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.

Pake Lowell

But most people like to refer to as Lake Powell. The kids and I went to Lake Powell with my family and had a great time. I was pretty scared to go all by myself on a trip without Matt to tag-team it with me, but I had so many people there to help out, especially young girls that live to play and take care of little kids. So actually, it was a wonderful trip and I had to do hardly anything, except handle the meltdowns that come with riding on a speedboat, not being allowed to eat candy for dinner or after brushing teeth before going to bed, and peeing in a toilet that isn't allowed to be flushed unless someone goes #2. That last one was a really hard concept for the kids to grasp, which is a good thing I guess. Also, sorry if that disgusts you, but that's how we roll on the ol' Humpherys' Houseboat.

We started the 5+ hour drive at about 8:30 in the morning. Beckett freaked out every time the boat, which was pulled by my brother's truck, would disappear from view or even get more than 20 ft from the car we were in. It was an unpleasant first couple of hours. We put a movie on in hopes of distracting him, which worked to keep him from crying about it, but my dad caught him in the rear view mirror the rest of the way checking on the boat every few minutes or so. At least we know that we will never lose anybody on a road trip with Beckett around.

Other than that, the trip down was rather painless. I guess that is one of the blessings of having older siblings with all of their kids older than mine. I had 2 babysitters in the car, plus my sister and her friend. It was very nice to sit in the front seat and let them handle everything.

Once we got there, we loaded the speedboat with as much luggage, food, and children as we could without sinking it, and headed to the houseboat. It took two trips, but once luggage and persons were all accounted for, we set off into open waters.

Anabelle loved every minute of being on the boat and being with the big kids. In fact, I hardly saw her all week. Even when we were both on the speedboat at the same time, I didn't see her much because she was always up front with the other kids having a great time bouncing on the waves. She is such a dare devil and teenage-wanna-be.

Beckett was nervous about riding on both boats. He was freaking out the whole mile long trip from Bullfrog Marina to the houseboat. Then he was a little uncertain about the houseboat moving. He had to have the doors shut so he couldn't hear the wind (another one of those Asperger things), and for a while, I had to sit with him and help him adjust to the new experience. After about 15 or 20 minutes, Beckett noticed this:

Look at my brave girl, front and center

 
He realized he was missing out on some fun, so he manned up, braved the wind, and ...

I was so proud of him! He rode up there the rest of the 2 hour drive to where we parked the boat.

The next day was a big day. Beckett caught his first fish ever. I don't know if anybody remembers the "Monster Fish" episode we had last year at the cabin, but I was afraid we were never going to get Beckett near another fishing pole even if it meant he wouldn't starve. But he did it. He was really excited about it too, as long as it didn't touch him.

Since we came home from the trip, Beckett has watched this video over and over again. I think he still is pretty excited about it. He actually caught two fish that morning. I guess he realized there are no such things as Monster Fish. :)

Belle and I went on a boat trip with half of the group later that day, and when we got back, this is what we saw:

He surprised me so many times on this trip. Belle did too, but I will get into that later. I am a chronological thinker.

The next day, all 20 of us piled into the speedboat and went to Rainbow Bridge. My dad's boat says it's max capacity is 18, but we figured that the three youngest people put together equaled one whole person, so we were good. Going into Rainbow Bridge it was smooth sailing. There was hardly anyone there and a park volunteer helped us dock our boat. As he saw all of the people in this one boat, he told us that we better be careful, we can get a citation for having more than the recommended amount of people in the boat. Freaked me out a little bit. We then proceeded to hike up to the Bridge.

If you have never had the opportunity to go to this amazing world wonder (no really, we have one of the 7 natural world wonders in our state, how cool is that?!), you really need to go. It is incredible. You can no longer hike up underneath it, because it is a sacred place for the Native Americans, but you can get close enough that you realize how freaking tall that thing is and that nature is incredible. There was another park volunteer at the bridge that told us about the history of the place and how it was discovered and the legend the Native Americans have of how it was made. They are neat stories, but I wont bore you by posting them on here. You can just go there and find out for yourself (incentive).

