Thankful Day

Everyone is so quick about getting their posts up. I'm lagging a little behind here. We had a great Thanksgiving with lots of pie! B spent the first part of the day helping a family in our Branch cut wood to heat their house this winter while the kids and I started on dinner. The boys were fascinated by the idea of the turkey. We don't usually see our food in "animal form" if you know what I mean. Frozen chicken breasts don't really scream "cluck cluck" to the casual observer. So, after turkey anatomy 101 we got things rolling. For dinner we had some good friends from church and one of B's old mission companions over. The boys hit it off well with the mission companion. They both call him by his last name, like their dad (I hope he doesn't mind!), and gave him a run for his money in an all out wrestling match. The weather played us a couple of tricks throughout the day. It started out in the 60's, then it rained cats and dogs for a short while, and by evening it was freezing!!! But, B managed to get the outdoor Christmas lights up before it got too cold. Yeah! Ah winter. Kinda makes me miss CA where we ate Thanksgiving in B's uncle's back yard!

Sorry, no pictures this time. It's late and I don't have the patience to wait for them to upload with our slow connection.

Christmas here we come!!!

The Knight, the Dragon, and the Pretty Princess

So, I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween. Sorry to all you who have asked me about a picture! The Halloween costumes really came down to the wire this year. George broke some of his armor and I had to re-do the elastic around Isaac's wrists because I made it too tight the first time. So, with all the repair work I didn't get the zipper put in Ella's dress. I ended up just tacking on a couple of hook and eyes and calling it good. But they got done and they were cute! We had fun at the Branch Halloween Party on Tuesday. The kids played games and went trunk-or-treating and then on Halloween we met Benji at the Hall and trick-or-treated up and down main street. At dusk we marched in the Halloween Parade up main street-a great tradition in my opinion. It was fun to see the different personalities of my children when it came to this holiday. George loved dressing up and imagining all kinds of knightly adventures. He didn't care so much for the candy, and was in fact the first to suggest we be done trick-or-treating. Isaac, on the other hand, is all about the candy. The only reason he got dressed up was to get the candy. He insisted on carrying his own candy bucket the entire night (George ditched his in the stroller in order to better carry his sword) and was very good at encouraging his brother on to the next doorstep. Ella just wanted to do whatever her brothers did. She was not content to sit in the stroller and held out her hand for her share of the candy at many of the stops. I don't think she quite understood that what she was getting was candy. She was quite content just to hold the brightly colored packages. All in all it was a fun night! George is already planning his costume for next year. He's fluctuating between a bat and Buzz Lightyear-specifically a plastic Buzz costume with wings that pop out when he pushes a button on his chest. Please let him choose the bat!!!

Ray of Sun

I've had a very gloomy week this week, with the exception of one day. On Monday we took a day trip to Palmyra. It was my first time seeing the church history sites and it was beautiful! We had our own small miracle in that it rained the whole drive there, cleared up and was super nice while we were there, and then rained the whole drive home. The sacred grove was amazing with the leaves just starting to change and the kids really enjoyed the visitors center at Cumorah's Hill. Unfortunately, the Temple was closed and we couldn't see it very well through the trees and such from the gate. But, there's always next time! Little shining days like these are what give me the strength to keep going.

Back To School

George is officially back in school. He is excited because this year he gets to ride the bus home! He's getting so big. It's fun to meet the bus every day and see him climb down the big stairs. I can't believe he's going to be in Kindergarten next year and tha Isaac is going to be old enough to start Preschool!

So, funny/embarrassing experience today. I had a dentist appointment to fix a filling that I just had done about 2 years ago! Anyway, I raced home because the piano tuner was coming and when I got here I couln't even hardly talk to the guy because my mouth was still so numb. I swear I was slobbering and sluring my speach and there was nothing I could do about it. He probably thought I was intoxicated or something. But he fixed my piano! Yeah!

On Tuesday we took the kids to The Great Escape amusement park. The boys had a blast! It was one of those rare days that everything goes smoothly. We had no complaints, no behavior problems, no kids running off- and Ella was a gem the whole day too! The kids are getting old enough to really be fun on family outings. They get excited about things and just really enjoy being together.

Isaac's favorite ride was the motorcycles. I think it was a dream come true for him to be able to ride one, and it was okay with mom and dad too because they weren't real! George really liked the rollercoaster (the small one in kid land). He was scared to death but wanted to go on it again as soon as it was over. Way to be brave George!

School is starting again soon. I can't believe the summer is ending already. I don't think I'm ready for the cold weather yet. I think George is excited to go back to preschool though. And we finally took away Isaac's "Uh Oh" (pacifier). It's been a rough 2 weeks, but we're making progress...maybe. Next, potty training! Can we do it by Christmas?

Happy First Birthday!

This past year has really snuck by me. It's REALLY hard to believe that it's been an entire year since we brought our beautiful girl home to a half packed apartment-getting ready to move to NY! She has grown so fast and is truly the sweetest person I know. We are so lucky to have been blessed with such a happy, content little soul. Heavenly Father knew that we needed her and exactly when to send her to our family.

We had a great birthday day on Saturday. We started the day opening presents because the brothers couldn't wait a second longer. In the afternoon we had some friends over for cake and ice cream. Ella wouldn't get messy at all! After dinner we sat out on the driveway and watched the parade for Hartwick Field Days and ended the evening with fireworks. My favorite thing about parades here is the fact that there are no floats (sp?). The "royalty" ride on top of the fire trucks. Super cool! My other favorite was watching all the old cars in the parade "burn rubber." We have tire tracks all over the road in front of our house. Gotta love small towns.

Anniversary

Benji and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday! We couldn't find a babysitter (they're rather scarce) so we took the family to the Farmer's Museum where the kids got to see some animals and ride the carousel. After the kids went to bed, Benji and I had dinner and watched a video that my sister put together for us. We never had one of those cheesy wedding videos with pictures of us growing up and dating and all that, and she figured we missed out, so she used her video making software to make one for us. We really enjoyed it! Thanks Jess!

I am so grateful for Benji. He really is just the most wonderful person ever! I'm pretty lucky that I get to be with him forever. I couldn't have chosen a better husband or father (just ask Isaac).

For those of you who can't tell, the person in the picture with Benji is ME! Apparently I have not aged gracefully and have perhaps gotten a little bit chubby, because I've had a couple of different people ask who was in the picture with Ben. Like I would keep a picture of Benj and another girl hanging around my house! :)