Thanksgiving 2011!

We headed to New Jersey for Thanksgiving Day. The drive was horrible as usual, 7 hours of driving with four kids in the car and no movies (I forgot the laptop). After the long long drive we were excited to be with Dave's family and I was excited because some of my family (Casey, Lindsey and Jack) were coming over for Turkey dinner. I love being with my In-Laws but it felt like a piece of home was there with me.

Thanksgiving morning Dave got in some football and ultimate frisbee while I dressed kids and then took them to watch for a little while. Taylor and I raced around the field about 10 times, so I got my exercise too. Drew was having a hard day so he got to race with me. I raced Taylor with Drew in my arms, that is a good workout, awkward but good.

Turkey dinner was wonderful, thanks to MaryAnn, my Mother In-Law. That evening we took the kids to a park cause the weather was nice. The next day we headed into Philadelphia and watched the Macy's Christmas light show, walked through Charles Dickens village, sat on Santa's lap and ate McDonalds with the homeless, Occupy protesters, and Mormons (inside story). We got to do all of this with Casey, Lindsey and Jack. Thanks for joining us in the fun.

On Saturday, Cecily was baptised. We got to be a part of that special day and my children really enjoyed seeing her getting baptised. Congrats Cecily!!!

It was a wonderful holiday. I love being with family and that is what we got to do.

One of the pictures is from Taylor's Thanksgiving preschool program. He was so cute and so nervous with all the people watching him. They sang about 5 songs and Taylor maybe sang 5 words. Afterwards his teacher said she was amazed because during the practices he was the loudest and best singer. That shocked me, he never sings at home. We will have to see how he does in other programs.

FLORIDA!!!

My wonderful husband decided to let me come on a work vacation with him. He got to go to work from 9-5 and I got to sit by the pool and on the beach. We spent the majority of time in West Palm Beach but did find some time to visit Miami and drive through part of the Keys. We didn't go alone, Logan got to come and spend some much needed alone time with us. The rest of the kids stayed with Grandma & Grandpa Bramhall in New Jersey.

It was a wonderful, restful week and we had a really great time. THANKS to my husband and in-laws for some nice time away from home.

Halloween 2011

Halloween 2011 didn't really happen but we had a good time planning for it. Instead of a Harvest Festival at the church with trunk or treating and walking from house to house getting candy we had a historical snow storm. We got to host another family that was without power. The kids aren't old enough to get upset that they didn't get candy so they just had a really really good time with the Nicolls. They stayed for 4 days and my kids were in heaven. Many people in Connecticut lost power for days even weeks. It was crazy. I always thought it was crazy that the Eastern States would miss so much school when it stormed. In Utah we were lucky if we got to miss school with 4 feet of snow. But I understand now, its the trees! With the amount of snow we received and a lot of leaves still on the trees we had many, many, many trees that snapped. There were trees down everywhere, all over the power lines, power boxes, homes, roads, etc. They are still cleaning up from it. So, Happy Halloween!

Rice Cereal Time!!

I really do not like the rice cereal and baby food stage of life. It is such a big mess and is so time consuming. But there is no way around it and even though its a mess it is so fun to see the curious, confused, funny faces that the child makes while exploring food.

Pumpkin Pickin' & Apple Pickin'

We went pumpkin pickin' and apple pickin' at March Farms. We had a really good time. Taylor got a huge pumpkin that cost a lot but hey he is the oldest and spoiled ;) After we found the perfect pumpkins we visited the animals at the Farm and the playground. Oh yeah, we got to indulge in some apple cider doughnuts while playing at the playground. Then we headed to pick some apples. Lets just say apple pickin' in Connecticut is difficult with young kids and a stoller. The rolling hills and rocky trails were quite a task but totally worth it. The kids loved getting in the trees and picking the apples and taste testing the apples. To end the evening we found a great spot to roll down a hill and look over the farm. It was a great day!!! I have wonderful children and a wonderful husband.

Handy Man

When I married my husband I was a little worried he would never be able to fix anything around the house or the vehicles or any tools we owned. He just wasn't the handy man type. After a few years around my family, and he desire to learn he can fix almost anything.

One of his last fix it jobs was his new grill. For some reason he could not get his new grill to work properly. He had to convert it from natural gas to propane but he believed he had done that properly. He could tell that the gas for some reason was not going through the pipes that led to the grill area. The burner on the side would work but not the grill itself. After two hours of working on the grill, a lot of frustration this is what he found.....

A SLUG!!!!

The grill works now :) Good job honey!!

P/K Soccer

Taylor started playing soccer this fall season and it has been a lot of fun. I unfortunately have to work Saturday mornings and I am not able to attend his soccer games. Dave is the soccer dad and goes to all the games. The first two games, Taylor wouldn't play. They would start with a practice and Taylor participated in that but as soon as the game started he was off the field. By the third game he decided it would be fun and went out and played. Dave says he is really good at defense, the best on the team. I did get to go watch one game and Taylor scored his first goal, so he is pretty good at offense too.

I just love to watch him enjoy the game, get exercise and play with others. Go Taylor!!!