Everythings better when we're together!

Once the festivities were over it was just time to play. We had our day of shopping and recovering from too much Turkey. Then we started playing! We went to Chuck E Cheese (the kids love this place, they even ask Tyler to sing them the Chuck E Cheese song at bed time). I'm pretty sure that the adults had as much fun as the kids! Tyler couldn't come though because he had to study, he takes his next set of boards this coming week. He has been very diligent in his studying but an extra prayer or two on his behalf couldn't hurt! It would have been more fun having him there but we still had a great time. Even the babies seemed to enjoy the lights and noise at Chuck E Cheese.

That evening Stephanie and Hector had the great idea of making holiday houses. Garret made this festive helicopter!

Spence and I made a holiday train.

Hectors was an elf house and Stephanie made a traditional house!!! Pretty sure my kids ate a pound of candy each and loved every drop of it.

We had fun playing games after and chatting together.

Today we got to dress up the girls for church (always fun). These two are just four months apart.

We love our girls.

The whole weekend was great. We love having company. We are so grateful for our families and the great time we had being together. We can't wait til next time.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Our Thanksgiving dinner was tasty as always. Although I did learn a few things I could do better next time! We had all the usual things as well as a briscut. We were able to share our meal with Hector, Stephanie, Natalia, Josh and the missionaries (sort of, they had to leave before the actual meal!).

I love the great food and company that goes with Thanksgiving. After dinner we couldn't resist taking a couple pictures of the cute girls all clean after their baths!

We had planned to head to bed so we could get up for shopping but Tyler and Hector hit up the movies ahead. In the end only Stephanie and I went out the next morning. We got some good deals, enjoyed the craziness and were sure to get in good naps the next day!

Youngest Finisher

Every year that we have been in Buffalo for Thanksgiving Tyler has run the Turkey Trot. It is an 8k run down Delaware Avenue. Last year, after watching, Garret told us he wanted to run it with Dad. He "trained" all year and Thanksgiving was his day. He told me he wanted to be a "super turkey" for the run. I thought they looked really cute!

Stephanie, Hector, Natalia, Adele, Spencer and I all watched for them in the crowd. There were 12,000 people in the race this year. It looked like a sea of people. Finally we spotted them and I have to confess I felt so proud of my boys. Garret was still going strong and we were at mile four. He finished the whole race and Tyler said he even felt a little emotional at the end knowing that Garret had just finished something he really wanted to do. He was the youngest finisher and he ran/walked the whole way, Tyler didn't carry him at all. It took him just under an hour and a half. Before the race we told him it didn't matter if he won (he thought he had a chance) but as long as he just kept going he would feel really good when he finished and he did!

It was a great way to start our Thanksgiving off. We will miss this family tradition when we leave. It was great having Stephanie and Hector here to help cheer them on. They didn't need us to cheer at the end, Tyler said when little Garret crossed the line everyone was cheering for him!

The babies got a little tired during the race and since Spencer wanted me to carry him Steph was good enough to carry Adele. It was a very memorable morning.

Thankful

Tomorrow it is Thanksgiving! I think it will be a great day. My sister Stephanie, her husband Hector and their baby girl Natalia will be here (they are driving here now). We will have great food and Garret finally gets to run in the Turkey Trot tomorrow- he has been excited all year!

I think this is a great time of year to think of some of the things I am most thankful for. There is absolutely no way to list everything wonderful in my life, so here are a few of the things I am most grateful for:

-My family- the ones that raised us and the one we are making now. I truly feel blessed to have the husband and children I have. We are so glad we got our precious little girl this year and couldn't imagine life without the three of them.

-The gospel of Jesus Christ- We are so lucky to know our Saviour and his love for us.

-The little things- Our days are filled with little things that make us smile- a snugly child, a sunset, dancing in the kitchen, yummy food, Christmas music, good books, learning, fall in New York, phone calls from family, good deals, funny things the kids say, the smell of fresh cut grass, a good nights sleep, holding hands, little baby clothes, children's prayers, emails, smiles....

Our lives are great and we are so thankful for them!!! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone (tomorrow)!

Smiles

Adele has the most darling little smile...but it is very hard to capture it on the camera. These are just a couple of my attempts. She preferred to smile right before or right after I took the picture. (Guess what though?...her baby acne seems to be on the way out!!! I hope I didn't just jinx it.) I also had to throw in a picture of Spencer, this is his latest camera smile- Tyler was having fun spiking the boys hair.

Rolling

Adele just rolled over- belly to back! Pretty sure it was an accident and I don't expect to see it happen very often for a while but it was cute and shocking, she isn't even 7 weeks old yet- SLOW DOWN!!!

Top 5 Reasons I almost went crazy this week

1. Spencer thought it would be more fun to say everything in a very whiny voice this week.
2. Garret thought I should think of things for him to do all day- everyday
3. Adele is adorable and sometimes I just want to hold her, sometimes I want to be able to set her down and get things done.
4. My kitchen floor is my mortal enemy, it is always dirty no matter how much I scrub it.
5. I hate the boards and I want them to be over.

Luckily I didn't go crazy and even had some fun this week and did manage to get a few things done...it was a close call though!

Another Week

Not sure how it happened but it's Sunday again- life just seems to be flying by- never a dull moment around here!

