Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving Week was, as usual, amazing!! We got into Enumclaw Sunday afternoon. We had dinner and hung out with friends that were in town. Monday I went running in the morning with Alicia and Johnathan McGraw, then I went running later that morning with my boss-friend around Deep Lake, making my distance for that day just under 4 miles. That afternoon my sister, her 7 week old baby, and my Aunt Beth made a whirlwind trip back to Oregon to do some stuff that Sean and I neglected to do before we left. Oops.

Tuesday night the Harston girls went to the Folk's house and we worked on our annual Christmas Project. They had amazing food there for us and it was awesome. Wednesday I can't remember what we did...I'll come back to that.

Thursday, was Thanksgiving. That morning my sister Natalie, her boy Marcus, their friend Brad, Sean, Alicia, and I all woke up super early and headed out to Gig Harbor for the Turkey Trot. This whole shebang started out with me wanting to run a 5k. I invited my sister to run and she said "no way...but Brad will run!" So Brad signed up for the 5k, forcing me to sign up. Then it turns out they had friends running a different race only a few miles away, so we scratched the original race and decided to run this other one. Marcus decided to join in and both of the guys were running the 10k. Then they peer pressured me into running it as well. I'm not gonna lie. I was nervous about the 5k...but doubling it? That made me uber nervous. Anyway, long story short, I did it. And...drum roll please! I beat my last time!! What!? I know, right? This course was super hilly and I never run hills. I haven't really run in months...only a few times and none longer than 3 miles. I crossed the finish line at 1:01:14. (Video at the end of this blog.) My last time was 1:03:02. I can't even begin to understand it. I'm sure my spinning class has a lot to do with it but still, it just doesn't even make sense. My average pace was I think a 9:48. So cool!!!

Alright, enough of that....after the race we ate Thanksgiving Dinner. There were around 48 people at my parents house for that meal, and no shortage of food. It is quite amazing what the Harston's can throw together when we want to eat! No one leaves hungry, that's for sure. Thanksgiving evening 10 of us went and saw New Moon. It was good...cheesy, but good :) Friday I woke up super early and went Black Friday shopping with Alicia and Rebecca McGraw. We got lots of fun stuff but more importantly, we had a blast! And we didn't get caught in any super horrendous lines. We got lucky for sure! Saturday we went shooting. It was insane! We go shooting every year, but this year was intense. There were 24 people and 19 guns. It was awesome!!! Chris Folk brought his AR-15 and there were a couple other big hunting rifles so I didn't really waste my time on the smaller guns because they lose their appeal after you shoot the bigger stuff. After shooint Marcus took Natalie, Brad, Sean and I out to Cafe Panini...my fave restaurant of all time. Thanks Marcus! After that we just hung out and relaxed.

There were a million people sleeping at my parents house with everyone in town but we had a blast. The kids love love love playing with their cousins and the second we left and Brayden realized we were leaving "Een-caw Washington" he started crying saying "I wanna go to Eencaw Washington!" It was kinda sad but super cute. He loves it there. Both of the boys get spoiled and they really don't like coming home...kinda like their mama!

The pictures that follow are in no particular order.

This is my nephew Garrett. This is his "Knight Helmet." It came out of a box of pans that my mom got and all of the little cardboard pieces got played with for days :)

Lisa and her adorable little family

Garrett and Keith showing off their matching shirts

Lisa making her famous Creme Brulee pie

Me with the AR- 15

The lineup of envious boys watching Chris shoot his assault rifle.

Brad being a "Toy Soldier." This kid cracks me up.

7 year old Tyce

Scott and Nat

Natalie shot the crossbeam of the target with the AR-15. It didn't like that very much.

Natalie being "hugged by midgets"

Brad and Nat with their loaded cartridges

Natalie, Heather, Kalyn and Lisa

Part of the crew

Emma, Rebecca, Nathanael, Laura, Christopher, and Alicia on the trampoline

Part of the Thanksgiving crew

Part of the spread, and Kyle eating delicious smoked turkey. We som

Brad about to cross the finish line...at 54:30ish

Marcus about to cross the finish line...30 seconds before Brad!

The video of me crossing the finish line. My last mile was my fastest mile...with an average pace of 8:30 according to my iPod. Marcus met me and ran the last quarter of a mile with me. I told him to push me, and he did! He sprinted it...and I kept up with him. It was so fun but I swear I thought I was gonna die. My legs were so numb! Ahh..I loved it!!!!!!!!!

