Good-Bye Shannon!

After living in town near us for 5 1/2 years, my sister moved back home.

Sadly she will be missed. So many memories made.

I am so grateful for the time we had together and so grateful for her and all she did for us. Babysitting, running errands, shopping, laughing, movies, hot chocolate, tanning, and late nights in the salon doing each other's hair!

I don't know what I'll do without her. She can't be replaced. But, I know it is time for her to move on. We wish she could come back to us, but mostly we wish her luck. To my favorite sister, I LOVE YOU!

A Time to Remember

Time with laughter, Time with tears.

Time that took us through the years.

Time to love, Time to share

Time to learn, Time to care.

Time to work, Time to play.

Time with family, Time with friends.

Time for some good things to end.

Time to babysit, Time to cuddle.

Time to read a book and snuggle.

Time for ice cream, Time for hikes.

Time to play the games we like.

The memories we shared with you

will last through the ages of Time.

The Costume Parade! Lily's eyes look evil in this picture, but she was cozy and warm in her Bee costume. Jairden chose to be an Elephant for the third time in a row. Jace is none other than Indiana Jones! Can you guess what Josh is? We had a hand-me-down baseball outfit, but Josh doesn't like baseball and he didn't want people to think he was a fan. So we made him a scary Dead Baseball Player, or rather a Ghost baseball player. That last pitch was a Doozy!

OOh, Scary! I love Halloween! I think it is my Favorite Holiday! For the kids school parties. I wanted to do something Gross or Scary, for the snack. Something healthy always works on a sugar loaded day! My sis helped by making the Creative Signs. I have found that if you want to do a Halloween Scary treat or snack, all you have to do is name it something gross or weird (ie: Lil' Smokies in BBQ sauce? What else but Bloody Fingers!) So here is the food behind the name:

Witch Fingers:

Carrots (from our Garden) not peeled, just scrubbed so the creases show. (more life like)

Cream cheese: to stick on the olive

Black Olive for the finger nail, cut in half

Googly Eyes:

Plain Old Deviled Eggs with a slice of olive

Roasted Potato Bugs:

Roasted Soy Nuts, no cooking or preparing involoved!

TASTY!

YeS! We DiD It!

My First

(and maybe last)

1/2 Marathon

Training: It all started with innocent jogging this last Spring. In the wee hours of the morning, my running partners and I, Tara and Michelle, ran the trails and hills around town. We thought it would be fun to run in a 5 K race at the end of the summer. Feeling good at conquering 3 miles, we thought, "What the heck, let's just do a 13.1 mi. Half Marathon!"

The middle of August is when we started our rigorous 10 week training. Speed work on the High School Track, Tempo jogs around town, and Long runs on the Chipman Trail kept us in shape.

Halfway through our training, my right knee started to swell up. I iced it and rested a bit, and it healed up pretty fast. But, then the next week my left ankle was painful and swelled up. It hurt to walk, let alone run! I stayed off of it for a week and half. A trip to the chiropractor fixed my ankle in time to do our 10 mi. long run. The rest of the training went well. We were ready!

Race Day: First things first, you know, shopping! We bought our 1/2 Marathon T-shirts.

After quick stretches we got in line for the race. It was a beautiful course along the Snake River. The paved trail was mostly flat and was an out and back. The first half we did a little fast so I was tired. We slowed down a little after the turn around. But we still made our Goal Times.

Michelle: 2hrs.5min.

Shari: 2hrs. 8 min.

Tara: 2hrs. 10min.

Whew! What a hard way to stay in Shape! To best describe it was, Hard, Long, and Rewarding!

Acknowledements: I couldn't have accomplished this goal by myself! There are so many people to thank! My Husband for supporting me and not complaining through all my training and early bedtimes. My children for their encouragement. My sister for a listening ear and nursing me back to health. My family, friends and clients for all of their support and kind words. And last but certainly not least, my good friends and running partners, Tara and Michelle. Whom I could not have done this without. Talking and running together made getting up at 5:30 am not only bearable but fun! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Uintahs

The day after the wedding, we decided to go to the Johanson property up in the Uintahs with the family. Hiking, fishing, four-wheeling, but most importantly, Barry cooked a delicious dutch oven meal. It was a fun filled day with the family!

Shannon's Best Friends' Wedding

Shannon and I flew down to Utah for a couple of days. Her best friend from up in Pullman ended up marrying our cousin from down in Syracuse. Shareena wanted me to do her hair for the big event as well, so here's some pictures of the big day!

Fall Festival

With the sun shining bright, and a nip in the air the Carter clan bundled up and headed to Red Barn Farms for a day full of fall fun. There was a jumping castle, amphitheatre, hay ride, pumpkin patch, hay bail maze, and much more. Shannon and her friend Crystal along with her little guy Austin joined in on the fun.