Signing my life away...

I've officially joined a gym. After months of thinking about it and putting it off while trying to decide what the right fit was for me, my brother Todd finally forced me into it by challenging me to run in the Camp Pendleton (as in Marine Base!) MudRun in June of '07. I know that sounds far away, but for a girl who hasn't physically moved around on a regular basis for the past, say 5 years, it's a big deal! So all six of my siblings and I and most of our spouses are going to run the race together and the training has begun. We've been sending each other reports on our training all week via email. I'm pretty motivated right now and have been hitting the gym consistently for the past 2 weeks... but since I signed a THREE-YEAR gym membership, I'm hoping I can stay motivated for more than a few months! I have no idea how I ended up getting roped into into such a long term, but the contract is signed and after having some major buyers remorse, I've come to terms with my commitment. No more excuses- it's time to get in shape. And hey- with the unlimited childcare I can alway go chill in the hot tub when I get sick of my kids!

That's right! Swimming the day after Thanksgiving

It's just that warm here! After an early morning of shopping, breakfast, and crossing a bunch of things off the ever-growing Christmas list, Alan's brother Ryan heated the pool and we all met at their house for a swim party. After swimming we ate pumpkin soup and corn chowder and had our pick of 6 different pies. My sister-in-law Sarah is a very good cook, and it's really fun living so near her and being fed so well by her every time we are with her! Someone commented that they liked having Thanksgiving as a two-day affair! It was impossible for me to feel festive about the holidays with all of the hot weather we've been having, but Ryan and Sarah turned the situation around by embracing the weather and having a party. I'm so glad they did. We had a great time.
ps- I almost had a heart attack watching my boys being tossed TOO HIGH in the air, but they were just laughing and having too good of a time for me to stop the fun. It is so fun to have Alan around for a few days.

Happy Thanksgiving

Photo with cousing Sam, Alex's hero.The feast begins!

Alan wasn't feeling so well after his 2 plates full of Thanksgiving delights!One little piece left of the chocolate mouse pie.

Alex trying his luck at The Curtis Family Fish PondSome help from Papa.

The Thanksgiving Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!! We had such a great celebration today with almost all of Alan's family (his oldest brother Judd took his family to Mexico for the week). Alan spent the morning golfing with the rest of the Curtis family men, while the kids and I met up with cousins at the park. It was a beautiful day and the boys were so happy be out running around. After naps, we all gathered at Nana and Papa's for the feast. It was incredible. Everyone contributed which meant everything was fantastic! When you are only making a couple of things, you can take the time to make them great. Seriously one of the best holiday meals I've had. I made rainbow jello, creamed onions, and a mouse pie- all turned out great. Seriously one of the best holiday meals I've had. Instead of doing the traditional go-around-the-table-saying-what-you're-thankful-for, Alan's sister Caroline brought this Turkey that she had made and hung on the wall. Everyone wrote on a feather what they were thankful for, and we all shared what it was as we added the feathers to the Turkey. It was such fun way for the kids to participate and think about what they are grateful for. Alex was thankful for the turkey and trains, I was thankful for my little family, Alan's family, and my far-away-spread-out-all-over family, Alan was thankful for WORK. It's pretty obvious we haven't been out of school very long! Then it was time for the Curtis Family Fish Pond, which is a tradition on holidays in the Curtis family. Each of the kids has the chance to fish in the pond and "catch" a prize from Nana and Papa. The kids LOVE this- Alex was thrilled with the Bob the Builder toys he caught. In fact, he is now tucked in his bed with "scoop" and "muck" clenched tightly in each little hand. Caroline is picking me up at 6:45am tomorrow to hit the stores. The holidays are upon us!

UCLA Reunion

We've had our friends the Jutila's from LA staying with us since Sunday, and last night our friends the Hakes (who now live in Sacramento and are in Arizona visiting family) who we know from our time in LA as well, joined us for a big lasagna dinner! It was quite the group. When we all met each other 6 years ago at UCLA, we were students with no children. Now there are 7 kids between the three couples! It was so much fun to reconnect with old friends- it felt like no time had passed at all.

Thanksgiving Feast

Alex had a Thanksgiving Feast today at preschool! He had a great time, and I think he looks awfully cute in his pilgrim hat.

saturday morning activities

Will post-donut

It seems like it's becoming a tradition around here for the boys to grab donuts with their dad on Saturday mornings. Today they invited me to go too, and while we were out we realized today is the start of "Gilbert Days" which means... I really don't know what. I just know that there was a parade, and the boys had a great time for the first half hour, after which Alex asked, "Can we go home now?"

