Halloween and 10 months!

McKall had a great Halloween (as great of a Halloween as a 10 month old could have).... She could have cared less about the costumes or the candy but this mama sure had fun dressing her up! We got some outfits from her cousins and I couldn't decide which one to have her wear so she wore two costumes to different events. She looked adorable in both!

McKall is 10 months old! I can't believe how time is flying by. She is standing on her own, walks with her walker, waves bye-bye, crawls like a mad women everyone, gets into anything she can find, and eats everything she can get her hands on. She really likes the TV remotes, DVDs, cell phones, car keys, and Ipad or laptop. She can blow kisses, gives the sloberiest kisses, and she loves watching other kids play. She will stand at our window and watch the kids play outside. She is the sweetest thing, will go see anyone and doesn't seem to mind that she's not with mom, she is very friendly, and she really likes to be outside. She is growing so very fast and we love her more and more every day.

Half Marathon

I have been wanting to run a half marathon for a few years now and my goal was to run one by the time I was 30. Well having a baby changes things and I was really feeling not-so-great about my body and these wonderful changes that happen when you have a baby. AJ Cohen is an avid runner and we talked about running a 1/2 together sometime. They moved from CT to Colorado and we decided to run the trail run in Moab, with me running the 1/2 and AJ running the full marathon. We had it all planned out and I started training the last week of August. We got hotel rooms and everything and I was just waiting to sign up for the 1/2 to make sure that I was actually going to be able to do this. Well.... I went to sign up and it was full! BUMMER! So I found another half to do while I was in shape so I could cross it off my list... So I did it!!! My first half marathon was the Cache Valley Halloween Half on October 11. I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes, which I was hoping to finish it in 2 1/2 hours. I didn't walk at all, other than one little hill, for about 15 seconds.... which looking back on it I am kinda ticked that I let myself do "break gait". But I felt really good about it and am very happy with how it all turned out. I wasn't too sore, at least not as sore as I thought I was going to be.
I definitely wouldn't mind doing another half sometime, perhaps sometime soon....

Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we went camping with the Falslev Family and we were not going to be able to be joined by the "love birds" aka Dillon and Mekenzi but unfortunate luck turned that around for us and we got to spend almost the entire weekend with them! All of us were up the canyon, out of cell service and had spent one night up there already. We decided to go for a drive on Saturday and it turned out that it was a good thing that we did because we found out that Dillon had just cut his toe right down the middle and was at the ER all by himself. He was working on a desk made out of pallets for Mekenzi on Saturday afternoon and the saw slipped and cut his big toe. No so lucky for him but lucky for us because he got to spend the weekend with us and Mekenzi joined him!!
We didn't take a lot of pictures but we had a great time in the outdoors.

Boot Dill was wearing when he cut his toe

Growing up is hard to do

I’ve been missing the sun 

And the nights spent burning 

I’ve been missing each of you 

Growing up is hard to do 

Now we’ve all got our debts to pay 

And there’s no room left for us to play 

‘Cause they only want something new 

Growing up is hard to do 

Last night I heard a song 

In my sleep now it’s long gone 

I don’t recall the words or tune 

Growing up is hard to do 

Don’t recall the last breath I drew 

Growing up is hard 

Growing up is hard 

Growing up is hard to do

My best friend Heidi, her husband Scott, and their little boy Kaiser moved to Texas. It was so fun to live close to them again and be able to see them on a somewhat regular basis. It was fun to be able to talk mommy talk with her and share life's goals, dreams, frustrations with her. I am so happy for them that Scott was able to get into a Master's program in Texas but I miss them every day! Sometimes GROWING UP REALLY SUCKS!!

Fall Festivities

With summer over, school starting, Grandparents heading back to China, things really started to slow down. But Fall is our favorite time of year. We are especially excited this year to be able to return to Cache Valley and be able to cheer on our Aggies! We love attending the football games and have really enjoyed being able to do it with the crowd around us, instead of sitting in our living room glued to the TV all the way in Connecticut. We love our Ags!

We especially enjoyed the win over BYU @ LeVell Edwards Stadium. Way to go Aggies! It was especially sweet because we have been trying to get the youth of our ward in Connecticut to realize that USU is the Harvard of the west. Well they were all tuned into the game and got to see first hand for themselves the truth we have been speaking for the last 3 years.

Brett was able to secure us some meat for the winter by shooting 2 geese on opening morning of the goose hunt. He didn't even have to work that hard for them, just walked into my parents backyard, set up some decoys and enjoyed sitting his goose chair soaking up the sun.

And of course, there is always the annual deer hunt, which is better than Christmas for Brett, and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, due to not knowing id we were going to be in Utah or not he didn't get a tag and was unable to shoot anything this year. However, he had many great horse rides and hikes and saw more game this year than he ever has. McKall and I went up for a visit one night and it was marvelous! McKall enjoyed her first horse ride in an actual saddle. She has ridden a few but they have just been bareback with someone holding on to her. We have a cowgirl on our hands!

Petersen Family Pics

We took some Petersen Family Pictures while we were all together and they turned out fabulous! It was even more special to take them at Bear Lake where the Petersen's have so many great family memories.

Petersen Family Reunion

During the month of August we had the 1st Annual Petersen Family Reunion. Craig flew in from China and Brian and Sher were in from Detroit. We all attended the fair and rodeo together. We had a few days in Bear Lake with just the Petersen Family and it was so wonderful to be able to spend some time together with just the siblings. It's something that doesn't happen very often, usually there are lots of other people involved in the family get togethers, but the rare occasion that all of us together does happen, there is sure to be a good time. We are so blessed to be able to have such a great family that gets along and is very drama free.

Pretty Kate

Garrett did the mutten bustin' at the rodeo! He did great!

All 3 babies - McKall is middle in age and the smallest, Kate is youngest in age and is the biggest! 

All the kiddos at Beauty and the Beast @ Pickleville

Grams and Gramps with all their kiddos (minus Kate)

Kate and McKall loved Reese's car toy

Beach day beauties 

We were also able to attend the USU blue and white game as a family, which helped to fill the void of missing Craig at the regular season football games.