Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm in denial that Jerry has to go back to work tomorrow. Yuck! It's been such a great Thanksgiving break and I'm not looking forward to him having to go back to work, and even having to travel out of town for a couple days next week. And me having to get back into the routine of laundry and housework, but it's coming ready or not. So I'll live in the past for a minute and share our fun weekend that we've had. Thursday morning I did the east side 5K Turkey Trot. I did it with a couple friends from my ward. It was actually really fun. I know, "Fun" is usually not a word that I use to describe running, but just the race atmosphere is fun to me. I wasn't super fast, but I did it. My main goal was just to run the whole thing, not walk, and to do it in a semi reasonable time, and I accomplished both of those goals.
Here we are after finishing the race. It was the first race for most of them and I can't believe how good they did. It was fun being there with them. After the race we came home to get the turkey in the oven. The first thing I did after getting home was eat an oreo, so even though I did exercise that morning calories in definitely exceeded calories out on Thanksgiving day. I made my second Thanksgiving turkey. Yum! It turned out really good. Still took about 1 1/2 hours longer than we were expecting for it to cook. Same as last year. I'll just need to remember that next year. Sorry, didn't take any pictures. So we had a good meal and talked about things we are grateful for.
That evening we went to visit Jerry's family. It was good going over there, but a little more somber than other years. Jerry's uncle Larry, his dad's brother, passed away on Wednesday afternoon. He had been in the hospital for several weeks already, but it seemed that he was starting to get better, but because of excessive scarring in the lungs it made it almost impossible for him to breathe, and he died. We know he's happy and pain free, but still, even though he'd been sick, it was a shock, and it's sad. It's been sweet to see Hayden pray for Uncle Larry as he was in the hospital, even though we haven't really spent that much time with Larry and his family. Hayden doesn't really know him other than through pictures of seeing him at Sydney's blessing, but he knows we love him and he's part of our family. After he died we explained to Hayden, but since this is our first experience dealing with death of a family member with our kids we weren't sure how much he'd understand. But it was touching to hear Hayden pray for Uncle Larry's family last night. I feel for Jerry's Aunt Ginger and their family, and for Jerry's dad, losing his younger brother. I can't begin to imagine how they are feeling. It makes me so grateful, this Thanksgiving, for the temple and that through the blessings of the temple we are sealed to our families forever, even after death. What an amazing promise that is.

So, Thursday night we were beat, and I went to bed at 9:45!!! I don't think that has happened since I was 10! But I wanted to battle the crowds for Black Friday, and left the house at 1:45 to go stand in line at Old Navy to get a free Lego Rock Band game, but unfortunately I could have slept an extra 1 1/2 hours because I was too far back in line to get the free game. Bummer. I still did shopping at several other stores though and it was still kind of fun being out in the craziness. I know, I'm weird, but it's similar to the whole racing atmosphere thing, I kinda like the crazy black Friday atmosphere - well, when I don't hear people yelling and angry. It was all worth it after traveling to Target, waiting in line for 2 hours for one item, planning to do a price match, like they had advertised they would, then being told in the small print I wouldn't be allowed to price match Black Friday sale prices, then going to Walmart, finding the item I wanted was sold out already, and then heading to another Walmart just to try one more time and I GOT THE VERY LAST ONE!! I just about kissed the guy at the final Walmart! Then I headed home at around 8:00.

That evening we told the kids we would go bowling as a family, to make it a special, fun day. We went to the bowling alley and they said that there was a tournament that day and we wouldn't be able to bowl till 9:00 pm. The kids were sad, but we decided we'd go to a movie instead and that made the kids happy. So we walked all through the casino to the movie theater to see that there are really no good family movies out right now. At least not for families with small kids. Well, that alien one, but if I'm going to pay money, I want to enjoy the movie. So we left with devastated kids. So we had to do something fun with the kids to make it ok that we didn't go bowling or to a movie. So we watched a movie at home, in a tent. At first, Jerry thought I was talking about making a fort with blankets and that, but no, I meant setting up the camping tent. He assured me I was crazy. The kids loved it. Probably a little too much because they had a hard time settling down to actually watch the movie, but it was still really fun.

So, Saturday we figured we'd give bowling one more try. We went to the bowling alley again, and found out the tournament that was going on on Friday is part of a whole week of tournaments. So we couldn't bowl AGAIN! We did end up going bowling at another bowling alley across town though because we'd had our hearts set on it. It was so fun. The kids get so into it.



