Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was spent here in Las Vegas with family. We started off the weekend with a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Wednesday night. We made popcorn and buttered toast, and had pretzels and jelly beans. Not everything was perfect...Abbie keeps reminding me that the napkins weren't right. Snoopy does little boats. And we will have to borrow Grandpa & Grandma's ping pong table because Kyle kept bringing that up. I mentioned getting Abbie & Daisy little pilgrim costumes like Snoopy and Woodstock but they didn't seem as important for some reason...hmmm.

The next day we joined everyone at Grandma and Papa's just after noon. The kids made a beeline for the leaves in the front yard. They buried Aunt Sam then Papa. Later in the day Kyle raked a huge pile for them and they tried to bury him. All that was missing was a wet sucker...
After the first leaf madness the little kids went for a bike ride with Aunt Sam. Daisy tried to follow on her squirrel but quickly became frustrated and had to go home. Tripp and Kyle missed the bike ride but had one of their own as they rode their bikes from home to Grandma & Papa's house. Ryan followed behind (the little kids that is) in his wagon.

Ryan couldn't wait until 4 p.m. for dinner so he checked out the fridge early. He is so funny. I am going to miss him when he gets older. It will be fun having another bigger kid but I'll miss cuddling a baby.

After playing in the playroom and all the outside activity, it was time for a little rest and another viewing of Snoopy Thanksgiving (my favorite Snoopy holiday special, in case you wondered). That's me on the side looking through the holiday ads. I woke up at 4:35 for Toys R Us. Lindsay and Sam got up and went to Target at 4 a.m. Forget that. I love my sisters but NEVER go with them. They always end up going earlier and to more stores than I do. That's why Abbie goes shopping with her Aunts for her birthday...I hate to shop.

Kyle can't watch TV at the moment and Ryan isn't interested so they had a little man to man time. I've mentioned before, little kids LOVE Kyle. I think it's because he is nice to them. He is loving and kind and sweet to the little guys.

But rest didn't last long. There were Rice Krispie turkeys to make, and games to play. Lindsay had an entire line-up planned. My parents even bought an air hockey table. It didn't work but that didn't stop Abbie, Daisy and Nate from playing it. Abbie (in particular) really loved it.

Thanksgiving was a fun day. The food was yummy, the family was fantastic and overall it was a good day. Tiring, but great.

The next day started early, then went full speed ahead. Paul and his family were in town and invited us for a full day of activities. We went bowling with them and their cousins for a couple of hours then to see Tangled. Abbie has been waiting for months to see the movie and going with so many cousins and friends made it even more special.

The photo below is my favorite from bowling. It is Abbie and Paul's niece Maddy. She is in 5th grade is was so cute with Abbie and Daisy. Abbie in particular liked bowling with her. Abbie, at one point said, "I got a home run!" and instead of correcting her or making fun of her (which her brother would have done) she just said, "I got a grand slam." She helped her each time get the ball down the lane, which was helpful since I was there with the girls and Daisy was noshing on the food Paul and Jeremy ordered so I had my hands full with that. We are lucky to be associated by family to such fun kids as Maddy and Crew and to see them so often! The girls had a blast with Paul and Jeremy's kids, especially the girls. Daisy kept saying, "I love Isabelle."

Later that night, Sam made a huge pot of chili and we all (Lindsay, Wes, Sam, our parents, the kids) met up again to eat it. It was so nice not to have to cook or eat turkey! Thanks Aunt Sam. You're a brick.

After chili, Paul, Laura and the kids came over for games and pie. That's right, Paul, Laura and ALL the kids. It seems Seth's new doctor has the "The kid's gotta live" attitude and advises him to simply take some benedryl when visiting family with dogs (or dog) and just do it! Works for us. So we put Kramer upstairs and they all came over for some fun. We played UNO Blaster and Bingo. Tons of fun. You don't realize how nice it is to simply invite family over until you can't. Then you just get used to not inviting them over and not seeing them much until you can again then you realize "It rocks to have family at your house to play games and hang out!" We missed you Seth...so glad you can all come back!!!!!!

Saturday we finally (after two cancellations - bad behavior of course) got to take Kyle to see Harry Potter. We also met Scott, Tara and Jude for lunch at Metro. It's sad when the one year old is the best behaved of the group. Jude is so darling. Why didn't I get a photo? Maybe because my kids aren't. Daisy was finally sent to the car with her dad for bad behavior. Ugh. It was Disney day though and all the little guys looked cute in their t-shirts and princess dresses. We sure do miss the Hurds...why is such a small town so stinkin big?