When all piled back into the boat, there were more people that had shown up to see the Bridge. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but we forgot about this one spot in the canyon that Rainbow Bridge is located in that is super narrow and can only fit one boat at a time. The problem with us being so full is that if there were big waves (which are really big if there are tour boats going through that spot, which isn't a rare occurrence.  Those things are massive, I've seen speedboats catch air off those waves), there was a real possibility of water coming up over the front of the boat, which would be so very bad. We were all holding our breath as we went through, much like in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers when they are going through the pass during the winter and don't want to start an avalanche. Obviously we made it through, but I have to put some kind of thrill factor into my story.

After Rainbow Bridge, you have to go get ice cream at Dangling Rope and make the fish smoke (aka - feed the fish ice cream and it comes out there gills and it looks like they are smoking). Beckett thought that was just the best thing ever. First, the carps there are huge, so that was pretty exciting for him. Second, he thought it was hilarious to watch the fish fight over the food and to listen to the sucking sounds they make in the process. Anabelle loved it too. In fact, I think there was one point where I was afraid she was going to fall in, she was so engrossed in watching those fish eat. Kids make everything seem new and exciting.

Afterwards, we stopped in a canyon half way to the houseboat and went swimming. We had a blast. Beckett didn't last long in the water, but he did get in (a success in my book). There was a small sand dune, and that is where he spent most of the time during the pool party.

Belle did a little of both. In the sand, in the water, you know, typical kid stuff. She had so much fun with her cousins. All of my nieces and nephews are older than my kids, most of them by at least 5 years, so Anabelle just loved having them play with her and getting to act like one of the older girls.

After the swimming party, everyone was all tuckered out.

You will notice that Beckett is riding in the front. I was absolutely floored that he rode up there. I had to force him onto the boat. I tried to trick him into getting on, but he saw right through it, so I had to just drag him on (that was one of the more difficult moments of the trip, I wanted to give up and just stay on the houseboat, but luckily everyone was super supportive and we made it onto the boat). He was crying and really hated the loud sound of the boat. I had to hold his head against me the whole 2 1/2 hour drive to Rainbow Bridge. For him to ride up front, that he decided on his own, was amazing and I just couldn't believe it. I was, and still am, so proud of him.

The next day was a chill day, full of games and water fun, especially for Anabelle, the Thrill Seeker.

Can you believe that?! Those are two different times that she got on that. Granted the boat went slower than molasses, but she did it. She is braver than her mom. I wouldn't even do it. I am blown away by this girl and how adventurous she is. I am so proud of my little Thrill Junkie.

The next day was Escalante day, my personal favorite. Escalante Canyon is the most beautiful of all the canyons in my opinion. Case in point:

My brother and his wife offered to stay on the houseboat and watch Beckett for me. So Belle and I went and had a great time in one of my most favorite places on earth. We saw Cathedral in the Desert and La Gorce Arch (pictured above). We also did a little exploring trying to find some Native American ruins in the canyon and discovered some beautiful arms in the canyon we had never seen before. I wish we could have explored more. I do need to show you some silly pictures from our trip. Here is Belle's ensemble for our trip that day:

I love when kids do that. Too cute! And now I have to put one of me because it is only fair:

My head was hot and I did not want it to burn, and then it got out of control from there. This is one of the more normal pictures we took.

When we got back to the houseboat, my brother that had stayed with Beckett told me that Beckett was playing on the inner tubes tied on the back and fell in the water (life jacket on, no worries) and that my brother quickly got him out and told him that he floated because he had on his life jacket. Apparently that was all that needed to be said to him because Beckett just kept on playing on the tubes. In fact later that night he played with Anabelle and some cousins, and they all had a blast.

He wasn't even phased by that fall either. I panicked and made you all sea-sick for nothing. He got right back on the inner tube and kept on pushing his cousins off into the water. Belle had tons of fun playing on there too. She would jump from the houseboat to the tube and was so cute. I wanted to post a video of Belle being super cute on the inner tube, but it is a little long and this post is long enough as it is. Oh well. If you really want to see the rest of the videos, you are welcome to come over. Beckett will be more than happy to put them on. He loves to watch them. He even has them memorized.

