Athens Marathon 2010

On the 2,500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, Anthony (and 12,000 other runners) retraced Pheidippides' footsteps from Marathon to Athens:

Pre-race site-seeing at the Acropolis

The marathon route with elevation profile

The starting line

Victory!

Happy Halloween!

Our ward's "Trunk-or-Treat" and other Halloween festivities with "The Sams"

Apple Day at Lathcoats Farm & Pumpkin Carving

 

 

Holly (15.10.10)

It seems like ages ago now, but in October my dear friend Holly came to visit.  

A day trip to Cambridge

A weekend in London

Portobello Road, Boden, Harrod's...shopping, eating and lots of good conversation!  It was the most perfect girl-weekend!  Thank you for making the long trip Hol! 

Holly and her husband, Kumen, are the most amazing people.  They have long awaited the blessing of children in their home.  The link below is for their adoption profile.  If you know of anyone looking for wonderful adoption parents, please pass it along. 

https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/24875021/ourMessage.jsf

Cotswalds

Our hotel in Chipping Camden

 

Our morning walk behind our hotel

 

The church in Chipping Camden

 

More Chipping Camden and Stratford upon Avon

Day 2 - morning walk

The countryside (which reminded us of Switzerland)

 

The playground at Sudeley Castle (where we spent hours fighting dragons) 

The Sudeley Castle chapel 

Daylesford Organic Farm Shop (or was it a day spa?)

Marathon Training

 
Anthony preparing for his weekly long run

Colchester Zoo

Happy Birthday Will!

School

 

Brooke & Andrew's first day at Reception (full time Kindergarten).  They were really excited, but laughing they pretended to be sad.

 

"While the cat's away, the mice will..." go grocery shopping!  So easy with just 2 kids!

 

Matthew's first day back at Pre-School

 

Ready to ride

 

All dolled up in uniforms

Birthday

The Pool

(We rented out the kid's favorite swimming pool and had the run of it for just us, Andrew & Brooke's friends and each of their families.  It was a blast!  In between back flips and corkscrews Andrew said, "Thank you so much for bringing me here! This is the best party!")

The Cakes

 
"Pass the Parcel"
(A British party game my kids have quickly grown to love)
 

Opening presents

(Photos couldn't really capture the sheer craziness of these few minutes.  All the girls seemed to naturally gravitate to Brooke's presents and all the boys circled around Andrew.  Two kids opening at the same time, present after present, wrapping paper everywhere, kids everywhere...I'm lucky I was able to keep a list!)   


Although we celebrated almost an entire month early, it was great to spoil our cute almost 5 year-olds.  Happy Birthday Kiddos!

Cambridge

Punting, Kings College, Trinity Street, and Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree.  A very relaxing town with a highly intellectual feel.  We loved Cambridge, and hope this was the first of many visits.  

USA Trip 2010

USA Trip: St George, N. Carolina, E. Coast

St George, UT

Playing with cousins, beating the heat by sheer nakedness, and getting tiny fingerprints all over Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Everyday included a trip to Grandma & Grandpa's pool.  All fear of water subsides when it's over 100F and the water is as warm as a bath (plus having 6 flotation devices helped Brooke's confidence).

Climbing the Red Rocks, now a St. George tradition.  We were lucky enough to have Grandma Marlene join us this time!

Outer Banks, North Carolina

Woodbury Family Reunion: 12 adults, 2 teenagers, 2 pre-teens, 3 "big" kids, 8 kids five years old and under, 3 babies, 30 people total.  It was amazing (stats stolen from my sister-in-law's blog, many more fun pictures found there).

Cousins were without a doubt the highlight of the entire trip for Andrew, Brooke & Matthew.  All of a sudden they had 15  best friends that were fun, cool and wanted to play with them all time.

More swimming everyday

Sand Dunes in Kitty Hawk

Duck Beach

Family Photos

More highlights:  building forts, Baldie's Burgers, Kitty Hawk Kites, Wright Museum, BBQing, being with Grandma & Grandpa, Lucy's Baby Blessing (the youngest Woodbury grandchild) and a great beach house.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut

We spent our last week in the Tri-State Area having more cousin fun, visiting all of Mommy's old hangouts in New Canaan and even getting a dose of Uncle Aaron in the Big Apple. 

24 days, 3 airplanes, 5 cars, 4 houses, 1 hotel, 4 time zones, 7 states, 2 countries and 4 very little well seasoned travelers.
It was a perfect trip.  Until next time USA!