I Was Runnang.....

I did it. I ran the Salinas Valley Half Marathon. It was my first Half Marathon. In fact I don't think before training for this race I had ever run more than like 8 miles in my life. I actually liked it. I mean, it was hard, but very gratifying. I liked setting a goal and actually achieving it. I tried my best to train all summer and I actually suprised myself with somewhat staying on track with the training. (thanks to my wonderful husband who provided time for me to run while he held downt he fort) I'm definitely not someone that LOVES running. But I have always enjoyed the challenge of long distances. Ever since I can remember I have never been a very fast runner, but just like Forest...I could just keep runnang. I may not be in the best shape or finished in great time, but all I needed was some heart, and I know I've got that. I just kept having to tell myself, there's no way that wrinkly old man can run this race and I can't! So I did, and I ran the whole thing without walking at all. Though, there were times where I felt like my run was so slow that I might as well have been walking. Oh well. To be honest, it was sort of a bittersweet feeling at the finish line. I was happy that God gave me the strength to not walk for 13 miles, but I was bummed at my time. I thought I'd do better. So just to prove it to myself that I can do better, I had to sign myself up for another Half Marathon in Morgan Hill on Oct. 23rd. My goal is to train harder and simply run faster. Why am I doing this to myself???? Wish me luck! ;) The crazy thing is, that I felt old! I really felt 30! I mean, I felt like I wasn't that tired, like I could have kept running, but my body just hurt. My knee, my hip, my foot.....oh, the aches and pains of getting old.

The race ended at Pessagno winery (very yummy wine!) I got a Tshirt, a medal and a wine glass for running. The best part of the race was the free wine afterwards! :) I couldn't think of a better time to drink wine then when your body is beat up, exhausted, and barely holding itself together. ;)

My Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

My amazing husband somehow pulled off a surprise birthday party for me. I was so surprised that I started crying as I walked in the door and everyone yelled surprise. Actually my first response was to look behind me, wondering who they were surprising. Then I realized that all these friends and family members there at my mother and father in law's house were there to surprise ME! How special I felt that everyone took the time to celebrate my bday. John planned it for the weekend after my birthday. So I thought the birthday festivities for me were over. Little did I know how sneaky he was. He and my mother and sister in law. (thanks guys for all you did! I know you helped him a bunch cooking and shopping and decorating). And thank you, Baby! You always go above and beyond to make birthdays and holidays so special!! It was a lot of fun. I hadn't a surprise party since I turned 12 and I hadn't had any sort of birthday party since high school! So I really appreciated every moment of it. The food was sooo yummy, the decorations were beautiful, the kids had a blast playing in the yard, some of us got to play some games of badminton, I got to see so many good friends I hadn't seen in a while, the weather was perfect.....I could go on. Also, my parents and sister drove all the way up here from San Clement to surprise me! That was sooo awesome! You guys are all too good to me! Thank you!

 Thanks Rach for everything!

 Thank you Jill for all you did and for hosting!

 My sweetie :)

 serious game of badminton....isn't this pic hilarious! I think I missed my calling.

 Rachel's creative masterpiece

 Mrs. Sarah Stepanian's famous cupcakes! Yum!

San Diego Trip 2011 Part I

We finally went on a very long overdue trip to San Diego. John and I hadn't been back to San Diego since we moved from there 4.5 years ago. (I had been once by myself with Li'l John when he was just a couple weeks old, to go to see my friend Joy's wedding) We just haven't had the time or the money to make the trip. But since this summer was my 30th bday I leveraged a special trip. ;) We had never really been on a trip like this before as a family. It was really fun. We jam packed soooo much into just a couple days. We had a blast and somehow hardly spent any money! Some family members gave me a gas card for my bday, so that helped pay for the gas. Auntie Sandi bought us discounted Sea World tickets. We stayed for free at family and friends' houses and we were given free tickets to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where John use to work. We spent most our money on food, which wasn't very much, since all we wanted to do was hit up our old stompin ground hole in the wall burrito or frozen yogurt joints! ;) Our kids did amazing driving so far, having nothing but endless fun everyday, and absolutely no naps!

