Thanksgiving

It's tradition now for us to lure our Utah family down for Thanksgiving. We've been here for 6 of them now...and love our visitors!

This year, the Gibbons came for the feast. Michelle made the pumpkin pies (complete with home made crust). I made the pudding pies (complete with store bought crust). I also made the BEST turkey ever! (at least for me) What was the difference this year? I'll tell you...

One Reynolds oven bag
One cut onion
One cut apple
Sage, Salt and Pepper (applied generously to the apple and onion which were then inserted into the turkey and discarded once the turkey was done)

And Wha-lah! An amazingly tender, juicy turkey! (if I do say so myself. Which I DID, at least 10 times during dinner.)

Of course we had mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, rolls, asparagus and a fruit salad (which Paul did a fantastic job of making--the fruit salad, that is).

I know Thanksgiving isn't ALL about the food! So, we had lots more fun!

Thanksgiving morning began with the traditional Turkey Bowl. Michelle and I (with 7 boys in tote) went to cheer on our hubbies. It was SO cold! We could have used some coats. But for the love of our men, we cheered through our chattering teeth.

After dinner/lunch Andrew, Cooper, Marc, Treyson and Adam renewed their memberships in the Polar Bear club by jumping into the 50 degree pool. Adam even stayed in and swam for a while (crazy!). Those boys were so cold when they got out of the pool. The breeze didn't help. (I still need to get the pictures from Michelle.)

Michelle and I did some girl stuff (Christmas shopping) and the big boys (Paul, Phil, Adam, Andrew and Treyson) did more guy stuff (paint balling).

And every night, 6 of the 7 boys had a big sleep over in the toy room.


We sure love it when the Gibbons come to visit!

Spares and Strikes

were in abundance at the Bowling Lanes Saturday night. I had NO idea bowling could be so much fun! I've always been a terrible bowler! Paul and I went bowling on our first date...The first round (I know that's not the technical name) I bowled a 70. That was slightly embarrassing, especially considering that Paul was throwing strikes left and right. But the second round was the ultimate in humiliation. I bowled a 20. No, I didn't forget a zero. That was it. Just a 20. How can I be "cool" and impress this super hot guy with those skillz?! So, I took bowling at BYU for one of my gym credits. Now I know the technique, but over-analyze all my moves and am still a terrible bowler!

ENTER 4 little boys. And with those little boys come gutter rails. Ahhhhhhh! (angels are singing in the background). Check out the score for "M" (mom, ME).
It was a proud moment. Even if I did have a LOT of help:-).

But check out these little guys! They were so much fun to watch! Even more fun than breaking 100.

He jumped so high the camera couldn't capture his head...

Don't you love that this ball is bigger than he is?! And he did it ALL by himself:-).

I LOVED these little shoes!

This little guy threw with such force that he often went down the lane with the ball.

This guy was "too cool" for pictures.

My FAVORITE boys in the WHOLE world!!!

Bowling will definitely be on our list of great activities to do again...

It's Bed Time...

"Cooper, please flush the toilet." A seemingly safe request, right? Not so in our house. A little water on the floor next to a viscous toilet and...

There was so much blood I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Did he bite his tongue? Did he bite his cheek? Where is all this blood coming from? Oh! There it is! He bit his tongue.

BAD!

The blood is gushing! I finally get a chance to check for further damage and find some. His chin is busted open. Again. This is the same spot that busted open about 2 years ago when he slipped into the pool. So, off to Urgent Care we go...

The bleeding in his mouth finally stopped.

The chin is still gaping open.

The Doctor prescribes stitches.

Six of them.

And a flower band-aid.

Dad prescribes buddies.

One to help Cooper through the Doctor's "prescription". ("Spot")

One to reward him for successfully completing said "prescription". ("Stitches")

Can we skip the Friday night parties from now on?

Halloween

The boys were absolutely spoiled this year with not 1, not even 2, but THREE chances to Trick-or-Treat.

