they lied

dan and i have been married 6 years and 3 months and 9 days. i have asked him on SEVERAL occasions to run races with me. but he has kindly declined. it just isn't his thing. he prefers bike riding. but i keep asking hoping that someday i can contaminate him with the running bug. WELL, whoever tells you that you can't change someone in marriage......well, they lied to you, because take a look at this:



















yep, that is dan's sweet, sweet backside on thanksgiving morning. we signed up for a race! as in BOTH of us. as in ALL of us. (and i think he even liked it.) better yet, i kept getting side hugs the whole way through as we ran as he told me how much he loved me. (or maybe he was just trying to slow me down.....:))

need further proof? here we are ready to walk out the door in our running gear. (and in front of our thankful tree which looks much happier than it did on nov. 1st)



















there were 21,000 people running the 5k! it was a run/walk and it was insane. one of dan's clients, applied materials, put the race on. this is one of the posters that dan's designers designed for the event.














nova in action, or should i say nov-action



















she was super excited and loved it when people cheered from the sidelines. she even got a ride.















then we had a dinner with just us. lots of people actually asked if that was going to be weird or lonely. it wasn't at all. sure we missed being with family. and yes cooking it all alone wasn't awesome, but listening to christmas music while we cooked and cleaned up rocked. and just to be with the people that i love the very most was so awesome. i am so blessed to be with the people who i need the very most. both dan and nova make me better and i couldn't ask for better people to eat thanksgiving dinner with. (and we may or may not have watched punkin chunkin later that night---that is CRAZY btw!)














friday we met up with the gibbs. (dan's old mission companion) we checked out the golden gate bridge. we saw a sea lion right off the pier and nova tasted some seagull poop. (totally not intentionally. she was posing for a picture and put her hand on the side of the pier and then rubbed her face. AHHHHHHH!!!!! ) then she freaked out because she had poop in her mouth. yep, i would say we definitely experienced the bridge to be sure.

it was so fun to hang out with the gibbs and really cool to see the bridge.














here we are all standing on the bridge.














it was such a fun weekend. we are so blessed. i am so thankful for Heavenly Fathers tender mercies to our little family. i love love mc-love this time of year. and i may or may not be extremely excited to be putting up our christmas tree tonight and to begin planning the annual christmas music video........

terror+elation

although the october fun has come and gone, we still have been doing our best to enjoy november.

the other day nova and i went on a fall walk. i gave her the camera and i asked her to take pictures of things that she thought were beautiful. here are some of the pictures she took.





























i think this pole is one of my favorites, but she said it was "just lovely".














nova has also been quite the helper in the kitchen lately. here she is checking the low protein play dough with her 'mometer'



















and THIS is what she looks like going to do laundry. (can i say i particularly dislike this aspect of california living? i enjoy getting all of my laundry done in less than 2 hours--that i particularly LOVE. no complaints here. in one day, its all done! and then we have a folding party while watching castle. BUT....i don't like hauling it to the laundry room. i used to convince nova to help carry the soap and the detergent, but now, she needs to bring her baby----in the stroller. every. single. time. AND she insists on wearing princess shoes. so its not the fastest trek. and i hate giving my shiny quarters away. why must personal hygiene cost so much? boo. BUT, nova loves going over to do it and gets super excited when i tell her its laundry day. i am trying harder to share her enthusiasm......but i do miss my washer/dryer) ok, now we can move on.



















so, in addition to taking time to enjoy the fall foliage, keeping our tummy's full and keeping the stink down, nova has also been getting some serious time in on her bike. she is getting pretty stellar. and she is also getting stellar at crashing with minimal crying. is it bad that when she crashes she asks if it looked cool? because every time she crashes i try not to make a big deal out of it and say, "WOAH, that looked awesome!" thoughts?














we made a massive gratitude tree in our dining room that we have been adding leaves every night with things that we are grateful for. nova contributed the nice addition coming off the trunk.














and dan even carved our initials. ahhh....















dan treated the ladies in his life with some spa treatment. (he would also not admit that nova convinced him to let her paint his "tiny" toenail purple because it would give him "magic powers.") :) what a guy right?














nova met her team of doctors who will help manage her pku in california and i am so excited. they are so awesome and nova loved dr. enns, her genetic counselor, and nutritionist. they are going to be great. its a blessing to be so close to a hospital and is another tender mercy in how we have seen Heavenly Fathers hand in our lives. AND when they took 7 vials of blood she didn't even cry! (last time we were at primary childrens we had about 4 people holding her down to do her blood work. it was beyond horrible. but she did so awesome and i am so proud of her and she was pretty proud of herself too--which, when you get a rad bandage, why wouldn't you smile like this?



















and last but certainly not least: the most hilarious picture of nova ever. and also to show what nova picks for the activity for FHE. terror + elation=hysterical laughing from every single one of us.