One more thing about them playing on the inner tube. I am so sad I didn't catch it on the camera. Beckett had pushed Jessica (the older cousin in the video) and she was going to climb back on the tube, but first she said to Beckett teasingly, "Now you aren't going to push me off, are you?" Beckett said, "No." So she climbs on and he says, "SURPRISE!" and then pushes her in. I still laugh hard every time I think about it. Who knew Beckett could be so witty.

One of my other most favorite thing about Lake Powell is the stars. They are incredible. You can see the Milky Way and at least one shooting star. I loved to just lay on the top deck and watch them until I would fall asleep. It didn't happen much on this trip. I kind of had to go to bed when the kids did. Lame. But I did attempt to take a photo to show you blog followers.

Beautiful aren't they? You can see all of the stars.

Early the next morning, Belle decided to throw up. As most of you know, Matt and I have a deal, I change poopy diapers, and he takes care of throw up. He does not like poop but isn't bothered by throw up, I gag at the sound and smells of someone puking but have no problem with stinky diapers. Everybody wins. Unfortunately, I had to deal with this all by myself. It was not fun. Also, it was my last chance to go fishing. I had bought a fishing license (not cheap) and had not caught a single fish. The mornings that we had gone, there were boils all around, but I got nada. (Boils are when striped bass "corral" small fish at the surface of the water and then just start attacking them, with the fish jumping out of the water giving the appearance of boiling water) Most of the other guys had caught at least one. I really wanted to get one that morning. I couldn't leave Belle alone, and I didn't feel right about waking someone else up to take care of my sick child. She was acting better, so I took her with. She did fine. She only threw up once or twice while we were out, which is actually pretty good considering we were on a boat, stopping, going, turning lots, chasing those boils. Typing this out makes me feel guilty. Oh well. I think she had a good time. I don't think she was sick sick, I think something was just upsetting her tummy, so it was fine. And I did catch a fish. Only one, but mission accomplished. So it was all worth it. Right?

After we got back and had breakfast, we packed up to go home. Then we all loaded up in the speedboat and headed back to Bullfrog Marina. 

I told you we loaded up the boat. There was no leg room. We were all crammed in there with all of our bags and stuff. Tons of fun! No really. It really was one of the better trips to Lake Powell I've had. I wish Matt could have come, but maybe next time. 

Omaha

We drove out to Omaha, NE at the end of May. We decided it would be best to drive overnight so that the trip wouldn't seem so long to the youngens. It wasn't too bad, except that around 2am, we stopped for all of us to sleep, unfortunately, Anabelle decided to wake up and sat there crying until we started driving again. The little stinker. Luckily I had gotten some sleep before we stopped, so it was my turn to drive. We arrived at Grandma Jill's apartment early Saturday afternoon. Some of Matt's brothers and a wife came over and we had a fun time catching up and playing scrabble with each other on smartphones. Mom and I were totally excluded because we don't have smartphones. We had one of Matt's favorite meals that his mom makes, for dinner that night, Italian sandwiches. So yummy! It will kill you, but you will die happy.

The kids were so excited to be with their Grandma Jill. They had so much fun with her. One of Matt's sisters, Heather, brought over a bunch of toys for Mom to keep at her house, since she got rid of all of them when she left on her mission. One of the toys was this foot high, remote controlled T-Rex that walked, roared, and did all kinds of stuff. Beckett was so funny with this toy. At first he was really nervous about it. He would just watch it from a distance. Then he realized it wasn't real and that he could play with it and after that, it was his favorite toy. He had a hard time sharing it with other cousins that came over while we were there. I personally, am very glad that we don't have one of those. That thing would move all by itself without anyone touching the remote and it kind of freaked me out.

Belle's favorite thing at Grandma Jill's was her deck she loved it. I think she was out there every chance she got.

Matt left Saturday night to start his Brothers Baseball Trip. They did one two years ago, and decided they had so much fun, they wanted to do it again. This time they stayed at their sister, Tris's house. She lives in Ohio, so they went to Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They had a blast on this trip too. Tris made shirts for all the boys.

Matt's family loves Balderdash, a game about making up stuff and getting people to believe what you wrote is the right answer. On their last baseball trip, the boys played the game and they got the name George Dawes one round. He has since become a huge inside joke for all of the guys and at our family reunion, the joke only continued. Tris remembered it all and made a T-shirt for them. Isn't she so cool?

While they were on their trip, they also went to Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital.

It looks like so much fun. Someday I will get to go too. I love roller coasters. Hopefully turning 30 and having kids hasn't ruined that for me.

Back to Omaha. We had a lot of fun of our own. Monday was pretty tame most of the day. We went to a park and had a picnic with another one of the wives and children left behind.

All I have to say is the humidity is killer. I am seriously considering NOT moving to Omaha, just because of the humidity. I moved into the shade and it was literally no different than in the sunshine. I was melting. And Anabelle just wanted to swing the whole time, in the sunshine. I had to talk her out of swinging and going and playing on the playground with her cousins and brother because I couldn't stand it another second longer.

That night, after making pizza for dinner, the fire alarm went off in the apartment above Mom's. Mom immediately grabbed the kids and told them to get their shoes on. I grabbed my camera and phone and then left. As we were going down the stairs, the girl in the apartment on fire came out and said it was a cooking fire and they had put out and that we didn't need to leave. Mom and I left anyways because the alarm was still going. We walked across the street and watched the fire trucks come and then played at the park at the elementary. After a little bit, Mom's neighbor came running towards us and told us the fire fighters needed the keys to the apartment. I ran back to open the door for them to find them already inside and pots and pans everywhere. Apparently those sprinklers are crazy. They spray about 55 gallons of water per minute, so there was a few inches of water in the apartment above, and it was all coming down into Mom's place. We had to pack up and go sleep at my sister-in-law, Erica's house that night. It was crazy.

After a nights sleep, we felt better. Erica and I decided it would be a good day to take all our kids to the children's museum. As we were leaving it started to rain, then it turned into a downpour. It was lightening like crazy. I saw lightening strike a radio tower like a mile or less in front of me. Kind of scary. The streets were flooded. When we arrived at the museum, we got drenched running from our cars to the museum, and I am really not exaggerating. Here are some pictures of the kids at the museum after we had been there a half hour and you can still see the water in Belle's hair:

It was a really fun place. It is a lot like the Discovery Gateway. There was a YMCA children's group there so it was super crowded, but the kids had a blast anyways. There was this ball area that had all kinds of machines that moved the balls in all kinds of ways. Beckett loved that area. They also had an area for putting on stage make-up. Belle really liked that area as well as the grocery store. It was so fun. And it was free to boot. She had a year pass that lets in 2 adults, and 4 kids. It was perfect!

When we got back, Mom and I thought we would be able to go back to the apartment. Nope. We had to go back and get clothes for another night. I hadn't planned on living out of a suitcase, living out of a suitcase, if that makes any sense. Beckett and Anabelle were fine with it. They were having so much fun playing with their cousins that they never get to see, Beckett especially.

Wednesday, we thought for sure we would be able to go back to the apartment. We went back to only find big huge fans blowing. There was no way we would be able to stay the day there. So we went to the visitor's center by the Winter Quarters Temple. It was fun. They had all kinds of neat stuff and things to look at, even dress ups.

I highly recommend going there if you are ever in the area. The temple is just gorgeous as well. The visitor's center has a beautiful view of the temple and the graveyard right next to it. (In case you didn't know, the temple was built right next to the cemetery for the saints that died there before they could begin their trek out west. It actually is really beautiful and even more peaceful than most temple grounds)

Well, when we got back to the apartment, it was still blowing. So we went shopping! We went to Joann's, where Jill works, and she helped me pick out some fabric for curtains to put in Anabelle's room.