First up was the annual ward Trunk-or-Treat.

Check out these Vampires (and GI Joe, of course)...

Now check out this SpiderMan who wanted NOTHING to do with those Vampires...


(I'd stand him near his brothers, and he was GONE before I even turned around.)

Second, Emily Smith organized a Saturday night Trick-or-Treating among ward members homes.


Third and Final was Trick-or-Treating with the Wilsons (it was very profitable) :) (and yes, we went out Sunday night...I just can't figure out why Charitable giving and Charitable receiving is un-holy.)

(Did you notice that Cooper is in a different costume for each excursion?)

OUCH!!!

It's Friday evening. Happy to not have any more homework, we were enjoying a beautiful evening at the park...Barik and Cooper were throwing sand on each other. Andrew was riding laps around the park on his bike. Drake was playing down near the basketball court. Drake has been pretty accident prone lately. Just a few weeks ago, he fell face first off the swing. So, it wasn't shocking to hear him scream in pain and come running. I'm guessing his shoe caught the edge of the cement and he did another face plant. His lip (the unblemished side) was now covered in blood. He wouldn't calm down. He cried for nearly 30 minutes. This was definitely out of the ordinary. But it wasn't until 2 hours later that I noticed his nose. He looked deformed! And he was wheezing too. I was concerned. I called the on-call Pediatrician (who happened to NOT be my favorite pediatrician) who told me that while his nose could be broken, there was really no way to tell without an X-ray. My main concern was that he could breath. Because he didn't seem to be extra cautious with his nose, I decided to just watch and wait.



While waiting we witnessed a rainbow of colors form on this little guys face...




(It's now 2 weeks later. We went to the ENT on Tuesday who said Drakes nose is very solid. Phew! And would you believe that it's STILL bruised?!?! The swelling has gone down significantly, but it's still some pretty colors.)

Big Boy Bed

THIS...





Turned into THIS...


The other boys were out of the crib by the age of 2...mainly out of necessity...we needed the crib for another baby. So, when does the self proclaimed "Baby" move to his big boy bed? It had been set up in his room for several weeks. I wanted Drake to be able to sooth himself to sleep before he was given full reign of his room. So, first we had to bid a fond farewell to the binki. That was very successful! A few tears were shed, but really only a few. I was FAR more attached to that thing than Drake was. He now has a stuffed buddy that he snuggles with to fall asleep.

One night while Cooper was getting ready for bed, Drake snaked into Coop's bed. I thought for sure we'd see the wrath of Cooper-kazi. Instead he was in hysterics with laughter. You've already seen what unfolded from that.

With the attitude of "now's as good as ever", I asked Drake if he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed. Yup. I put him down, and he never came out! AMAZING!!! I remember having to turn the door knob to lock Cooper in his room because he came out of bed so often.

He's still working on staying in bed. So we have the crib in his room as a sullen reminder of where he has to go if/when he gets out of his big boy bed. And on the occasion when he has to spend a bit of time in the crib, he cries for his "big boy bed". He loves the freedom of coming out of his room when he wakes up. He often wakes Andrew (who sleeps right next door) first thing in the morning. Per Andrew, that is one of his favorite things about Drake having a big boy bed. That, and the fact that he looks so darn cute in his big bed.

As a side note, while Drake is discovering his use of the English language, he wants to speak AND be understood! This can be quite challenging...understanding a 2 year old. In the past (a long 4 weeks ago), he was satisfied by merely acknowledging his vocabulary (i.e. "um-huh", or "OK", or "yeah"). But not now. NO. Now, I need to figure out exactly what it is he's saying, so that I can repeat it back to him. Long gone are the days of "um-huh", "OK", and "yeah". Now, with extreme concentration (both verbally and visually) I am deciphering what new word this little guy wants me to hear. If I don't get it right, he repeats that word with increased volume and intensity. He not only wants to be heard, he wants to be understood.

