1/2 Marathon

Last Sunday, Jarod competed in a 1/2 marathon race out at White Rock Lake. He ran so hard and did better than his goal time. His goal was to finish in 1 hr. 40min. and he finished in 1hr. 38 min. Actually I think his official time was 1hr. 37 min. and 58 sec. or something like that. He beat his time from last December by 20 minutes! I could not believe how fast he ran. I am so proud of him. His hard work and dedication paid off. This race was to help prepare him for his marathon in December.
He had a small cheering section for this race: Allie, my parents and me. I really liked this race b/c the cheering section wasn't as crowded as previous races. The race in December will be packed! The atmosphere was so laid back this time. I love that Starbucks is at every race and hands out free coffee and this time they handed out oatmeal. Yummy! Allie did really well considering we left the house at 6:45 am. She loved being outside and after Jarod finished we took her to play on the park for a little while.
For his marathon I'm hoping to be out there for the entire race. He would like for us to see him throughout his run to help give encouragement and Goo (this gross gel stuff he swallows for energy). We will have to a big plan laid out. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year. Last year it was freezing and rainy. I would also like to make a sign but have no idea what I should put on it. Any suggestions are welcome!
Racing Schedule: Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day (now a Varner tradition). I will be walking the 3 mile with some of my family members (I hope!) and he will be running the 8 mile.
White Rock Marathon on December 14th.

Daddy's biggest fan!

This is the only picture that none of us had our eyes closed.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Thought I would share a few pictures from the Fall Festival at my church and my parent's church. Both of them were so different but lots of fun. I think Allie really enjoys trick-or-treating the best! We are looking forward to taking her tonight to the Rec Center in Lewisville. It has a walking path set up with businesses passing out candy. Should be lots of fun!

On Sunday Jarod has a 1/2 marathon and his marathon is in December. I can't believe it's almost here. I am so proud of him for working so hard and being so dedicated. He is setting a good example for me and for Allie. Hopefully I will get some good pictures of him on Sunday and will try to post them next week.
Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!

Greer catching a wave!

All my girls together! Annie thought her costume tasted yummy!

Allie loves her M&M's!

Pumpkin Patch

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything. I will have another post (hopefully today) of pictures from Fall Festival. It has been a very busy month for us. A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. We go every year and just love it. Usually my parents are able to join us but they weren't able to this year. We had a great time and Allie enjoyed rolling the pumpkins around, posing for her picture, eating kettle corn, going on a tractor ride and riding in the train.

Family Vacation: San Diego

We went to San Diego a little over a week ago. We had so much fun and I think we are finally back in our "normal" routine. The time difference had us all a little off for a while but I think everyone is feeling back to normal. Every year Jarod has a transit conference that he attends. One year it was in San Fransisco and this year it was in San Diego. We decided to make it into a vacation and invited my parents to join us. We really had so much fun! I am so glad we all were able to go together. While we were there, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday. I think it was a b-day to remember.
Allie was such a trooper! I seriously can't believe how well behaved she was. I'm not saying that she didn't have her typical 2 year old moments (b/c believe me she did), but she just went with the flow, like she usually does. She loved seeing the ocean, the beach, all of the animals at the zoo and she loved riding the bus and train. She did really well on the both flights. Having a lot of stickers, crayons and our video ipod with Little Einsteins downloaded on to it helped a lot!
We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Balboa Park called Balboa Inn. If you like traditional hotels, you wouldn't have liked ours. I loved where we stayed. It had lots of character and plenty of room for all of us to fit. Our room was a two bedroom suite and off of our room was a terrace where we could enjoy our breakfast and coffee they brought us every morning.
On the first day we took a ferry to Coronado Island. While we were there we ate and went to the beach. On the 2nd day we went to the zoo for most of the day and then we had a late dinner. On the 3rd day (my dad's b-day) we went to La Jolla, saw the ocean and had an amazing lunch. That night we went and saw some sights in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is huge and absolutely beautiful. On the 4th day we went back to the zoo and that night we went to Seaport Village. We tried to do as much as we could. We even managed to get in naps for Allie which gave us all a little rest too!
Sorry for all of the pictures. I had a hard time choosing!



She was so excited to ride in the plane.
On the ferry to Coronado Island
First picture in the zoo

Allie looking for the polar bears.



This is at La Jolla by the ocean. Allie refused to look at the camera for most pictures we took.

Happy birthday to my dad!
The wave that came in behind them was huge!
Balboa Park

Dad blowing out his candle (match) on his slice of cake.

More zoo pics
I think this was the best picture I got of Allie the entire trip. She loves her new stuffed panda bear.
Allie riding the carousel at Seaport Village

Sounds of Class

Last Saturday, we went to Sounds of Class in Richardson with our good friends EA and Ashley. Sounds of Class is great for families and for dates because it's outside, there's good music to listen too, games for kids and it's free! We picnicked on the grass and then Allie got to play a few games, pets goats, eat snow cones and cotton candy, dance and see fireworks. The Richardson orchestra played and it was so nice to sit around and relax. Of course Allie kept us entertained with all of her best dance moves. We had a great time and I hope we can go back next year! Thanks EA and Ashley for inviting us.


Dancing with a napkin on her face


After she took a bit of cotton candy, she would take a bite of a snow cone!

Showing us her moves!

The pictures below are some random pics I've taken over the last few weeks and hadn't had time to post. The first one is her helping Jarod decorate my b-day cake (it was fabulous!). The last two are of her dressing up like her daddy to go and play softball.

If you look closely, you can see she has on two different colored shoes.

We are flying out tomorrow to San Diego!!!

San Diego

In a couple of weeks we are heading to San Diego. Jarod has a transit conference and Allie and I are tagging along. We are actually going up a few days before his conference begins and my parents are joining us too. I'm looking forward to a vacation and a few days off work. We haven't been on a family trip since we went to San Fransisco 2 years ago. I can't wait to take Allie to the zoo and to Sea World. I know she is going to have so much fun seeing all of the animals. While we are there it will be my dad's 60th birthday so I'm sure we will go out to celebrate.

Since neither Jarod nor I have been to San Diego before we are not really sure of where to go (besides the two places mentioned) or where to eat. We are staying by Balboa Park and will not have a rental car. Since we are there for a transit conference we will be getting around by bus/train and walking. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go and places to eat? Any suggestions would be great!

Potty Progress

Allie made major progress in potty training today. She pooped in the potty for the first time. This is a HUGE deal! Jarod and I were very surprised. We took her to go potty before she laid down for a nap and she told us to go away. After a few minutes she got up and she had this look on her face. I went in to check and you can imagine how shocked I was. While Jarod and I were singing and dancing, she was looking in the potty going, "oh no, oh no." We assured her that what she just did was a good thing and she soon joined us in song and dance.

My goal over the summer was to have her potty trained before I went back to work. Needless to say that didn't happen. I really thought it would take no time because she started going potty back in January. She did pretty good for a few weeks and then all of sudden she just regressed. We would put her on the potty and she just wouldn't go anymore. I finally stopped pushing the issue until she showed interest again. I apparently did the same thing as a two year old. My mom said I would do great and then just stop. I have a feeling Allie will be the same way because she is stubborn just like me. After talking with Carmen a few days ago, we decided Allie is ready to try again full force. Our only problem is getting her to tell us she needs to go and she doesn't really care if she is wet. I think Carmen is going to try putting her in panties next week and see if that helps. Hopefully she will progress gradually and have no more set backs. Keep your fingers crossed!