the first halloween

Halloween comes second on my favorite Holiday list. The food, candy, pumpkins, decorations, and beautiful autumn weather. But what tops the list is dressing babies in the cutest costumes ever. See exhibit A.

[Exhibit A]

Costume was purchased in August and after waiting three months it was finally Go Time. Halloween afternoon I dressed Callen up and took pictures of the little Lion. A first holiday is something that should never be forgotten so I made sure to capture every detail, from mane to tail, of the adorable baby. 

After our photo shoot on the front lawn we went to Trick-or-Treat at Grandma and Grandpa Perdue's home. Callen scored some candy for his parents.

 (notice tootsie roll in hand)

Later that evening we went walking with Grandma Tucker to see all the little trick-or-treaters and the scarey houses.

Happy Halloween from the Perdue's and our lion!

ROAAARRR!!

race recap

I love running and I love racing. There is so much time, effort, and emotion that goes into training for a race that you keep your fingers crossed everything goes just the way you hope come race day. The Provo Halloween Half Marathon 2012 was both better and worse than last year. Due to weather we were notified the start location changed, starting further down the Provo Canyon to avoid the snow. This is the first race I repeated and it was interesting to note the differences. This year my mom and I ran it together dresses as Go Go Girls. Dressing up makes it so much more fun and takes the nerves off. Our day began at 5:00 AM. We dressed, stressed last minute instructions and reminders to Grandpa Tucker who was watching Callen while we raced, and drove from the downtown Provo Marriott, where we were staying, to catch the bus at the University Mall in Orem. For the first time ever I ran with my phone. I hate carrying things with me but wanted to be reachable in case there was a Callen emergency. Though, it did allow me to take pictures of the entire race experience which I have never before been able to document, it was totally worth it and I might do it from now on.

 Last year we arrived later to catch the bus and had to wait 90 minutes in the 30 degree weather. This year we learned our lesson and caught the bus right away at 6:00 AM and were on our way to the start at Sundance Ski Resort.

 7:00 AM we arrived at the start, hit up the Honey Bucket, and checked out the other costumes in the heated tent. This is the first race I have ever ran with no wait for the bathroom at the start. Life changer right there.

 We met up with Ryan and Becca, who we ran with last year and vowed to do it again together this year. 

 Our 2 hour wait in the tent was rather miserable but much preferable over waiting in the arctic weather. We stayed warm, laughed at goofy people, and ate breakfast we brought with us.

Making our way from the tent to the start the sun had come out and it was a beautiful day in Utah. We ate our chocolate fudge flavored Gu, made one last honey bucket stop, and waited for the gun to go off.

At the start with the sun shining bright. Gun went off at 9:00 AM we were off down the canyon.

 The beginning was cold but we kept a good pace. Another huge plus was not being 3 months pregnant this year. It made all the difference on the downhill.
Unfortunately, I only felt good for a few miles in the middle. In the beginning I had the downhill to keep me going fast and at the end I was running for the chocolate milk and Callen at the finish. I took my second Gu half way which did help.

No PR for me but considering the circumstances I feel good about it. I finished in 1:52 with an average minute mile of 8:37.

My mom ditched her costume halfway and came in right after me. Way to go Grammy Pammy!

I was so happy to see Callen at the finished all dressed up cheering for mom and grandma.

We did it!

Becca and Ryan at the finish.

The "Baby Race Crew". It took all 5 of them to keep Callen happy while mama raced.

Next year anyone?

our utah trip

WAS AWESOME!! 

This story starts with what an adorable packing helper I had.

Wednesday my mom, dad, Callen and I caught our plane from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. Callen was awesome on the plane and boarding was much easier than expected considering how much baggage comes with a baby. He chatted with other passengers and took a nap.

 Sittin' on some luggage in the Salt Lake airport.

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house just in time for dinner and a little play time before bed time. Callen has done an enormous amount of growing in the last four months since Grandma and Grandpa last saw him.

When we woke up the next morning there was snow on the ground! This is the first time Callen has seen, touched, and experienced snow. He cried when he grabbed a handful of it. Lesson learned, snow is cold.

Grandma and Grandpa's garden grown pumpkins were covered.

Of course, we had a snow photo shoot. 

Thursday was spent shopping in Layton with the Grandma's.
 Friday morning we set off for Provo. On our way down we stopped by the race expo to pick up our packets. Then we met Becca and Livy for lunch at JCW's burger joint to get our fill of fry sauce. Callen loved Livy. He wanted to grab her hair and give her kisses. Already aggressive toward the ladies...we're working on it.

 After lunch we met Uncle Brady in the BYU bookstore.

 I now understand and feel like all the old people who are so excited to go back to the bookstore. I love looking at everything. Callen and I are now set up with new BYU gear.
For dinner I arranged to meet up with all my friends from work. 13 of us crashed the Olive Garden in Provo. I absolutely loved seeing everyone and catching up. I feels like I never left.

Cole, the "man-ceptionist", made an appearance in his Halloween costume.

I carbo-loaded with plain 'ol spaghetti and it was perfect. After dinner Callen and I went back to the hotel to get ready for bed and prep for the next morning.
Saturday was RACE DAY! (See next post for the race recap)
After the race we showered up and hit up Cafe Rio for lunch. On our way back up to Layton we stopped by my best friend Alyse's house to see her 39 week old pregnant belly. I guess baby Olivia wasn't feeling coming a bit early so we could meet her. It's cool Liv, we will come visit another time :)
I've discovered Callen loves Grandmas and Grandpas. He'll pick out any older person and give them the biggest smile. Callen had a fun time playing with his Grandparents.

Sunday morning we headed to the airport to catch our plane back to California.
A view of Utah Valley from the air.

Callen slept the entire plane ride and woke just as we were being taxied to the gate.

It was the perfect trip. Short, sweet, and I did everything I wanted to do. But when all was said and done I am so thankful to live where I live and loved coming home. The longer I am here the more it is feeling like home again. Thanks for all the fun times Utah friends. We love you.