Regionals and Nationals

On November 15th, Andrea ran the race of her life and we all got to be there to see it. She ran the Regional Cross Country race in Ogden. What started out as a very cold day, turned into a very manageable and fun day. My parents flew in the night of the 14th and since Ethan was in Oregon all week, I decided to go up the night of the 14th and spend the weekend with them until Ethan got back. The morning of the 15th, we drove up to Ogden and had breakfast with Uncle Roy and Aunt Patti and then headed over to the race where we meet the Kidds, Snelsons, and Jed's whole family. Like all cross country meets, we all lined up to watch them start and then honestly I can't remember a thing until the finish. Occasionally we would all do a stop check to make sure we could still see each other kind of (especially the littles) but for the most part it was every man for himself. Ogden is a very spectator friendly course so we were able to see Andrea quite a bit which was AWESOME!! The only person we never saw was Dad and we just assumed he was either in the back woods, or had had a heart attack and died somewhere along the way. (its a big family joke that dad is going to have a heart attack at a race and die one of these days. He just loves them so much!)

Andrea finished 1st for BYU, 9th overall,  and made it to nationals all by herself! Then the exciting news came that her whole team had made it too! It was a great event and not gonna lie, I got really emotional watching her finish. She just looked amazing. So strong, so powerful, so happy, so in control, so.. EVERYTHING!! It was like all her hard work and good eating and good life paid off in this one race and we all got to be there to see it. When she would fall behind the lead pack, there was no look of panic. Only determination and calm. Its like she knew that they were going to pull ahead and she was okay with that because she would just catch up in a sec, which she did! It was the best race ever. Nice job Andrea!! We are all so proud of you!!

The race:

Everyone was ready to capture the start

This is actually the second start because someone fell down, which always makes you nervous because you use up all your adrenaline the first time, but Andrea handled it like a champ. 

Comin in strong!

The spectators:
Jed and a very happy Andrea

Kelsey and mom:
 

Kelsey was in a stroller the whole time and when it was time to run, she would just hold on and we would go. She started laughing so hard and then would cheer for the runners as they would pass. Hailey or Whitely was with us the whole time and so she would laugh at them too. I bet we did look funny all running around like crazy and cheering like crazy, but that is the beauty of the sport. When we finally let her out of the stroller, she ran free and loved it! 

The Kidds

Uncle Roy and Aunt Patti

The Snelsons

Yes. Dad is smiling!

Jed's wonderful family. They were so cute. They haven't been to too many of these events but they were totally into it. Jed's dad was following Scott around and kept saying, "Okay where do we go nex?!" He totally loved it. It was super cute. I love how much support Andrea gets from both sides

After the race, we still had a lot of time with my parents. Andrea spent the rest of the day with her team and the rest of us ate dinner at the Kidds. On Saturday we all went down to Provo, I picked up Ethan, and after the game we went to dinner and played games. It was a fun few days with my parents. They were very generous and so happy to see everyone. 

Andrea by her AWESOME banner!

The next week Andrea and her team got to compete in Nationals in Terra Houte Indiana. Only my parents and Jed got to go, but the whole race, the rest of us were watching on line and texting each other making sure that we were all in the loop with her status. Not gonna lie though. I'm kinda glad we couldn't go because it looked and was FREEZING!!! You could see the wind blowing the girls, you could see the spectators just dying, and the mud and muck everyone had to run through just looked so painful and awful. Despite all that, Andrea still got 89th and looked very strong. When conditions are that bad, time is never a factor so we didn't even bother asking. She looked so strong though and was so happy with her performance. It was a great finish to an awesome season. She was first for BYU in every race, but one, PRed and just got stronger and stronger. It makes me excited for her track seasons, and also a little sad that cross country is now over. We only have a few more of these left as a family EVER!!!!!

Thanksgiving Break

This year Thanksgiving was spent with the Wings. Ethan does not have classes on Friday and because Tuesday is Friday at BYU, he had Tuesday-Friday off the week of Thanksgiving. Monday night we drove up to Bountiful to spend the whole week away from Provo. It was a much needed and much enjoyed break.