"Tay Oo"

This morning I was feeding the kids breakfast. I gave Asher a piece of granola bar and he very clearly and deliberately said "Tay oo." What!? Did he just say thank you!? So I gave him another small piece and he said it again. Then, awhile later when Sean came downstairs I said "Asher said thank you! Try giving him a piece of this." So he did, and again, Asher said it. My little boy is already learning manners!! I love it :)

Family Photoshoot

Do me a favor...

Go to Courtney's blog

and check out some of the pictures from our photoshoot.
It won't disappoint.

(Don't I have the most talented friend ever!?)

Brayden-isms

Brayden has been saying some pretty cute things lately. I wanted to document them!

Yesterday he was sitting at the table eating his peanut butter and honey sandwich (open face, just like his mama.) I was working on the computer and was focused on what I was doing. He said "Hey, Babe. ... Babe... Baby.... BABE!!" Before I actually realized that he was trying to get my attention! haha...I loved it.

This morning I got back from running to the bank and he jumped up and greeted me with a "Good Morning Baby!!" Think he hears that a lot?

Brayden's favorite movie right now is "The Incredibles." He goes around all day saying "Mom! I'm Incredibles!" And I say "Oh, you're Mr. Incredible?" in which he responds "No, I'm The Incredibles!"

He now knows the name of every single letter and is starting to learn the sounds that they make. He knows some of the signs as well but I think I need to work on teaching Sean the signs first because Sean gets confused then Brayden gets confused!

Prayer

Brayden said his first prayer completely by himself tonight. It went something like this.

"Dear Heavenly Father, we are thankful, for this day. We are thankful, for Asher, and Mommy, and Daddy, and Brayden. We are thankful, for my blankie, and the food. We are thankful, for friends, and for baseball. (He had a babysitter today and she played catch with him for an hour! He loved it!) Please bless us to sleep well. In the name, of Jesus Christ, Amen!"

It melted my heart.

Kick Start

A couple weeks ago I bought a new sensor that goes on my shoe for my Nike+. I didn't realize that my other one had died because I hadn't been running in awhile! Anyway, the second I got a new one, my drive to start running hit me full force. Last year, after my 10k, I told myself that I wanted to run the half marathon next year. Well...it took me 6 months to train for the 10k, and the half is only 8 months away! I think I'm crazy...but I really want to attempt this. In order to kick start myself and get myself on the path towards this goal, I decided to sign up for a 5k. I found one on Thanksgiving morning in Tacoma and within seconds I signed up for it. I knew if I didn't do it right then then I'd think about it and talk myself out of it. I know...it's only a 5k. But I've been out of the saddle for a few months. I think this is what I need to re-motivate myself to actually start training for this thing!

It's time...

for an update. Life is so crazy yet I can't find anything worthy of blogging. But...I'm itching to hit the "publish" button so I suppose I should write something.

Asher is blossoming! Within the past week he went from saying mama and papa to saying "nana" (banana) "ba" (ball) and "mo" (more). He also signs more and all done (I think I mentioned that in the past). He loves music and loves to dance. He loves to laugh and loves to be played with. He loves being thrown around and tossed and tickled. He loves to throw things down the stairs, and loves to climb on everything!

Brayden is learning his alphabet. Sean has spent almost every night of the past week and a half going over the letters with him. He now can sing the entire song accurately (most of the time) and he can recognize most of the letters. He knows that "P says puh" and "O says oh." Sean is determined to have him reading at the age of 3. We'll see how it goes :) It's super cute...when Brayden is reading a book he'll say something like "B! There you are!" Today he was looking at his letter puzzle and he was holding the T in his hand. He said, pointing to the K... "Are you the T? No...are you the T? No...Are you the T? Yes!!" and he stuck the letter in it's right spot. It is so cool to see the wheels in his head turning with recognition and understanding.

I am doing well...keeping extremely busy with work for Larsen Billing, work for Kinnaman Park Townhomes, and also my vinyl, which has picked up a lot in the past couple weeks. I am feeling kind of overwhelmed in all honesty, but I'm grateful for the blessings in my life. I was able to make it to the temple twice last week which I was extremely grateful for. I am working on my relationship with my Savior which has been quite an incredible journey.

Sean is working hard with the DNA clinic. He is getting an increasing amount of calls which is exciting. He has also been doing odds and end jobs for his mom and his brother so he is definitely keeping himself busy!