Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my parents. Cole and Sadie made a paper chain to count down the artival of Grandma and Grandpa. This was their last trip to visit us before they head west at the end of their mission in a couple of weeks. We have LOVED having them so close to us. It has given us, especially the children, a chance to build a very strong, forever relationship with them. We love you, Grandpa and Grandma!

The Kids

I hadn't posted for awhile, so I thought I would just put up some pictures. Jayda always loves bathtime. She is getting to big for the saucer, but sometimes I have her play in that while I'm making dinner. Yesterday, Cole and Sadie were having fun playing with Jayda while she was hanging out in the saucer. Cute kids!

Crazy 8 Tag

8 Favorite TV Shows I Love To Watch

Survivor
The Amazing Race
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
HGTV Shows
Food Network Channel
ER
The Cosby Show & Friends Reruns
America's Next Top Model

8 Favorite Restaurants

PF Chang's
Cafe Rio
In & Out
La Madaline
Morton's
Corner Bakery
Korean Bar B Q
Macaroni Grill

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

I cleaned up Sadie's gallon of vomit (she caught a 24 hour flu)
Attended Pres. Meeting
Went to a park
Bought Cole a shirt at Old Navy for family pictures
Bought a cute red coat for me
Read to the kids
Burned muffins for dinner
We made Jayda laugh for almost 10 minutes straight

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To

Thanksgiving! (seeing my parents)
Christmas! (seeing family and friends; watching the kids open presents)
Seeing all 8 grandkids that were born this year together in Dec.
Seeing Jayda grow hair so we can see what color it will be
Having a date night to the Melting Pot with our friends this month
Getting family pictures this weekend
Gatting some snow and watching the kids play in it
Going to the Idaho Falls Temple on our Anniversary in December

8 Things On My Wish List

To someday live close to family
Get new carpet and paint
To someday own a sweet truck (it will be mine, not for the kids)
Travel outside the U.S. with Bart
Have a huge backyard for the kids to play in
Eat a Maine lobster, in Maine
Get a kind size bed (so there is room for all 5 on Sat. mornings)
Have someone else clean my bathrooms for the rest of my life :)

8 People I Tag

Carli
Kimi
Emily T.
Jenwah
Hez
Kari
Jana
Jill

Fun in Fall Leaves

After living in southern CA where there is pretty much only one season...we have especially enjoyed Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall here in VA. Fall is incredibly gorgeous out here. We have tons of trees around our neighborhood and community that have such vivid colors. Saturday we were out raking our minimum amount of leaves and our neighbors invited Cole and Sadie to use their HUGE stacks of leaves to jump in. Of course, the kids were happy to comply. They would've stayed there all day if permitted. As you can see, jumping in leaves=simple happiness.

Happy Sunday

We had to get some new church clothes for the kids..they are growing so quick, plus they needed some warmer outfits. After taking this picture, I couldn't help but look at it for awhile...noticing how big they were each getting.

Look A Likes

Jayda and Cole around the same ages. Any similarities!? :)

Faces of Jayda

Jayda is such fun...our family sunshine. She is so strong sitting up and has learned to wave "bye bye". It is super cute.

Cox Farms

We went to Cox Farms last Friday. We had the best time! The weather was simply gorgeous. We had jackets on at first, but by the afternoon, we were wishing for short sleeves. The kids absolutely loved all the slides, the hay ride, the farm animals and running around with Dad. It was such a great day spent as a family.

Egg Carton Picnic

It was chilly yesterday, so we had a couple friends over for some play time and an egg carton picnic. I have a very creative Mom and this is something we did alot growing up...especially in the summer. We had some huge cottonwood trees behind our house. We would pack up some egg carton lunches, a big thermos of lemonade and a blanket to sit on. Walking the short distance to the trees through the field was always fun. After spreading the blanket, we would enjoy our meal (watching out for the occasional bird poop dropping down from the ever present magpies in the trees above). Anyway, so you fill each hole in the carton with something different, adding whatever you like...cut up peanut butter sandwiches, grapes, marshmellows, pieces of cookie, carrots, raisins, cheese, hot dogs, nuts...you get the idea. It is super fun and the kids always have a great time! I have lots of memories doing this with my siblings, so maybe it's something you can try in your own families.

Cole, Aaron, Jackson and Sadie