Merry Christmas (and then some)...

Merry Christmas everybody!!!  We've had a very busy month or so since our last post.  Here is a quick photo recap and a short video of Christmas morning with Garrett...

We fried turkey for Thanksgiving and stuffed ourselves silly.  Heather provided the turkey hat.

We went and cheered Troy on in his last home football game of his college career.  We are proud of him for graduating and for letting us be a part of his football life.  We have loved watching him play and will miss it.

We visited Santa Claus and Garrett was having none of it.

 I really liked this picture of Heather and my Dad on Christmas morning

 Heather rocking out on Garrett's Elmo guitar

 Uncle Troy came through with the sporting goods for Garrett giving him a baseball glove/baseball and a football

Mom looking comfy

How 'bout a little brotherly love.  I'm pretty sure Troy farted on my leg.

Santa brought Garrett a (manly) playhouse for Christmas complete with a gas pump and a basketball hoop.  He loves it and will undoubtedly spend hours in it with and without Otis. 

AND....................

for those who might not know yet, Jordie is knocked up again.  She is due about the middle of June.



Halloween Recap (i.e. a cross-dressing extravaganza)

Halloween 2010 was filled with fun...and a lot of scariness. Heather and Chad ran the Halloween 1/2 Marathon in Provo and Heather thought it would be funny if they went as the Princess and the Frog; Chad as the princess and Heather as the frog. There were some confused kids along the course that had never seen a pretty blonde princess with a beard. One little girl started to cry. Princess and the Frog crossing the finish line

Chad as the princess, Heather as the frog, and Jordie as the hottest girl in the world

The evening brought even more blonde wigs and scariness. There seems to have been some sort of fascination with the movie Labyrinth and David Bowie in our household over the last few months. As a result, Chad dressed up as Jareth the Goblin King and Garrett played the part of Toby, the little boy he kidnaps in the movie. We couldn't convince Jordan to dress up and play the part of Ludo. Props to Jordan and Val for assembling such a great (freightening) costume.

"Dance magic dance"

Garrett, a.k.a. Toby, was fascinated by my crystal orb

Ladies, don't act like you're not impressed

St. George Marathon & Dirty Dash

We have been involved in a couple different races over the past few weeks. Jordie and I both did the inaugural Dirty Dash and had a great time. It was Jordan's first race and she did awesome especially considering she had to run most of the 6.2 miles carrying 25 lbs of mud on each foot. I also ran the St. George marathon last Saturday and despite the heat, posted a marathon PR of 3:48. A big shout out to both of my sisters who ran with me and also both posted PR's. We all had a lot of fun and then spent the rest of the day at Troy's SUU football game.

Me, Missy, and Heather at the start of the marathon

It was a HOT day but a fun race. I was pleased with my overall time

Garrett always has a great time at the football games and even more fun on the field afterwards

Troy is either excited about a play he just made or he really wants the water girls attention

Missy didn't have as much fun (she is wearing Troy's helmet on the bottom of the "pile")

The mud pit at the end of the Dirty Dash

Super long slip n' slide...I went down backwards

Jordie hopping over one of the first wall obstacles

Our team was the Dashin 'Staches...pretty dirty (and I'm not talking about the mud)

Utah Half Ironman Report

While I am sitting here not moving (which feels awesome), I figured I would report on the Utah 1/2 Ironman. It was a fun race and I had a great time. I was a little concerned about the weather forecast but other than some wind and a crappy 15 minute rainstorm (imagine getting pelted in the face with rock salt), the weather cooperated nicely. The gun went off at 6:45 and after getting kicked in the face repeatedly, I hung back and found my groove for the 1.2 mile swim. I hope I don't have some disease after spending that much time in Utah Lake. Out of the water and on to the bike. The first 28 miles went by fast but then the wind picked up a little bit and I was ready to be done. It was hard not to think about the run that was coming up fast. After ditching the bike and donning my running kicks, I was off for a quick 13.1 mile jaunt. It wasn't as quick as I thought it was going to be. I started cramping up really bad about mile 7 and had to push through the last loop. I had no idea your groin could cramp. I lost my calves (not very big or helpful in the first place), then the hamstrings went. Just for good measure, my groin decided to join the cramp party. Finally, the finish line was in sight and after one last round of cramps, I made it across the finish line. All in all, I had a good time but am glad that it is done and over with.

