Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break we crammed in a lot in the 4 days we were in Utah. We left Wednesday and headed to Mark/Steff's. We were so excited to see them, their new house and Beca! We were able to spend a few hours with them having dinner and playing. 

 After Mark's we made a late stop to the Orton's and stayed up way to late catching up and enjoying their company. After the Orton's we drove to Uncle David/Jennifer's house for the night and spent Thanksgiving with Steve's family. It was such beautiful weather that weekend- a nice break from Montana cold! Steve and I went for a run in the morning and later spent some time at the park with the boys.

 Sure am grateful for my family and the time we spend together!

 Friday morning we got ready and the kids and I went to see the Beynon's for a bit playing and then having lunch at Chic-fil-A. After lunch we went back and got Steve and headed to Logan to spend time with my family. Friday night Steve and I went to the temple and ice cream and I also was able to chat with Misha and am feeling like I'm getting too old to stay up that late but it was well worth it!

Saturday morning we just relaxed and I was able to have lunch with my friend Cindy whom I haven't seen in years and were so excited that we were both in Logan over the holiday!

 While I was at lunch the kids went to play with Kira and Robin and had the best time. We sure love our time with them!

AND then after that we spent the rest of the evening with the Runhaars. Us adults went out for dinner while the kids stayed behind-it was so great:) And of course a couple of rounds of cribbage were played.
Such a great weekend with family and friends!

Makenna's Birthday

Makenna turned 9!!! Her birthday this year landed on Tuesday before Thanksgiving so lucky for her she could have a party on the day of her birthday before everyone was busy with the holiday. We went and had lunch with her at school (Caleb and I went early and had lunch with Chase too).

Lunch with Arleigh Hone

 That night was the big party, 11 giggly girls for 3 hours! We had dinner of nachos and brownies and ice cream. After opening presents I had some minute to win it games...

 The girls had to try and slide the oreo down from their forehead to their mouth without using their hands,

 Two teams and they had to stack the cups into a tower in a minute...

 Try and blow their marshmallows across the table to their teammate- whoever gets the most wins

 Each girl had to use their straw and try and suck up their marshmallows and drop them in a cup- try and get the most in a minute. I think they all had a good time playing the games and then they watched Descendants 2.

 Happy Birthday Makenna! I hope you felt loved and special on your birthday. We sure love you!

L to R: Arianna, Kira, Ella, Annie, Arleigh, Makenna, Liv, Abby, Albany
Kneeling: Kena, Liv/Kena's cousin

Snow

Not kidding, Wednesday Nov 1 it started snowing and really didn't stop until Saturday morning. The kids have been in heaven playing in it for hours.

 It was manageable for a few days but Saturday morning we woke up to a foot of snow overnight. It was heavy too, so Steve and I worked on shoveling it together and its a good thing too because their is no way I could have done it by myself! It seriously feels like January around here!

Sunday Best

The kids primary program was Oct. 29 and these two did excellent! I'm so proud of them singing all the songs and being brave to say their parts!

 And of course Caleb needs to be in on the picture action as well.

 This was of him today. I had to take a quick picture because he looks so handsome in his suit jacket!

Halloween

We started our Halloween activities this year at the school carnival on Friday. They had games, bounce house and face painting. Caleb was the only one to get his face painted. The other two didn't want to stand in the long line but Caleb and I stuck it out so he could get a pumpkin on his face!

The ward trunk-or-treat was on Saturday. Our costumes this year were: Steve- a carton of milk, Wendy- cookie, Makenna- angel, Chase- spy guy and Caleb wanted to wear his ninja turtle costume from last year!

 This was the first year we decorated the car....Don't get eaten!

Arleigh, Makenna, Avary

 On Sunday Steve and the kids carved the pumpkin

 Tuesday was Halloween and I helped at the preschool party. They decorated cookies, masks and made necklaces.

 This was before we headed out that night. It was a bit chilly and rained for a few minutes at the beginning but then turned out to be a pleasant evening.

Mount Rushmore

In October during the kids fall break we decided to go to Mount Rushmore. It was so fun and the most beautiful fall weather. Mount Rushmore was beautiful with the colored leaves and I loved that it wasn't crazy busy like it probably is in the summer. We got up early Thursday morning and headed out. The drive was a little rough with the boys and their car sickness but we made it! We went straight to Mount Rushmore that Thursday afternoon. We did the presidential trail, saw a few mountain goats, and the museum their at the bottom of the monument. It truly is amazing!

 That night all the kids wanted to do was swim at the hotel and dad was the best playing with them.

 Friday morning we went to Reptile Gardens. Such a cool place, it holds the Guinness world record of most reptiles. The main level area they have birds and lizards that roam free along with small pools with turtles. The upstairs is full of different snakes and the bottom floor is crocodiles. Outside their are huge tortoises, turtles and prairie dogs.

 They also put on bird and snake shows. Makenna was able to help in the bird show. The lady had her cages all covered and she filled Makenna's hand with corn and told her to hold still to feed the bird. We are expecting some cool bird to come out of the cage but it ends up being a chicken! It was pretty funny and Makenna did excellent feeding it. Afterwards she did pull out some other cool birds too.

 They also had an old town section...Makenna and Caleb in jail:)

 During the snake show we were able to touch a snake and the kids were also able to hold a crocodile!

 After lunch what we had planned on doing was closed so we went to Rush Mountain. Which was a bit of a rip off and I wouldn't do it again but the kids had fun going on the roller coaster. This is Makenna and Steve coming in from their ride.

 After Rush Mountain we went to Bear World and it was one of the biggest hits of the trip. The first half you drive around looking at the different animals. Their were wolves, elk, antelope and of course a bunch of bears. The second half you get out and walk around looking at other smaller animals. They had the cutest bunch of baby bears that were entertaining to watch.

 

 And of course that night we had to stop at the candy store....

 Saturday we ended up spending 7 hours at the water park in Rapid City. The kids were in heaven and slept so well that night!!

It was a great trip with a lot of good memories.