Didn't they just turn out adorable? I just love them. I like how they match her blanket as well.

Just a reminder of what it looks like

The only problem is, that as soon as we came home, Anabelle started insisting on sleeping in Beckett's room. So, now those cute curtains are up with no blanket to match. Oh well, they look cute anyways.

After our purchases, we decided we couldn't sleep at the apartment that night, and trespassed on another sister-in-law, Taffy. Luckily, we arrived just as she was finishing up making chicken pot pie, so we got to have a delicious dinner and a place to stay. Beckett and Anabelle got acquainted with more cousins that they never see and had a lot of fun. Everyone that we stayed with was so hospitable. They were so kind and gracious.

Well, now we are up to Thursday, and that was the day we went to the Omaha Zoo. Which is huge! I have never been and it was so cool. At least 3 or 4 times bigger than our wonderful Hoogle Zoo. They have the 2nd largest indoor rainforest in the world. How cool is that?! We didn't go in though. There was just too much to look at and two little kids and two adults that got a little weary of walking everywhere (oh wait, the kids were in the wagon that I rented, so they really had no excuse for being tired).

We did go in the desert dome, which didn't feel very new to me, but they did have an exhibit in the basement that was so cool. It is called Creatures of the Night. It is dark down there and they have all these nocturnal creatures on display, even bats in open cages that are netted off, but you can see and hear them flying around. It was really cool.

All the boys thought it was so fun to be down there and that they were so tough, even though they are only 4 and 5. Then we got to the end, which is where they have a bayou, complete with alligators. You walk through on a wooden platform that is maybe a foot off the water with thin metal netting on the sides, hanging from the railing.

At first I thought, "Those alligators are fake. There is no way they would have them so close to the public." Then I asked Taffy if they were real and yes they were. Beckett was scared to go in, but once he got in he wasn't scared. Once I got in and found that out, I was a bit nervous. Those gators could easily chomp through and eat somebody. I did calm down after she told me that they are really lazy and well feed. They better be! They had an albino alligator in there and that was really cool. It was maybe 3 feet from the walkway, so I didn't stay too long to gawk.

After that, we went to the aquarium. That was so fun. They had all kinds of ocean creatures. I think the kids liked this place the most.

I didn't get a picture of it, but they had a big column filled with water and Jelly fish. It was so amazing and beautiful. It was just like on Finding Nemo.

Due to Beckett's insistence, after seeing the cat house, we went and saw the giraffes, but I didn't take any pictures there either. I am terrible. I did get a picture of the next thing we went and saw though:

That was definitely the best thing there for Beckett. After that, we were all spent and went home. I got an amazing parking spot, in the shade, real close to the entrance. I was so lucky and so happy when we were able to just pull right out of there. That was a highlight for me.

After that, Mom and I decided that we had had enough of sleeping at other people's houses and went back, loud fans and all. They had now added dehumidifiers, so it was even noisier, but we didn't care. It was nice to be settled finally and not putting anyone out. Plus, we made up our own recipe for chicken salad that had just what we wanted in it and it turned out great. I am craving it now just thinking about it.

Friday was the day the boys got back, so we decided to not do much. I sewed my curtains and that was about it. Saturday we spent at Matt's brother's house helping him with yard work, and then had Chinese for dinner (you should know by now that the meals were just as much apart of the trip for me, as everything else was). Sunday we had a big picnic with almost all of the family in Omaha, plus some from Utah, and the kids just had a blast playing with all of their cousins. Here is a picture of Anabelle chasing a squirrel with her cousin Ally (also from Utah):

After the picnic, Matt and I decided we would leave as soon as we could, instead of the next day, so we could drive while the kids slept. I think it took Matt's mom by surprise because she started crying when we said it. It was hard for us to leave as well. I think Beckett knew it we were leaving too because this is what he did when we got back to Mom's apartment:

Then Anabelle couldn't be left out, only she didn't look quite so melancholy.

We had so much fun with family and especially with Mom. One of our best trips out there.