Lovell Canyon 10K

This morning Hilary and I headed out in the windy weather for our first 10K since we started running in Feb. The cold wind and early hour dampened our enthusiasm, but after hiding in the back of a truck until the race began kept us warm. (What happened to the 90 degree weather we had earlier this week??)

Here's my horrid early-morning pre-race photo (whilst hiding in the truck): Once we started out, I warmed up quickly and even the fog we ran through with bits of snow pelting us didn't slow me down. The first 3.1 miles were mainly uphill at a slow incline, which meant the last 3.1 were a lovely downhill, increasing my pace and excitement.

I kept a fairly steady pace (about 11:30/mile), just around 71 minutes total and enjoyed the scenery up to the end. It wasn't my best 6.2 mile time of 68:12, but considering the hills, snow & wind I'm pretty happy with it & placed 12th in my age category.

After some breakfast kindly given by the Salvation Army, we headed home sore, but feeling pretty good about it all!

Kevie's Sealing

We just got back from nearly a week in San Diego for Kevie's wedding.

Alec, Kelsey and I drove out on Saturday, picked Sabrena up from the airport and immediately headed to Coronado Beach. Alec loved the sand and seaweed, but the waves were a bit scary and the water too cold.We spent 2 days in Ramona, California baking and frosting the 5-layer cake. During which, Alec enjoyed the trampoline, chickens and bunny in Carly's father's backyard, along with an impromptu piano lesson from Uncle Kevie.Tuesday was our 'back up day' for the cake, but it had gone well, so we were able to walk around Old Town and visit Imperial Beach (where Alec found a seashell).Wednesday morning was the sealing and it was SO lovely. It was so wonderful to stop running around for a few minutes and enjoy the reason we were there.

Sabrena & I: 16 years of best friendship so far:
The girls: Joleen (sister-in-law), Kari (sister), Kelsey (sister) & I: After a few family pictures we headed to the luncheon, then to the reception to set up the cake. Not too shabby. It certainly gets quicker and easier each wedding.Alec adores Carly, so he was pretty happy to sneak a dance in when Kevie was busy.
Ryan (cousin), me, Nikki (cousin) & Sabrena:
Grandma Hunter, Aunt Jerri and Dad having a good time:
After the reception, Alec enjoyed rolling around in the tissue paper discarded whilst Kevie & Carly opened their gifts. Carly's siblings were nuts over Alec and he just basked in the attention. Here he is with Emily:

Busy Birthday Weekend

Last weekend (Sunday, the 5th to be exact) our little man turned 2! He had busy, but incredibly fun-filled weekend.

Saturday morning we attended the North Las Vegas 'Eggstravaganza'. Alec loved meeting the Easter Bunny, face paint (a ladybug), pony ride, chasing chickens & of course, the egg hunt!
Saturday evening was Catherine's birthday party-complete with a petting zoo and balloon animals (well, train in Alec's case).We decided not to do a birthday party this year-just the cousins over for dinner on Sunday, which became a total Thomas the Train day! We had bought Alec the Thomas train table and it was definitely a hit. He plays with it more than all his other toys combined. I made him a train cake which was also a hit. We also dyed Easter eggs (seeing as we'll be in San Diego on Easter Sunday baking a wedding cake) and Alec enjoyed putting stickers on them.

Two Year Old Portraits

Paul and I took Alec to get his two year old portraits done today and they came out pretty darn cute. We were prepared with the lessons we learned at his one year old portraits:

1. We canNOT do family portraits and toddler portraits in one sitting
2. Bring a soft toy to make dance and Alec laugh
3. A change of clothes will simply NOT be accepted without a tantrum
4. No pictures can be taken after 5 minutes of smiling (photographer MUST be fast)

It worked! Last year we were struggling to find one we really liked, this year we were struggling to narrow down the poses we really liked:

A bit of catching up...

Not much has happened lately, so here are some cute pictures and small tidbits.

After trying out the 'bowl cut' and discovering it made Alec's head look huge, I tried a simpler approach, just a 1". Here's a 'before' picture and then several 'after's:We have officially started into the tantrum phase and time-outs are being employed. Here's Alec attempting to be let off early with pleas of "Mamma" and crocodile tears (yes, he is wearing his train swimsuit over his overalls).Last weekend Alec got invited to the 'girls night' my sister Kari threw (during Kevie's bachelor party). I missed the photo, but during 'Bride & Prejudice' he lifted his shirt (as the girls wear saris) and started dancing to the Bollywood film!! Too funny.Just enjoying some Play-Doh time with daddy:Alec's first hockey game:Alec still loves his baths: