Thanksgiving Weekend - November 2011

 Our Family!

 Our Grandkids!

 Great Grandma and extended family!

 Our 40th Anniversary!

This year all the kids and grandkids and some extended family were here for Thanksgiving!! We had a good time. Lots of good food, fun games, and exploring. We went to the Petroglypgs again. Brad was out flying, so he waited until we were all there and he flew over and made a few circles around us in the helicopter. It was cool! We celebrated Great Grandma's 86th birthday on Thanksgiving day. We tried to use a piece of pie with a candle in it, but it didn't work very well. For our 40th wedding anniversary, we went to a nearby golf course and Luann took tons of family photos. What a better way to celebrate, than to have all our family near us. It doesn't happen often enough. You can see all our photos at Luann's website. Click on the D. Hawker family.

Boat Races In Phoenix - November 18th-20th, 2011

 Racing!

 Boat on fire!

 Gilbert Arizona Temple

Doug & Cynthia

Doug was given some tickets to the Napa World Final Boat Races at the Firebird International Raceway. We took MaKayla with us so she could see her Uncle Will, who lives there.. We stayed at Tonya & Kevin's house for the weekend. They live about 20 minutes from the races. The races were pretty cool. It is like watching Nascar, but only with boats. A few of them blew up the engines. We had a good visit. I took some pictures of the Gilbert Temple that is being built a few blocks from Tonya's house. Every time we go, I take new pictures of the progress. On the way home we stopped and took pictures of the Colorado River.

Snow Canyon 5K - November 6th, 2011

 At the start line

 Just past 1 mile

 Turning into the stadium

 My time was 34:02

I ran the Snow Canyon 5K for the second time. I was trying to beat my time of 34:00 minutes. If I hadn't of stopped to hand my gloves to Doug on the last stretch of the race, I would have made it. I came in a  few seconds over. It was a very cold morning. It poured all during the night, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I hate running in the wet and the wind, but it quit, so I went. I raced alone (no family this time) because Stephanie and her friend ran the Half Marathon, so they stared before me, and ended after. I just listened to my music, and kept a steady pace. My shins hurt for the first mile or so, and then I didn't notice it. I had just gotten some steroid injections in them the week before, but it didn't seem to help. They were really bad the next few days, so the Dr.did the injections again. Nothing is working, so I can only really run about once or twice a week, and then rest in between and then go again. I love running and so I don't want to stop. I just wish I could keep up with my running partners, so I had someone to go with.

Ali's 9th Birthday - November 5th, 2011

 Ali & #9 Birthday Doll

 "Pirates"

 Her Pirate Cake!

I can't believe how fast the grandkids are growing. Ali turned 9 this year. It was the same day as my 5K race, so it was a busy day. She was going to have a friend party this year, but Jessica ended up in the hospital (problems from a spinal tap) so they just had family over for cake and presents. She wanted a pirate theme this time. She was very excited because she got a telescope which she had been wanting, and they also got her a Star named after her. Pretty Cool!! You can see the rest of the pictures here.