And that's it...our Thanksgiving wrap-up. Sunday was spent putting up the Christmas tree and celebrating Preston's birthday.

And on the other side of the country our nephew, Trey, was getting sealed to his fiance Courtney on Friday in the Washington D.C. temple. It was too far away and too quick a trip for any of us on the west coast to make it for anything other than a quick "Hello" so many of us are talking about trying to head out over the summer for a longer trip to get spend time with Wes & Elizabeth and their kids. My kids keep asking "Who is Courtney" and I keep saying "Trey's fiance...you know, the cute girl on our fridge" because really, I don't have any details on her yet either and they can only live with "She's a nurse and Trey loves her" for so long. I got to meet her briefly a couple of years ago at Elizabeth's house but not as a girlfriend or anything...just a family friend. So when Trey came home from his mission and blamo announced his engagement, I had some quick talking to do. My kids don't let you off with just "Trey's fiancee" without really knowing who this girl is first. Especially after talking about Trey and his mission for so long...this was big news. Kyle is content with it now because he spent the afternoon with her brother and thought he was cool but the girls aren't giving this thing up...they really want to know what is going on here. I'm hoping that once they meet her this summer and really love her we can drop all the questions and just focus on how much we love Trey and Courtney. We hear they are excited and are really excited for them...sad to miss the big day but our thoughts were with them. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Wesley Gormus III!!!!!

Two Aunts and the Sunshine Mall

Abbie had her 2nd annual birthday afternoon at the Sunshine Mall (aka Galleria Mall) with Lindsay and Sam yesterday. Thanks to Ruby's fun Build a Bear present, they spent the entire time at the Bear store looking at clothes and things instead of the crazy jewelry stores like last year.

Abbie was really excited to register and name her bear (Abbie, her twin) and wash her and do a bunch of other bear related things. She came home with a fur care kit, a princess dress, glass slippers and an enormous smile. Daisy can't get enough of the hairdryer...I think she might be putting one on her birthday wish list (Abbie gave her the old bear that Daddy help her build a couple of years ago).

Daisy had a much antipated playdate with Nate and Ryan at our house. We played cars, had a tea party, dressed up the potato heads, wore silly hats, had snacks, Ryan showed me how he can climb up and down all my stairs (we don't have baby gates anymore...rats). I got to snuggle a baby and miss the mall so no complaints here. All and all, an enjoyable afternoon had by all I think. It will be interesting to see if Daisy wants to have her own afternoon at the mall with her Aunts when she turns four....

Five

Today was Abbie's birthday and she spent the entire day telling me and everyone she saw how excited she is to be five. She was not shy about telling everyone it was her birthday and she sucked every ounce of joy out of the day. She told me over and over again that it was the best birthday ever. All three grandmas called to wish her a happy birthday (I think they all sang to her too) and she was excited to get three phone calls all for herself. Her BFF, Ruby, came by in the morning and dropped by a gift. It seems Ruby was super excited about the birthday as well and couldn't wait for Abbie's party (not until December...the perils of having a little sister with a birthday close enough to share a party but far enough away that the party can't be the week of the actual birthday) to drop by the gift. They spent about 45 minutes playing with Abbie's new Build a Bear. A HUGE hit. She is thrilled and can't wait to go to the "Factory" as she calls it to buy some more clothes for the bear (Ruby kindly bought her bear a cheerleader outfit). Aunt Lindsay is taking her to the mall for her birthday tomorrow afternoon and I think they will be spending some time in the "Factory" fluffing the fur and looking through the clothes and accessories. She also gets to officially name and register her bear.

In the afternoon when Kyle got home from school she came downstairs to a table of gifts and balloons. She was so surprised. I told her that we would only get her one thing and I guess she took it very literally so when she found three presents on the table she was so shocked and excited. And the princess balloons were a huge hit again. She got a Leapster Explorer so that she could play video games like her big brother and the game Tangled (she has been obsessed with the movie for months...great job Disney marketing). She is definitely feeling like a big girl.

Abbie got to choose a restaurant for dinner tonight. No surprise, we ended up at Lucile's. Nikki laughed that Abbie gets noodles with butter but Abbie loves Lucile's precisely because they serve noodles with butter, her favorite meal. She tried to get Abbie to agree to try beans or cheesy grits but Abbie wasn't going for it.

