Thanksgiving 2013

Wow, writing on here is so much harder than it used to be. Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is upon us. We spent thanksgiving with my parents, my brother Ben and his family, and my sisters. I was in charge of pies this year. I made 1 pumpkin, 1 banana cream, my 1st pecan pie, and 2 s'mores pies (Matt's fav, thus I made 2). Good food and company were had by all. Beckett and Anabelle had the whole week off of school so we were able to see other family members and friends over the holiday as well. We had a great time. Thanksgiving is easily one of my most favorite holidays. It is all about family and focusing on love and togetherness and gratitude, not to mention all the amazing food. Love it!

This month has been a rather busy month (when is November not busy). We went to our friend's  Pie Night for the 1st time. Yes, a whole night dedicated to pie. It was heavenly. We also went to see Ender's Game. It was pretty good. Matt read the books, but I had not. I could tell they left out details, but I was able to follow the story just fine and enjoyed it a lot. I can see why it is such a popular series. I also was able to participate in an amazing fundraiser for a sister in our stake that has cancer. Last year in the evening session of stake conference, this sister gave an incredible talk on faith (I want to share it on here sometime, but don't hold your breath). She was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. She has children ranging from 1st grade to Jr high. It was so touching to see people come and do whatever they could to help this family out. People are amazing.

Something that wasn't so happy that happened last month was that August got croup. It literally happened over night. I got home from zumba and put him to bed. He sounded like he was getting stuffed up, but nothing more than what comes from teething. When he woke up in the night around 2, he was much more congested. He was struggling to breath through his nose. In the morning, his voice sounded horse, I could hear each breath, and he had a horrible sounding cough. I could tell this was bad to come on so suddenly like that. I got him in to see the Dr as soon as I could that morning. My sister had had para-influenza a couple weeks earlier, so I thought it might be that. When I got there, I told them he had been exposed to para-influenza and they said that is what causes croup in babies, so he had croup. I have never had a baby with croup before and I never want one to have it again. It was so scary sounding. They gave him some medicine to help his swollen larynx and some advice to help with the coughing and congestion and we left. By night he was doing much better. The next day it seemed like a bad cold and kept getting better from there. I am glad I got him in right away. It was so scary to hear his breathing.

August has been my sick kid. He had RSV when he was a month old. That one freaked me out too. Beckett and Anabelle never really got sick much as babies, (but then they weren't born in the winter) so this has been hard for me to handle. I will say this, Heavenly Father has inspired me with both illnesses to get into the Dr early. The RSV didn't even test as RSV in the quick version. It came back positive in the longer test they do. "Luckily" the Dr got us one of those nose sucker-outer machines (the reversed air compressor) before we even knew it was RSV. If I had taken him in later when he was really bad, I would have been a wreak. Heavenly Father showed me some major tender mercies both times.

So anyways, November was a good month and despite some bad health, we had fun and lots of good food.

Lets get to Christmas as quick as we can

Okay people, I really want to get caught up on here, so, this is going to be fast. Besides, October through November were pretty quiet anyways.

We made carpet angels one day.

We went out for half priced sushi for Matt's birthday, and it was absolutely delicious, especially the FRIED cheesecake and bananas. Anyone in Ogden interested, let me know and I will send you the info. Totally worth it.

We did more for Halloween stuff this year than any year previously. Maybe it was because I totally rocked it this year and made Beckett the best costume EVER, and I had to show it off.

I think he likes it

One of the many festivities was a fair with Cousin Ally. Beckett had to have some pizza before he could get over the scary masks, but then he had a great time.

Belle on the other hand, was miserable the whole time.

And just because I am super prideful about this, one more picture of the awesome Thomas

Another thing we went to was the YM/YW Halloween carnival, which Matt helped with since he is now in young mens. It was a lot of fun. We also went to the Treehouse Museum for their Fairy Tale party. This time we went with our friend Krista and Aspen. This might have been our favorite thing we did that month.

They got goodie bags. How nice is that?! - Sorry Livia, I didn't get a picture with Aspen

Then, of course, there were the school parties. I did Anabelle's hair so pretty for hers. She let me use my 3 barrel crimperish iron. It was a little nerve wracking, but we made it through and she looked so beautiful.

