Give Thanks

SO FUN to have guests for Thanksgiving. Julie, Jimmy and MA came along with Adam and one of his Air Force buddies. It was so fun to have a full house although it was a challenge to keep enough food on the table for two HUGE men (plus Jimmy and Marc). No joke, Adam and his ex-NFL friend could have eaten my table and still been hungry.
E loved having her boyfriend (aka Jimmy) and the boys used Uncle Adam as their interactive human jungle gym. I kept waiting for the blood to flow...but we made it out with only a few tears.
The kiddos were thrilled to have MA and they all wanted to hold her. E was in her face all the time trying to help with her binky and give her loves. Ah, a girl after my own heart!

Ode to the Trampoline

We sure love to jump on the trampoline around here. The grandparents got together and purchased it for the kids for a birthday gift this year. It has been nothing but wonderful and a great way to get our some of the plenitude of energy we seem to have in excess. The best times are when an adult feels like getting "their jump on" or when they are convinced that they will love it. Thanks grandma...you know all the fun things to do!

Hallow's Eve

I guess it should make sense to me that my children are becoming much more opinionated about what they want to be for Halloween. This year, they started "deciding" what they wanted to be about July. About two weeks out, I made them commit. They are into Star Wars (as usual) and all other super heroes. So, M finally decided on Darth Vader; a decision I am sure was assisted by the fact that I purchased the D.V. mask last year and he wants to wear it every day. B took a little bit longer, but settled on Batman. E didn't have much choice. I have been looking forward to having her be a little witch. My mom made this costume for me when I was her age and she gave it to me after E was born. So, that made her an even cuter witch for me.
Since Halloween was on Sunday this year, we just did the trunk or treat at church and then had dinner with a few friends on Sunday. I let the kids give out some candy to the neighbor kids and they seemed really happy to have that important job.

Baby MA and Grandma H

We got to take a quick trip to Houston to see the newest cousin...sweet little MA. Julie and Jimmy had their first daughter this week and she is such a doll. I just love the tiny babies, fresh from above. How darling is she...and of course she has to have a bow right away.
The other bonus to the trip was getting to see Adam and my mom (who got to come home from her mission for a couple weeks to help out).
We had a wonderful couple days there and can't wait until we will all be on the same continent again.

Biker Momma

E definitely loves bikes...but not and of those "baby bikes", no...it has to be the hot wheels of course. Our driveway has a little slope to it and she squeals with delight as she zooms down onto the street.
The first time she did it she climbed onto the bike and went down on her own. I turned around in time to see her halfway down the driveway. So, I bolted after her and was sure she would either crash and fall off or cry from surprise. Nope, neither...she was so excited and happy with herself. So we spent the next hour dragging her back up the drive for more.
Now if we could just teach herself to get back up the drive...I'd have it made in the shade!

Down at the Farm

We went to a lovely little farm just outside the city limits with B's preschool class. It was pretty fun if you ask me...or E or B. Highlights include, but are not limited to when the farmer was milking the cow and he squirted the audience, the hayride, the fairy forest complete with cool faced trees, lots of touching animals, friends and a picnic to boot.
I just love to see the kids grown and their independence flourish (most of the time when it is not mis-directed against me).

NYC+DC-CHILDREN =GOOD TIMES

PART 1 : NYC
What a great girls' trip. Marc sure knows how to spoil me. I spent almost a full week back east with fabulous friends in September. To say that we lived each moment to the fullest would be a serious understatement. This was not a trip for sissies...oh no, we had it planned by the hour and we kept to the schedule to try to fit it all in. One of the most common phrases of the week was "can you even imagine how this would be if we had our kids here right now?" It was so fun and we fell onto our pillows each night with pure but happy exhaustion.
Seriously, I cannot even remember everything we did...but here is a small list: Yummy pizza in Brooklyn at renowned Grimwalds, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, walking tour of Union Station and its surrounding neighborhoods, Central Library, Empire State building, shopping, Broadway musical, Jimmy Falon Show, the Met and Cloister museums, China Town, Little Italy, bike around central park, etc, etc, etc.
To say that we did A LOT in the three days is an understatement. It was wonderful and so much fun to see the girls (two of the crew had the nerve to move away). Can't wait to do it again...thanks to Mel for making it happen!!

PART 2: DC
So, after a morning of breakfast and biking central park we misjudged our time and nearly missed our bus to DC. We literally ran for our lives...sweating all the way. Then Abby and I enjoyed our most relaxing portion of the trip...a four hour talk on the way to DC. We had already agreed we would use the time to catch up on much-needed sleep...but that was a useless idea. Hours of uninterrupted chat time...seize the day, right!? So, we got to DC and were picked up by my lovely friend, Jenna. She obliged in taking us on a mini car tour so that Abby could take in a few of the sights (she had never been to DC). Then we headed to Kimberly's for the evening. Unfortunately...the craziness took a toll on my traveling buddy and landed her with a major migrane that put her out of the fun for the night. So, we put her to bed and ate and had over a dozen of my closest friends from DC. We sat out on the deck and talked till the wee-ish hours of the night...or at least until we were all blinking back the sleep. The next day I enjoyed church in my old ward before heading back to the airport where, our flight was canceled and we had to re-book for the following day. Darn...
So, I got in a day late, slightly worse for wear but happy.