Much to be thankful for

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I always have been and always will be indebted to a heavenly father that blesses me well above what I deserve! We hosted the multitude in our house for thanksgiving. Luckily, we were blessed with great weather! It took the edge off a crowded house. I'm a great hostess for a day . . . but I'm still working on my endurance :)

The best part was definitely watching how much fun the kids were having. Whitney and Travis were in heaven with all the playmates and excitement.

Here's Hailey and Kailey. The kids enjoyed lots of picnic styled meals.

The posse gathered around talking while the kids were out playing.

Wednesday afternoon we got in a mean game of hockey. I love hockey, and even prego, I couldn't resist. We were so fortunate to have a great day to ride bikes, rollerblade, play on the playground and play some hockey.

This house was even more crowded :)

Thursday morning I was able to get a quick (as in short, definitely not fast!) run in. Our neighborhood had a turkey bowl going on. I wish I took pics but I was to busy chatting. Travis got to play in the "little boy" game. He ran like crazy and would still chase someone down when everyone else gave up. He loved every minute. Makes my heart so proud :)

Then it was home to start the meal. Oh man. I've done "practice" thanksgiving meals with our little fam and a couple visitors since me and Aaron got married. But there was no comparison. It's like comparing neighborhood volleyball to very competitive volleyball. It was a lot of work cooking for 20 people! Thanks to all the fam that helped out or kept the kids happy. I'm glad I followed some wise advise from my mom and made the sides ahead of time to just reheat when the turkey came out.

I am no Martha Stewart, obviously. I didn't even care what the table looked like. I was too focused on food. But really, it's all about the food right?

After we relaxed and the kids played more games.

I love this pic. I love how playful Aaron is. But he was a little overwhelmed at this point and called for a time out.

If it wasn't for the sicknesses being passed around I'd say our Thanksgiving went smooth. It was fun, but oh did my prego body feel it!

Friday we went up to my house to see family. I was paranoid of giving everyone sour stomachs, and the kids were exhausted! We stayed a couple hours and then they took a great power nap on the way home. We all felt rejuvenated and held a chocolate fountain party for dinner, topped off with the light parade after. For me it was a celebration of making it through a fun family-filled holiday.

This is my kind of party. My kids, Christmas music, and chocolate ;)

Thanks family for making our holiday fun. Thanks to Jeff and Selly too for coming and playing! It's always fun to have you guys!

finished . . . kind of

What have I been doing for the last month? I feel like I've been working my life away. Every spare moment went to mudding, sanding and preping a couple rooms downstairs. It was long, hard work. Although, oddly, I enjoyed it. But by the end of the project, exhaustion definately set in.

Here is Aaron finishing up his office. His office looks great since it's what I mudded last, after I'd messed up and learned on the kids room. Yes, this room is A LOT of blue right now! I have big plans for it though. It's far from perfect. I cringe when I look at it, and will definately be doing some touch up work and painting again when I recover. This will be Whitney and Travis' room when our next midget comes. Plans include painting hills, sun, clouds, and an awesome castle :) I'm quite excited.

Plus, on the other wall they will have a huge magnetized dry erase board. right now it's only magnetized, so picture it white and framed.

Another view of Aaron's office. He wanted a dry erase board like the kids to write all his work stuff on - oh, and to hang up a nerf hoop on :)

So this is where the project all began. I knocked out this wall at the bottom of the stairs. It added a lot more work for me and Aaron but I love it. Instead of our kids staying in a downstairs apartment it's more like an extenstion of our house on another level.

Aaron spent all day last wednesday painting. It's amazing how much more finished it looks when you add paint. Plus, we added some scrap carpet to fit the rooms and hall which helps also. Perhaps some updates will come in January when we are recommitted to doing all the finish work!