Ok, so the most amazing part of this trip is that I got the best Birthday present I could've ever asked for! My best friend in the whole wide world, Prisilla Huisman, and her ENTIRE family (husband and 5 kids) came from Phoenix, AZ and surprised me! They were on their way to family church camp near LA and came a day early and went through San Clemente just to meet up with us. John told me he had a suprise for me and that we had to get up early and leave our house by 4:00am. I had absolutely NOOOO idea that Prisilla was the surprise. We showed up at my mom's house before noonish and she said, "Don't worry about getting out of the car, let's just head to the beach". So I was like....Sure! I was dying to get to a warm southern CA beach! So I started walking down the stairs of the beach and saw this little boy. I stared at him and thought..."Hmmm, that's funny, that boy looks just like Josiah, Prisilla's son....I'll have to call her and tell her I saw a cute little boy at the beach that looked just like Josiah." But then I walked a few more feet and saw another little boy. Then I thought, "hmmmm, this is strange...TWO little boys that look just like Prisilla's boys?!" Then I looked up and saw Prisilla and her whole family. I cried! I'm crying just thinking about it. So we spent the afternoon playing at the beach. It was like this too good to be true dream watching her kids playing with my kids and our husbands swimming out in the ocean, on this beautiful sunny day. You have to understand that Prisilla and I make it a point to see each other once a year or so. But never have we been blessed to visit one another with ALL our kids AND our husbands ALL together at the same time! It was so great. I will never forget it. Then we went back to my parents condo. (My mom was so gracious to let us all have a giant slumber party.....prisilla's family, my family, my parents, my sister and brother....16 people all staying in her roughly 1,000 sq. home.) So we went swimming in the pool with all the kids, then had a great BBQ, ate my dad's famous hot fudge, and stayed up late and talked. In the morning we sadly parted ways, them to family camp and us to San Diego.....Had it all been a dream???

Rick, Prisilla's Husband, burying the kids

Shosh and Sugar

Malachi and I

John got stung by a sting ray!!!! He had to sit in the life guard station while they took care of him. It hurt sooooo bad! There were tons of people that got stung on that beach that day.

 John and Malachi...very close in age...little buddies

 Faylen in the mix of a bunch of boys wrestling on the couch.

 Prisilla being a mother. So fun to watch!

Everybody...Let's climb on Uncle Josh!!!!

 Malachi and Jediah getting acquainted

 A Priceless Picture

 We miss you guys!!!

Bequeathing the Blog

Bequeathing the Blog. Yes, I said Bequeath.

Bequeath: be·queathVerb/biˈkwēTH/    To pass (something) on or leave (something) to someone else. -Webster

Well, it was inevitable that this day was coming. I know you will all mourn my resignation of writing this blog. But my life has just gotten too busy with wearing out my toys, eating cheezits and gogurts, teasing my sister and wrestling my dog......and not to mention....HOMESCHOOLING PRESCHOOL! So I decided to pass the torch to my mother. Although she isn't nearly the writer I am, I think she will enjoy the job. So from here on out my mom, Anna Puffer, will be the sole author of thee one and only PUFFER POST. Enjoy...

Love,
Li'l John Puffer

Jediah's First Year

My baby brother is growing up! Can't believe it is almost his first birthday! He has been a really great baby. He is so mellow and snuggly. These days his new "tricks" include CRAWLING!!! waving hello, doing patty cake motions, and playing peek-a-boo with his blankie, saying "hi, dada, and mama". He likes to look at you and emphatically shake his head yes or no. Other than when he is following me around the house practicing crawling, he actually is still so mellow and only crawls when he feels like it. You could place a few toys in front of him and he'd be content to play with those rather than crawl across the room to get any others. He is one darn cute chub! He has been such a fun blessing to our family and we fully enjoy every minute we have with him.We took pictures of him on his monthly birthday all year. Look at how much he has grown:

1 month

                                            2 months