Thanksgiving Break Part II

Well, I kinda dropped the ball with blogging about the second half of our Thanksgiving break.

Yes, I know Thanksgiving was over a month ago.

But, I've said it before and I'll say it again...better late than never.

A trip to Sedona is never complete without some mountain biking!

This year, all the girls got a chance to give it a go at least once...except for Rory, but we'll get her out there next year!

For Thanksgiving the girls made little ornaments for everyone's place setting...a nice touch.

Always after we feast we take a walk around the neighborhood and then feast again on dessert.

Haley held my hand.  I know these days are limited that she'll hold her mom's hand, so I'm glad it was documented!

We ended the week at Talaqapaque to feed the ducks.

We were lucky the weather was so nice for the entire visit!

And luckily, no snow on the drive home!

Win!

Weekly Race Series

A few weeks ago Morgan gave a go at mountain bike racing.

She just got a new mountain bike, but I think the real motivation was that she has a little crush on a boy who races every week...whatever it takes, right?  Ha!

Luckily, they had the beginner group do only 1/2 lap, perfect for Morgan!

I raced along with her to give her some encouragement along the way.

Sundace has quite a bit of climbing on the way out and she started to get a little discouraged, but she pushed through and even beat a few people!

I am so proud of her!

And I think her little crush was impressed.

Weekly Race Series

Last Wednesday Haley competed in her very first mountain bike race...and pretty much her third ever real mountain biking experience.  I decided to ride with her in the beginner group.

It started out a little rough...there is major climb going out and Haley was ready to throw in the towel right then and there, but I coaxed her on.  Once her legs warmed up a bit she felt better.  But this girl cracked me up...she lacks that competitive spirit (as of right now anyway)..which is weird because Ryan and I are both very competitive.  She would be riding behind me and every now and then she would call out, "Mom!!  Look at this view!!!  It's so pretty, we need to stop so we can take it in!".  I would remind her that we were racing and that probably wasn't a good idea.  Or another occasion I saw two of her competitors up ahead on trail and I would tell Haley, "Let's catch those guys!!  They're right there!  You can do that so easy!"  She would just say, "Oh, that's okay mom.  This speed is perfect."  

She just floats the pedals and takes in the views.  

That's my Haley, and we love her for it!

She finished, although  we nearly froze to death in the process.

But she was still smiling at the end and that was my goal.

I'm so proud of her!

Thanksgiving 2015

I know I'm late with this post, but hey, better late than never!

So as usual we loaded up the 'Burban and headed south to Sedona...except this time we we made an overnight stop in Kanab.  The girls were thrilled to pieces to stay in a hotel. And then we surprised the girls with a visit to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (which is right outside of Kanab) the next morning.  

 This is a no kill shelter that houses around 1500 animals: dogs, cats, horses, pigs, birds, rabbits and so on.  We took the tour they offer and saw where everything is housed and got to pet and visit the cats and dogs.  The girls were in animal heaven!  We were lucky to get out of there without an animal to take home.  I told everyone we were filled to the brim already!!  Four kids, two dogs, a cat and three goldfish...I'd say we're doing our part!

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Some highlights of the week.

We hiked up West Fork and took a photo of the girls on the exact same log from two years prior...

 ...so of course we had to create a side by side comparison.

My babies aren't babies anymore!!!

 We also did a bit of mountain biking.

The trails are literally right down the street...how can we not take advantage of that?!

There is a loop that I have become obsessed with...it's pretty much the only trail that I do.  I am determined to do that entire loop without putting a foot down!  One day, my friends, I will succeed!!  Too bad I can only practice it one week out of the year.  

 Ryan and I would go out on our own for a lap (yes, of my favorite loop) and then get the girls to join us on another lap (you guessed it, of my favorite loop).

I was super proud of them!

They did great!

 We also played a game or two of Sorry...and let me tell ya, it can get pretty fierce!

 And a trip to Sedona wouldn't be complete until we feed the ducks at Talaqapaque.  

The weather was quite crisp this year!

