October Happenings...

In October, I ran my first 1/2 Marathon!  It was awful and awesome at the same time.  For a fall Michigan day, the weather was PERFECT.  Add the start time of 11am, and the sun was bright, and surprisingly HOT!

Me before the race.  I'm only 1/2 crazy!

My cheering section :)

And I'm off!  That's me waving and smiling in the hot pink jacket. (I had JUST started, so I was still happy and smiling) 

Lauren running next to me in the black hat.  She's smiling too :)

The finish line!

I managed to finish under two hours (barely)

I couldn't walk for a week after the race.  I'm glad it's over, and off of my bucket list.  I haven't ruled out another 1/2 (or full) in the future...

Since my training was over, I had a little extra time on my hands.  I finally got to play around with my almost year old camera.  We headed off to George George Park and the kids got to posing!  We all had a lot of fun!

This picture is on my mantel

Madelyn 10 YO

Cameron 4 1/2 YO

Alyssa 7 1/2 YO

Next up - Halloween!

Alyssa was a giraffe (costume made by mom), Cameron was Thor, and Madelyn was an angel

School days - September

September brought us back to school.  We now have a 5th grader, and a 2nd grader.  WOW, these girls are big!

As part of my 1/2 marathon training, I ran the 10K zoo run.  Always a fun day! 

After the race, I tried to dry off and enjoy the zoo with the rest of the family.  For the first time, we got to feed the giraffes.  Alyssa was so happy!

Two weeks after the girls, this little brother started his last year of preschool.  Where has the time gone?

Birthday Beauties

August brought us the birthdays of these blue-eyed beauties.  They decorated their birthday cakes themselves!  SWEET!

10+6 is sweet :)

I made Madelyn a piano birthday cake on her real birthday.  It truly was a labor of love.  She really liked it. 

I can't believe my baby is 10!

Family Pictures

Another event in July was our family pictures.  We took photos with the entire family - grandparents, parents, sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces, nephews, and even a new puppy.  I'm so glad we have these memories.

Grandparents with all their grandchildren

Great-grandparents and eight great grandchildren

Grandma and grandpa married 64 years this past September!

The Brown family with Grandma and Grandpa

Photos with Aunt Kathy

The whole Evans family!

Mom and Dad with new puppy Annabelle!

Christmas in July

Two days before Christmas, and I'm half a year behind in blogging.  UG!  So, we'll just have to recap the second half of the year before 2013 comes!  Two highlights of July were our trip to the cottage and visit to the Sutton Chalet.

Uncle Armand supplies sombreros at the beach :)

All eight cousins

Our three little firecrackers!

Family picture at putt-putt

The whole family!

Our first trip to Uncle Dick and Aunt Donna's chalet was a lot of fun!

We especially enjoyed our day at the beach and time on the boat.