last night, we carved our pumpkin for family night.

(like i'm sure 99% of the LDS community did!)

matt picked out the design, i drew it on the pumpkin, matt carved it out, and chet... well... he made a mess, and stabbed things with the butter knife we let him hold on to.

he totally doesn't remember carving a pumpkin last year, so i could tell he didn't understand what we were doing.

but when we put a candle in the pumpkin, and turned off the lights, he thought it was *magical*.

his face was priceless!

this afternoon we had our first taste of trick-or-treating for the year.

our friends, natalie and max, invited the boys and i to join them trick-or-treating at melaluca.

after all my years here in rexburg, i have never really understood what melaluca is.

all i know is that it seems like everyone works there. ev-ry-one!

anyhoo, turns out they put together a neat little halloween party for kids.

the place was decorated so well, the employees were all super friendly, and chet and max got lots of candy. total success.

after that, we went to porter park, dumped out our loot, indulged in some treats, and got silly.

we have 4 different trick or treating events that we could possibly attend tomorrow, so there is more candy and much more silliness to come!

 

[aren't post race pictures the best? ... not!]

i ran a half marathon this weekend!

it was the halloween half marathon in provo.

since it was a halloween theme, most of the runners dressed up. but not me.

i'm way too cool for that.

[or perhaps that means i'm super lame?]

a bunch of people have said something along the lines of "i didn't know you were doing that!"

well, don't feel offended.

i don't like to talk much about things like that before hand because i only want to feel pressure from myself to do well.

and, trust me, that is more then enough pressure!

i am so sore today. like, so sore!

if i saw someone coming at me with a chainsaw, i wouldn't even try to get away.

it would be hopeless.

luckily, the odds of that happening are fairly low.

and at least my agony is for a good reason.

this was my 3rd half marathon.

i ran one in 2006 and another in 2011.

this one was my personal best time.

1:51:27

i'm not a super fast runner by any means.

my goal was just anything under 2 hours. so i am very pleased with my time!

especially since i haven't had a ton of time to train.

[holden just turned 4 months the day before the run.]

i wanted to do some sort of run to get me back in shape after pregnancy.

and i wanted it to happen before winter arrived in full force.

that sort of happened...

the race started up in the provo canyon, at the sundance ski resort, so it was definitely wintery up there!

it was sooo cold. i could see my breath. and i was shivering like mad.

but, as i ran down through the canyon, it slowly changed back to fall weather.

and, instead of the trail being spotted with icy patches, it was covered in yellow leaves.

more then anything, running is an emotional battle for me.

if i let my tired legs or a nasty cramp get to me, i'm done.

so, before the run, i said a prayer that i would be able to keep a positive attitude during it.

and i feel like i was very blessed - not only to keep a positive attitude, but also to have a testimony building experience.

let me explain...

i think it is really easy to compare life to a race.

and today i have had lots of time think about my race, and compare it to my life.

before the race started i was super nervous.

but i knew that i didn't have much choice at that point.

i had been bused up the canyon, and had no other way to get down but to run.

so, when the gunshot sounded, i started running.

a few miles in i got a terrible cramp, and a couple miles later there was a surprise hill.

my hands were sore from the cold and, at times, my legs felt tired and heavy.

it was discouraging when other runners would pass me.

and i was awfully tempted to stop when i saw others taking a break.

so much of me wanted to stop and take a break.

but there was a part of me that knew i could push through.

i had trained for this!

it was the part of me that knew, if i just kept running, my cramp would eventually go away.

and it knew that the hill couldn't go on forever.

and it knew that, although some runners were passing me, i didn't need to worry about them. i was running for me.

that wise part kept reminding me that, either way, the run will eventually end, but that the harder i push myself the happier i will be with my result.

so, i listened...

when i noticed that i was slowing down, i would force myself to pick up the pace.

and i never let myself take a rest because i knew it would only make it easier to justify another... and another.

i kept thinking about the finish line.

and how it would be so much more exciting to pass it if i truly felt like i had given my all.

so that's what i did.

and you know what? it really did feel so good to look up at the timer as i crossed the finish line and be proud of myself.

now, i'm assuming you can see where i'm going with this (as far as gospel applications go)!

there are times in life when i do/will feel like a trial will never end, or that it is more then i can handle.

some times others will pass me.

other times they will slow down and stop.

and i will want to stop too.

but i need to listen to that part of me that knows better.

because, one day, the race will end.

and, if i give it my all, i will be so much happier when i cross the finish line.

