Trip to Montana

The beautiful view of Flathead Lake

Us, Travis' mom, sister, boyfriend and son Tanner

Playing at the playground

On of the many rivers we passed in the car

Travis is happy driving as long as he has a Starbucks and some music

Peyton almost asleep!

Brayden loving the new DVD player, it was great!

This last weekend we took a road trip to Montana with Travis' family. We went to pay our last respects to Travis' grandma who passed away in January (she was 92!). We decided to break up the trip by stopping in Couer d' Alene on the way there and back which made it an easier drive for everyone. The drive there was quite uneventful (which is a good thing). We stopped at a rest stop and had a picnic and made it to Couer d' Alene in time for nap. Our hotel there was beautiful and right on the river. We were able to take a run along the river, let the kids play at the park, and walked across the street to dinner (Azteca!!!!). We had a good time hanging out with family and swimming with the kids.
Saturday we got up and drove the rest of the way to Montana. Beautiful drive! Lots of pretty rivers, lakes, and wildlife to see. We checked into our hotel and went to the memorial service. It wasn't what we were expecting, but I think it meant a lot to his mom that we were there. We finished the evening up with dinner at Travis' uncle's ranch. We were so tired that day and excited to go to bed. We were sleeping soundly when at 12:30 Brayden woke up crying in his bed. He had thrown up all over the bed!!! Yucky! That was a big hassle to clean up poor kid. Travis went and got him some medicine and he said he felt better. 5 minutes after he said that he threw up again. This time at least he made it to the bathroom. So not fun cleaning the hotel's dirty bathroom! Thankfully Brayden was fine after that and woke up his normal self. But what a crazy night.
On Sunday we had brunch with all of his family and hit the road again to go back to Couer d' Alene. We checked out the beautiful lake and boardwalk (the largest one in the world), and had a nice dinner. We finished off the night with me getting sick:( It was bound to happen. So, needless to say when we woke up on Monday mommy was ready to come home. I'm still recuperating from the stomach flu, but glad we had a family trip away. We saw how beautiful the northwest is, spent some time with family, paid our respects to grandma, and bonded as a family. Who knows where God will take the Metcalfe's next... Maybe somewhere tropical and hot?

50 pounds!

Praise God, I have gotten to my 50 pound weight loss goal! Most of you know I started with my goal on January 1st to lose 50 pounds by June 1st and I did it! This post is not to brag, but to share with you some of the things I've learned these past five months on this journey.
1. I need God's strength everyday! There were so many days I didn't have self-control or I was too tired to go workout that God filled in for me when I couldn't. Anytime I prayed for strength, He blessed me with it. At first it seems silly to pray about losing weight or my workout goals, but I know God cares about the littlest things in my life. He has truly blessed me!
2. You can burn a lot of calories being a mom! There were many days I hit my calorie burning goals before I even made it to the Y in the evening. Taking care of two kids, making their meals, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming and mopping the floors ect. is great exercise. That is my encouragement when I can't fit in my workout for the day.
3. There are so many ways to exercise! I loved Zumba class during these past 5 months, but have also tried a lot of different workouts. Walking, running, exercise machines, circuit class, yoga, and exercise videos from home. Most days I was able to fit in something even if it was just a 20-minute exercise video. I figured it was better than nothing.
4. I can eat whatever I want! (in moderation). People have been asking me what type of diet I'm on and I respond "nothing." I am courting calories, but there is no restrictions in my diet besides that. I love that because it seems more like reality to me. We have eaten out at numerous restaurants, and my family can vouch for me that I've still done a lot of baking, but the difference is instead of me saying "what the heck, I'll eat whatever I want, " I say "Yeah, I can have 3 pieces of pizza." It's been a learning experience, but it's been easy and something I hope to do forever.
5. Your kids are watching your eating and exercising habits. Brayden asks me when I'm going to do my workout for the day everyday. He knows that has become a priority for me. I'm also cooking healthier food for my family and hopefully helping them to make better choices when they are older. They watch and observe our habits more than we give them credit for.
6. I have the most supportive husband ever. The best time for me to workout has been in the evenings (if we weren't busy), so I'm gone 4+ evenings a week. We have dinner together and then I leave to go to the Y. Travis hasn't once complained about watching the kids. He has always been encouraging and happy for me to go. I love that about him so much! Thanks Travis, I couldn't have done this without you.
I hope this has been encouraging to my mommy friends out there who may be struggling to loose weight, or just be healthy. I have a long way to go, but am 50 pounds closer. I'll take it!

