OurLittleMcFamily.com

New Thanksgiving tradition…hiking at Zion! So much fun. And prefect hiking weather. And no weight gained due to leftovers. But I did miss the leftovers. :)

We hiked Angel’s Landing. Correction, we hiked to Scout Lookout. Adam took Danny and Nikki all the way up the chains to Angel’s Landing. Pure awesomeness.

Favorite memories:
1. Singing Christmas songs on the way there (with children who actually know the words now).
2. Snuggling in one hotel room and watching The Music Man till midnight as we fell asleep one by one.
3. Watching the kids run up the very steep trail, as I wish with all my might for the boundless energy they possess.
4. Seeing so many other families out hiking. I don’t know why this makes me so happy, but it does.
5. Gorging ourselves at Red Robin on our way back home Saturday night. The kids each got their own meal and drink! A rare treat in our family when we go out. :)
6. Watching Adam skip rocks with the kids at the river….watching Adam with the children, period!

“Just Dance” was the hit of our church’s Halloween party! Too bad Jo Jo ate an entire bowl of candy (oh yes, there was much puke!)…he didn’t get to participate since he already had his share of the Halloween goods! Well Jo, there’s always next year!

October–Hidden Falls

November–First Creek

Soccer has slowed us down this season, but we are trying to get back into hiking. Last weekend, I taught Annie what an echo was when we were in the canyon. She has been “awooooing” ever since. She hasn’t exactly figured out why the sound doesn’t echo back the same when she is in the front yard. ADORABLE!

We are planning on Angel’s Landing the day after Thanksgiving. Anyone game?

Growth. Family. Grace. Forever.
Isn’t this the best picture ever? We had a blast at our ‘after party.’ Thanks to everyone who made the effort to attend the sealing. The children felt very special and safe and loved. And that makes me smile! We sure love our family and friends. We are so blessed to have such amazingness all around us. :)

Wahoo! I DID it. I hit 10 POUNDS on my 10th day!

*I did not cheat…not even one time

*I feel really good.

*I’ll do it again before the Holidays, only this time I am going to juice most of it, and Adam is going to do it with me. :)

YAY!!!

Down EIGHT pounds…with one day to go!

*so close to the end of the cleanse that i want to eat everything…not because i’m craving it, but because i’m almost done. isn’t that lame? :)

Day 9, torture!

I’m almost there, and yet I have so far to go. I lost another .5 lb this morning.

But menstruation also hit this morning. I am shocked that feeling so icky and bloated hasn’t really affected the scale this morning. Although, I am hoping that in a few days when the yuckiness has passed, I will see an even bigger loss to account for how my body is feeling. I also can’t believe that I am not going nuts for chocolate and chips right now. My lady friends know how tough these few days of the month are. I’ll be honest, and say I had a diet coke at lunch today. And I don’t feel bad. It fixed the sodium craving, and soothed my sore throat that always accompanies the period. (I know. The sore throat is weird–convinced it is tied to my infertility somehow)

Day 8…YUCKY, but made it through

*No weight loss today, but feeling awesome.
*I haven’t craved ice cream, not even one time the past few days. That is truly amazing!

I also think I am getting over “having to have” an animal protein source. I’ve been eating enough beans that it has become less of an issue. And, I went to lunch with Jaime Lynne at Cheescake Factory where I had a Skinnylicious salad for only 500 calories. DELICIOUS!

Day 7…really great, for a Monday

Yay! Yay! Yay! Three more pounds gone. A total of 6.5 at this point. That’s reward for not caving at the picnic. But then there are the homemade cinnamon rolls I had to shun at Scarlett’s baby blessing. How did I do it? I don’t know. I just did it. And it wasn’t even that hard. I kept my mind focused on the best parts of the party like watching the kids have fun, and having great conversations with people. Only three more pounds to be back to my starting point. I really needed this to kick me in gear again. And it has!

*I didn’t even get a significant protein source in today, and I still did fine. I had one avocado slice, but that was it.

Day 6….awesome!

Oh, Day 5. Half-way there, but it was a struggle today.

*no weight loss on the scale…I know I can’t expect it everyday, but going into to the weekend it would’ve been nice to be rewarded. :)

*picnic in the mountains with the most extraordinary looking desserts. Oh, the peanut butter chocolate bars!!!! But it was all watermelon for this lady.

My cravings for things seem to be gone. Maybe I’m just in mission mode. I know I will finish the 10 day program, but I want the non-cravings to last. At least, I feel like sugar isn’t keeping me going through the day. That’s a bonus. And I am significantly less hungry.

Day 5….scraped my way through.