[for the next part of this story you need to know that i had told matt that i planned on crossing the finish line at about 2 hours.

so, since i beat that time, he wasn't there yet when i finished.

not his fault!]

this race was a big event. there were thousands of runners.

so that meant there there were also a ton of people at the finish line, cheering on their friends and family.

when i finished, my name and time were announced, i was given a medal, and tons of people came up to congratulate me.

it was exciting!

... but i found myself searching for matt.

he was supposed to be there.

and i really wanted him there to share that special moment with me.

i was standing in a crowd of happy people who had just completed the same race as me, but i felt almost lost without him there.

and this might sound weird but, for a brief moment, it made me realize just how sad we would be if the other didn't do their best in this life.

and if we didn't get to be together forever.

like we had planned.

of course it would be exciting to be with our Heavenly Father, but not as exciting as it could be.

now i have this renewed desire to give it my all.

and that, my friends, is the end of my spiritual insight :)

moving on...

matt made it to the finish line not that long after i completed the run.

it may have been for the best that he wasn't there for my big finale because i'm pretty sure i wasn't looking super attractive at that point!

and the fact that he made it there at all (after getting 2 kids up and out of our hotel) was impressive enough to me!

he had even fed chet a nutritious breakfast - a krispy kreme donut!

chet was actually still chowing down on it when he came to pick me up.

and he refused to share even the littlest bite with me.

really?! do you have any idea how hungry i am?

what a stinker.

matt, on the other hand, is not a stinker.

he is the best husband ever.

he has supported me completely with my running. always has.

i get up early to run, so that means that matt is always in charge of feeding holden first thing.

he never complains... and then he heads off to a long day at school.

i was joking with him that i owe a big chunk of credit to him for my great finish time.

...but that i also owe an equally big chunk of credit to taylor swift!

i'm quite certain that she released her new album 5 days before my race on purpose.

she just knew it would make all the difference!

i listened to that album the entire race.

yep, 1 hour 51 minutes and 27 seconds of pure t-swift.

[haha i'm sure that thought makes a lot of people cringe!]

after the race, we went to thanksgiving point. they had a halloween celebration going on there.

it was so fun, and the weather was perfect.

after that, on our way back to rexburg, we stopped at the new mall in salt lake.

we loved it.

matt and i would have loved to spend a few hours wandering around it but, by that point, chet was way too exhausted (aka. miserable) to let us have any fun.

so we just went to the food court, played in the kids area, and hit the road.

ugh, kids...

this weekend was such a great family get away.

we have fun together.

matt rode a mechanical bull. he said it was "the fastest 5 bucks he has ever spent". no kidding!

chet rode a cow train. parents can ride with their kids, but we figured chet was old enough to go alone.

... that was until the train drove out of sight and didn't return for 10 minutes.

thank goodness chet was still on the train when it came back!

ever since we got nice(er) phones - ones that take decent pictures - i have gotten worse and worse at using my camera.

my phone just always seems so much more convenient!

kids aren't the best when it comes to holding a pose, so whatever snaps a picture the fastest wins.
plus, instagram is fun.

here are some more phone pictures..

[i realize that these pictures of holden are super similar, but i love them both.]

holden loves to cuddle. it's nice.

notice that red mark on holden's arm?

he has another on the right side of his chest.

all of the doctors that holden has seen tell us not to worry about them.

they say they will get bigger (which they are) and then they will eventually go away.

chet is very curious about them. he calls them holden's "spots".

now that the weather is cooling off, i am trying to think of fun inside activities for chetty.

and for me!

institute is on wednesdays (with free babysitting).

the library has storytime of thursdays.

and i plan on getting chet in a gymnastics class at some point this winter.

unfortunately, he is too young to go alone - he has to be in a mom & tot class.

...so it looks like i will be taking a gymnastics class too.

that will be hard for me. it will probably bring up feelings of low self esteem from my younger years.

you see, i was unable to pass my gymnastics class (twice) because i can't do a cartwheel.

how embarrassing.

if you know of any other fun toddler classes/activities in rexburg, let me know!

[these are a couple pictures from the library.

chet thinks it is pretty great that he can play with the computers at the library without getting in trouble!]

ps. if you use instagram, you should find me.