The weekend before the break we went to look at the lights at Riverwoods to get in the holiday mood. It was freezing and very windy, but the lights were very impressive. I would honestly say they were better than temple square. 

 They had fire pits all over the place but because of the wind they weren't exactly safe to be around!

 When we finally made it to Bountiful, the first thing on the agenda was to see Catching Fire with Hannah! It was just as awesome the second time and it was great to see it with another huge fan.

Hilarious story: Hannah and I were so excited, but are both a little anxious when it comes to seeing movies. We pulled up like 40 minutes early and the parking lot was PACKED. We started to panic. Hannah literally jumped out of the moving car to run up and buy tickets while I drove around like a mad man trying to find a parking spot. I met Hannah at the ticket booth, and we had to wait in a small line to get our tickets, the whole time just FREAKING OUT! I grabbed our tickets and RAN into the theater, so find it 100% EMPTY!!! Not a single person was in the theater. It was hilarious.What wasn't hilarious was the couple that sat RIGHT in front of us when the entire theater was open. They made us move and in the process I hurt my ankle, because I was acting like a fool, but still. It was that couples fault. And they were lame too!

 Despite our hardships :) we had a fantastic time and felt just as bad or worse for Peeta the second time. Oh Peeta. How pathetic you are.


 Leading up to Thanksgiving was not captured but it was wonderful all the same. Lots of shopping, lots of games, lots of cooking, lots of dishes, lots of sorts, and just lazying around. It was wonderful. Kelsey had plenty of room to run around including the back yard and a garage! She had so many people to play with that mom was an after thought.

Thanksgiving brought the delicious goodness that you would expect!

The whole group around one table

 To recover from our mountains of food, we all engaged in a little Wii tournament of Champions. I quickly realized that I am no Mario Kart champion, but me and Holden had fun at the bottom.

Group 1: The most focused group

 Group 2 and then 3: The happiest and the most intense groups

 

Group 4: The most goofy group

Group 5:The most winningest group. Look at the concentration! 

 While the adults played Wii, Kels and Harps found many ways to keep themselves occupied mainly consisting of piano and dress up. Sorry the dress up pictures are so bad. You try taking a picture of two 18m olds running around! Not that easy.

 After Mario Kart, we all had a bowling competition. I didn't get a pic of everyone, but I do need to note that Reo successful photo boomed almost every bowling picture that I did get. Pardon the excessive bowling pics, but I need to show Reo!

 And when that was all done, we finally made it to The Feast and Home Alone. The Feast may be my favorite part about Wing Thanksgivings.Side note: We also had a small birthday celebration for Reo and me since we won't be able to get together before Christmas.

 Delicious Pumpkin and Caramel Apple pie

 The next day we helped Diana set up the Christmas Tree and oh boy did Kelsey have a great time. She especially loved this spoon ornament. She kept putting it in her mouth and then going , yum!

Sadly, the week had to come to an end, but luckily Juliana knew that I get super depressed to leave family vacations and had an AWESOME egg nog party complete with Christmas everything. It was sad to leave, but thankfully Julie sent us off in the right mood. 

Climber

I've posted once before about climbing here, but what I didn't realize then is that that was just the beginning. I just thought that all babies climbed. Now I realize that Kelsey is not extraordinaire,  and I also know that there are other kids out there who do in fact drive their mothers crazy because they are always on the kitchen table and not under it, but seeing how Kelsey is our first and only one right now, it blows our minds. We are getting used to the climbing, but we are reminded of it whenever we pick her up from nursery or from play group and the leaders say "My goodness she likes to climb. We take her off the tables, she laughs and gets right back up." Kelsey loves to climb. She has started learning that she can move objects towards other objects to get to her destination. Its actually quiet interesting to watch her little brain work, but in the same light it gets really exhausting and terrifying! Luckily I have been able to snap a few pics before she gets told to get down.

Everything has become a ladder for Kelsey as long as it gives results

Although she looks like our homeboy thug in this picture, I can't begin to tell you how many times I come into the kitchen and find this waiting for me. Its especially awesome when she counts to three and tries to jump. Luckily, she always waits to jump until I am close enough. Good girl Kels

Sorry future kids. Your older sister thought the stand and play was a step stool and that is why it is broken