Thanksgiving

We hosted both my brothers and their families for Thanksgiving.  The day before Thanksgiving we drove to Denver to pick Noah up from the Airport and then swung by Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  We enjoyed a picnic then a very grueling 1/4 mile hike.

"Kissing Camels"

There is Noah trying to convince Violet to keep walking.  I thought we were going on a mile hike, but it ended up only being a 1/4 mile loop.  I'm glad that it was only 1/4 mile.  My kids do not have much practice with "hiking".

Maverick struggling

Attempting some jumping pictures with uncle Noah

There was lots of holiday traffic and the kids were super whiny on the way home.  Noah helped me that night get things started for our feast.  Luckily Evan picked Jess and her girls up from the airports so I didn't have to get back in the car.  Poor Korey had motion sickness and got sick that night.  Dustin was suppose to arrive around noon on Thanksgiving, but there was snow in Trukee, CA and it took him over 24 hours to reach us.  Autumn let Korey wear some of her clothes for the day.  Jess and I enjoyed a spin class on Thanksgiving morning.

Grandma Pattie sent puzzles for all the kids.  We did a puzzle every year to stay out of my mom's hair.

JoJo enjoyed ripping the puzzles apart and it drove Lark crazy.

Noah was a good sport and let the girls play with his hair. 

Olive got to met aunt Jess for the first time.

The crew and the spread

The kids made these turkey feet center pieces at a craft day at the Children's village.

Noah and Olive.  (Olives pants have a turkey on the bum)

Lark also turned 6 months on Thanksgiving day.

She is starting to solo sit, still loves her Bumbo and chillin on the floor while watching her siblings.  She rolls like crazy and will roll as a means to get from point A to point B.  We've tried "Solid" foods, but they don't always seem to sit well with her so she gets them very sparingly.  She has started to wake up in the middle of the night again.  She wears size 3 diapers and mostly 6 month clothes.  And I can't seem to shoes/socks/booties on her.

 It was quite painful trying to get everyone to sit!  (Since Dustin got stuck traveling, the girls got to wear my girls' clothes)

Noah and I had a double blind taste test for Evan to find his favorite egg nog.

We went to Terry Bison Ranch and feed the bison and posed on the taxidermy animals.

These two became good buddies.

Autumn was mad that I wouldn't buy her a souvenir.

Dustin meeting Ollie

We braved the cold and watched the Christmas parade.  The poor California cousins were miserable.  We left early but not until we saw Evan's work float.

After the Robins left we decorated the tree.

Utah Trip

My grandma has been in the hospital and not doing too well.  The whole family was going to trek to Utah for a long weekend, but at the last minute we decided it would be best if I just went with a couple of the kids.  So Lark and Maverick stayed home with Evan and I took Olive, Autumn and Violet to Utah.

We stopped at aunt Deb's house on the way down and had dinner with her.  Then we stayed with my aunt Sandi.  The girls were very excited about all her toys.  The next morning we headed to Provo to meet up with some friends.  We went to the Bean Musuem first and then had lunch with my aunt Traci and her kids who just happened to be in town.

Bean Museum.  This was the first time I had ever been to the museum.  The girls thought it was ok.

We went swimming with two of my friends from high school and their kids.  We each had a baby girl this summer, Olive and Rosie are 2 weeks apart and Olive and Ester are about 5 weeks apart!

We had a brief but fun visit with my grandparents.

Olive and Violet enjoying the hobby horse grandpa built.

I took the girls to the outlet mall to buy me some new pants and to find a winter coat for Autumn.  Then we drove to Salt Lake to meet up with another friend from high school.  We played at a really cool park even though it was quite chilly.  That evening I went out with my girl friends for dinner and my friend's husband watched the girls for me!

Autumn almost 7 and Nixon barely 4!

My gal pals and our babies that are all within a few weeks of each other.

I took the girls to one of my favorite restaurants, JDawgs and they actually ate something off the menu!

After going to sacrament meeting on Sunday we headed home.

Halloween

We dressed as the Teen-aged Mutant Ninja Turtles for Halloween.  The three middle kids have really been into watching a new version of the cartoon, especially Maverick.  It was a harder sale for Violet to get on board with the family theme this year.  Once I told her I'd make her a tutu she was all in.  The kids really wanted Evan and I to dress like April and Casey Jones from the cartoon they watch, but I insisted we go the 80s version so my friends would know who I was.

Shredder!  This costume may be my favorite ever, especially with Olive's naturally spiky hair.

I was trying to get a picture of Lark and her best friend Dixie, but Dixie was having none of that! I love Lark's defeated face.  These two really are good buddies.  One night Lark refused to go to bed because she wanted to go to Dixie's house.  I finally got her to go to bed when I promised I send a message to her mom and ask for a play date.

I sent the defeated picture to my friend, we both laughed and she sent me this one back.  See I told you they were friends.

This year's costumes were some of my favorites.  I got the idea for the camera from my friend Kendra. I just wrapped a syrup bottle with black duct tape.

Lots of my friends do cutesty dinners on Halloween. They have hot dogs that look like mummys, etc.  We had toast and bagels for dinner.

I convinced my in-laws to join our family theme.  They dressed as the pizza delivery guys!  Luckily the weather wasn't too bad.  The kids lasted a long time and we enjoyed lots of candy for several weeks, until I finally made them get rid of it.  I was sick of having kids sneak candy instead of eating meals.

 The kids humored me and let me take a billion pictures and action shots of them as Ninja Turtles.