@pamleavitt

this post is going to be a little bit ridiculous.

we got the rest of our family photos back, so i wanted to post some of our favorites on here.

but, it was seriously so hard to choose just a couple.

i am in love with all of them!

this is the best i could do at narrowing them down. sorry!

it snowed last night.

this morning, i cried. real tears.

it's going to be a long winter.

this halloween season has been our funnest yet with chet.
we have already found all sorts of halloween activities to do with him.
he is now an expert on pumpkins - tells us EVERY TIME he sees one. spiders too.
we have picked out a pumpkin, painted pumpkins, decorated pumpkin cookies with max, and made pumpkin bread.
chet insisted on tasting the canned mashed pumpkin while we were baking the bread, so i let him.
i watched carefully as he put a big blob in his mouth. haha he was not impressed!
we have done some cute halloween crafts too.
and last night chet and holden practiced wearing their costumes. [so cute!!]
we are a little nervous that our strong-willed 2 year old might refuse to put on his costume come halloween night, so i thought it would be good to practice wearing it and getting fussed over in it.
i think that the fact that his costume as a hood will be our saving grace. chet likes hoods.
i am excited to see how chet handles halloween night.
he is a bit of a chicken!
we took chet to see a little halloween light show that a house down the street from us puts on every night in october.
it's really nothing special, and definitely not scary, but chet was pretty nervous.
every time we suggest we go back, chet shuts that idea down really fast!
plus, chet hates masks.
matt likes to put on masks and bug chet when we are at the store.  it's funny. mean, but funny!
i'm sure once chet figures out that halloween night = candy he will be willing to tough out just about anything though :)

1 week until halloween.

colors have never been chet's best area.

he is amazing when it comes to organizing, memorizing, and figuring out how things work.

he will sort his toys from biggest to smallest and it makes me think i have this genius child!

but he doesn't put much effort into mastering his colors.

me: chet, what color is this apple?

chet: green.

me: some apples are green, but this one is red. what color is this pumpkin?

chet: umm... green.

me: nope, it's orange. what color is this horse?

chet: green.

me: [sigh].

he says most things are green.
except when something is actually green, then he calls it blue!

so i have been really diligent with teaching him a new color. yellow.

chet likes school buses.

so every time we see a school bus i tell him it is yellow.

and whenever we see something else yellow, i tell him it is yellow.. like a school bus.

last night we were painting pumpkins and matt pointed to the yellow paint and asked chet what color it was.

chet replied it was 'yellow, like a school bus'.

i was so proud!

but then chet pointed to the brown paint and says, 'brown, like chocolate chips'.

matt and i laughed.

chocolate chips are my weakness. i sneak them all the time.

but i guess i'm not as sneaky as i thought!
and i guess i should stop worrying about teaching him colors.
he knows his colors, he just likes calling everything green.. probably because he knows it bugs me :)

chet is at this age where he likes to be funny.

he does silly dance moves and makes funny noises.

he likes to make us laugh.

we like making chet laugh too.

his laugh is so jolly lately. it is right from his gut.

it is fun to see what he thinks is entertaining.

i like watching him when he watches a movie.

he gets the cutest little grin when he thinks a part is funny.

a few other things about chet...

he is pretending more these days.

he talks to his toys, and makes his toys talk to each other.

he makes sound effects for his cars and planes (such a boy!).

he sings the 'clean up' song when he puts toys away.
he likes singing made-up songs with matt.

when ever we meet new kids he asks if they are cousins.

he looks forward to nursery. he was so upset when we picked him up from nursery today!

he has a new buddy named max.

he likes running in circles.

he insists he wears a hat and/or a hood when we leave the house.

he likes playing in the bath, but hates washing his hair.

he doesn't like wind.

he likes to squish ants.
he likes matt's tools.
he has a patch of hair on the back of his head that is blonder and fuzzier then the rest.

he would dip everything in ranch, if we would let him.

he always wants to give holden his bottle, but that's it. he doesn't like to hold it after that.

he loves riding in those obnoxiously large car themed shopping carts.

he has great manners. it's my favorite when i say 'thank you' and he replies 'you're welcome'.

he can be super stubborn.
he has learned how to stall at bedtime.
he has the worst fake cry.

he would pick matt over me any day.

he can eat insane amounts of popcorn.
he has a good throw, but sucks at catching. 
we are still undecided if we think he is left or right handed.
we are still waiting for 1 of his 2 year molars to arrive.

he likes back scratches, and he has an awfully nice back to scratch.

he is always searching for money to put in his piggy bank.
(we had to relocate our change dish because he stole all the money from it!)
if we ask him to do something he doesn't like, he will give himself a time out instead of doing it.
he likes to point out the temple.
and we can see the temple from almost anywhere in the city... so he points it out a lot.
chet is a very nice boy.
and as he would say, we 'lub' him!