I want to give a special thanks to Jordie, Heather, and my Mom for coming down (EARLY) and supporting me. It was a huge lift seeing them and knowing that they would be at certain points cheering me on. Spending that much time swimming, biking, and running gives you a lot of time with just your thoughts (no iPod's allowed). It helps to know that you have loved ones waiting for you. Also, the volunteers, race staff, and fellow competitors were great and very uplifting at times.

Here are a few pics from the days events...

First things first...I had an AWESOME support crew. A huge thanks to my Mom for coming down even though she probably had other things to do. Thanks to Heather for being a great coach and for bringing the cowbell. Most of all, I want to thank my sweetheart Jordan for allowing me to spend the time training (which means less time with her and taking care of Garrett) and for supporting me in all of my races. Also, she stayed up late making the "Iron Turkey" t-shirts (which are awesome and will cost you big $$$). I love you and am grateful more than you will ever know.
Heather and the cowbell. It's what got me through the race.

A little last minute advice from Coach Heather

Waiting for the gun (and peeing in my wetsuit). I'm the one waving like an idiot.

Off we go. I'm probably in the front somewhere :)

Finally out of the water and trying to get the stupid wetsuit off.
On my way to the first transition and a long bike ride. Not sure why I am running to get there.

Headed out on the bike. See you in a few hours.

Back so soon??? Coming in off the the bike REALLY excited to run :)

Ditching the bike for my running kicks.

One of the few smiles on the day. This must have been before the cramps started.

Crossing the finish line and happy to be doing so.

I'm not moving anymore!

Me and Jordie at the finish line.

Happy Birthday Chad!!

I just wanted to wish my best friend in the whole wide world a happy birthday! It's been nearly ten years since I've known Chad and I can honestly say that there has never been a dull moment. He is one of the funniest people I know! This is one of my favorite things about Chad. He is also a fantastic dad! Garrett lights up every time Chad walks in the room. We couldn't ask for a better friend, husband and dad. We love you so much. Happy birthday babe! Hope your day is wonderful!

Time to Catch Up

We've been pretty slack in our updates this summer. We've enjoyed a full plate of parties, BBQ's, Lake Powell, bike rides, and much more. Here is a quick recap of some of the events and pictures of our summer.

Craig, Summer, Heather, Jordie, and I all did the Tour de Donut. Sadly enough, Heather and Jordan soundly out-ate me. I was the only one that didn't feel like garbage afterwards though.

Even during the summer break, someone has to work.
Jordie and Garrett at "This is the Place" park. Garrett is obviously done.
Grandma Patti and Garrett

Grandma Val, Missy, and the kids at "This is the Place." We've been lucky to have Missy and the kids visiting from Chicago this month.

Garrett loved the slip-n-slide

The fireworks show spectators...Heather isn't impressed

At least someone seems to be enjoying the lame Utah fireworks

Missy the sparkle princess

My brother Bilo really enjoys sparklers

And...we're out

Sometimes, Garrett pretends that he likes me

Four generations of Bunting hotness

**Disclaimer** We went to Lake Powell in June and it never seems to go as planned. In the last few years, we've had truck tire blowouts, broken water pumps, houseboats floating away (twice), sleeping in strangers basements. Now we can add a blowout on the boat tralier and starting a brush fire to the list of exciting activities.

Filling out the incident report with the fire chief. "Sorry for setting your weeds on fire."

Relaxing on the houseboat

This should be on a postcard

The Pastor just happened to have a generator on a trailer hooked up to his 4-wheeler and an imapct wrench. Saved a lot of time. Thanks fellas! Danny appreciated the ride back to his trailer.

Very helpful residents. This was even after we tried to start their "park" on fire .