Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We certainly did. This year Thanksgiving was with my family and we all met up at a church in Woodland Hills. Greg had fun playing what looked like Kamakazie dodge ball in the gym and the boys actually let me out of their sight and had fun playing with their cousins. The food was awesome (anyone know who made the stuffing? Wow.)

I'm not great about getting pictures. The only ones I managed were of the pies I made. I was quite proud of them, though.

How about that blizzard? Or, as my brother put it, Blizzard Watch 2010. Didn't amount to much, but I like how the snow stuck on my back door. I am getting some help with taking pictures. William wants to take pictures of everything! He's not too bad, really. Guess I better start doing my hair.

Sadie

We got our cat, Lucy, from the great people at Second Chance for Homeless Pets about 4 years ago. This past weekend we went back and got a dog. She's an Australian Shepherd/ Spaniel mix, 1 1/2 years old, and we named her Sadie. She's a very happy dog and the boys love playing with her, but she also settles down and cuddles or sleeps at our feet. Even Lucy seems to be acclimating to Sadie very quickly. She's a fun addition to our family.
If you are thinking of adding a furry friend to your family, adoption is a wonderful way to go. The people at Second Chance rescue animals that are on the euthanasia list at kill shelters and take time to match them with a family. Check them out at www.utahpetadoptions.org.

Fall?

Can you believe how warm it's been? Great weather for planting bulbs and putting up Christmas lights! I know, I said I wasn't planting any bulbs this year, but they were on sale at Lowe's and they had two of my favorite kinds of daffodils- Tahiti and Ice Follies. I was surprised they had those kinds, I thought they only ever had the big bags of King Alfred.

William and I are doing a little neighborhood preschool. Each mom takes a turn hosting and this week it was at our house. The kids made these cute little corns out of Captain Crunch and pretzels (Will's is the second from the left, Isaacs is third. All he wanted to do was sit with the big kids and eat the pretzels).Thanks to everyone who helped us eat our tomatoes this fall. We still have a small assortment on our counter I'm slowly eating away at. Right before it frosted I picked everything that was out there, even the little green ones. Seeing them on the counter reminded me of my friend Jenny's post (http://jenandserge.blogspot.com/2010/10/eat-rainbow.html) about eating a rainbow. Jenny, remember those leaf art projects we saw at the Logan Arts Festival forever ago where the guy framed leaves in a rainbow of colors?

Busy and happy

This past weekend we were able to celebrate a baby sealing and blessing in Greg's family. Greg made all the meat for the lunch after on Sunday (FYI, 16 lbs of pork feeds 18 adults and 15 kids). We had a little luau-type meal, so he made kalua pork and smoked BBQ pork, which he had to start Friday to have it done for Sunday. It was yummy! He also grilled pineapple that was so AMAZING. I think everyone there could have eaten their weight in grilled pinapple. He is going to be one of those crazy guys that grills all winter.

Lotsa meatKalua pork pork in the making, wrapping it in ti leavesA few of the 50 secret ingredients in Greg's BBQ rub

Conference cookies (pumpkins and temples)I don't know how we survived as long as we did without a sandbox.

(His shirt says "Dirt likes me")I had to take this picture because Greg was so happy his boys were watching football with him. Aren't they the picture of a cozy fall evening?I just had to document the bounteous goodness that came out of our garden the other day. I froze the basil, made peach jam with the peaches, and made tomato sauce with the tomatoes. If you ever want to waste a good part of your day, make home-made tomato sauce. Those tomatoes were boiled, peeled, chopped, sauteed, simmered, processed, and out came the most bland, watery tomato sauce I've ever had. Bleh. Next time I'll just wait for Hunt's to go on sale.William has off and on been my vacuumer, and now he really into it. He likes to do the whole house...

...and then some. How lucky am I?

Suddenly Fall

I love fall! It makes no sense; I hate the cold, I dread winter. But fall... pumpkins, hot cider, candied apples, red trees, misty mountains... how wonderful! Maybe I'll start a petition to remove winter from the seasons so we can go straight from fall to spring.

"Look Mommy, a temple!"

The great adventures of Silly Willy

We went on a little fishing outing and William caught our only fish! He was so excited to go home and watch TV with it. Once he understood what it was for, he was actually excited to go home and eat it. Greg grilled it up with some herbs and lemon and William did indeed try it (he did not like it, but hey, at least he tried!)

The boys were running around in circles and crashing onto a pillow on the floor. They were so funny about it.

At the county fair Will did the pony ride and loved it. Takes right after Grandpa Gene.

