McKenna 11 months.

McKenna turned 11 months old on October 21st. I can't believe she will be 1 in less than a month. Where did the time go?

McKenna says "hi, mama, and dada." She also likes to buzz her lips. Her voice is adorable. She does scream a lot... which is not as cute.

She is our little crawler. McKenna will walk if we are holding her hands, but otherwise doesn't have much interest in it. She does like to dance to music, and has started giving kisses.

McKenna loves the car and the bike trailer. If we are in either of them, she is talking and smiling the entire time. She also loves that she can see her sister.

McKenna is very happy. She has the cutest cheesiest smile.

There's the cheese

She is most excited when there is something for her to destroy (which drives Kylie crazy with her OCD behaviors.) We have nicknamed McKenna "Destructo."

These two really do love each other.

She still sleeps like a dream. There have been a few nights where she will wake up, but she is cutting her 2 top teeth, so that could be part of it.

Pumpkin Patch

We visited a few different pumpkin patches this year. The girls really seemed to enjoy themselves.

The first trip it rained the whole time we were there. We still had a great time. We could only get a few pictures before it started to pour buckets.We did a barrel ride, watched pigs race, went through a corn maze, picked out pumpkins and went on a hay ride.

For the second trip we had beautiful weather. We went for a preschool field trip. The girls loved riding behind the tractor.

St. George Marathon

I did it!!! I ran a marathon! My legs are killing me, and I still can't walk... but that is besides the point. :)

Dallin, my dad and I flew from Portland to Vegas on Friday October 2nd. We drove around the strip, so I could see the crazy hotels, and then stopped at the Vegas Temple before driving down to St. George.

We checked in to the hotel, relaxed, went to the race expo to get our bibs and then met up with Branden, Kaylee and the rest of the Brooks family for a pasta feed dinner. We finished the evening winding down and watching the BYU game. Go Cougs! (I was seriously stressing out at this point, I hadn't run more than 3 miles in over a month and a half (some days I couldn't even walk Kylie to the park) because my knees have some injuries right now. I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish the race in the morning.)

Saturday was race day. I had to wake up at 3:30 to pump (I will never do another long race while nursing...) And then dad and I had a bagel for breakfast and hopped on the hotel's bus that took us to the loading station. We got in line, and not too long after were on our way on school buses up to the starting line.

It was freezing, but they had fires and mylar blankets for all the racers.

The race started at 6:45am. I've never seen so many people (or porta-potties) in one place. It was madness. Dad and the Brooks took off, but Branden stuck with me. We didn't even cross the starting line until 20 minutes after the race started, and it took another 5 minutes or so before we could start running.

Go Dad, go!

This is how far back we started from the starting line...

The course was gorgeous. Honestly, most of the time I was thinking about how bad my knees were hurting, but when I did remember to look around, it was amazing. Branden ran with me for the first 16 miles, and then I told him to take off. I could tell he had a lot more in him, and I was just holding him back at that point. I took the last 10 miles at a pretty slow pace, at times I wanted to walk but it actually hurt worse to walk then run, so I just kept jogging. The times when my legs felt best were during the uphills. It felt good to finally pass a few people. :) I finished the race in 5.5 hours. Over an hour and a half slower than the time I was shooting for originally, but considering everything I've been dealing with the last few months, I'm proud of that time and glad no one had to take me off the course on a stretcher. Everyone else had finished 2-3 hours before me, so they all were pretty refreshed by the time I finished. Ya'll are awesome!! Dad told me how he got worried every time an ambulance went by him on the course that they were coming back for me. HA!

I started crying when I saw Dallin and my dad cheering for me at the end, who knew marathons could be so emotional. I got my medal and a chocolate milk and it was all worth it. :) I also got a hug from a runner I had met on the course, that was his 388th marathon (one every month for 20 years) he was so proud of me for finishing. :)

The rest of the trip we did a lot of resting, stretching, wobbling around, seeing the St. George temple, and eating whatever we wanted. It was fabulous.

September

September was a busy month!!

Here's some highlights:

The Annual Hero Up Race!! I ran the half marathon, and Dallin ran the 5K with the girls in the double jogger. He truly is our superman. :) Kylie also ran in the kid's race (she was supposed to run in the younger age race, but wanted to race with her cousins... it was a pretty long distance for her.) I was finishing as they were starting the kid's run, so no one was watching for me as I finished and I was able to run with Kylie (win.win.) It was so great to have so much family here to support Darc and to remember Keith. Great race guys!

Kylie started Preschool. She loves it. We're doing a co-op with 3 of her girl friends. They are adorable. She now constantly talks about school, and likes to put on as many bags as possible to get ready to go. ha!

We had a ward 5K and BBQ on the 19th of September. It was super low-key and so fun.

We played lots of dress up. Kylie loves to give me a Rapunzel braid...

The weather was pretty chilly for a few days, so the girls broke out the cold weather gear. Adorbs.

McKenna turned 10 months old. Whoa. Honestly, I totally missed it and didn't realize she was another month older until at least a week or so afterwards. She's smart, strong, and super talkative (especially in the car.) We love her.

 

On September 26th we drove to Kennewick. We had dinner with the Hague family and watched the new Cinderella movie. We all enjoyed it. :)

On Sunday was Trevor's Eagle Court of Honor (the main reason we came home.) They had it outside at the Oaks' home. They have an amazing set up, with a bonfire, fireworks, tiki lamps, the works. It was freezing, but totally worth it. And we got to watch the blood moon eclipse at the same time. Score.

We spent the next week in Kennewick (Dallin has a few more weeks on bonding leave.) We celebrated Mom Heath's birthday with a party, opening presents, decorating, making chocolate cupcakes, and eating at Red Lobster. We also spent an evening with the Hagues for dinner and some cousin time. I got to test out the water treadmill at the new clinic. I was told the water would be to my waist... I guess they don't plan on runners being 5'3". :)

Water at my "waist"

We drove home on Thursday October 1st and got ready to head to Utah for the marathon.