Our big strong Daddy

On December 4th Chris competed in his second powerlifting competion, The 2010 Fife Holiday Classic. He worked extra hard for about a month before to get into the weight class that he wanted. He exercised his butt off and really focused on his eating habits. It paid off because he reached his goal.

It's so crazy watching him lift as much weight as he does. It puts me a little on edge, and at the same time makes me incredibly proud. He lifts raw, which means he uses no type of gear to assist him when he's lifting. Some people will strap their knees or wear these insanely tight clothes that make them really stiff to help them. But Chris just uses his own strength.

His best lift of the day for squats was 512 pounds. His best benchpress was 347 pounds. For his deadlift he lifted 540. That's 540 pounds just picked up off of the ground. Can YOU do that?! I'm lucky if I can lift 30 pounds off the ground!

Chris was first introduced to competitive powerlifting by an employee at the YMCA. While Chris was doing his regular workout one day, Mark asked him if he would be interested and has been training him ever since. He's a great coach and a supportive trainer. Chris has been very blessed to meet him.

Even though it was long and the competition went quite a bit over schedule, it was still a great day. I got to hang out with Shellie and Matt while we watched the lifters. The boys were all being babysat for the day, so I didn't have to worry about keeping them busy. After the awards were all given out and we said good-bye to everybody, Chris and I got to go out to dinner. We decided on Jimmy Mac's where Chris rewarded himself with a giant steak and a basketful of yeast rolls.

If you would like to view the videos of Chris' lifts or learn more about his powerlifting, you can go to his blog and check it all out.

Thanksgiving

This was only the second time in the ten years that Chris and I have been married that we didn't have Thanksgiving at home. Instead we made the venture up to my dad's house in Mill Creek. We picked up Uncle JC on the way and brought the boys snow clothes to play outside. We planned on being there for most of the day. Unfortunatly when we got there the snow was melting and it was starting to rain. So playing outside only lasted for a few minutes before it was too slushy to enjoy. They were okay with watching 3-D movies in Grandpa and Granny's theater room though.

Granny and I finished off cooking dinner (both of us ruining our nice shirts with grease) while all of the boys lounged around the house doing manly things like: watching TV, listening to music in Grandpa's studio, and talking about computers.

There were some interesting experiements going on in the kitching, including Granny's sweet potato concoction. It was so thick with marshmallow fluff at the top that the mixer wouldn't budge when she turned it on. It was hilarious. In the end it turn out okay though: creamy mashed sweet sweet sweet potatoes.

Grandpa was very proud of his turkey and dressing. It's his specialty. He's actually gotten pretty good at it over the past few years.

There was so much great food to be eaten and it turned out to be a really great Thanksgiving.

The Blokus Master

We are a family that LOVES board games. We're always looking for new ones to try. We had seen Blokus a few times but never really knew what it was. For any of you who have never heard of it yourselves, think of a cross between Tetris and Dominoes. All we did know was that everybody that talked about it, loved it.

About once or twice a year I hit up Fred Meyer when they have a sale on board games and pick out a few new ones. I usually just buy games at the thrift store for a couple of dollars. So when I saw the price tag of Blokus at $29.99 my jaw nearly hit the floor. After checking out the box I decided to get it despite the price. It's been one of the best $30 I've ever spent. It is so much fun! It's something that we can all play together without Chris and I getting bored with a simple kid game, and at the same time the boys can play it without getting upset that it's too grown up for them to understand. We even bought the travel version to keep in the van for them to play.

Logan absolutly adores Blokus and he is really pretty good at it. This was the first time he beat all of us. He was so proud of himself, he wanted a picture.

King of the Date jungle

Moses is the cutest cat in the world. He will chase the boys in circles around the house like a dog. He hides behind corners and jumps on their legs. He'll run up behind Sawyer, jump on his back, and take him down. I love to watch them wrestle with each other. The boys adore him so much. He can get all of them riled up and playing with him whenever he wants them to. He's totally won over all of our hearts.

The first snow of the year

One morning in November, we woke up to this...

And Sawyer did this....

The boys were so excited. Logan was dying to get out there and start eating snow and Brandon had a snowbeast he wanted to build. Sawyer was completely hypnotized by the flakes. He loved it. Until we actually went outside that is.

