Thanksgiving

We started our trip up to Utah on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  We stayed in Mesquite overnight, then made it up to Orem on Sunday in time for our nephew Lincoln's birthday party.  Happy 1st, Linky!
  

  

On Monday, we got to relax, play in the snow, and hang out at my mom's house.  We also went and bought some much-needed snow gear for the kids!

   

Notice the size 4T coat, one adult glove, and wet jeans . .

  

Ryan had a meeting in Salt Lake on Tuesday morning, so we all had to be packed and ready pretty early.  Unfortunately, we got caught in this.  Somebody had flipped their car and crossed the freeway median.  It shut down I-15 for quite awhile.  We talked to the kids about the importance of wearing your seatbelt, etc., but it turns out the lady involved miraculously survived.

  

While Ryan was busy, I did the ZCMI candy windows and Temple Square with the kids. 

 

  
That afternoon, on our way to a kitchen store (see previous post,) we saw a tank parked on State Street.  Evan had been obsessed with tanks ever since talking to a retired Army soldier on Veteran's day.  So, of course, we stopped and climbed all over it.
  

"A tank is a big truck with a gun on it!"

The National Guard guy said it was technically a Howitzer.

  

I think this was our third Thanksgiving at Brighton Lodge.  It works pretty well for us, because one of us can ski or snowboard while the other watches the kids.  This was Connor's third time in ski lessons, and Elise's first!  I was prepared for her to be scared and hesitant, but she jumped right in!  She was going down with no tip clips on her second run, and when I picked her up from class, she said, "Mom.  Skiing . . .is . . .AWESOME!"  She went out a second time with Daddy while the rest of us hung out in the lodge, doing school and watching movies.  I forgot to get pictures of her or anybody else skiing.  Bad mama!

    

Wiley stayed at Grandma's house while we skied.  He gets spoiled.

   

Thanksgiving Day was, of course, wonderful.  It's never quite the same when we do it somewhere else.  After we all feasted we went outside, and Grandpa took the kids on a crazy rhino ride!  He was only going like five miles an hour, but they were screaming as if they were going to die.  Happy screams, of course.

   
On Black Friday, we took the rhino out again, in shifts, but left the yard this time.  My mom, Elise, Evan, and I did a tour of the town, then went up into the canyon on the fire road.  It was so beautiful.  I miss seasons, even though we were freezing out there!  Ryan and Connor did their own father/son trip after we got back.
 

 
Our visit seemed a bit short, but it was tons of fun.  (I think I gained five pounds in six days.)  We came back home on Saturday, getting in around 1am.  (When we discovered a raccoon in our tree, but that's another story. . .)
 

Eating Whipped Cream

November

November was busy with all sorts of little things.  Our oven broke, and we started researching whether we'd rather remodel our kitchen or repair an oven the size of a microwave.  (We still haven't decided.)
  

Research at IKEA

Elise's Daisy troop did a bake sale to support Operation Christmas Child.  We made fudge and chocolate chex squares (neither required an oven,) and Elise got to help serve customers.
  

Elise's Nervous Face

Corinne was alternately bad and cute (or sometimes both at the same time.)
  

 
Nana and Grandpa Al came to visit!  We had a great time hanging out with them, and they decorated the kids' rooms with curtains and new bedding.  We also finally put up the bunk beds they got for Elise and Corinne.  (Though Corinne won't be using hers for awhile yet.)
   

   
We went to the park most Fridays, and the kids figured out how to go sledding, California style.
   

Yeah, it's a boogie board.

  
We got together with Aunt Helena one Saturday at the California Science Center.  It was sooo much less crowded than the last time we'd gone!  We got to look at the Endeavor shuttle, see things rotting, ride a "space coaster", and play with all the kid exhibits. 
   

Sand Dunes

 

Hurricane Simulator

  
We collaborated with some friends to take each others' family pictures this year.  Ours turned out pretty good, despite my boys' determination to ruin it with goofy faces (yes, that includes Ryan.)  Out of 95 shots, this was the best one, and I still had to send it to a guy in Florida to Photoshop Evan's underwear!
  

  
Connor continued with basketball class, and I finally got some pictures of him playing.  I'm continually surprised by how much he likes this class.
  

 

  
Our park day group arranged a series of ice skating lessons this winter at the Pasadena ice rink. The first was towards the end of November, and it was a bit of a disaster.  We parked in the wrong place and missed most of the lesson.  The older kids did okay, but Evan wouldn't go on the ice by himself, and I had Corinne to tend, so I couldn't help him much.  (Friends offered to hold her, but that just made her freak out.)  I got these pictures at least, before my phone ran out of batteries!
  

 

  

    
Right before our Utah Thanksgiving trip, the Palmers came to visit for a night!  We went to Blaze pizza, and let's just say I'm glad we sat outside.  Eight little kids trying to one-up each other is kinda loud.  When we got back, we had to sedate them with video games to get them ready for bed.
     

     

Halloween

Okay, it's the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I have a few days to finish out the year of posts!  Let's see how I do. . .
  
Halloween was not too stressful!  I'm not sure what the difference was this year, but we had a pretty good time.  The Saturday before Halloween, Elise (and the rest of us) were invited to a classmate's superhero birthday party.  Little kids in superhero costumes are the best.  It was a bit unusual, too, because the family (who are Evangelical Christian) incorporated a very sweet lesson about how Jesus is even better than a superhero.  The birthday boy's dad is Cambodian, so the food was pretty awesome, including this fish soup that supposedly takes forever to make.  (Elise said it was the best soup she'd ever had.)
  

Evan and his friend, Andre, were big fans of the dressing up.

  
That night was the ward Trunk or Treat.  I'm pretty sure this event is a bigger deal than Halloween for my kids, since it's their chance to show off their costumes to their friends.  We started calling it "Sarahween" in honor of Elise's obsession with getting her friend's costume-approval.  Connor was the Grim Reaper, Elise was a peacock, Evan was a pirate with a SWORD, and Corinne was a chicky.
  

Trunk-or-Treat

  
On Halloween night, we carved pumpkins, then went trick-or-treating in a nearby neighborhood with a bunch of friends.  Connor and Daniel both had very cumbersome costumes, so I stayed behind with them as they shuffled along.  Cute boys.
  

   

Connor's, Evan's (with Dad's help), and Elise's

  

Grim and Stay Puft (Neither could see very well.)

  
Evan had a Joy School Halloween party, but I forgot to get pictures.  Here's his craft, though.  He did it all by himself!
  

Caught Stealing Elise's Candy