So, now the weekend is coming to a close, and I guess I'll deal with it. But tonight is the First Christmas Advent, (post on this to come later)so there is great things to look forward to. And I LOVE this season so maybe I'll be able to handle Jerry going back to work tomorrow. :)

Happy Birthday Rebecca

Last Monday, November 16th Rebecca turned 3! Yea -out of the terrible two's right?? She is into princess EVERYTHING, so it was fitting that we had a princess party.
Here is the attempt at my first princess cake. Barbie was a little too tall for her dress, so I had to balance her dress on a couple bowls so her legs could go out the bottom. It worked fine until I frosted the cake. It was a little to heavy so it kept falling off. But overall I'm happy with the cake, and she loved it, which is all that matters.
We had family over and had a good time. Unfortunately she was recovering from a cold so she looks a little tired in all the pictures.


Threes about Rebecca at Three.

Three favorite foods
*Hot dogs (If I could put this for all three I would. She eats hot dogs for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc. I promise I try to regulate, but she is fast and gets in that fridge and starts chomping down before I catch her. Yes, she even eats them cold - or coldy as she says.)
*Chicken nuggetts
*Apples - She'll dig into a whole apple and can't get enough. She actually LOVES fruits and vegetables. Carrots, lettuce, bananas, and believe it or not, the other day she requested broccoli!!

Three favorite tv shows
* Caillou - ugh, I know
* Special Agent Oso
* Curious George

Three favorite movies
* Cinderella
* Snow White
* Peter Pan

Three of her favorite things to do
* Play on the computer
* Go to the park
* Play with princesses

Three things that we butt heads about (I know, I probably shouldn't include this, on her birthday post, but we do butt heads, I guess I have a little bit of a problem when I'm told what to do by a three year old.)
* She doesn't like it when I wash her dresses or blankets- she screams because she doesn't want them to get wet, and for some reason wearing the same dress for 3 days in a row just isn't enough for her.
* She likes to wear Sydney's pajama's (yes, 12-18 month size) so they are plastered to her skin, and leave marks on her shoulders. She can't even stand straight when she's wearing them, but she'll constantly sneak upstairs to wear them and WILL NOT take them off. She falls off barstools, trips all over the floor, and screams because her legs hurt (she can't straighten them) - but still REFUSES to take them off.
* That dang BINKY!!! (If there is one to be found she will find it and hide it and think you'll believe her when she tells you that "Sydney wants her to have it." Yeah right!

Three of my favorite Rebecca words
* "Actually" (She says this all the time and I love it, I don't know why. Obviously I must say it a lot, but when she says it she'll put her index finger to her chin and tap and say, (like last night) "Actually, I think I need a hug and a kiss."
* "To" (This word is used in place of for, so for example, "That is to Hayden." or "I need a fort to my dog dog." (Translation, I need a fork for my hot dog.) Or "The ball is to the Christmas Tree."
* "Minga" (Yes, the binky battle drives me crazy - even though I know I feed it sometimes like when she was sick last week and I let her suck on the stupid thing so she could keep her throat moist- but this is her word for binky. I have no idea how binky becomes minga, but that is what it has come to be called here in our home.

Three of her favorite colors
* Purple
* Pink
* Yellow

Three, Three, and Three of my favorite things about Rebecca at Three.
* Her laugh - it is SO infectious, and fun
* Her spunk!!!
* Her determination - yes, we butt heads, but she is a determined girl and knows what she wants. If we can channel it in the right direction it will be such a great quality.
* Her smile - she is such a beautiful girl and when she smiles, she smiles with her eyes as well. I remember thinking this from the time she started smiling at 6 weeks. She shows her happiness in her eyes.
* She LOVES to sing. I love hearing her little voice singing all her favorite songs.
* Her sense of humor
* How much she loves her brother and sister - even if Sydney doesn't realize that when Rebecca lays on top of her it's because she loves her
* Her hugs
* Her little nurturing spirit. If anyone isn't feeling well she has such empathy and wants to help them feel better.

Taking Off!

