Auntie Susie

MY KIDS LOVE AUNT SUSIE! Perhaps it is because she spoils them rotten, but perhaps it is just because she loves them so much. She came to visit at the end of October and the kids could not have been more excited to have her!

I didn't take enough pictures, but she did tons of stuff with them, and Tori actually SOBBED all the way home from the airport. Good thing Thanksgiving is soon, or she never would have stopped crying. We love you Susie! PLEASE move here?!?

Snow

I don't love snow. I don't even like snow. I tolerate snow ok if it is not on the street. My kids on the other hand LOVE snow. They couldn't wait to dive in when we got the big storm. I didn't have appropriate snow gear, so they couldn't stay out too long, but they looked pretty cute! (Don't worry, there will be plenty more snow, and they are now properly equipped.)

Yup, I made that hat! I'm pretty proud of myself!

Nope, didn't make that one, but its cute!

I can't put my arms down!

Halloween FUN!

Halloween started out this year at a friend's Halloween party where we were a 1970's prom king and queen.

Since the weather was so terrible on Wednesday and Thursday, the ward Halloween party was cancelled on Friday morning. A friend hosted her own at her home (what a saint!) so we went to that one. Then Aunt Susie arrived and we carved pumpkins, and spent Halloween trick or treating at the mall, trunk or treating at the church, and even catching a "Haunted House" down the street...they did an incredible job decorating their house by the way. Wish I had pictures of that! Here is what they looked like that day.

The kids' costumes were a little more exciting than ours. They were the characters from the Wizard of Oz. The cousins offered quite an array...

All the cousins--the Cowardly Lion, Glinda, Dorothy, Pirate, Skeleton Rocker, Pirate, Mobster, and the Ninja and the Mobster attacking from behind.

WICKED!

Saturday was a very busy day. I was at home for about 45 minutes total between 9AM and 11 PM. YIKES! After going to Super Saturday, and doing crafts for me and three friends, I raced home and got my beauty ready for our date (thanks for your help Manda, I would have been toast!!).

This was before we left home...the excitement was almost too much for her!

We left plenty early since Mommy doesn't know down town Denver very well anymore. We hit major traffic, but arrived nearly 30 minutes before the show started. Tori was SO excited! I did a little bit of explaining before and during the show.

I stink at self portraits.

Overall she LOVED it! She will say that her favorite part was "when Elphie grew big." For anyone who has seen the show, what she means is during the song Defying Gravity when Elphaba rises up over the stage. She was very concerned about the witch hunt, and when Elphaba and Glinda said their goodbyes. Apparently there are some things that are still a little too real for her to completely let go as pretend.

She thought that the mirrors in the bathroom were awesome. Perfect for a princess to check herself.

Smarty Party

(I totally stole that title from Mandi...) We had our preschool parties on Thursday because all of next week will be fall break. Lizzie and her class here super hyper, and kind of out of control. The afternoon was significantly calmer...almost too calm. I let Tori go to the afternoon party since her auntie was in charge (and because they aren't allowed to have Halloween parties in school anymore). They had fun. Here are some pics.

Glinda, "Naughty but cute Pirate", Vampire, GI Joe, and Superman

My Princesses met the "Big Princesses"

Aunt Manda found out that the princesses were going to be right here in Aurora! Of course we had to take advantage of the opportunity. My girls put on their favorite princess dresses and off we went. They were SO excited! The girls that were the princesses were really cute with them, and played it up well. Well, if you can't make it to Disneyland, I guess the costume shop will work.

Team Audrey

Today was an incredible day! For YEARS Grandma would talk about the Race for the Cure, and say "someday I want to take you all down there, so you can see it for yourselves." We would all agree that someday it would happen. Today we FINALLY did it! It was a truly incredible experience. I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time that I saw my grandma that happy.It was really great to see her for the miracle that she is, as the inspiration that her life brings to so many others who are fighting their own battles. Grandma is a 34 year survivor! Not many women (or men) can say that. I was so amazed to see how many people went out of their way to tell her thank you, or to tell her how much courage she gave them. It is easy to forget what she has been through, but she beat some pretty tough odds, and was among the oldest survivors at the race! The closing ceremony was a little bit difficult to watch. As the doves were released in memory of those who had finished their battles and moved on, the tears were unstoppable. MY GRANDMA FOUGHT AND WON! I am so proud! I am so lucky and so blessed to follow such an incredible legacy, and today I was given a pretty grand reminder of that! Thanks Grandma! We love you so much, and we are SO proud of you!
Before the race we made hats! Each hat was a little different, but pretty much uniform so that people could tell that we were TEAM AUDREY!

Grandma definitely got her 15 minutes of fame today! Her first interview came before we even started the race. Many people stopped our group because they wanted pictures. We started a little early since we had a wheelchair. As our group crossed the start line the race announcer told the racers (probably in the range of 50,000-60,000 people) that Audrey, the 34 year survivor, was starting her race. When we were less than half a mile in the Denver Post reporter stopped us and interviewed grandma.

http://photos.denverpost.com/photogalleries/coloradoimages/#id=album-69890&num=1377588

http://photos.denverpost.com/photogalleries/coloradoimages/#num=1378035&id=album-69890

(We start at about 2 1/2 minutes in. Then we are all the way til the end!)

As we finished the race, 9 News put us on their live broadcast,and then more press took her picture and name at the closing ceremony. The race chairwoman wanted to speak to her!

After all that recognition, I think that the one that meant the most to her was when she was standing up to be recognized for her years of survival. We didn't think that she would make it out of the wheelchair to stand, but there she is...
After we got our Heroes of Hope capes, we decided that we were totally super heroes, as shown by my amazing ability to fly.