 With Grandma and Grandpa.

And of course, smooshed in there with everything else we ate ourselves silly with a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!!

We headed home Saturday and ran into this along the way:

Yep, winter has hit.

And I'm loving it!

Sundance Sundays, going strong!

Sundance, as you may already know, is like our home away from home.  It's about 15 minutes away from our house so it's super easy for us to jump in the car and go.  And something about getting up in the mountains and in the mountain air is really refreshing.  

Sometimes we go up to ride bikes, sometimes we go up to ride the lift, and sometimes we go up just to sit by the pond and drink root beer and eat their suckers...or in my case a cookie as big as your head.

 The girls found a hill to roll down.

I'm petty sure we weren't allowed in the area...but the girls were able to sneak in some fun before anyone told us to leave.

 My mom has been joining us lately and we've been loving it!

I couple of weeks ago I took Haley and Morgan out on the trails.  This was Haley's second time and Morgan's first.  Haley did great and is getting a little more comfortable...Morgan however, is another story.  Poor thing was about in tears the whole way down.  Her hands are kinda small still to work the breaks very well, and since it's all down hill she was having quite a bit of trouble.  It took us while, but we made it down all in one piece!  Next time we'll keep her on the flats trails!

Nachos at Bear Claw makes everything better!

Fall is going strong here in Utah!

The mountains have already peaked with the Fall colors and it always takes my breath away!

I love this time of year...cool, crisp mornings and evenings, but still warm in the day...Love it!

Get out and enjoy those colors...they're going fast!

Labor Day Weekend

We kicked off Labor Day weekend with the Ft. Bridger Mountain Man Rendezvous on Saturday.  We've been going for a few years now, so it has become a bit of a tradition for the girls to get dressed up in pre 1840 garb and really embrace the whole experience!  And just like years before Morgan stayed for the weekend with our friends (their daughter and Morgan are little besties).  It's always so hard to say goodbye to her and I always worry if she's warm enough at night...but she always has a ball and loves every minute of it!

 Aren't these girls darling?  And pretty authentic too, huh...(minus Rory's tennies of course).

Sunday we kept with our normal routine of Sundance Sundays.  This time we packed a picnic dinner and stayed through the evening to watch the outdoor band play.  And it just so happened that a few of our neighbors had the same idea so the girls played all evening, running around the field with their friends.  And I must say...the evenings are getting a bit chillier...Fall is definitely in the air!

Because we didn't get enough of Sundance on Sunday, we decided to go up again Monday to do some mountain biking.  Haley was excited to give it go, so my dad and I took her out on the trails.

Three generations!

Haley is riding my old mountain bike...she loves it!  And I'm happy to report that she had a good time riding as well.  She only had one big spill into the bushes...not too bad.  I'm hoping next weekend we can get both Haley and Morgan out there!

That evening for Labor Day we had a fabulous BBQ at my parents house.  And later that evening our little Morgan came home...happy and very, very dirty!

Then on Tuesday (I know it's not the weekend anymore...but whatever) the cross season started!  So that evening (even though he doesn't have a cross bike and had to ride his mountain bike) Ryan raced.  And it wouldn't have been complete without Taco Tuesday right after! 

We're hanging on to summer for as long as possible!!

Happy Weekend ya'll!

Weekly Race Series: Sundance

 Well here we go again!  The Weekly Race Series has begun!  

I've actually been riding more this year than I have in years prior...I would even go as far to say that I'm training???  What?  However, it's all been on the road.  This was first day that I've hopped on my mountain bike since last year.  So needless to say I was bit rusty in the technical department and I'm VERY tentative descending...like big time...like I'm really slow!  But you know...I'll hopefully come around in time.

 Mighty Timpanogos in the background.

Beautiful!  

Gosh, I love where we live!

Jeffy was giving my girls rides on his bike after the race.

It was super cute.

It's going to be rainy the next few days...so hopefully I'll be able to squeeze some rides in there somewhere.  I'm determined get stronger and better at this sport!!

And thank you Ryan for watching the kiddos while I race!