Thanksgiving Trip {part 2}

On thanksgiving morning, we watched the Macy's Day Parade at my parents' house with them and Jason & Jacey's family. Watching the parade is Grace's and my favorite part of the day, so it was fun to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast and relaxing together while watching the floats and the musical numbers. Ryan's favorite part is by far the football and the eating later on in the day. ;) But he survived the morning hours just fine. hehe

 Elsie and Chloe came to play as well, so the kids got some cousin game time too.

 At 1:00 the Turner family got together at Stacy and Bob's for Thanksgiving Dinner! Everybody was able to make it, except our family in Japan who we very much missed.

Boston was being super stubborn about all the foods. I forced him to try the sweet potatoes (which were pretty much straight sugar and butter, hehe) and he finally decided he like them!

 We're thankful for this family and the fun times we share.

 After dinner there was a slight... mishap... with Logan. He was running around downstairs and fell into a wooden rocking horse toy. It split his cheek open in two very small areas and they were bleeding/weeping a little bit. Ryan said they couldn't be stitched but felt we needed to superglue them shut so they would stay clean and close up easier. So we got a tube of super glue out and ready to dab on Logan's cheek, but he was FLIPPING OUT. He wouldn't hold still, so we laid him on the floor and I held his head steady. Well a few seconds into it, before any glue could drip onto his cuts, he starts screaming that it's dripping all over his face and getting in his eyes. We were confused but quickly looked below Ryan's hand (next to my hand holding Logan's face still) and there was super glue ALL OVER HIS FACE!! My hand was just a couple seconds away from being glued to his face, and there was glue in his eye lashes. I almost hyperventilated because I realized we were in major trouble and I had no idea how to undo what we had just done. The stupid bottle had dripped out the side and neither of us noticed because it doesn't feel "wet" or "cold" when it touches your skin. Super frustrating. Thankfully, over the next 30 minutes we were able to use acetone and cotton swabs to slowly work at the super glue and get it off of his face and our hands. It was awful for him and awful for me. I think we were both traumatized after. I realized this as I stepped outside a little while later and just feeling the fresh air was such a relief that I nearly right then sat down and cried. I'm thankful it didn't actually get into his eyes and that were able to get it mostly removed.

After that craziness... the family all went on a walk down the road to the middle school field. The weather was honestly incredible! Such a gorgeous day and perfect view.

 These cute kiddos had a blast playing together!

 Boston loves his Uncle Jake.

 I'm very thankful we were able to be in Utah for this holiday. I admit I don't really like Thanksgiving much... I don't like that the point of the day is to eat a big meal of heavy foods that aren't our favorite things anyway. haha Call me a scrooge, I guess. But the fact that we got to hang out with our families and be in one of our very favorite places on earth was the very best part. The last time we celebrated Thanksgiving in Utah was 2008, so it was definitely time!

After dinner, we took the kids back to Nana and Bompa's, got them ready for bed, and they opened their new Christmas pajamas from me! Even Daddy and Mommy got a pair. :) This is our first time jumping on the "matching PJs" bandwagon and ya know what? It's quite fun. My parents also had their own matching Ute pajamas, so they joined in on the fun. It was like celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas all at once!

Thanksgiving Trip {part 1}

On the morning of November 21st, our family left Paradise and headed to the airport in Sac! The view of the low clouds over the valley as we drove into it was pretty awesome. It looked like we were looking out onto a lake.

 The airport was so relaxed and easy-going (which is why we LOVE flying out of Sacramento, compared to the others we've been to), so it was easy to hang out with the kids and wait for our 11am flight. Boston sat at the window and watched the airplanes and trucks go by without a complaint! It was awesome. He did well on the flight for the most part... only whined a little bit before I got the iPad out with a movie. After that he was great the whole way and fell asleep as we were descending into Salt Lake.

 First things first: Cafe Rio with the fam, of course!! We met up at Whitney and Thomas' house to spend a couple hours with them since it was the only time we'd see them all week.

 The next morning we took the kids to the Wheeler Farm playground. The weather all week was mid-60s... absolute perfection!

It just doesn't get much better than that right there. My goodness, those mountains! We may feel like "tourists" when we come into town, but that view will always feel like home to me.

 Lunchtime at Nana's is one of the kids' favorite things. Honestly, they don't want to do anything "big" when we get to Salt Lake. They just want lots of free play at Nana's house and Grandma Stacy's house. When we give them enough of that, they're much happier than when we cart them around town trying to force them into doing things WE think are fun. So for this trip, we REALLY slowed things down and just took each day pretty easy. It was slightly on the boring side, but it was mostly stress-free at least! When any of us feels stressed or rushed our bad side comes out. So it was nice to avoid that for the most part. 

More to come...

End of Fall

We've been enjoying watching the trees around our home change. Every window is like a beautiful painting!

I took some photos of our friends at a local park. It sure was pretty that evening!

 Logan's Kindergarten class enjoyed their Thanksgiving party. They sang some songs, made pilgrim hats/bonnets, and ate a feast!

 The 1st grade came in dressed as Native Americans and they all ate pie together.

Dinner and a Christmas movie with these 3!

 Girls and their dolls. I never feel too old for this! Samantha was mine at Grace's age, and now she loves her own (Taylor). Having a daughter is the best.

Baptism Day

The weekend of Grace's baptism turned into a double baptism weekend! Her cousin Layla was baptized on friday November 10th at her stake center, and Grace was baptized the next day in our ward building. The Goates and the Turner grandparents, plus the Montagues, were able to come into town for her special day and it truly was special! We were so thankful for all those who attended. She also felt so much love from our neighbors (5 of which who are not members but came!) and lots of ward members! We are so blessed with wonderful friends and family.

 Ryan performed the baptism, with both grandpas as the witnesses. We had a very packed room of loved ones there to watch! Ryan also performed the confirmation, along with the grandpas, her Uncle Dan, and Bishop Warren. Both of Grace's grandmas spoke during the meeting and did a fabulous job. Grandma Stacy talked about baptism and shared her testimony of the importance of following Christ's example. Nana spoke about the Holy Ghost and shared personal experiences when she felt and heard promptings and answers to prayer. Both of the talks were so perfect and I had many come up to me after and say how they were the best baptism talks ever! I completely agree! We were so happy that a few of our non-members friends were there as well to hopefully feel the Spirit and get a taste of what we believe. It was perfect. :)

Natalie Warren, McKell Chatfield, Grace, Aylee Chatfield, Ryann Croshaw and Lilly Croshaw

sang one of our very favorite songs: "Gethsemane". They sounded beautiful!

After the meeting, we had cupcakes from a local bakery, and wow they were good!

Two peas in a pod, they are.

 We're all so proud of Grace and Layla! They're both growing up to be such wonderful, smart, joyful girls. We're happy for them that they made this important choice.

Here are a few more baptism and 8th birthday photos my friend Jessica Croshaw took. They're so darling!