michael was out of town Thursday morning until very late Saturday evening, so it was just the girls and me for a while. Friday afternoon was Annabelle's first day of preschool. She's been talking about nothing else for the last several weeks and was really looking forward to going back (she went to preschool during the summer as well). I got her all dressed and her hair done all cute (you can't really see in the picture, but I attempted to do a "floating french braid"). Usually I go running at night after Michael gets home from work and can watch the kids, but as he was gone, I decided to borrow a jogging stroller and run up to Annabelle's school. It was a little chilly for just being outside, but perfect for a good run (although the wind made it rather difficult- the wind was blowing between 20 and 25 miles an hour that day). The kids loved the ride and, at Annabelle's request, I went for another run with them the next day.(Can you believe that Jillian will be 8 months old tomorrow? Man, the time has flown by!)

Sunday, we welcomed Michael back home (he returned home after we had all gone to bed Saturday night). And my girls looked so cute for church that I couldn't help but get a few (okay, maybe a lot) pictures.The rest of Sunday was spent together as a family doing some pretty fun stuff, including piano duets, shoulder rides, being thrown in the air, ect. (I know, perhaps they weren't the most reverent Sunday activities.)

Just some cute pictures

Kids

There is so much going on all the time here that I don't realize how much time has passed since I last blogged. Here are a few videos of the cute things the kids have been doing.

End of summer goal

At the beginning of the summer, when I started running, I didn't really have any end of the summer goals. Well, I guess you could say my goal was to make it through the end of the summer and still be running. There were some weeks where I wasn't so good about getting out 3 times a week, but I never stopped running altogether.

At the start, I hated running. I didn't even really enjoy the feeling I got after I completed my run. As time went on, I started to not mind it so much, but there was no way I was going to admit that anyone. When my sister was here visiting a month ago, we went running almost everyday together and I found that I actually kind of enjoyed running. It gets me out of the house with no kids and I feel pretty good when I finish. But even though this is the case and I've come to somewhat enjoy running, the most difficult part is getting motivated to get out the door. Once I'm out, everything is great. But for whatever reason, I'm never really excited to change into my running clothes and go.

After my sister left, I decided that in the last 1-2 months left of running weather I would set a goal to run up the hill to the temple. It's almost exactly 4 miles there and back, but the difficult part is the hill. The temple sits at the top of very steep hill that is probably about 1 1/4 miles long, with hardly any relief the whole way up. Last Friday was a pretty rough day for me. Both kids were sick and I was tired of cranky children and being in the house all day. As I began my run later that night after Michael got home, I didn't really know what route I was going to take and just kind of ran, not really paying attention to where I was going, relishing the freedom. Before I knew it, I was standing at the bottom, looking up that wretched hill. I decided to go for it and hope I could make it..... and I did! Once at the top, I was so excited, I couldn't stop smiling. Just for kicks, I held my arms up over my head, whooped a few times, and did a few punches in the air, ala Rocky Balboa. I got more than a few honks from passing cars for my victory dance. It was an awesome moment. I was so excited that I accomplished this feat (perhaps messed up in the head is more like it) that I decided to do it again the next day. It was much more difficult that time, but I did make it.

So, with maybe another month (quite possibly less) of running weather, I accomplished my goal, only to begin covering up any sort of toning my body may have gotten from the summer's workouts due to cold weather. Thus is life.

New office

Currently, Michael's law firm is leasing space in a building, but they are building a new office just down the road and they hope to move in within the next few weeks. Last week, I saw the inside of the new office for the first time. It is fantastic. It's huge and very nice. Here's a picture of Jillian sitting on the new leather couch. Here is Annabelle sitting on the front reception desk, which I might add is the largest front desk I have ever seen.

The Winners!

For the past three summers, the law firm has formed a team to participate in a city softball tournament and, of course, Michael has been an enthusiastic participant. At the end of the summer, the Idaho bar association hosts its own softball for any law firms who wish to participate. Again, Michael's law firm has been a competitor every year. For the past few years, the victors have been from the prosecutor's office. This year, I am proud to announce that in the championship game, we played amazingly and beat the prosecutor's office for the trophy! Michael played particularly well that day. In the first game of the day, Michael hit a home run, and the ball cleared the fence by about 8 feet. Unfortunately, the girls and I were late and we missed it. However, in the following games, Michael had 3 more really solid hits and several amazing plays. It was a great day.

Go BYU!

This past weekend, we traveled to Utah. Annabelle stayed with my grandma in Salt Lake while Michael, Jillian and I headed to Provo to see the Cougars first football of the season against Washington. Michael and I each got to hang out with our siblings before the game. It was great to see the family. The game was awesome. We watched the 1st quarter, but it was way too hot for Jillian to be out in the sun, so she and I watched the 2nd and 3rd quarters under the stands. By the 4th quarter, it was cool enough and we joined Michael back in the stands and watched the Cougars have a great victory.
GO COUGARS!!!