Birthdays

 My dad's birthday is on November 23rd and Bryan's is on November 24th.  Since Thanksgiving was on the 22nd, my parents were going to be around for the birthday celebrations.  So we celebrated on Monday with dinner out and then I made a cake for my Dad (Bryan likes pie).  I had some old candles that I had forgotten about so I put them in the cake.  I had forgotten they were sparkler candles that were trick.  We lit the cake...as you can tell it was really bright!!

 Dad tried to blow them out but they kept re-lighting.  It was pretty hilarious while he worked and worked to get them all out.  He finally got them all to stay dark!

Cute Courtney

I don't remember what she was doing but I thought these were cute pictures!

Twister

Courtney loves to play Twister.  A lot of times I just spin for her and she plays on her own but she got us all to play one time and it was hilarious!!  I saw a "dance" version in the store the other day.  That would be right up her alley!!

 

Ethan goes down!

Tuff Kids Turkey Triathlon

The kids had their turn to show how tough they were in the afternoon at their Turkey Triathlon.  They had to swim 1 lap, bike 1 mile and run 1/2 mile. 

We got to the SHAC, got them all set up and they went inside to wait for it to begin.  Courtney was nervous for her first tri so she wore her life jacket (which really slowed her down).

Ethan's stuff at transition 1:

 Courtney's stuff at T1:

 The kids before the swim.  Courtney kept showing EVERYONE the numbers on her arm.  It was cute!

 They both had a good swim.  Something went weird with Courtney's timing chip because it showed her swim taking less than a minute but she took longer.  Ethan swam really fast and did a great job.  I took care of Ethan and followed him out to the transition area to help.  Bryan stayed by Courtney's side (she was at the last lane so he could walk beside her while she swam) and helped her during her transition.

Ethan getting ready to go bike:

 Courtney getting ready to bike:

Ethan's bike ride:

Courtney's bike ride (you can tell she enjoyed it!):

Ethan's run to the finish line:

 Ethan is finished!

Courtney's run to the finish line:

 Courtney's finish!

  Our awesome triathletes!! 

 Courtney wants to do another one and Ethan says he does too.  This was a fun experience and I think it really helped to have Andrew and Grandpa part of the tri-team too.  

Here are our Turkey Triathletes: 

Andrew, Bryan, Courtney, Ethan and John

A couple hours later, Courtney had ANOTHER birthday party to go to but she only lasted an hour.  She was pretty tired after 2 birthday parties, a soccer game and a triathlon.  Who can blame her?!

Saturday night we had an early Thanksgiving dinner and then everyone went to bed.  It was a crazy day but was fun!!

Courtney's Last Soccer Game

After the Sprint Turkey Tri, Courtney had her last soccer game.  This was a make-up game from one that was rained out last month.  We weren't too thrilled having another game, especially on such a busy day (Courtney had just been to a birthday party after the tri but before her soccer game) but we did our best.

Bryan took her up to the game while I waited for a pie to come out of the oven.  When they were getting out of the car, Courtney's thumb was slammed in the door.  When Ethan and I got there, Bryan had her sitting on the grass holding her thumb.  I used the 1st aid kit in the van to patch her up.  It was pretty gross looking with the skin all munched up, but it didn't look broken and she was moving it okay.

She is such a tough girl because she got in the game and played until half-time when I had to take Courtney and Ethan to the SHAC to get ready for their triathlon.

The Sprint Turkey Triathlon

Last Saturday was the SHAC Turkey Triathlon.  Bryan signed up along with his dad and brother, Andrew.  The kids signed up for the Tuff Kids Beginner Triathlon, but the Sprint one was in the morning.

John and Shelley got to our house on Thursday evening, in time for dinner with the missionaries.  Friday morning, John rode the course on his bike and it was a good thing he did because he got a flat tire.  And Friday evening, on his way down from Provo, Andrew's car stopped working around Cove Fort.  Bryan and John went out as the "rescue party" and got him.  So it was quite an interesting time building up to Saturday.

Saturday morning was COLD and WINDY!  I was glad I wasn't doing the tri.  But they didn't seem bothered much by it.

Here they are before it began:

They all did a great job!!!

Here are some photos.  First up is Andrew:
T1:

 Biking:

 Run:

 Finish:

 Here are Bryan's pictures.
T1:

Bike:

 Run:

Finish:

 Here are the photos of John.
 T1

Biking:

 Running:

After finishing (he was too fast, I missed his finish):

John got 1st in his age group so he stayed after to get his award!

Great job guys!!!

Dixie State College Football

Last Saturday was the last home game for Dixie State College.  Ethan's flag football team has a tradition of going to a Dixie game at the end of the season.  One of the dads gets tickets from work and we all go.

This year the Alumni Association hosted tail gate parties before each home game...for FREE!  Yes, they had free food, all-you-could-eat ice cream and snow cones, games and tons of entertainment.  We decided to go and see what it was all about.

There were quite a few people there and the kids got to play around while I waited in line for the food.  Then we all got hotdogs/hamburgers, chips, left over Halloween candy and drinks.  When they had eaten their fill, they got in the ice cream line, which was self-serve, and got huge cups full of ice cream.  They played on bounce houses and the playground.  There was a climbing wall but it was crowded and the lines were long.

I couldn't believe it was all free.  I guess they are trying to get people to come to the games and this is the best way they have found to do it.  I signed up with the "D Team" which sponsors events like that and we got 2 t-shirts and will now get free food at any Dixie College sporting events this year.  Not bad for $10.

We all sat together at the game and...Dixie lost.  But the kids had fun making paper airplanes from the programs and flying them around the stadium.  They also each scored a Dixie State t-shirt from the cheerleaders. Courtney also snagged a little plastic football.  They were tired when the game ended but we had a lot of fun.