Happy Halloween!!!

Just thought I would post some Halloween Pics...

Starring the Fabulous DeLong Kiddos:

Tarin as the Witch

Ella as the "Pumpkin Princess" what else would she be?

And Walker as Spiderman himself, although he thinks he is superman.

Tarin's Baptism

Last weekend we had Tarin's baptism. She seemed to think that she had to wait forever because she turned 8 about 6 weeks ago. But with Grandparents flying in from all over...this weekend worked out perfectly. It was little rainy and a little chilly, but with lots of warm soup and snuggling with Grandparents we made it work. Tarin got to have her baptism all by herself, she was the only one, it was nice and small. I will admit, when we first moved here, I was a little concerned that it would just be our parents at the baptism, but we have made some pretty incredible friends already and it was nice to have them there to support Tarin on her special day. Ron and Emily drove over from Tulsa....becuase they are moving there.......so we had friends from everywhere there. It was a great day. Nana gave the talk on baptism, my dad gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and we had a couple really special video presentations and a muscial number by Ella, Lyndee Young, Kaitlyn Young, and Tarin. It was a great day. Here are some pics before...the kids were running like crazies after, so we didn't get any post-dunk pictures. Oh well....here's what we have!

Grandparent Visit

The night everyone got into town, we had some CRAZY rain. We got like 5 inches over night, so the next day we went to check out some of the waterfalls we had played in with Ron and Emily on Labor Day. They were ROARING and didn't look very appealing to play in. It was amazing to see the difference a little, or a lot of rain, can make.

Both Dan's parents and my parents came for a visit. We were SO lucky to get all four of them here for Tarin's baptism. It was a fun-filled weekend. We went to a little city called Eureka Springs about an hour away. It was a fun shop-filled town. It was know for it's healing springs and used to be where people went to drink the healing waters and get better..the store owner we spoke with said she just thinks it was because people actually came and relaxed that they got better. There was a little store where there was a trained bunny that took your money, and then gave you your pen and receipt to sign. The kids were greatly amused by it. Of course we had to buy something to see the bunny in action.

Eureka Springs is also one of two places in the world where the Passion Play is put on. I went when I was in high school, and it is a pretty amazing production. Who would think that Oberomergau Germany and Eureka Springs, AR would have something in common. In Germany they only put on the passion play once in 10 years, but in AR, they do it every summer. We got some pictures of the "Big Jesus" or as they call him here the "Christ of the Ozarks." It is a BEAUTIFUL spot with an incredible view.

Dan's Race

So, Dan got somewhat coerced into running 5K with our neighbor Tiffany. He wasn't thrilled about it, but it was fun for him. The kids and I went to watch him run and finish. It was for a charity called Hannah's Hope...a little girl that died of cancer, who's family is now raising money to help find the cure. It was a good cause, but wasn't well attended. It was the first year though, so it can only grow from here on out. .Here are some pics of the runners... I am trying to get Dan addicted to running so that he will run a marathon with me next year....it hasn't been working so far, but I have about 8 months to convince him... we will see.

Labor Day Itself

I ran a 10K race on LaborDay. It was a small race here in northwest AR called Run for a Child. A bunch of ladies from church have organized a group to run together for the past few years. Everyone wears a pink shirt that says "Sole Sisters." I was lucky, soon after we moved here, to meet some great running friends. A few from church, and one right next door. They were so sweet to let me join their "sole sisters" group literally a few days before the race. The race was really close to our house so it was fun to see Dan and the kids along the way with their signs. I was at this point 15 weeks pregnant, and it was kindof hard, mostly because I ended with a full bladder. We spent some time at the party after the race, lots of free food and fun for the whole family. . . bounce houses and lots of Wal-Mart vendors just giving away stuff. It was fun for all of us.

After the race, we hurried home, showered and cleaned up and then headed off to Branson, MO with another great family we met here....kindof here...the girl I met this summer in Utah and her family, the Youngs. They took us up to Silver Dollar City...which is an amusement park in Branson. It was a beautiful, hilly, windy road that made most of us car sick. It is only like 60 miles, but because of the crazy roads, takes about an hour and a half to get there. It was a great time. Tarin loved it because she was FINALLY tall enough to ride every ride she wanted. She and her new BFF Lyndee rode a rollercoaster called Powderkeg with their dad's and got STUCK on the rollercoaster. IT broke down right as they were ALMOST getting off. They closed the ride down and luckily got everyone off safely. They had to climb down off the ride onto a ladder. It was crazy...but FUN! Another perk of Walker being SO big is that there aren't too many rides he can't ride at amusement parks. Most kids his age have to ride with an adult, but the kids is really the size of a 4 year old, so he can do most by himself, which make his nautious mommy VERY happy. The Youngs also introduced us to a great place for BBQ, as we have been feeling deprived since leaving TX. It was some of the best we have had since moving. I wish I could remember the name of the place. It was awesome though! It was a busy busy, but FUN filled weekend.

Ella the Amazing....

I know, I am a slacker. I have been meaning to update the blog in such a long time and haven't taken the time to do it, why you ask...simply because I am lazy. We ended with Labor Day weekend last month...so that is where I will pick up. After the Gilleland's left we had a nice calm Sunday. Ella decided it was time for her to ride with no training wheels. She had still been using them quite a bit, but was begging us enough that we gave in. Dan took her training wheels off, and then set her up on the drive way (with a helmet of course) and we were expecting a big crash and lots of crying...SHE COMPLETELY Surprised us. She took off down the driveway, made a big turn, got stuck, fell off, got right back on, and started up again, ALL BY HERSELF. She could do it, she just had to decide that it was time. She has been loving to ride her bike ever since. We have been on family bike rides, and now there are NO complaints from her. It is fun for her to feel like she can keep up with her big sister. This is a miracle on so many levels. Coming from the girl who doesn't like to sweat, and refused to ride a bike until last year...pretty miraculous. Dan even bought her a power wheel for her 3rd birthday because she couldn't keep up with the kids on the street.....pretty sad. Anyway...power wheel is in storage and now Ella is in her own power behind the wheel....We are so proud of her Walker didn't want to be left out either. He is a pretty speedy bike rider himself....probably won't be using training wheels much longer....