Halloween

It was a crazy, but good, Halloween this year. Aaron was such a good dad and worked from home to cover for me so I could go help in Whitney's classroom party. It's always fun to do this and see the other kids in her class and the environment she spends so much of her time in!! Later we went to see her in the parade. Honestly, I missed her as she walked by. So here is a pic from me running (not very fast in my condition) to get to a spot where I could take a pic of her. Here was the highlight of my Halloween. Every kid has worn this costume, and it's always my favorite stage for this costume. Travis taught her to keep asking if it was "Halloween yet?" We finally could tell her yes. She did awesome trick or treating too. It melted my heart to look out the window and she little tigger running to catch up to her brother and sister, eager to get more candy. It was an awwwww moment when I realized again that things change and kids grow up so fast, so I better enjoy these precious moments!

Whitney posing with a leaf throw, can't find her though.

Don't know why Whitney felt she should put cones on her arms. That was her interpretation of a witchy bracelet I guess. They came off before trick or treating started. Do you like all of Travis' poses? He kept that mask on for a good portion of the night, and always allowed people to feel his muscles if they wanted to :)

So happy she decided to be something other than a princess. Although later that night she said she would go back to being a princess next year because Travis was getting all the costume comments at the door, not her. I urged her to pick a costume commentable then, rather than a princess :) I don't know . . . like a banana or an incredibles or something :)

Our Superhero

Me and Aaron switched off shifts trick or treating. I took over when the tigger was finished. I was amazed at the energy Whitney and Travis had this year. It was a gorgeous night, and they were determined to cover the whole neighborhood. Once again reminding me how things were changing. We had so much fun!

After, we came home to find Aaron on the front porch in a freaky mask scaring children again. His favorite. Then we made some amazing homemade donuts, organized the candy in piles, and got the midgets in bed. An added bonus: eating candy on the couch while watching some monday night football :)

Go figure the next day it snowed. Guess we are on to Christmas :) I was grateful for the great Halloween weather! But the snow was a fun mix up of change the next day.

Fall fun

Another thing we did over fall break was visit Toys R Us to get ideas for Christmas. Honestly, it was more of a play fest. Pretty sure my kids could play in this particular isle for at least an hour. The kids were playing in the back yard . . . I thought. When I went out to see where they had gone I found them raking leaves in the front yard. They did an awesome job too!

On Saturday me and Aaron spent a good portion of the morning working on the basement. They kids were having fun with the costume bin and keeping entertained. They completely surprised me by ringing the door bell and practicing their "trick or treats." So clever kids. And yes, I did give them a piece of candy, just for practice sake.

Jeff came to play

Jeff came to Utah for a week, and conveniently it was during fall break, so we went to Grandma's to visit. The kids were so excited. Grandma and Grandpa's is almost equivalent to Disneyland to them, especially when Jeff is there too. But they were sad Selly wasn't there :)

Jeff is such a fun uncle they carved pumpkins... I love this pic. Hailey is still enjoying her bond with Grandma from when we left to San Fran and Grandma was Mom for four days.

And my kids favorite: snuggling. They love their uncle.

Jeff even drove all the way to our house to play for a day. We enjoyed an outing to Red Robin. Thanks for playing and making our fall break fun Jeff!

It's a . . .

It's a girl. I'd show pictures for proof. But it's the same old usual pic. We are excited. My only concern for two girls in a row is hoping they are best friends rather than mortal enimies. Yes, I found out a couple weeks ago, but I just realized I hadn't posted it. Anyways, we are plum out of ideas for girl names so please leave me a list of ideas!

San Fran

Me and Aaron just got back from a four day trip to San Francisco. It was really fun, although, my favorite part wasn't necessarily the sites. Looking back my favorite part was visiting with Matt, Lacy, Reagan, and Nolan. They have done an amazing job on their house! I still feel back that I practically lost my voice and couldn't finish reading to Reagan, maybe next time :) Between Lacy's Gourmet cooking and Matt being our tour guide, you don't get much better hospitality!