Beckett's Halloween parade was fun and brought back lots of memories of when I was in Elementary. All the kids were super excited. I felt really cool when a lot of the older kids at Beckett's school commented on his costume. I don't know if I will ever be able to top it. Okay, I'll stop bragging now.

Halloween night we spent at my brother's, in Kaysville, which is becoming a tradition. Honestly, it is mostly because I don't want to trick-or-treat in my neighborhood. Plus my brother's neighborhood gives out good stuff, like full size pixie sticks, which should not be given to toddlers I might add.

Guess what this is a picture of...

Nope. Those are bats. Beckett watched a Wild Krats episode where they talked about bats. He then made a bat of his own. He clipped a little sheet of paper with a bag clip and then began flapping it. His invention did sound like a bat flying and kind of looked like one flapping its wings. Anabelle had to join in as well, only she used multiple sheets in a sandwich bag. It didn't sound quite the same as Beckett's.

Beckett had a puke day during November. It was awesome, especially when he puked all over in the car, right after we had all went out to eat dinner. Not cool. I did feel really sorry for him while he was sick. He kept saying, "I don't want to throw up any more." in a sad and frightened voice. Poor kid. At least it was for only 24 hours.

Thanksgiving was spent with Matt's brother, Nate. We had a great time and ate lots of super good food. We played lots of games, shopped Target on Black Friday, and saw the Black Canyon near Nate's house. Matt had been to the canyon before, but the rest of us hadn't. It was really cool. It is a canyon made of black rock that is almost straight down, and super deep. I would never go hiking around the edge of that place. It was uniquely beautiful, but I think it would be much more pretty in the summer or spring. If you are ever in Montrose, you should take a detour and see the Black Canyon.

Well, those two months are down now. Just December and Christmas to go.

Its December what?!

We started November off with Matt getting the 1st off for his birthday. (Yes, I know his birthday is on the 29th of October, but he wanted the Monday after instead of the day of his birthday) So, to celebrate his birthday, we went to the treehouse museum with the kids. We had a blast.

Beckett getting into the drums

Future xylophone phenom - Miss Belle



Fire Chief Anabelle - you can see her bandaged head from her bonk on Halloween in this picture

Everybody loved it. I was afraid that Beckett would get hung up on the Train sets they have at the front (terrible placing if you ask me), but luckily he willingly walked away after he had played for a few minutes and wanted to explore all over. That place is awesome. They really encourage children to use their imagination, instead of telling them what to do. They also have a lot of arts and crafts for them to do. I highly recommend that place to anyone with toddlers or older. Matt thought that place was super cool too. He was looking at everything as intently as the children. They had singing time, but the chillin's weren't really diggin' it, so they went and milked the fake cow instead. Thanks to Matt, Beckett learned how to squirt the water that comes out of the utter all over the place. Boys will be boys. We looked at more displays, played with more cool stuff, and then finally found the computers (I'm glad we didn't discover this until the end or we wouldn't have seen anything else). We hung out there for about 15 min. and then it was closing time, so that was the end of our fun. It was a blast.

Matt also installed a new toilet one Saturday. All by himself, I might add (well I helped a smidge). The kids loved the box it came in and spent the next week or so having me or Matt lift them in and out of the box. They also discovered that if you tipped it on its side, it became an awesome slide.

I wish I had that kind of energy and imagination.

Speaking of imagination, here are some of Anabelle's latest fashion creations:

Notice that she has them put on sideways, meaning one of her legs is through the top hole. It has created a triangle of no underwear. Thank goodness she is still in diapers.

Another winner

You can't see it, but she isn't wearing any pants with this outfit. She just really wanted to go outside and play in the snow that wasn't there.

I don't know if you can tell, but she has on all of her underwear, plus those green swim trunks from before, under those pants. It created quite the bulging effect.

Okay, I am going to confess something. I don't like to let my kids do things that are messy. I have a hard enough time cleaning up from daily life, let alone purposely letting them create a mess. You remember when I let them finger paint with pudding? Yeah, that was the last and only time we have done that activity. Maybe I can do it again someday in the future, but for now, the thought of all that clean up gives me a headache. (I am still finding pudding splotches on my blinds and wall) Playdough isn't quite that messy, but it still is a lot of work to me. I hate it when they mix the colors and Belle still tries to eat it. It really isn't that fun for me. Despite my feelings for playdough, I have tried to realize that it isn't about me, it is about the children having a fun and learning, so I just need to chillax. So, what did I do? I pulled out all the play kitchen stuff and let them have at it.

Thanksgiving was a blast. We spent it with my family. I made homemade rolls and pumpkin pies (only the crust was not homemade) for the first time. The pies turned out awesome, but I made way too much roll dough. They rose faster than I could get them on the sheets to bake them. Then I cooked some of them too high. The ones that weren't burned where very good though. Over all it was a good experience. I guess one of my new hobbies is cooking now. I am not a gourmand by any stretch of the imagination, but I have really enjoyed trying new recipes that I have never made before. Also, I have started to improvise a little and I am feeling quite confident in my abilities to do that now. (My spaghetti sauce is starting to get pretty tasty if I do say so myself)

Anyways, back to Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast with their cousins. They went sledding for the first time and they loved it. I am sure there are some of you shaking your heads at me, wondering why Beckett has never been sledding before now. He is 4 years old for goodness sake. Well, the truth be told, I am a chicken. I hate going down hills not slowly. That is why I don't ski or snowboard. And because I don't like it, I have never encouraged Matt to take them out. Plus, we have no idea where the good sledding hills are in Ogden. Luckily, my fears have not ruined my children. They went sledding before and after the feast.

I wasn't surprised how much Beckett loved the sledding. He loves to go out and help shovel and play in the snow. Belle surprised me though. She had a blast. She kept wanting to down over and over again. I was so proud of her.

Matt had to work the day after Thanksgiving (lame), but I got to go do Black Friday for the first time ever. I went to the Shopko just down the street at 8 in the morning. It was easily the busiest I have ever seen that place, but compared to probably everywhere else, it was pretty empty. You barely had to wait in line for your purchases. No one was fighting over something. No one was getting trampled. I walked in, went straight to what I needed, grabbed them, and then purchased them. I was home by 8:30. It was so easy. I was shocked that one of my purchases wasn't gone already. It was a 7" portable DVD player for $39. Granted, it was that price after the mail-in-rebate, but come on. That is a screamin' deal.

The next day, Saturday, we had a get together with some of my roommates from the Maple House. It was so fun to see some of them and chat and get caught up and see all the new babies. They are such great girls and I was so lucky to live with them for two years and still keep them as friends today. Even to this day, no one believes that there were 10 of us in the house and we only had one fight the entire time I lived there. And it wasn't even a big one. The kids had a blast playing together too. Here they are running around:

Here are some goofy pics of the kids trying on my glasses. I couldn't resist putting them on here.

Also in November, Matt and I decided that we are going to stay in Utah for a few more years. We aren't sure how long exactly, but definitely long enough for Matt to get his bachelors all done, which is now going to be in English. Then we can figure out where we are going from there. (Sorry to all our Omaha family and friends that want us out there. Things just weren't clicking for us to get out there. Maybe it will be easier in a few years.) (Sorry to all you Utah people that really wanted us to get out of here. You are stuck with us for a little longer.)

I guess I should do a little update on everybody. Anabelle is growing up so much. She loves babies. I have started babysitting two days a week for a friend that needed someone to watch her kids while she is at work. She has a little baby boy and Anabelle just adores him. She is constantly trying to get him a toy or is patting his head. She is just so sweet with him. She also loves her own babies. She frequently sleeps with them. She is going to make an awesome big sister someday. She is also the favorite of the boys already. Almost everytime we do something with a little boy about her age, they just love her. We are going to really have to keep those boys away when she becomes a teenager. Belle also loves to dance and sing. She mostly sings when she thinks no one is around. She will take my little hymn book and go hide and sing from it. It melts my heart. She is also quite the talker. A lot of people might not think so because she gets so shy around other people, but she is Chatty Cathy at home. She also loves to read. Here is a video I was able to sneak of her reading to herself:

Beckett is potty trained. He is also really starting to become more independent (finally). He is going to primary easier and easier each time. Today, he just walked straight in without hesitating. Granted, Matt was the one to take him, but he did it. I couldn't believe it. He has also started asking to go to school. I was floored the first time he said that to me. I hope he continues to feel that way once he really does go. He is still super addicted to the computer, but he is a lot better about getting off, especially if I use a timer and say he has to get off when it goes off. So much easier. He too has become really cute with the baby that we babysit. He will bring him toys to play with and things like that. I hope this will stick for when we do have another baby because he didn't even act like Anabelle existed for like the first 6 months of her life. (For the record, I am not pregnant. Yes, I would like another baby, but not right now. I am just thinking of the future.)

I am doing much better with my depression. It has been harder with the winter setting in, but I don't feel anything like I did a year ago. I actually get dressed everyday, before 10 am even. And we leave the house. Feeling good. :) Like I said earlier, I have started cooking as a hobby and I have taken one of those free cooking classes they offer at Macey's. It was really fun. I was the youngest person there, but it was a lot of fun. If anyone wants to join me, please give me a call. I would love to go with someone. They give out samples and have a drawing for a prize. Plus, you can get your grocery shopping done after the class is over. Also, I have started doing yoga. Livia Taylor teaches it. It is so great. She is a good teacher and I feel like I am really starting to get the flow of it (after a month or so). We are always look for new people to join our class. It is only $5 if you pay in advance and they offer free babysitting. How awesome is that?! Check out the link for more info if anyone in Ogden is interested. The more the merrier.

Matt is super busy with work. He has started doing photoshopping for his job. It kind of stinks. I am glad that he is home while he does it, but he is still working. Luckily, he isn't under a specific time crunch, so he can stop and help with putting the kids to bed and stuff. We have been staying up pretty late since he started doing that though. He hasn't finished until 1 or 2 in the morning a few times. Yuck! On the positive side, Matt has found a new TV show that he loves. I enjoy it myself. It is called Top Gear and it is hilarious. I have found myself laughing pretty hard at that show. Yes, it is a car show, and frankly, I could do without all the car tests they do on there, but they do some of the funniest challenges on that show. They also do some really cool stuff too. They made their own aquatic cars, a convertible van, and a lot of other crazy things that usually end in disaster. I highly recommend it, especially if you love British humor (which I do).

Well, I hope you all had a great Thanksgivings and that you enjoy your Christmas this next weekend. We love you all and are so grateful to have each of you in our life. We hope all is well with each of you and that Santa brings you all that you asked for on your lists this year. Merry Christmas!

Update!!

Man has it been crazy. I'm sure you all know what I am talking about. I think we have had something every weekend. I'll prove it.

The first Saturday of November we had a lovely get together with my old roommates from the Maple House. It was the last beautifully warm Saturday of the year. We met up at a park in North Salt Lake and let the kids go crazy on the playground, while we chatted and got caught up. The dads were even kind enough to watch the kids on the playground so we weren't distracted too much. Every one's kids were adorable and getting so big, and they all got along and played well with each other (which is always very nice). We had a wonderful time. (Hey, if any of you roomies want to send me a copy of the pictures we took, I would very much appreciate it)

I also went to a baby shower for a cousin that afternoon. It was so fun to see her all big and pregnant. I don't get to see my dad's family often and so it was so fun to catch up and see everyone. It was day full of catching up.

The next weekend we got out of dodge and visited my grandparents and aunt up in Idaho Falls. We had a wonderful time. The kids didn't break anything and were pretty well behaved. They didn't even break into their treats hidden in the cupboards. I was very pleased with them. We went out to dinner to a place kind of like Chuckie Cheese, only it had a train theme. Obviously, Beckett loved it. We ate burgers and chicken nuggets and fries while we watched a model train go back and forth on a wall. Beckett hardly ate anything. He just wanted to watch the train. When it came time to leave, Beckett disappeared. There was a lot of people around us and we were all distracted by putting on coats and things. I was very scared because it would have been very easy for someone to just pick him up and walk out with him and no one would have noticed. We all started searching frantically. After about 5 minutes, we found him over near the arcade like this:



After we all calmed down, we realized that this is the first place we should have looked for him. We then did what any normal parent would do at a time like this and proceeded to take pictures of the event.



Belle liked the tractor lots more.


We had a wonderful time in Idaho and hated to leave. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa and Karen for being so hospitable and letting us come visit. We love you!

