Thanksgiving In Utah

We spent the holiday with family in Utah this year.  It was nice to see all the cousins and their kids.

The fist day we were there we went for a hike in Zions, it was unseasonally warm and very enjoyable.

Walking under the waterfall at Emerald Pools.

My little monkey.

What a beautiful fall day.

Riding the choo choo at the Christmas Festival.

Two little baldy cousins.

Family fun for everyone.

Not sure what Wyatt is up to here, but it's very cute.  Maybe he's saying "mom, this slide is iffy."

When we went to the bounce house, Wyatt wanted to keep up with the girls, he loved following Abby and Nora around.

 

After we returned home, we set up Christmas, I love decorating the house for Christmas, it just puts me in the holiday mood.  This is the first year Wyatt has helped with the tree.  It was so funny to see him go through the ornaments and choose the ones he likes and where they should go, it seems like most of them ended up on the bottom two branches.  He loved the little meerkat we got in Palm Springs.

At Nana's house he fell in love with a Jack-In-The-Box, so it was only appropriate that he decided to use the ornament box as a Jack-In-The-Box for himself.

He was so funny with the Nutcrackers.  He asked what they were and when I told him, he said,"Oh, I see".  Then he ran off and came back with a cracker and stuck it in his mouth, so cute.

All the nutcrackers, got crackers to eat.

Pictures In Coronado and Things To Be Thankful For

I took the boys to get their pictures taken in Coronado the other day.  Unfortunately Wyatt was feeling very uncooperative, but we did get a few good shots.  I can't believe how quickly they're growing, I know every mom says that, but it's true, it goes so fast.

With Thanksgving just winding up and now starting in the Christmas season, I've had time to reflect on all of my blessing and realize I have so many people and things to be grateful for.  Mostly I've been blessed with such a beautiful, kind, and loving family, both immediate and extended.  I'm grateful for the time spent with all of them.  I'm thankful for our Saviour and the atonement allowing us to return to our Heavenly Parents and be with our families forever.  I'm thankful at this time for Kevin surprising me with the wonderful blessing of wanting to be baptized.  I'm so thankful for all of our phyiscal blessings as well, a warm home, a car to drive, clothes to wear and food to eat.  Wyatt has been working on his Thanksgiving tree this month, some of the things he's thankful for are, kids, friends, Mommy, Daddy, Luke, Bella, grandparents, cheese, Shamu and dolphins, and school.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

Thank you God for all of my many blessings.

Cabrillo In The Sun

Last weekend we took the kids to Cabrillo National Park, we spent some time at the tidepools and walked around by the lighthouse.   It was a beautiful day.

 Looking for whales...no whales yet!

Still no whales.

Here are some videos of the boys playing around the house.  I keep trying to capture Luke talking on film, but everytime I get the camera out, he gets quiet.  One of these days I'll get him saying "Dada."

Wyatt getting dangerous jumping on his tramp that Mimi and Tia got him.

The other day Kevin noticed Wyatt running plays with the TV while watching football, it's pretty cute.  I'm glad he enjoys watching the games with Daddy.

Bella likes to sit by Luke and wait for a little snack to fall, it used to be Wyatt, but now she's moved on to someone more reliable.

Just Hanging Around Town

We took a family trip to Sea World last Saturday.  Wyatt loved this little turtle hanging out on the grass.

Getting ready for Christmas!

The walrus kept doing flips in the water, Wyatt wanted to touch him, Luke was pretty interested too.  That walrus is one of my favorites to see too, he's got some personality.

Kevin and I were pretty impressed, Wyatt climbed the nets for the first time all by himself.  I went up with him the first time, but after that he went several times on his own.

Wyatt told Daddy he wanted to ride Abby's Sea Star, but sure enough once he got on, he wanted to get off.  He said, "Daddy, all done, all done!"

Little Boy Chill

 

Wyatt likes the dolphins, but not if they come too close.  The day we went to Sea World I asked him what he was thankful for to add it to the Thanksgiving Tree and he said, "school and dolphins", so I guess they made an impression.

 

 Last week was unusually cold, it really felt like fall.  I was raking up the yard, of course Wyatt wanted to jump in the pile of leaves.

Luke hanging out in the car, just waiting for his turn to run and jump in the leaves...pretty soon little man.

A morning at the petting zoo.

Luke loves his bathtime.  He just splashes and plays and enjoys every minute.

October Fun

Mimi and Tia came to visit for a couple of weeks and Kevin and I were able to sneak away on a couple of adventures.  First we went to our friends wedding in Manhattan Beach in LA. 

 Our hotel was a few blocks from the beach, so while Kevin was watching football with friends, I headed down to the pier.

What a beautiful, quiet day to spend hanging at the beach.  I really enjoyed myself and decided to eat an ice cream cone at 10:30 in the morning while watching the surf.

A view of the wedding venue from our hotel rooms balcony.

 

Happily ever after...

Kevin hanging with his buddies.

We took a drive out to the pumpkin patch for a day of fun.  Wyatt posing with Mimi.

This guy running the petting farm had a baby bunny in his pocket, so adorable.

Wyatt was so brave feeding the goats, they tried to knock Mimi down and grab the sack of food several times.

My little snuggle bug.  He's such a cuddler, I love it.

Tia and Wyatt checking out the pony rides.  He decided he was not ready to ride, but wanted to watch.

My little daredevil jumping hay bails.

Mimi and Luke taking a break.

Tia took Wyatt on a hay ride around the spooky corn maze.

I tried to get some photo ops with the boys in this pile of fantasy pumpkins, but Wyatt was not having it.  The little rascal was too busy teasing Luke.  He can make him giggle like no one else.  They are so cute together and that makes me a happy mama.

Sitting on the Big Mac.

Little snuggle bears after bath time.  Wyatt is trying to keep his Buzz gun away from Luke's reach.  Kevin and I were able to sneak off to Disneyland for a day while Mimi and Tia watched the boys, we picked up them up a surprise each and Wyatt loved his gun.

Pumpkin carving time.  The best part about carving pumpkins is baking the seeds, but this guy was totally hollow, I think I only got 1/2 cup of seeds, I was so bummed.

Luke trying Cheerios for the first time at 6 1/2 months.  He loves them, he just has a hard time getting his chubby little sausage fingers in his mouth.

Getting ready for the Boo parade to start.

Wyatt was slightly terrified almost the entire time, I forget that masked people scare him so much.  It was making me cry I was laughing so hard.

Luke loved it though.

The parade was in a bit of a ghetto neighborhood...Can you tell by the local entry?

Playing games at the carnival after.

Enjoying our family's first Trunk or Treat at the church.

 Spider, 50s girl, Mitt Romney, and Brobee...Random Jolly family costumes.

Wyatt's school Halloween party.  Hanging with his friends.

Kevin's group dressed up like Sesame Street characters, Wyatt loved Cookie Monster.

Chilling on Big Bird's nest.  Grabbing a Big Bird feather off the ground may have been the highlight of Wyatt's Halloween.  He cherished that thing.

We went out for trick or treating on our street, it was a good time.

Happy Halloween!  Luke where's your sock?  Right now he's into ripping them off his feet and eating them.