Hallie Giving Herself Kisses In The Mirror

San Diego Zoo

We finally made it to the San Diego Zoo. Hallie loved it. All of the animals either said “ruff ruff” or “roar.” I think she almost enjoyed watching the people more than she did seeing the animals even. 

Hallie is ONE

She also loves to brush her teeth and yours

I can’t believe that our little girl is finally 1 year old and has been for over a month now! She is such a treasure. She has finally started walking, which I love…no more nasty hands after going to the park. She loved to kiss her stuffed animals, unzip zippers, bark with the doggies, rub her hands together when you put lotion on. She can fold her arms during prayers, and loves to help do the dishes. She always gets out her spoons and tries to fit them all in one hand. And she LOVES her cousin KC. They just laugh and play so well together. They are so cute. She is starting to understand so much now. And she is very good at shaking her head “yes” and “no.” Luckily she says “yes” much more than “no.”

Hallie eating her monkey cake

Just can't fit enough in the mouth

So I decided to make this monkey cake for her birthday. My family was coming into town and so I made the cake a day ahead. It was sitting on the counter and she saw it and started pointing at it and going “mmmm” like she does when she wants something. I figured that I had to cut the top off the cake anyway to make it flat so I could decorate it. What would be the harm in letting her eat it? I put her on the counter and she went to town. Both cheeks were stuffed and she had more in her hand ready for consumption. We love our little monkey and can’t believe how fast the time has gone. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time and enjoy this stage forever. 

Ashton = 29

Dear Ashton,

Thank you for all you do for us. We are so lucky you were born in this world and that you are a part of our lives. You are such and amazing husband and father. We loved being able to spend so much time with you on your birthday this year. Our favorite part was our picnic lunch at the temple. And sharing that yummy cake was a close second! We love you and are excited to be with you forever!

Love,

Lydia and Hallie bear

ARR Desert Classic Marathon

Pre-Race

This past weekend we went to AZ so I could run this marathon. My husband and Hallie are so supportive! I am so grateful for them. I've never had a time goal before, but I was out to qualify for Boston and needed at most 3:40.

The usually don't sleep well before races, but this night I slept great. Except I had crazy dreams. I had one dream where I was late and everyone kept telling me it was ok because it was chip timed so it doesn't really matter when you start. And then when I did start the race director said that he had to run with me and I kept thinking that he was going to slow me down. And then we had to follow all these dots and they went through office buildings and preschools and up on walls. So weird. And then I was running up this hill and I had my arms above my head and I could not put my arms down and I kept thinking "this is not helping me run fast" and then my alarm went off and I awoke to find that I was sleeping with my arms above my head!

Anyway, I wasn't late for the race, and I didn't have to run with the race director and my arms stayed down the whole time. I told Ashton that I was going to find some guy who was keeping a good pace and stick with him. And me and this one guy, whose name I came to find out was Gavin, were back and forth the whole first half, and once he passed me after the halfway mark, I knew I had to stick with him. And I did. Ashton came and ran with us a few minutes and mentioned to him that I was trying to qualify for Boston and he had his little watch that told him our time, pace, overall pace, and projected finish time. And he totally kept me on track. He led me the rest of the way to the end. Ashton was a savior too, coming to run a few minutes now and then to relive our minds off running.

Me and Gavin

There were a few things that I found particularly challenging about this course:

1. It is 13 miles uphill, and when you are running down hill, it still feels like you're running uphill.
2. Only 118 people ran the marathon (the big Rock and Roll Marathon was 2 weeks before in Tempe) and it's out in the desert. You run out 13.1 miles and then back. Because it is so small, there is virtually no one out there cheering for you. There's you, the elements and a few other runners.
3. There was a head wind the whole way back.
4. There were no time clocks so I had no idea how fast I was running. In some ways this is nice because then you just run and do your best. In other ways, if you know you're time you can push yourself.

All in all, it was a great race. The weather was beautiful. Cool enough so you're not sweating like crazy, but the sun was warm. Gavin was great. And Ashton was amazing. I'm so lucky to have him. I finished the race at 3:34:35, in plenty of time to qualify for Boston. I won't be running it this year. Registration is closed. But I'll be there 2012!

Post-race

11 Months

HALLIE:

• Loves books
• Eats anything
• Can take a few steps on her own
• Dances
• Says "hi" while waving "hi"
• Unrolls toilet paper
• Flushes the toilet
• Cannot get enough bath time
• Smiles and everyone
• Lays on the floor on her tummy and kicks one leg while playing with toys
• Lays on her back, knees bent, while playing on her toy cell phone
• Sleeps long hours in her car seat
• Loves to be a monkey jumping on the bed
• Has a grunty laugh
• Keeps us all on our toes

Christmas 2010

(We couldn't really get a good picture...Hallie is just a mover these days)

Christmas was fantastic. Hallie and I flew right from Baltimore to Arizona. We stayed with the Smiths who treat us like family. The even made us stockings because we forgot ours. We spent lots of time with family and friends. We are thankful to the many people in our lives who take such good care of us.