Checking out the stinky sheep.

July

Here are some things we've been up to lately: The boys ready for church. William is too big for the double stroller but he still likes to ride in it.

Our visit to Kennecot Copper Mine with Aunt Bradie and cousins Alex, Kenna, Sam, and Cole. The little boys especially liked it, I think. Will was very excited about the "big hole" and the trucks and rocks.

Greg got a ukelele in Hawaii and has been very dilligent about practicing it every day. The boys love to listen and "help" him. You can tell how much Isaac loves to get his picture taken.

Zac likes to try riding Will's trike, but the seat is too high for him, so he goes chopper style, reaching up for the handle bars from his seat on the back, and then scooting around with his feet.

I took the boys to Thanksgiving Point last week to check out the gardens, and boy did we have an experience. I was feeling quite independent and capable, packing my kids up and going off to do whatever we wanted. I had the boys in the double stroller but I let William get out in the children's garden to check everything out. Well, we got seperated and I couldn't find him for almost 1/2 an hour. The place was packed. They had security looking for him and I was running around frantically tring to find him. I was so worried just not being able to protect him. I didn't know if he was somewhere crying in a corner or if someone had hauled him off, if he was scared or oblivious... Well, someone found him wandering around quite far from where we had been seperated and when I got to him he was at the consession stand getting a free cookie. He didn't seem nearly as upset as I was, but all the way home he kept saying "I'm sorry I lost you, Mommy."

Aloha!

We survived June! We moved at the end of May, had my sister's wedding June 12, and just got back from almost 2 weeks in Hawaii. It's been really fun, but we are looking forward to some normal, around-the-house kind of life.
Tanza's wedding was BEAUTIFUL! It consumed my life for a good while, but everything turned out so great. The biggest nail-biter was the weather. We has rain forecasts that just kept getting worse and worse, so every day my dad was on the phone ordering more tents. The day before we had a forecast that said it would rain the 2 hours right after the sealing (picture time), clear up for a few hours, and then start again an hour before the reception and rain through the night. The day came, it clouded up, and NEVER RAINED! I heard it rained a lot in other areas, but where we were it was great. I am so glad. Tanza was such a beautiful bride and everyone had so much fun at the reception.
Mike, Tanza's husband, is from Molokai, Hawaii, and we were able to attend their reception there as well. His family is so sweet. It was great to meet the people there and enjoy the culture. Only 8,000 people live on Molokai and we both really enjoyed the laid-back style and friendliness of the place. Plus, our rental car was a jeep!
After the reception on Molokai we were able to spend a week on the North Shore of Oahu with my parents and brother, as well as Mike and Tanza. We has such a good time swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, and just relaxing. William likes to drink whatever he's swimming in, so he preferred the pool over the ocean "because it's too salty." We went snorkeling, ate an entire pineapple every day did a little shopping (the swap meet is my favorite!). Greg's favorite was Pearl Harbor. We saw the Arizona (the boat underwater with the memorial over it), the Missouri (the giant battleship), the Ronald Regan (a HUGE aircraft carrier that was at dock in the harbor, visiting), and saw a military submarine coming into port with the sailors all lined up on top. It was a lot of boats and guns, but it was pretty cool.
Overall, our trip was so much fun, but next time I think we'll leave the kids at home!

Nick, Greg, Will, Tanza, and Isaac at the Polynesian Cultural Center night show.

Tanza, Isaac, Mike, and my parents.

Ancient Hawaiian temple ruins by Pupukea.

Shave Ice

Iolani Palace, Honolulu

Why don't we live here?

Dole Plantation train ride with my mom

Breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe, Laie

Greg on the USS Missouri battleship with the USS Arizona memorial and Honolulu in the background

View from our condo window on the north shore

Tanza and Mike's announcement

What's under your bed?

This week I packed the food storage that was under our beds:

That didn't include the food from our pantry, kitchen, or basement! Plus, we still have shoes, luggage, sweaters, and beach towels under there. I think we need more space!

Yesterday we went up to Golden Spike National Historical Monument. They do a reenactment of the ceremony that was really cool. We thought William would like the trains, but he didn't really- they were loud. Isaac thought it was interesting, though. It was so amazing to think about what life was like in 1869 and how it changed with a trans-continental railroad. It was something that was celebrated across the country with fireworks and parades. There was even 800 people who came to the original ceremony out in the middle of Nowhere, Utah.

And a couple of random pictures.

(I think this one is funny because it looks like Greg is putting Zac in the trunk).