We got our Saab out of the shop the next week and have been driving it since. We are looking to sell it now though. The warning lights are still flashing on and off, so we would like to buy a more reliable car before we have to fix another thing on that car. So it looks like the Saab story is almost over. Hallelujah!

That Saturday, Matt went to the BYU/Air force game. Thankfully, this time he did not come home with the flu. He had a great time and BYU won.

The next week, Beckett and I made something together:



In case you couldn't tell, he is a robot (robok, as Beckett calls it).

Thanksgiving was that week as well. We spent it with my family. It was wonderful, complete with a kids table, fine china, and amazing food. I even learned how to cook a turkey.



The food was so delicious and we had a fun time together. We watched the Gods Must be Crazy and had some good laughs. I had forgotten how good that show is. There is some good stuff in that show. We also saw Blindside. That is such a good movie. I recommend it to anyone. It teaches you what charity and being a christian is all about. Plus it had some good football scenes too.

We came home Thanksgiving night because Matt had to work the next day. It turned out to be a good thing because Beckett got really sick. I am not sure what bug he got (possibly bacon fever), but he had a bad hacking cough and a fever and he just laid there on the couch like a slug. I could hear him breathing from across the room. It was kind of scary. I wasn't sure if I should take him to a doctor or not. When Matt got home from work that day, he and his friend, John, gave him a blessing and his breathing improved dramatically. It was still a little raspy, but I had to sit next to him to hear it. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood. I know it works miracles.

Beckett was sick for about 4 days. Belle got sick too, but not very bad. She had the cough and runny nose, but was up and running around and playing all day. She only wanted to cuddle with me part of the day. She also cut one of her fangs, as I like to call them. Now we are just trying to get rid of the runny noses left over from whatever that bug was. Oh and getting Beckett to do things for himself again. The little stinker thinks he still needs help to get his blanket out of his bed and to press play for his movies, which are things he was perfectly capable of doing before he got sick.

It was a very full month. Despite all of that, I managed to finish some projects of mine. When I was pregnant with Beckett, I made him a receiving blanket with the crocheted edging. I have been feeling bad that I hadn't made one for Anabelle, so I bought a kit over the summer and finished it last month. Well, technically it isn't finished, I ran out of thread, but there isn't much left once I buy more. Here it is:


Belle got another blanket, a quilt from my mom. She has made a quilt for all of her grandchildren. It turned out so cute. I love it and so does Belle. It has such bright colors. My mom was also really excited because she learned how to do some new stuff when she made this one. She is working on Beckett's right now and I will post pictures of that one when she is finished with it. I can't wait to see it.



I just love the flowers.


Well, I think we are mostly caught up now. I hope you all are ready for the holidays and have a very Merry Christmas.

Happy Hallowgivingmas!

So, this update is a long time coming. I thought I would cover the last two holidays and a little bit of the present holiday all at once. Well, we have been kind of busy for the last few months. Matt and I got to go out to a nice steak dinner for Matt's birthday. It was great! (Thanks Ben & Kim for making it possible!) The place was decorated with lots of random antiques that had been collected over the years and lots of Tiffany lamps. It was a really fun place. We were way overdressed.

Halloween was fun. In my family, there are several birthdays in the month of October and one in November, so we decided to have big family birthday party on Halloween and then all of the grandkids went out trick-or-treating. Beckett really got into it this year. The first house we went to he saw a Hershey bar and grabbed that and started to eat it right away. At the second house he let us put the candy in the bag though. He had a great time. Anabelle survived, too. Unfortunately, no one gave her candy, so that meant that Matt and I didn't get any candy either. We had an easy time getting Belle into her Minnie Mouse costume, Beckett on the other hand... I think he thinks that his giraffe costume was a real giraffe or something because he refused to put it on or even let it get too close to him. So, the only thing he would let us put on him was a baseball outfit. (He was twins with his cousin Grant and we didn't even plan it)

A week after Halloween, my sister, Christa, and I "got out of Dodge" and ran away to San Diego. It was a fun trip and we survived driving in California. We stayed in a nice hotel and just relaxed. They had the coolest pools at the hotel.