Sydney is growing so fast. It amazes me how big she is getting. She thinks she is just as big as her brother and sister. A couple days before she turned 9 months she took off walking. She'd been standing on her own for awhile, and I knew it was coming soon so I pulled out my camcorder to record her standing and just then she started walking. Unfortunately, that was on my camcorder that I can't download onto the computer - or at least if I can, I can't figure it out. So I got her walking with this other camera, but she wasn't as excited. Since then she hasn't stopped. She's always walking her little "frankenstein" walk. I love this little girl.

Practice, practice, practice.

Hayden loves school.
Hayden loves to practice writing his name... everywhere!

Usually it is on paper, but the other day he decided to take a sharpie to our mouse pad. (sorry a little fuzzy)

I guess I can't be too mad.

Proof of my practice... on the inside of our kitchen cupboard. My mom was furious. I'm assuming my mark is still there to this day. I took this picture when we sold my childhood home about 10 years ago.

Halloween Festivities!

Hayden's class had a fun Halloween party. Here he is with his cute teacher! She is so great!

For Family Home Evening we carved pumpkins. Believe it or not, this is the first year that we've done pumpkins. I think we were party poopers and wanted to do it, but thought it would be too much of a hassle. It was so fun though. The kids loved it too. Here is Hayden daring to touch the pumpkin's "guts." Believe me, this was a huge accomplishment. He ran in the other room when he heard Jerry ask him if he wanted to help dig out the guts.

Hayden's Pumpkin

Rebecca's pumpkin

On Wednesday we went to storytime at the library and they had a cute puppet show and fun Halloween activities, including trick or treating to the desks.

Rebecca didn't want to wear her Cinderella costume to the library, but she did wear her princess shoes, so she kinda dressed up. Then again, she wears those shoes anywhere I'll let her.

Rebecca's toys had to sleep in the fridge.
(I know nothing to do with Halloween - but it occurred that week.)

On Friday night our ward had "Trunk or Treat" Very fun - LOTS of candy. Hayden decided to be Darth Vader that night instead of his clone trooper costume.

On Halloween day we went to the Old Mormon Fort. It was the first time we've been there. Along with Halloween it was also Nevada day so they had a lot of fun "Nevadaween" activities. It was very laid back so I wasn't sure if the kids would have fun, but it was only $2 total for our whole family to go, so we figured we'd try it out. The kids had a blast. They loved it. I had a lot of fun too. They got to paint pumpkins.

Make their own candles by dipping the wick in wax and water.

We got to dress in Civil War attire.

They had duck races down the stream and Rebecca actually won.
We also won 2 prizes from the raffle drawing, and got prizes for a scavenger hunt.

That night we went trick or treating around the neighborhood.

Hayden was very cute as they'd knock at the door I could hear Hayden reminding Rebecca that they need to say "Thank You" after they get candy. Then we ran into our friends, the Maynor's and continued around the neighborhood with them.

Very Fun, LOTS of candy!! We've been on a sugar high ever since Halloween. After we got home we had fun handing out candy to others. Every time the doorbell would ring Hayden would run as fast as he could to answer. But he wouldn't give them any candy until they said "Trick or Treat." I especially loved it when those teenagers that are really too old to be trick or treating, but they figure if they put their backpack on backwards, so it's in the front, and a silly hat they deserve candy. The kind that when you open the door they're just standing there with their bag open, just waiting for candy. Hayden just looked at them with candy in his hand waiting. Then he'd say, you have to say, "Trick or Treat." Way to go Hayden. They need to work for that candy! It was a great week. Now, anyone want some candy??

Farewell to Mom and Dad

Man, I need to get caught up. So in my last post I showed our Halloween party that we had up in Utah. The next day was my parents' farewell for their mission. They are serving in the London, England Temple. It was a wonderful farewell. My dad taught at the Institute and I loved taking classes from him, but it's been so long since I've heard him speak/teach. It was so good to listen and learn from him. My mom's talk was wonderful too.
After the meeting we went to the stake center for them to be set apart. Other than Rebecca singing "I'm a sailboat" during the prayer, it was great. Then we went to my brother Mark's house for some grub. It is just great being with family. I thought I'd be bawling all weekend, but it was just great being with everyone. It probably hadn't quite hit me yet that I won't see my mom and dad for 18 months. But we'll be able to talk and I know they're where they're supposed to be so that helps. I'm very excited for them. Good Luck mom and dad!!

The girls

The boys

I have no idea why I didn't get a picture of mom and dad together, but you can just pick them out of the girl and boy pictures.:)