Fall

We have had some lovely fall weather lately. We have been trying to get in as much as we can because we know it will end all too soon. Last Saturday a friend was kind enough to let the boys play on his skateboard. They loved it, they were going on their tummies, backs and through Daddy's legs.

We biked to the parking lot. Spencer's legs are not long enough to pedal so we pull him. Garret has become a very good bike rider. It amazes me that no matter how often he falls off his bike he never cries (I wish this were the case in other aspects of his life). This bike ride was particularly nice because Tyler was around to pull Spencer- often it is me with Adele in the front carrier, pulling Spencer and Garret riding along ahead.

Here is last weeks attempt at a nice before church picture. I asked them to smile and this is what I got!

Last Sunday Garret was in the primary program. He did such a good job. I loved watching him. I can't believe how big he is getting. He memorized his part and just did great.

Here is one of Adele today. Someone gave her this outfit today so we played dress up. She is just so fun.

One Month

Adele- Adele is one month old today- We love her!!! She is so fun. She loves, loves, loves to be held and lucky for her we all love holding her. She is starting to smile. Just little ones but it's so cute. She is adored by all! I was so worried about going out with three but it hasn't been bad at all- so the little lady gets out quite a bit. She has a lovely case of baby acne right now. She also has the strongest neck I have seen on a one month old. Even the doctor was amazed. She can also push herself up quite a bit when on her tummy. It's pretty cute but it makes me nervous. I was kind of hoping for a slow mover (it could still happen). She likes her swing, some of the time. She takes a pacifier, she is a good nurser. She enjoys her baths and likes sneaking in the shower with us. She sleeps in her bed- sometimes. She is in size two diapers and growing like a weed. After one month with Adele we are all convinced we got the cutest little lady ever!

Spencer- Spencer has lost his "baby" title and seems to be adjusting pretty well. He throws more tantrums now then he used to but nothing to major. He has always been a bit feisty. I think it will serve him well later in life. He has become quite the character. He says the funniest things. For example-

He got some "scary" teeth at the ward party. He puts them in and shows Adele. Then immediately takes them out and says "don't cry sweetie pie, they are just pretend".

When we walk by the halloween section at Target he says "be brave baby sister- it's just pretend".

When asked what he is going to grow up and be he usually says "I grow up be a Daddy, Adele be a Mommy". The other day just to throw us off he said "I grow up be a bad guy"- not sure where that came from.

He woke up the other day and said "I dream a bad dream about Grandpa and a BIG bear".

When I ask him how long he will love me he says "forever and ever", today he said "for two days".

I need to record his funny things more- he really is a character- Spencer is great!!!

Garret- Garret has been the big brother of two for a month now and he loves it. He would hold Adele all day if I would let him. He thinks he can do everything for her (and in general) by himself. It's cute (most of the time) except when he says "I can do whatever I want...". He gets cabin fever easy when we stay at home. He has been practicing writing a lot and is getting pretty good at writing his letters. He wants to read so bad. He has a great little memory and is always reminding me of things that happened a couple years ago. He has big plans for the future. He has a little bit of my sentimental side and already talks about the move and the things he is going to miss. He is just getting so big. He is a gem and even on the days when I want to scream at him if I hear "what do you want to do now" again, I just can't get enough of him.

Tyler and I- We have been parents of three for a month now and definitely have moments of "what have we done" but overall we love it. We have both been pretty chiller this time around. The crying and poop and lack of sleep are taken more in stride and mostly we just look at our kids and think "why does it have to go by so fast". We find ourselves singing songs like "just another day in paradise" a lot. There is always noise and someone needing something. But there are a million fun little, sweet moments that are worth it all. Plus we know there will be a day in the future when they won't want to be held and rocked and wrestled and talked to anymore or at least not as often. When I start to feel overwhelmed I try to remember that I only get this day with them once.

After a month I think we are all just glad we have each other and I know a night doesn't go by that I don't thank my Father in Heaven for the blessing this crazy family is.

A Wonderful Weekend

We started off our weekend Friday night with a quick date. Kandis was good enough to watch our kids while Tyler and I snuck away for a couple hours. We really didn't do much but we enjoyed being together.

Then Saturday was Halloween. We had already done the church party and the boys dressed up to visited our friends Rick and Cindy on Thursday so we kept it pretty low key. We had a spooky dinner ( I didn't get a good picture of the drink but it had large tapioca and food coloring in it and looked pretty spooky!)

After our dinner we lit candles and read a bunch of Halloween books from the library. The kids thought it was a great night.

In these pictures our cute little Adele gave her mom and dad just a glimpse of what could be her temperamental nature as far as fashion goes, but doesn't she look soooooo adorable.

We were well over an hour early for church- we didn't remember it was day light savings time- WHOOPS!!!

After Church and naps we went for a lovely fall walk around Forest Lawn Cemetery. It's so pretty there with bridges, water and beautiful monuments and fall leaves of course! It might sound weird to walk around the cemetery but we all enjoyed it. It was crazy thinking about all the people that had lived and passed on already. They all had lives of their own and families and goals just like us. I wonder what they would think of our world today. I love history and thinking about all of their lives and how in an indirect way they influence us.

Garret wanted to be the photographer and had fun taking a few pictures himself.

There are a lot of significant memorials at the cemetery. This statue in the lake was a small girl and was a memorial to children that passed. I can handle the idea of all the adult deaths but I hate thinking about children dying.

It was a great fall Sunday afternoon. The whole weekend was nice. Time for another week.