After playing at the Rasmussen's Matt took us the next day to see some sights that would require driving. It was a foggy, wet day, and I was grateful for it! The rain, if you could can it that (more like a snow globe of mist in the air) and the coolness felt awesome now that I'm more insulated :)

First stop: A major life-changing site for me. These painted ladies (houses) were shown on Full House before every episode. I was an addict to this show as a kid. So it was fun to see such an impactful place in person. If only Uncle Jessie still lived there . . . . Then Matt took us to see San Frans "central park". This park is HUGE and with all the running paths I was itching to strap some rollerblades on and go explore! Here are some buffalo in a seperate field. Cool, but yes, a little random.

Next, to the Golden Gate Bridge. Here is Matt and Aaron checking out a sample of what the bridge cables are like.

Like I said, it was a foggy day, so yes, there isn't a "view". But I thought this view of the fog and the bridge was even cooler than your typical sight.

Driving over the bridge.

Other side of the bridge, aka, parting the veil and about to enter heaven, kind of looks that way right?

Then, our favorite site of the day, and perhaps trip: Muir woods. Aaron told me he was happy we got to see it when it was "misting" outside. It gave the whole park and cool affect.

Here's how massive these tree stumps are, and this isn't the biggest.

Aaron in front of a massive tree

Our tree home

Aaron made me turn around and take a different picture after this. Although, I like this one, becuase in the last two weeks of pregnancy especially, my behind feels about this big!

Yes, I loved how massive and amazing the trees were. But I really got a kick out of their "fur". Some of these trees looked almost like scary animals ready to pounce. As Matt pointed out I kept saying everything was "nuts!"

Aaron climbing to explore.

It was really fun to explore and be outside, and talk with Matt, something I don't get to do very often since I'm allergic to the phone:) We also enjoyed some In 'n Out, and Lambard street (the most crocked street). The hills these rodes are on were crazy, It seriously felt like a rollercoaster ride!

The next day me and Aaron took off to Fisherman's Warf, on a cable car. The station, along with all the shopping, was right outside our hotel. Cool ride, yes. Worth waiting an hour to get on, mmmmm. debatable.

hanging onto the cable car

After exploring some of the piers and getting lunch on pier 39, we headed to our Alcatraz tour. This sign I so badly want hanging in my house.

Our clearest view of Alcatraz. The fog would surround us one minute and then clear out. It moved so fast! I like this pic too because of how massive the barges were.

On our boat ride over the fog covered us. It added to the cool feeling of going to Alcatraz.

Seeing these showers reminded me that there is probably little difference in the housing facilities between Alcatraz and the MTC. I think they hold a lot of similarities :)

Aaron standing in front of the cell to show how small they were

Me and Aaron got a good laugh at this sign. He tries to enforce this rule in our house, but sadly, it is never obeyed.

This is our boat

Sweet view on our way back of the city

The next day I shopped. After two and a half days of walking non-stop! My pregnant body was exhausted. For two days I literally walked and stood for at least 10 hours. I am now aware that if I want a "relaxing" vacation it will require a beach. If it's a city, I just have to see as much of it as I can! We had fun eating out, and catching up on a few movies. My favorite being the last Harry Potter!

By Thursday I was ready to see my kids and be back to my usual routine. It funny how being adventurous can sometimes remind you that your non-adventurous life really is watch makes your life completely fulfilling!

Grandma said the kids were good. I'm sure they weren't as good as they should've been. But she gave them a passing grade. So on Friday we had a friends party as a reward. Wow, it was quite a party.

Hailey sampled the cupcakes for me.

Cupcakes and Halloween stickers to start.

Then, randomly I brought up the idea of a homemade pinata. The kids thought that was a great idea. So, out of an empty cereal box and some paper, boo, the ghost, was created.

They enjoyed a movie much more while they enjoyed their treats.

Life is good. Feels good to be home. Thanks A MILLION to my mom for the getaway. It was a great break, and a great reminder of how much I love being a mom. I think I'll need to remind myself this after I have this baby!