Thanksgiving 2011

This year in kindergarten JJ's class each got Indian names. JJ's was Running Wolf. Here he is in his whole Running Wolf outfit. Each feather on his hat thingey represents something that he learned. One was 'I know my address', one was 'I know my phone number', etc. He worked really hard all month and earned every feather.




















Cute Wesley 17 months old















JJ playing Operation with Caidin and Wyatt














Jonathan carving the bird. (Next to the best damn mashed potatoes you ever ate. They worked FINE in the crock pot!)















The kid's table!














Me and The Man


















There aren't many Thanksivings where you can send the kids outside to play!



















Cheri painted McKenna's fingers and toes. She LOVED it!














Showing Daddy her cute toes















That night I went Black Friday shopping. I was in line at Toys R Us at 8:00pm. The doors opened at 9:00, but I didn't get in the store until 9:30. Then I shopped for about 30 minutes and got in line to check out at 10:00pm. That line lasted for TWO HOURS! By this time I was really regretting the Dr. Pepper that I drank right before leaving! I finally emerged at midnight with almost all of my shopping done for JJ's birthday, the kid's Christmas, and McKenna's birthday which are all in the next month and a half. VICTORY!

The next morning I hit up Shopko, Smith's Marketplace, Old Navy and Famous Footwear. It was a great Thanksgiving!

Trunk or Treat

We all look forward to our ward's Halloween party each year. Here are the kids at the Trunk or Treat.

JJ: Spiderman


McKenna: Rapunzel


Wesley: A Lion

The Pumpkin Patch

This month we went on our annual outing to Pack's Pumpkin Patch in Farmington. The kids love to ride in the wheelbarrow.


Such a beautiful sunset! I love it that this is only 15 minutes away from my house.


My little Wesley boy


JJ loves to do silly poses


Wes loved running around in the hay maze


I couldn't get McKenna to hold still for a good picture


And of course it wouldn't be a family outing without someone throwing a fit. Just as soon as some nice person offered to take our picture, McKenna got mad about something...I can't remember what. Oh well. This may be the only picture with all five of us in existence.

McKenna's Naptime

The other day McKenna fell asleep on the couch, which is not uncommon for her. But then I looked over and saw that she was sitting up... but was still asleep.

At first I was totally creeped out. She sleeps with her eyes open a little bit.








But after assessing the situation and making sure that she was not
a.)Dead
b.)A zombie
JJ and I decided that it was pretty funny. So we started posing with her.







When she woke up she didn't think it was as funny as JJ and I did.

My Mom Goes on a Mission!

My Mom was called to serve in the Europe Area Office in Frankfurt, Germany. She will be serving for 18 months.

Here we are in the Car pulling up to the MTC. Mom said that she wasn't nervous, but was very excited.




I like it that they make the young Elders unload all the bags for the senior missionaries.



Here's my Mom in her little dorm room at the MTC. Ten years ago she dropped me off in a similar room at Utah State!



Kissing McKenna goodbye. Sad!


Wesley's turn! *sniff, sniff* He won't remember her at all, I'm sure!


One last photo before Mom goes in.



It was exciting, but also really sad! We had an emotional goodbye and she was off to her new adventure....And then the next weekend I broke her out of there and we went to the Mall and out to lunch just like old times. :) Now she has been in Germany for a week. I miss her, but I love it that we can talk on the phone. Just yesterday we talked for half an hour!

Good luck on your mission, Mom!

Today when I was nursing Wesley at the Children's Museum he bit me. Hard. This is the third time he's done it. When this happens my policy is to yell a lot. And it just happens that yelling is pretty much a knee-jerk reaction to being bit on one of your pink places, so it's a good thing that it's my policy. Unfortunately for me, people generally tend to frown upon adults yelling at little babies. So I just cringed and held it in. Because I was in a public place, I wasn't able to fully assess the damage, but I did see blood. This is so painful I was blinking back tears all the way home.

Right now I am grateful for the fact that Wesley only has 2 bottom teeth. Things surely would have been much worse if he had top ones too. If you are one of the moms who feels bad that you weren't able to nurse your babies, just remember this little story. I truly believe that there are just as many cons to nursing as there are pros.

Now whenever I go to feed Wesley, this is all I can think about: