October was Spina Bifida Month/Colorado/Halloween

October was a trying month for our family.  We had long planned a road trip vacation to Colorado for several reasons, to visit family, run a race and attend a good friends wedding.  Even the best of plans changed quickly when Scott became very ill at the start of the month.  Once Scott started feeling better we felt that support from family by traveling to Colorado was still what we needed.  So we packed up the car with 2 kiddos, many games and our dog, Domino, and hit the road for the two day drive.  

Here was a stop to stretch our legs and see where both of Scott's Grandmothers lived.  If any of you follow Dora's adventures, I kept telling Hanna that like Dora, we had to get to the mountains before we got to Grandma's house.  The mountains came 4 hours before we got to Grandma's house.  That was the longest part of our trip.  Overall, the kids were wonderful troopers.

October was Spina Bifida month along with Breast Cancer Awareness.  Because it was Spina Bifida month, I thought it would be great to run a half marathon on behalf of my son, Hayden, at Denver's 1st Rock and Roll Marathon.  Training at 500 feet in Austin and running at 5,000 feet in Denver was a challenge, but worth it.  Before the race I got to train at my mom's at 7,000 feet. Below are a few pics.  

This is my race shirt that I made and felt proud to wear on behalf of SB awareness.  I teared up as I was running next to a man in a wheelchair who said he had raced in over 100 marathons.  We cheered for each other.

I am not yet Hayden's Hero, but I aspire to be.  Pushing myself makes me want to be better for him.  My family and friend Nicole waited and cheered for me at mile 5 & mile 8.  I hope to run on behalf of Spina Bifida in the NYC marathon next year like my cyber SB momma friend Liz.

Below is a pic of my Mom's new house in Colorado Springs (Black Forrest) with plenty of room for the whole family to stay.  Her view is fantastic.

The front of the house

the view from the front of the house

First pumpkin carving & tasting

My brother came out with his family from Provo, UT to introduce their newest addition Conrad and Hanna & Hayden got to play with their cousins Drake and Pierce.

cute chubby Conrad

Hanna and Drake running around the long driveway.

Pierce and Hayden are only 3 weeks apart.

The weather was colder than we are used to, so on the first warm day we headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  It is my favorite zoo.  It is built up on the mountain with great views of the city.

My dad happened to be in the area so he took Hanna on a tractor drive too.

Here we all are at Sarah's wedding.  She was a lovely happy bride.

Hanna finally got to meet her buddy Collin and go to the Pumpkin patch with him.  I try and make it a practice not to post other children other than my own family.

Batman at Halloween

Hayden will get this medal from my race.

Mean/bad black hat cowgirl with a scary cat shirt her momma made

Hayden's new bike.  More to be published for the November post.