Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went up to Grandma Tina's and Grandpa Phil's house in Idaho Falls. We had so much fun that the Boss informed me this morning that she wanted to "Stay at Grandma Tina's ever" {forever}.

We drove up on Wednesday and made a quick stop at Grandma Great's house for a visit.

Grandma Tina was the chef de cuisine Thanksgiving day and the gravy was fan.ta.stic! 

Grandpa Phil was the master turkey carver. 

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows? Yes, please!

The left side of the table...

The right side of the table... {hats provided by Drama, who believes that every holiday should be accessorized appropriately.}

and the clean up crew...

Dinner was fantastic and the pie was heavenly. Thanks Grandma Tina and Grandpa Phil for letting our crazy troupe invade your house for the Thanksgiving weekend!

California Vacation Part 1, The Beach

 Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Temps at the beach 100! at Disneyland 104! Holy Heatwave.

We went on a fun little family vacation in October to California, specifically Disneyland, but we wanted a beach day somewhere in the week. As it turns out California decided to have an unseasonable warm week the week we visited. It got up to 104 degrees on Wednesday! I guess it's a good thing I only packed 2 pairs of long pants for each person, we really didn't need those. Or the 2 jackets per person. But I did bring sunscreen, lots of sunscreen.

Anyway, Wednesday turned out to be a perfect beach day. At the suggestion of Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn {who are still sulking because it wasn't their turn to be the Grandparent chaperones ;)}we went to Huntington Beach and it was A.MAZ.ING!

It was Grandpa Phil and Grandma Tina's turn to chaperone this family's vacation - lucky.

Perfect sand with lots of sea shells for the girls to discover. We got there pretty early in the day so it was still pretty chilly, hence the jackets, but we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. The girls loved watching the surfers out on the waves, that was fun.

Drama and Pooh Bear started building a sandcastle with dad but spent most of the time playing in the ocean.

The Boss loved playing in the giant sandbox and eventually had fun playing in the waves.

She was moving sand from one end of the beach to the other - with a plastic spoon.

Bea was the most hesitant about the "big water." She was fascinated by the ocean and the waves and loved marching in the wet sand but wanted me to pick her up if a big wave came close. After a little while she braved all but the biggest waves while clinging to my hand and laughing. When we left she turned and waved good bye to the "big water" several times.

It was a fantastic day! Perfect beach. Perfect weather. Perfect Sand. And playing in the ocean!

The sand didn't taste perfect though, but she had to try.

Halloween, Halloween

Trick-or-treat!

Our costumes

Can't be beat!

{Thanks Dora, I won't be able to get that out of my head for weeks}

The Boss had a party at pre-school last Thursday. I guess Candy-corn witches don't like having their picture taken before school.

She was so excited to go trick-or-treating in Miss. Cathy's neighborhood! 

Bea had fun mostly because Miss. Cathy kept sneaking candy to her!

Drama and Pooh Bear dressed up for school Monday.

And then trick-or-treating after dinner. But first could you hold still for 2 seconds while I take a decent picture?!

The Queen Vampire, sans vampire teeth

A Purple Witch

Buzzy Bee, did you know that bees have magical bee wands? Neither did I.

We carved pumpkins Saturday afternoon. Pooh Bear and Drama did all the work on their pumpkins themselves this year and they did fantastic. Dad did all most of the work on the other pumpkins with direction from the most helpful 2 and 3 year olds.

From left to right: The Boss', Pooh Bear's, Bea's, & Drama's

New Family Photos....Again

You know it's getting out of control when your oldest daughter, who loves shopping, dressing up all fancy like, and anything to do with new shoes, complains when you inform her that we are having new family photos taken.

"Awe, Mom, we just had new pictures taken." {pouty face}

This is a true statement. Five formal photo sessions in 12 months is probably more than normal...

1. There was lasts years family photo taken at the end of October.

2. Photos with my fabulous Grandma in December.

3. Photos before Ella's baptism in May.

4. Extended Family Photos because little brother and fam came into town in August.

5. This years family photo, October.

But really, can one ever take too many photos? I don't think so.

{obviously}

So here are a few more.....

I have to say that I was not that impressed with our new photography studio here in Lehi. She didn't take very many pictures and there were only a handful of different poses. It's sad because I was so excited when this studio went in. I don't think that we will be going back. I mean, come on! My girls are freaking cute and you can only take 2 or 3 pictures of them?! And it's not like we were late or uncooperative. We were right on time {shocker, I know} and the girls were so good and happy {double shocker}, but she only used 30 minutes of our 45 minute session. I tried to speak up but everyone seemed to think it was all hunky dory. So we left. They have a guarantee policy that you can come back for a re-shoot if you are not satisfied with your session. But who wants to get 6 people ready for another photo session? {6th one in 12 months}


No, really. Will you come over and get everyone ready....It's not that hard to blow dry 5 heads of hair perfectly!




**I promise that I am going to post all the amazingness that was Disneyland. I just took a lot of pictures {I don't have a problem clicking the shutter. I feel the more you take the more turn out. cough} Now I have to go through them and add narrative in my witty fashion. I'm getting there, promise.**

New Specks

Pooh Bear got her new glasses today. (If you can believe it she lost her other ones, which we {I} discovered 2 days before we left for Disneyland. They were in the bottom of the shoe basket, under all of the shoes. Isn't that where you keep yours?)

Her eye dr. told her she should wear them all the time now as her eye/brain connection is in overdrive trying to compensate for her farsightedness {which spell checker confirms is an actual word!}.

She looks smart. Unfortunately, these glasses haven't helped us find her missing school planner that she has to turn in each morning with a parent signature to receive proper credit for her homework.

Speaking of doctors....in the car today, The Boss informed me that her eye hurt. Here is the following conversation:

the Boss: "My eye hurts. I need to go to the doctor."

Me: "Why do you need to go to the doctor? Can't I help your eye feel better when we get home?"

the Boss: "No. I need to go to the doctor so he can kiss it better."

And now you know why an MD is so expensive. It takes a long time to get those medically necessary kisses just right!