At first being out there was okay. I was holding Sawyer and he seemed interested in being put down and getting a feel for the snow. First though I wanted to get a picture of all three of them before they completely tore up all the snow in the yard.

Then I set Sawyer down in the grass. He. Hated. It. A lot. I know I'm not supposed to laugh at my kids, but it was hilarious. I would pick him up and he would stop completely like nothing ever happened, then as soon as his feet touched the ground he'd burst into bloody murder screams.

He was okay standing on the cement where it wasn't too deep and he wasn't squishing into the deep stuff. Logan calmed him down by bringing him balls of snow to throw and even got him to share in on a few bites with him.

He seemed to be getting more used to the idea of it so I decided to try the grass again.....nope. Still hated it.

So as he stood there and screamed his head off for a couple of minutes (on the walkway, not the grass, I'm not THAT mean), I got a few pictures of the boys playing.

We ended up getting eleven inches of snow! It was pretty exciting.

"Spikes, spikes, spikes!!!"

Logan's youth group at church had a crazy hair day. He knew exactly how he wanted his hair that night. When I asked what he had in mind, he pogoed up and down and shouted "Spikes, spikes, spikes!!" And he wanted them everywhere. I did my best but a couple of them just would not stand up straight. Too long. His hair is a bit shorter now and there is a crazy hair day coming up at school next week, so we're going to give it another try.

Halloween Night

This year we decided to go trick-or-treating with our Cub Scout pack. One of our families lives in a great neighborhood so we all met up and went through there. Grandpa Jerry, of course, came down and went out with us like he always does. This was Sawyer's first year of really getting in on the action of trick-or-treating. He got it down pretty quick. He carried his little sack and trotted up to each door like a pro. He held out his bag very politly when the people would open their doors. If they handed him his candy he would take it from them and put it in his sack, look at them and say "Bye" in his adorable little voice and turn and walk away. It was the cutest thing.

The other two boys were running so far ahead of us with the rest of the scouts, I couldn't get any pictures of them. It was driving me nuts.

It didn't really seem like Halloween. It was kind of eerie. There were hardly any kids at all out on the streets. It was almost like Halloween was cancelled altogether. It was such a nice night out, I was walking around in a baggy short sleeved shirt and tank top. It wasn't that chilly at all. That almost never happens in Washington. I think that organized trick-or-treating events are taking over the holiday. Kinda lame in my opinion. It's Halloween!! Get out there and work for that candy!

After about an hour and a half, Sawyer's candy sack was dragging on the ground and he couldn't carry it anymore. The poor thing was stretched out so much that the wiring on the inside that supported the bag was bending and tearing the material. It was getting frustrating for him because he would trip and spill his candy and have to pick it up. He was starting to breakdown. It was time for us to start heading home. We still had to get him to the car though, so Daddy through him over his shoulder and we made our way to the van. We said "so long" to Grandpa Jerry and the rest of our pack and headed home. Sawyer wasn't happy.

Until we got home and he was given the payoff for all of his hardwork.

Pumpkin Bash

The day before Halloween we went to The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle for the annual Pumpkin Bash with our friends, the Young family. Kids were allowed to wear costumes and get a discount on admission. We of course dressed ours up since we are never ones to turn down a discount! But when we got there we found out that it was actually cheaper to use our Microsoft Prime Card to get in then pay the actual admission. I was really surprised at how many people were there considering the fact that it was pouring rain pretty much the whole day. It was a lot of fun seeing all of the different and creative costumes.

The workers at the zoo filled pumpkins with different treats for the animals and put them in their enclosures for them to play with. They have posted times for each of the "feedings" but when we tried to get to the areas at their scehduled times, they were beyond packed with people and there was no way to really see what was going on. So we just wandered the zoo at our own pace taking in the sights. They also had a trick-or-treat area set up in one section of the zoo where local business could come and set up a table to advertise their services while handing out candies to the kids. I think the rain kept most of the vendors away though, because it was pretty dead in that area and the kids only got a couple of pieces of candy each.

Regardless of the rain and the crowds, it was still a fun day. Hopefully next year it won't be so crummy and we can go again. But what am I saying? The end of October in Seattle? Yeah, it's gonna be raining.