Nate dropped by with a small box of Nerds that he picked out for Abbie and a picture he colored for her. You can't beat having cousins around the corner.

She had the biggest smile on her face all day long. I wish I could bottle it up for rainy days. Right now, Abbie is truly our bright spot. She is our helper, our kind one, our girl who prays for her brother and is willing to give up things she loves for her sister. She truly is the glue holding this family together and we love her to pieces. Happy Birthday to our beautiful, smart, kind 5 year old girl!

Fall Soccer Tournament

This season has been tough for the Eagles. They lost two long time players to a traveling team, an assistant coach to a military move, then moved up a division so not only had to replace those players but also add a few more to fill out the roster and the field (they now play with the full number of players on the team and use the entire field). It really is a huge field and has taken some getting used to. The league didn't have enough teams in their division so they merged Kyle's division with the U14 division which had quite a few more teams and the Eagles ended up playing with boys twice their size. I've never seen kids so big. They lost a lot of games this season, not by much, by the Eagles aren't used to losing. I'd say it has been good for them but it's been pretty tough on 12/13 year old boys. Overall, the older boys, besides being much larger, where really rough. I mean brutes. It wasn't enough to be just aggressive soccer players, they had to hit, kick, push, etc. Not good sports. I was pretty shocked. But again, super glad for an awesome coach that taught his team to continue to play hard, but fair. No need to sink to their level.

Just like Abbie, Kyle truly has the greatest coach. We've stuck with him since the beginning. Kyle started playing with Coach Brian so long ago that we can't even remember now. He is the best mix of tough and fair. He can be hard on the boys but only when he knows they aren't doing their best, not because he is obsessed with winning. And he wouldn't tolerate it if the parents were. But when he hands out a compliment, those boys shine. Finding a great coach is like winning the lottery.

Brian asked the boys if they wanted to enter the tournament this weekend and they all decided they wanted to, even if their chances weren't great. Yesterday's games were at 8:15 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and were COLD. Crazy cold. They lost the first game but tied the second, against a team they've never beat before. The Ref was nuts...seriously crazy. He was calling all kinds of nutty things and ended the game 10 minutes early because he claimed the team kept making him blow his whistle to stop the game for penalties, etc. Anyway, who knows what would have happened in that last 10 minutes but the boys were proud of their efforts. They advanced to an 8:40 semi-final this morning and possibly another game at 12:30 today but since we don't play Sundays I'm not sure what happened.

The girls kept themselves busy by sticking zip-ties in Tripp's hat and playing dolls on the blanket. Two games in one day is about their limit.

We love soccer and are thankful for such a great team and coach but are pretty glad the season is over and are looking forward to a few weeks off before spring training begins.

Grasshoppers Fall Season

The Grasshoppers ended their fall season Saturday with a game and a fun little party. I have to say, if you want a good belly laugh, come watch four and five years olds play soccer. It's a hoot.

We had a great coach. Coach Mike was the best mix (in my opinion) of fun and skill. We certainly weren't the best team in the league but not the worst either. The kids came to practice every week and had fun. But they also learned some really good skills as well. However, I was really impressed that, all things considered, he didn't take the whole thing too seriously. In the end, these kids are 4 and 5. I didn't have high expectations of what they would do and I didn't really appreciate how great this team and coach was until we started playing games and I saw some of the other coaches (and parents) and how seriously they were taking it. I just wanted Abbie to give it a try, learn a few skills, learn how to play with a team and have some fun. Mission accomplished. And she can't wait to play in the spring. She was the only girl on the team and it didn't both her one bit. I really loved that as well.

But most of all, Daisy can't wait to be four and play soccer. She feels really left out that both Kyle and Abbie play and she can't. Coach Mike is great and lets her participate in some of the practice with the team (her new favorite game is Sharks & Minnows) but she just can't get big enough fast enough. It's stinks to be small.

Go Grasshoppers!

