Thanksgiving Dinner

We were so thankful we were able to host Thanksgiving again this year. Last year our first hosting attempt was so stressful because of the stomach flu that I don't remember most of it. This year, we were eager to host Thanksgiving because we're still in "nap time" stage of life and we are the only ones in the family to still be in this stage since my sister's kids are a bit older…so we are the most difficult members of the family to work around. How do you fix that? Host :)

(forgive the quality of the photos- I'm too tired to edit them)

Thanksgiving went MUCH better this year and I really enjoyed myself~ I hope everyone else did, too. It's always such a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by loved ones. The holidays have so much more meaning to me now that we have so much more to be thankful for. And come on, who wouldn't want to spend a day with these cute children?? Hope you have a wonderful day, too!

Costumes

This year Adaline wanted to be a princess (surprise, surprise!) and Spencer didn't seem to mind the duck costume Adaline wore a few years ago. We didn't go all out with the princess costume, either. While shopping for one, I discovered you can spend upwards of $30 on just the dress. Um…no thank you :) We found a nice cool one (since it was still in the low 90s outside) and we used a handmade crown passed on to us from my favorite Miss Mary (it's still her favorite one!) This way I didn't feel bad about her wearing it for almost two weeks straight before and after Halloween, as well as to school. Wear it until it falls apart, Adaline! (We're now in December, and she still puts it on at least once a week.)

These beautiful photos were taken by Liz Evans at her Customer Appreciation photo shoot this October. I love that she offers this, and I take her up on it every chance I get! I swear she's the children's photographer-whisperer. She captured these and more in just 10 minutes. I try for 30 minutes and get just one okay-ish picture. And that's why she's the professional :)

Thanks again, Liz!

Halloween 2013

We started our Thanksgiving by trying to eat dinner…they did their best, but they were just so excited. Spencer had no idea what we were going to do, but he feeds off of Adaline's energy, so he was amped anyway :)

Off we went! Spencer really didn't understand the whole thing, but he went along with it.

We took the dogs with us, so of course Dotti the cat followed.

By the end, Spencer was totally into it and was ready for more!

(Note the AWESOME pirate pumpkin in the background. Yep. Travis and his pirates…)

Farmer's Market Halloween

Turlock has a great evening Farmer's Market once a month and ever year in October they match it up with Halloween weekend. All the booths let the kids trick-or-treat and we get to buy fresh produce~ it's a win/win!

Always fun to trick-or-treat with the cousins!

and we ran into our friend (and fellow Rapunzel!) from school and her twin brother...

…Buzz Lightyear!

We love our Farmer's Market!

I tried to take fall photos of the kids at our local pumpkin patch, but between the strong lighting, the unexpected crowd (apparently there was a dog costume contest…) it just didn't work out for us.

…so we tried again at another pumpkin patch/fruit stand. Still no dice. Oh well, can't win them all (plus, they were still cute pictures!)

My little scarecrow ;)

First Field Trip

Adaline's pre-school went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch- which just so happens to be at the end of our street :) Parents were invited to meet at the pumpkin patch so of course I went! We talked about riding the school bus for a good week before the trip...she was so excited, but a little nervous about the whole thing. Thankfully, she was comfortable with the pumpkin patch because we had already been there so many times before.  

She looked so excited to show her best friend Logan the pink tractor that she rode every time we visited.

The R.A.M. Farms has a great educational setup for the schools that visit. They are read a book about different types of pumpkins as well as a book about the growth cycle of a pumpkin.

Then they took a walk into the first part of the corn maze to talk about corn- how it grows, who eats it, and what else it is used for.

Next, they got a little snack and they got to pick out a pumpkin.

It was so wonderful to be able to experience Adaline's first field trip, one of the many benefits to working part-time and setting my own schedule.

More Halloween photos to come!

Brighid's Birthday

Found some hidden photos!

In August we made a quick overnight trip to Reno for my friend Brighid's 30th surprise birthday party.

Her husband Justin planned everything out and had us all met at Lake Tahoe for an afternoon BBQ. It was such a fun, relaxing day.

The American Fire was just starting to get controlled, but the smoke would still roll over the mountain range every night. Watching it come in was really erie... like the start of a Stephen King novel.

We stayed the night in Sparks with Brighid and Justin and thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them (and the view from their house- smoke and all!)

Happy Birthday, Brighid! We were so happy to be able to share the day with you!