Fall in New England...

is absolutely gorgeous.

Pictures truly do not do it justice.  The trees are just SO pretty.  There are so many bright colors.  I certainly never appreciated the beauty when I was younger (not that it ever looked this pretty down South), but I sure do now.

Monday, the weather was perfect.  The high was 70 and it was just beautiful out.  I couldn't resist going out for a run.  I had planned to go to the gym, but knew it would probably be my last chance  this year to run outside.  Though I said I wasn't running anymore for a while.  Ha, it's too much fun!

I had a great run, and just looking at God's artwork all around and listening to praise music, it was very peaceful!

Around here

The big girls have their last soccer game this Saturday if the weather cooperates.  It's suppose to rain and be really cold.  They will play in the cold, but I don't know about the rain.

Kyndal is getting some sewing lessons on Friday's and she is loving it.

Gymnastics is in full swing and going well.  They all 3 really love it.

The church had a surprise Pastor Appreciation luncheon this past Sunday.  We knew there was a lunch, we just didn't know it was for the Pastor and his family.  They kept that secret.  It was lots of fun and so thoughtful.  We are truly thankful.  (We do have a really great pastor):)  The cake (pictured) was delicious!

Craig and I had a little dinner date one night last week and that was very enjoyable.

My studies on nutrition are coming along well.  It's definitely a lot of information to take in and I'm enjoying it.

Abby is enjoying being a part of the youth group and going to the Bible studies.  We enjoy hearing about what she has learned each week.

We had friends over for dinner and fellowship the last 2 weekends which we really enjoy.  We are getting back into the swing of having church friends over for dinner, at least twice a month.  In the summer months, it's a bit harder, because everyone is busy and it's so nice you just wanna be outside.

The winter is coming quickly.  It's suppose to be Very cold this weekend.

School is going great.  All 3 girls are doing really well, and we are grateful for that.

Craig and I are still working out together when we can.  Sometimes we have to go solo, but as long as we get it done, that's what matters.  We don't plan to train or run hard until late winter or spring as we want to do a marathon in the early summer, Lord willing.

I guess that's about it.....

Surprise Visit

We had some Bama friends surprise us by visiting church this past Sunday!  They told us a while back on one of our trips to AL that they were going to come up here and pop in at church one day.  And, they did.  It was a wonderful surprise.  They even brought us some Bama gear and some self rising cornmeal:)  So sweet.

We met them in Boston on Monday for lunch at Cheers!  Then we walked down to Fenway to look around and rode the T back to our cars.  It was a great day visiting with some sweet friends.

New Hampshire Half Marathon

Wow, we did it!  We did 12 weeks of training for the half marathon.  We had really great weather for most all of the training.  We only did a couple of treadmill runs, thankfully.  While we were in AL, I hurt my back and it set me back about a week.  Craig hurt his back a few weeks ago and it set him back a few days too.  Our last long run was last week and it was 12 miles.  Two days before that run, I did a hardcore leg workout thinking my rest day would give me time to recover.  Boy, was I wrong.  I was hurting so bad.  I only ran 10 miles and walked the other 2.  So, leading up to the race, I had only completed 11 miles so far.  I didn't have a goal time for the race, other than I wanted to finish with NO walking and I didn't want to go over a 10 minute pace. 

Craig had done great through the training.  He is a good bit faster than me.  Sometimes he would run with me and sometimes he would run at his pace during training.  Craig had a goal to finish the race before 2 hours.

A few days prior, the weather said it was going to be raining and the temperature was going to be around 38.  I was really hoping it would turn out to be sunny somehow.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day and I could not be more thankful.  It was pretty cold.  We had to pick up our bags at 7:30, and be on the bus by 8.  The race gun didn't go off till 9, so we were just standing in the cold waiting on the bathroom.  The first 3 miles were pretty cool and our toes were numb.  By mile 4, we were warming up and it was a pretty nice hill.  At mile 9, I had the biggest mental fight.  My calves were killing me, the balls of my feet hurt, and I was getting tired and knew I had 4 more miles left and I was NOT walking!  I normally do not stop for drinks, but I couldn't get to the table quick enough on mile 10 and 12.  I needed Gatorade SO bad.  I was so so so happy to see the finish line.  After getting some water, I sat on the ground (big mistake), and could barely get back up! HA  We got a little snack, checked out our times and were on our way!  It was a wonderful experience and I'm So glad we did it and So glad we did it together.  The Lord truly helped us every step of the way and we could not be more thankful.

Craig did beat his goal.  He ran it in 1:56:49, which was a pace of 8:55.  Awesome!

I actually beat my 10 minute pace goal too.  I ran it in 2:07:42, which was a 9:45 pace.  Thankful!

Before

After (lol)  Obviously, because we are in our garage!

These sweet girls are our BIGGEST cheerleaders!

They were not with us, but they were VERY well taken care of while we were gone.  Thank you very much to our sweet friends!

Soccer

Abby and Kyndal are both playing soccer again this year.  They have already had 4 games and they are doing really well.  They are both much more aggressive this year, which is good.  They both really like playing too.  They are on different leagues, so we are there longer, but that's ok.  It's a lot of fun watching them and seeing how they have grown from last year.  So far, the weather has been really great and very pretty.  This past Saturday was cold, windy, and cloudy though.

Kyndal is the taller blond in the green!

Abby is behind that boy there, fighting for the ball!

There she is in the green!

This was not Abby's best game.  While Kyndal was playing, Abby was playing with Anna Claire near the bushes and she was wearing flip flops.  She got stung by a wasp right between her toes.  Then it was time for her game.  She played and a few minutes before it was over, she was looking at us to tell us that her foot was hurting and she took a flying ball to the head.  And, that's all she wrote.  She was done!  So we cheered for her team to the end!

To say that this girl LOVES gymnastics is a huge understatement.  She does this move here constantly, and ask "do I have gymnastics today" 548964 times a week.

She loves her babies too.  Well, she actually calls them her sisters!!!

She comes to support her "real" sisters, but she doesn't really pay attention much:):):)

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Abby's birthday last Thursday, for a few reasons.  1.  She wanted a day out of school.  2.  They had soccer on Saturday.  3.  We had a race on Saturday.  So, Thursday it was!!!

The girls had tickets to a play place, so we went there first.  Turned out, it was more geared to toddlers, so we made a quick exit!  HA!  She wanted to go to Wal-Mart to spend some of her money, so we browsed around there for a while.  We went to her pick for lunch, which was TGI Fridays.  It was really good too.  Then to Orange Leaf of course.  They recognize us now and I'm not sure that's a good thing!  Kyndal has gymnastics that afternoon, so we all went and cheered her on.  I cooked her dinner choice which was homemade beef stroganoff and green beans.  She wanted brownies and ice cream for her dessert!  Sugar overload for the day!!

She seemed to really enjoy her day and we are happy about that!

Pajama pants and her favorite gum from Kyndal

Lunch:  I meant to take her pic with her food, but I forgot!

Her shopping goodies

Her dinner!

Love her BIG!

12 years

Happy 12th Birthday Abby Hannah

Abby, we hope you have a wonderful birthday.  You are a precious daughter who has great leadership qualities that we pray you use for His Glory.  You are a good big sister and quite mature for your age.  You have grown so much this past year (tall and maturity).  You work hard at school and make good grades which makes us happy.  You love to cook as often as possible.  We hope you feel special and loved every day, but especially so on your birthday.  We love you SO much.  Love, mom and dad