Halloween and A Five Day Weekend

It seemed like we celebrated Halloween all month with school parties and ballet parties (all four of which I didn't get a photos of) then our second annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Of course, it is the just hokey jokey pumpkin patch down the road but a cute girl in our ward sets up a play date for everyone there each year and Abbie (and now Daisy) really enjoy it. Lindsay and Nate joined us as guests last year but now they get their own full fledged invite. The photo below has Abbie with Nate's friend Hadley (we always love seeing her) and Daisy sitting next to her best friend Nate and her nursery friend Clara on the "train"....don't ask.
Trunk or Treat was a hit this year. Tripp hates it and every year he goes home in a rotten mood. Lindsay said something on her blog about how the three ward event was something new and something crowded (or something like that). I guess it is the only one we've really ever gone to so we don't know any different but it is crazy crowded which is why Tripp is always in a horrible mood by the end. The girls where finally old enough that I could manage them by myself in the crowd without a headache so I parked Tripp in the car to hand out candy (a first for us) and he was in a great mood all night. Even Kyle, our resident grouch, had a fantastic night. He didn't really go for any candy...just hung out all night with his two buddies and a couple of girls. They were outside all night in the view of parents so I'd say a happy Kyle that got into zero trouble equals smiles for me too. Nate mostly hung out with his mom handing out candy so we didn't get to see much of him (but he did eat my hot dog and for that, I am grateful) and Ryan went home early to bed but we did get to snuggle him for a few minutes in his skeleton costume. And, yes, Daisy was a chicken last year too. She was meant to be a bee this year but at the last minute threw a fit and had to be a chicken again. She was a bee for her class party and unfortunately, I didn't get a photo.

With Nevada Day now officially on a Friday, Kyle received 10/29 off school. The school district planned teacher work days for Monday and Tuesday as well so we received a five day holiday. With Halloween landing on a Sunday we decided to skip town and head up to the cabin one last time before it gets snowed in. Tripp and Kyle had Fly the Flag duty Friday morning early then we packed, prepared and left around lunch time. Friday night was spent unpacking and snuggling in. Saturday we did a small service project around the cabin...cleaning up pine cones and bark on our lot and taking it to the dumpster. Then we started out on a what we hoped was a long ride on the 4-wheelers but after about 45 minutes it started snowing so we had to make our way home. We watched movies and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon while it snowed off and on. That evening, we made our way to Cedar City for dinner and Trick or Treating. Lucky for us, many in town were giving out candy on Saturday instead of Sunday. Britney, Curtis & baby Berkley (Jennifer Thompson's Sister) happily let us use their place as home base. It was so fun to meet Berkley and catch up with Britney...we haven't seen her in what seems like a million years.

Sunday morning we made our way to church but it was already closed down for refurbishment (Kyle wasn't too disappointed). We came home and watched Halloween movies and waited for our friends, the Gublers, to arrive. It's a shame when we can only hook up with dear friends, who actually live less than a 3 minute walk from our house, when we are out of town. We try a lot...but can never manage to get our schedules to match up. Finally, we were in luck and they were spending time at their family condo in BrianHead for the weekend so we invited them over for 4-wheeling and dinner. The kids spent some time on the rope swings then we set out. I guess Alora ran into a tree but sadly, I missed that. Luckily, she is fine...just a funny story. Later, the kids played and Sean brought back Aimee and her Oma and we enjoyed dinner then smores by the campfire. It helped us all forget about Halloween. Abbie was really worried that The Great Pumpkin wouldn't know where to find us but he did. The next morning, all three kids woke up to much less candy and stacks of books (and coloring books for Abbie & Daisy) in it's place.

The Gublers came back Monday and we spent the day out on the 4-wheelers again. I'm sure my family will be shocked. I've never really spent much time out on them but now that all my kids are old enough to go and we had room for everyone, it was fun to ride along as well. Kyle likes to drive so I'm happy to ride on the back and just look around and think...I never really get to do much of that. And with all of his arguing and bad behavior, he can actually be trusted to drive a 4-wheeler. I feel perfectly safe to sit on the back and just space out (not something I do a lot of when Kyle is around). We stopped for lunch at the Cafe in town, got to know the owner then headed back home to help the Gublers load up their equipment and say "Goodbye".

We had to get back to Vegas Tuesday morning. Tripp and I both had work to get back to and Kyle was going to meet his mom just after lunch. Unfortunately, I got the worst stomach flu ever so the cleaning, ride home and basically rest of the day was torture. But Kyle made his rendezvous and Tripp made it to work and I was able to send back some emails here and there so I guess alls well that ends well.

We probably won't make it up to the cabin much during the winter but we'll miss it. It definitely was peaceful this time. We missed everyone but it was also nice to have it for ourselves as well. Just when we really got to missing the rest of the family, the Gublers arrived and helped us keep ours minds off of it. A little ying and yang I guess.