There were water slides that emptied into two of the pools and a sand pit off to the side of another (I think that is to make up for the fact that it isn't located off of a beach). Everywhere we went, peopled just loved Anabelle. We got so many comments on how cute she is. I have to admit that they are right. She is a pretty cute baby (and these pictures prove it). We also did some shopping, went to the beach, did mud masks in our hotel room, and got a massage. It was a lot of fun. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

For Thanksgiving we went to Nate and Jana's in Colorado. We had a blast. We only wish we could have spent more time out there when Eric and Julia were there. The food was amazing and we played some really fun games, Speed Scrabble and a card game called "Rage". It is a lot like Trump (or Trumps, depending on which family is reading this) but has wild cards that change the trump color and different things like that. We also played Mexican Train, a domino game. That was a lot of fun too. Here is a picture of said Mexican train game:

I have to toot my horn here a little bit. I beat Nate at Speed Scrabble. This is no small feat. Speed Scrabble is where you have two piles of 12 or 14 scrabble tiles and then you flip over one of the piles and try to make as many words as fast as you can using all your tiles. Two letter words count too. Then, once you have used all your tiles, you say "Pick" and everybody flips over one tile from the second pile and that continues until all of the tiles are gone. Whoever gets rid of their tiles first wins. I think Nate won all of the times we played but maybe two or three and I was one of those. I know I just got lucky in my tile drawing, but I will take it. Thank you, Nate and Jana, for letting us come and feeding us so well.

Matt, during all this time, has been busy doing school work. He has made two short films (very short - they are both only about a minute long) with his friend, Kevin, for one of his classes. You can look them up on Youtube.com. Search for "Boxing for Keeps" and "That was not easy - Dial a Climber". Check 'em out. (I would put them on the blog, but it took so stinkin' long in my last blog to figure out how to get those videos on here that I just don't want to even try this time. I am not a tech geek at all. Plus, Matt will be adding them to his silly personal playground blog later...should he ever get around to it.) He finished up his finals this week. We are so glad to have his undivided attention again. And, if all goes according to plan, Matt will be all done with school this time next year. Keep your fingers crossed.

Another thing happening this week is that Mom Jacob is staying with us. We have made some yummy cookies (no, not my famous ones. We are making those this weekend), we have gone shopping, played games, and watched some of our new favorite movies, "Lars and the Real Girl" and "Penelope". We are hoping to see the lights on Temple Square while she is here and some other fun things, but mostly we are planning on just bumming around and just enjoying her company before she leaves on her mission to Melbourne, Australia.

Last you heard, Anabelle was starting to crawl. Well, she is full on crawling now and even "runs" away from me when she shouldn't be eating something she has found on the floor. She is pretty quick too. She loves us to help her walk around the house. She will be standing up to something and will cry until one of us comes and helps her walk to wherever it is she wants to go. I will not be surprised if she is walking by the end of January. She is getting more and more of a personality each day. She gets mad at Beckett if he does not share with her something that she really wants (usually food). She is still really good at pouting and looks at us to make sure we can see her bottom lip sticking out. She loves to clap and now expects us to clap for everything that she does. I think she is finally getting solids down (pun). She hasn't really liked baby food until this month. If she had her way, she would skip baby food all together and go right to whatever the rest of us are eating. We added dry cereal to her diet and she seems content for now.

Beckett got a haircut while I was in San Diego. Due to his hatred of haircuts, my mom cut it really short. He looked like a recovering cancer patient. It has grown in now and looks much better now. Although, on the Christmas card that we are sending out, he and Anabelle look almost like the same kid at first glance. I should have put him in a different color from Belle.

I have been to see "Twilight" twice now and I still love it. I give it a B+. I thought they did a decent job of adabting the book to movie. It isn't the greatest movie ever made, but I think it is cute and enjoyed it lots. I am getting excited for Christmas this year. It will be a lot of fun with Beckett. I have really been thinking on the true meaning of Christmas this year. In Relief Society last week, the member of the presidency that gave the lesson talked about how the wise men gave Christ gifts, and today, we give gifts to everybody but Christ. She then challenged us to give a gift to the Savior. It can be not gossiping as much, living more Christ-like, being more charitable, etc. I am taking that challenge and I encourage each of you to do it too. She gave us a little while stalking to put in a little piece of paper that we write down our gift on. You don't have to do that, but I am sure writing it down somewhere is a good idea.

Well, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a fun New Years. We love you all!