It was fun to have Christmas with Hallie. She didn't quite get the whole opening up presents until maybe the last one. And even then, once she could see the present she didn't care too much for trying to keep opening it up. She loves pretty much all the things she got, particularly ones that makes music and any book. She absolutely loves books! She will sit with a book for 30 minutes.

Ashton and I spent some time with the Smiths Volunteering at the Salvation Army Christmas dinner that they put on every year. That is one of our favorite things to do when we go to AZ for Christmas.

We also had a great time with our AZ friends. We loved being able to get together and catch up. Well, I loved it and Ashton loved playing with Braden.

After AZ, we went up to UT for the New Year. We loved being able to spend time with everyone in UT again. But we were certainly glad when it was time to go home. Being gone all over the place for 2 weeks was just getting a little challenging. And we were missing our own bed terribly. All in all 2010 was a great year for us. We had a baby, I graduated with a master's, Ashton finished a hard summer, we spent a month in Europe, we played more croquet, and moved to San Diego. I can't think of much that is better.

Pop-Pop, we'll miss you

December 18th, we got a call saying that Pop-pop had passed away. He was an amazing person who would have done anything for anyone. He had a big mouth and a soft heart. If it was in his mind it was on his tongue. He loved the rebellious ones and admired the good ones. We all flew back to be at the funeral, which was right before Christmas. It was a sad occasion, but wonderful to see our family out east. We love them and are glad to have their love and support of us. We were happy to find Gram holding herself together and being the strong woman that she is. We are lucky to still have her and have her know our little angel.

10 Months

I'm just going to say that I have the cutest family. Hallie turned 10 months in December and a few days later decided to take her first steps. Not that she is walking, but attempting.

Posting OVERLOAD

Just to warn you....

So I took a little hiatus from posting on the blog due to many reasons...being on vacation, not having the internet connected on my computer, busy just living life. But I have finally taken the time to just sit down and get it done. So there are like 10 different posts or something all the way from August to right now. So go ahead, take a browse, see how the last few months have been for the Buswells. We think they have been wonderful!

26

Moved

After much consideration and many visits, Ashton and I have decided and have already moved to San Diego. Ashton's brother Jordan lives here with his family and is an entrepreneur of sorts and Ashton decided that he would really love to work with his  brother Jordan. We came down in October and then again in November. Ashton had been looking around and interviewing at many different places and this seemed to be something that he wanted to do and was excited about doing. So we found a place and moved down the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have settled in nicely. I don't mind the cold Utah winter, but I sure got used to this climate quickly, especially being from AZ. No white Christmas? No problem. I'm still getting used to the fact that I live in a place where many people come for vacation. We love the people here and we love being close to Jordan and Rebecca and their wonderful kids. We look forward to finally being someplace for a while.

November--Thanksgiving

Me and Hallie on Thanksgiving

The 5 cousins that are all around Hallie's age.
It's getting a lot harder to have them all be still for a picture.

We spent Thanksgiving up at the Buswell house in UT this year. That is actually where we have been living since we got back from Europe and the summer until Ashton figures out what he really wants to do and where he wants to go. It was absolutely wonderful staying there. No one ever thinks they would ever say that about living with their in-laws, but really, we couldn't have been any place better. We love them and are grateful for everything that have done and continue to do for us. We are particularly grateful for their love and support of us.

November--Hallie 9 months

Our little Hallie bear is almost 10 months, well tomorrow she will be 10 months. I have loved this age. She is ALL OVER the place. She can crawl up stairs, get into cupboards all in the blink of an eye. She makes me laugh almost everyday. I love to make her smile too. She learned to clap her hands, she waves hi like a pro, gives kisses, stands on her own, loves her walking toy. Now what she did by nine months and what she did by now, I can't really remember, but she is growing and learning so fast. We are so grateful for her in our life. And she is just so dang cute!

October Halloween Half

I ran in the Provo Halloween Half marathon this year. It was a wonderful race. I did pretty well 1:39. It has actually inspired me to train to run a marathon in January and try to qualify for Boston. I think I can do it. It was wonderful to have Ashton and Hallie out there cheering for me! I am grateful for their support during all the time that it takes to train for these races. I've decided I'm more of a runner, not a racer. I run like I'm training for something, but this is only my third race ever. I enjoy them, but I enjoy just running much more.