Trip to the Zoo

"Doggie, woof, woof"

It was impossible to get all the kids in the picture but we tried

Bryaden had to bring his "raffe" so he could see all the animals too:)

Wow, so it's been awhile since I've made time for my blog. That doesn't mean the Metcalfe's haven't been busy though. Last Friday the HFG girls decided to head to the zoo for a day of fun. The weather was perfect for it. Unfortunately all the schools thought it would be a great day for field trips too:) We met around 10 and headed immediately to the play area so some of the mommies could feed the little babies. After that we saw the elephants, monkey's, fishes, birds, and the rest of the animals. Brayden was being silly and was actually afraid of most of the animals. He wanted to look at them, but not too closely. Peyton on the other hand LOVED looking at the animals and called every one a "doggie, woof woof." It was so cute! We packed a lunch and had a picnic out on the lawn, it was perfect. I think the highlight of the day was seeing the Polar bears. One was in the water playing with a ball and was so cute! Brayden was so excited to see him swimming. It was a little chaotic considering there were 12 children and 5 mommies, but we had a good time and are thankful to Shari for getting us free passes:)

Loving the Sun

Brayden playing soccer after our picnic

Peyton really wanting to play too

The view from our blanket

In the middle our our walk.

Last weekend Travis had a 4-day weekend and went camping for a few days with Brayden (more to come on that on another post). So on Monday we decided to go for walk at Chambers Bay Golf Course. What a beautiful day for it! Travis had never been and really enjoyed the view- both of the water and the golf course. The walk is 3+ miles and it VERY hard because of the huge hills. I'm talking big hills that are almost scary to walk up and down because they are so steep. But, we figured what a great workout. Peyton was in the backpack and I pushed Brayden in the stroller ( I made him get out and walk the hills:) Then at the bottom there is a huge park that looks over the water. It's gorgeous! We had a nice picnic lunch, played soccer, and just enjoyed in the sun. It was one of those times with my family that I wished the day could have lasted forever. I highly encourage you to go check out Chambers Bay if you haven't. It's beautiful!

Easter Sunday

Peyton and Brayden in their Easter clothes

My two handsome boys

Easter basket

Had to eat the ears off first:)

Checking our her Easter basket at Lita and Papi's House

This year we had the fun of celebrating Easter twice. On Saturday before Easter we went to Travis' parents house and had a great Easter brunch. Linde (T's mom) had an Easter egg hunt set up for the kids (one for Peyton and one for the older boys:). The kids were spoiled with their Easter baskets (Linde actually made Peyton's basket. It's a baby carrying case now:). We had the traditional Easter ham, potatoes, apple pancakes, egg casserole and homemade bread, not to mention all the yummy desserts. The kids are so loved by their grandma and grandpa, it's great. On Sunday morning we opened our Easter baskets, got ready to church, and headed to Renovo. It was a great service and a great reminder of what Easter is all about. We rushed out of church and headed to my parents for another brunch. We also had ham, homemade bread, cheesy grits, stuffed french toast, asparagus, sausages, cream cheese rolls, and strawberry pie. Oh my goodness the food was so good!!:) The kids also got Easter baskets from Lita and Papi, the favorite being a photo book of Brayden's DisneyLand adventures. He looks at that thing everyday. My mom also makes Easter baskets for all of us big kids:) You gotta love that! Because of the rain we did the Easter egg hunt on the back porch for the older kids. They were cute. We still have an Easter basket on the counter with endless amounts of goodies. Brayden can have 2 things from there each day. I'm sure it will last until Halloween. Hahaha. We tried to teach the kids about why we celebrate Easter and Brayden was asking "when does the Easter bunny come for Jesus?" Hallelujah Christ Arose!

TV stars:)

Here is the cameraman taping Peyton and I. He was standing there so long I didn't know how to act. Should I smile or be serious....

The kids waiting patiently for the parade to start

Brayden and Peyton

Here is the cameraman taping Peyton and I. He was standing there so long I didn't know how to act. Should I smile or be serious....

Metcalfe Family

Here's our cool coffee stand

Peyton enjoying the parade

This year the Metcalfe's made their first appearance at the Daffodil Parade. We were talking and wondering why we hadn't been before because we all thought it was great. We decided to go with our Bible Study group and hand out coffee, donuts and cookies for no other reason then to be nice. We got a huge carafe of Forza coffee and set up shop early downtown. We thought at first we weren't going to get many takers on the coffee, but by the end of the parade the coffee was gone and we had met some interesting people. We had a great time and look forward to next year! Brayden loved it all except for the pirate ship (which shoots a cannon and is REALLY loud). Peyton enjoyed it too and actually slept most of the time on mommy. We also all made a TV debut on the TV Tacoma channel!!! The guy was there taping all the kids lined up having fun and they even got mommy holding Peyton sleeping. We DVR it and that is now Brayden's favorite "show" to watch. Fun times with the Metcalfe family:)

Random Pictures

We have proof that Peyton has very curly hair. It's getting curlier the older she gets, but it's most curly after her bath. Poor girl, she is cursed:)

Brayden's favorite thing to do is puzzles. This is 100 piece puzzle he did all by himself!!

When Brayden was gone at Disney Land his sister would hang out in his room because she missed him.

And, here is Peyton showing me her tongue. Love those blue eyes.