I guess there is grass here afterall!

100th Birthday Party

Tonight we went to the 100th birthday celebration for Alan's grandfather, Louis Raine Curtis. Alan's dad decided get the family together to honor and celebrate this great man's life, even though he is no longer with us. Everyone got babysitters and we had a great meal and great conversation about Grandpa. It was really fun to get to know this person through Alan's dad's perspective- he loved him so much, and had pulled out all of the memorabilia he has from him and set it up on tables for us to look at: his shirts, pictures, his diploma from Cornell, yearbooks, watch and much much more. The highlight was the homemade rootbeer, "Lou's Booze," that Dave made in honor of Grandpa. Also? It was so different to enjoy a relaxing evening with Alan's family and no children to distract us! We never have the chance to actually talk- it was really great.

Household Notebook

Ever since we moved to Arizona, I feel like our family life has become more complicated. We have more commitments to keep track of than we have ever had before. Preschool, playgroups, church responsibilities, friends, family... the list goes on. Not long after we moved here I was perusing home organizational websites looking for ideas on how to stay on top of everything. I came across the idea of creating a "household notebook." The idea is to have one place where you keep track of it all. I think it's a great idea and after several months of trying to finish it, I finally did!

Shamrock Farms

On Saturday morning we went on a family excursion to Shamrock Farms in Stanton, Arizona. We packed up the picnic basket and drove an hour south to this real live working dairy. There were thousands of cows and we took a tour that walked us through the entire process of collecting milk for human consumption. As many of you know our Will is a HUGE fan of milk, and though he obviously didn't understand everything being discussed, he was happy since we were talking about milk for over an hour straight. What made him even happier was at the end of the tour when we were each given a 12 oz. bottle of the milk of our choice. We had a great time and although we have never purchased Shamrock Farm milk before (they are more expensive), we were totally sold and will now be buying their dairy products religiously.

Alex moment

Yesterday morning before the sun had risen, Alex climbed into our bed and made himself comfortable right up next to me. We laid there for a while, his eyes closed. After a while, he lifted his head and noticed his dad was on the other side of me. He climbed right over me and cuddled up to Alan. Suddenly he was wide awake and looked at Alan and said, "Let's go play catch, dad!"

Officially a resident of Arizona

I guess this makes it official. I've put it off for a few months, trying to stall the inevitable, but with election day coming up I had to head to the MVD (yep, that's what they call it here in AZ, the Motor Vehicle Dept.) and change my license so I will be able to vote. The good news is that for the first time in my life I was in and out of the DMV in less than 20 minutes! I'm not sure that has ever happened to anyone, ever!

happy halloween!

Posing with Alexis, our neighbor, who was our first trick-or-treater!

Nana and the boys.

Our attempt at a family photo- unfortunately we waited until the end of the night!

We are exhausted! What a busy Halloween. We started the day with preschool, where they were having a huge Halloween carnival complete with a petting zoo, pumpkin farm, and train for the children to ride. We were out the door by 8:30am, and Alex was so excited! We pulled in, put on the firefighter costume in the car, and headed to Mrs. Anderson's classroom. Now keep in mind, Alex has been to quite a few costume party's this month, and has enjoyed ALL of them. As we walked into his classroom, he looked at Mrs. Anderson, who was dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and he shut his eyes as tight as he could and stopped moving. He stood there frozen, so I had to pick him up and carry him to the rug where all of the children were sitting happily in their costumes. Alex was totally terrified. He started to cry with these big crocodile tears and kept whispering to me, "Excuse me mommy, please don't leave me here!" It was so sad! I stayed with him, and we made our way outside for the parade. I gave him Rover (his stuffed dog) and eventually he relaxed and started having fun with his preschool buddies. When I went to pick him up a few hours later, I couldn't even get him to say hello to me. Once I coaxed him into the car (using some of the candy he got at the preschool trunk-or-treat), I asked him how his day was going. He said, "Great. I rode on the train with Shane. He drove, and I just enjoyed the ride." What a funny little man. What three-year-old says he "just enjoyed the ride"?!
Last night, after carving pumpkins and some neighborhood trick-or-treating, we headed to Alan's parents church for the party Papa was in charge of. He didn't mess around- this was no typical ward Halloween party. There were 2 bounce houses, a cake-walk, popcorn station, dinner for everyone, made-to-order cotton candy, of course trunk-or-treating and more. Alex got a real kick out of seeing Nana dressed as a cat, but highlight for him was his grape cotton candy. We are officially sugared out, and are spending today recuperating! Hope you all had a great day, too!