Friday, October 5, 2012

Random Ketchup

Here is some Random Ketchup for you...

The Aweome Traina's and Homemade Noodles
We have an incredible couple in our ward named Tony and Lona Traina.  They are amazing, and of Italian descent.  Recently they offered to show us how to make homemade meatballs, sauce and noodles...
 IMG_9710
The kids LOVED using the pasta machine!
 IMG_9711
IMG_9713
IMG_9716
IMG_9718
Lots and lots of pasta...
IMG_9719
Such an awesome night!!

The Gordon Family Olypmics
Back when the Olympics were going on, my kids decided we needed to do our own Olympics at home.  So everyone picked an event and for our next Family Home Evening the games began!  Sydney thought the women's gymnastics was amazing, so of course she chose a balance beam...
IMG_9727
Carter felt that the Balance beam routine could definitely be improved upon by the addition of a ball...
IMG_9729
One of our events was Tennis.  Only we flicked buttons over the net.  A little tricky at first, but even Carter caught on, winning his match against Daddy...
IMG_9725
One of the boys chose shooting...
IMG_9732
IMG_9733
IMG_9734
Also included in our events were archery and volleyball.
Here are the gold medalists.  If you notice the chocolate on Carter's mouth, that's because he had already eaten his medal...
IMG_9738
IMG_9739

Really Random Summer Fun
These are really random, but I thought they were kind of cool.  One day Spencer and Sam decided to play around with some water balloons.  So, they filled up a balloon (well, several, actually) and then they would pop it and try to catch some cool footage with the camera.  All these pictures were taken by them.
First the unsuspecting balloon...
 IMG_9744
The spectator, prepared for the worst...
 IMG_9746
And the water balloon, sans balloon...
IMG_9745
Pretty good timing on the shutter, I thought!  Oh, I miss summer!

The First Day of School 
Alas, the day had to come!  And while I really did feel ready for the kids to scoot off to school again,  I felt kind of sad at the loss of our freedom!  Back to homework, crazy schedules and early bedtimes!  But, here they are!  The 2012 Gordon students...
First we have Spencer and Tyler, who rise at the crack of dawn to catch the school bus at 6:40.  Yes, you read that right!  I am so glad they are boys and can get ready super fast in the morning!  Sad thing is, in these pictures it is light and sunny outside.  But, already it is dark when they walk out the door!
IMG_9791
They look thrilled to be getting their picture taken, don't they?
IMG_9788
Next up is Sam!  Who actually looks excited to be on his way!  Sam was really excited that this year, he finally gets to walk home from school alone! (Not like it's a long walk) And that deal was sweetened when Sydney got placed in Morning kindergarten, so he doesn't even have to walk with his sister.  It's just him and the road...
 IMG_9795
And now the newbie!  The Big Kindergartener!  Sydney! (And yes, the others got one photo, and she got three)
 IMG_9801
I really wondered how Sydney would do starting out.  Last year, when she started preschool, she wouldn't let me leave without big tears.  This year, she was chomping at the bit! Off she went, no worries...
IMG_9806
Come on Mom, we've got some Kindergarten waiting...
IMG_9805
And, the one left behind...
IMG_9799
Carter followed me around all morning asking, "Where Sydney go?", "Where Sam go?" On down the list.  Poor guy didn't quite know what to do with himself.  He is adjusting now, but still misses his buddies.

The Half 
Steve conned me into signing up to run a half-marathon. (I blame him, it was his idea) So, we began training together, which was the best part of the whole thing.  With Steve's super busy schedule, those early morning runs together became my favorite part of the day.
Here is the before shot (thanks to Jim and Jacob for the pictures, and for being our cheerleaders)
 We look pretty spunky, pretty confident, pretty naive...
 IMG_6980
The start...
 IMG_6983
The end.  Notice Steve looks happy.  Still looking spunky, confident.  I, on the other hand, look like I want to die, which at that point I pretty much did! :)
IMG_6999
Contrast this one to the one at the beginning.  I don't know about you, but when I look at this picture words like: wasted, death warmed over, and whooped come to my mind.
 IMG_7006
I am glad we did it though, and it was awesome to do it together!

There you have some random ketchup!  Hopefully I can stay on track better from here!


2 comments:

Kristen said...

Ok here are my randomness comments: I totally miss the Traina's - you'll have to tell them hi for me! I love your family Olympics idea! Sydney looks SO CUTE going off to kindergarten, and I can't believe you ran a 1/2 marathon - go you and Steve! :)

Tonya C. said...

I would love to run a 1/2 marathon, but only if Blake will tackle it with me. Of course he'll be the smiling one who never breaks a sweat while I crawl across the finish line on bloody hands and knees!