Student of the Month

Receiving this honor has been Barik's goal since Andrew was awarded the "Student of the Month" last year. Little brothers hold their older brothers on pedestals. With longing in his eyes, Barik asked us when it would be HIS turn to be Student of the Month. What do you say to that? Especially when I KNEW he deserved it, but had a bum teacher who didn't choose to recognize him for his strengths.

Mrs. Zselivac emailed Paul and I the good news, so when Barik came home begging to buy lunch the upcoming Thursday, I told him (with almost as big of a smile on my face as he had on his) that he didn't have to buy it because the SOM lunch came free. Then I found out he was trying to trick me and that was his way of telling me about this great honor.

How fun it is for these students to sit at the front of the cafeteria and be recognized by the other students and teachers for their accomplishments.

Then to be honored in an assembly...and share that honor with your big brother. What a treat! Can you see that the two little brothers hold BOTH of their big brothers on a pedestal already?

Limes, Glorious Limes!

My Lime tree produces generously for me year after year. This years crop yielded 10 water bottles full of Glorious Lime Juice (to be frozen or given away to those who LOVE my Limes as much as I do).


My generous limes came at a price this year--the acid from their sour juice burned my fingers. For nearly a week after extracting all that cheek puckering juice, my fingers were red and were tender to the touch. They were even swollen. Gross! Almost three weeks later, they are finally peeling. Strange, I know. I guess I'll be wearing gloves for next years harvest.

Good Bye, very good friend...

I've known this was coming...

I still wasn't prepared.

I was a little too attached.

I knew there would be tears.

And maybe even sleepless nights.

But I knew it was finally time to let you go.

Sleeping In Seattle

Besides all the quality time Paul and I were able to spend together in Seattle, one thing we both REALLY enjoyed, that we NEVER get at home, is sleeping until WE are ready to get up. Not being woken up by someone who is crying, or fighting, or hungry, or needs help in the bathroom, or wants to know if he can play game cube. Only waking up when our bodies and minds are fully rested and ready to start the day on OUR time and terms. THIS is BLISS!!! And this is only one of the reasons getting away, just the two of us, is so rejuvenating!

September is usually a BEAUTIFUL time to be in Seattle. The sun breaks through to the City of Rain for about 3 months per year (from mid July to mid October). My hopes were high that the sun would have taken that familiar journey and would be there to greet me when I landed in Seattle. But this was not the case, instead I was greeted with those ever present high covering, gray clouds. Oh well, this is just a reminder of what Seattle really looked like for the 4 years we lived there. And besides, I was ready to have a great time with Paul regardless. At least it wasn't raining.

We spent the first evening cruising the streets of Downtown. I LOVE downtown Seattle. I love the water front! I love Pike's Market! I love the sights and the smells! I love the ferries! And the Port! I love how clean this BIG city is! I love the architecture! I love ALL the green! Add to that the biggest love of my life (you know who) and I couldn't ask for anything more!







Our corner room had a great view! We woke up Saturday morning (September 11) to some memorial events going on below us. Took me back...We were living in Seattle and Andrew was just a few months old when America was attacked...




After a quick workout and a shower, we were off to the Peninsula with hopes of hiking through the Olympic Rain Forest in sunny Sequim (Sequim is sheltered from the Seattle rain and clouds by the Mountain Range). It's a sleepy little town, but close to the coast and the Rain Forest.

So, onto the Ferry we drove...






After dropping our bags off at the Hotel, we were off to explore. We found these gorgeous moss covered trees that looked like they were going to reach out and grab us at any moment:





And on we did drive. It was getting a bit too late to hike the forest, so we decided to go check out Lake Crescent. By this point, the rain was falling and so was the temperature. We got to Lake Crescent, and I was so cold and so irritated with the weather that I was NO fun to be with! But the weather didn't deter the water skiing gal in just a swim suite...Brrrrrrr!!!!! Despite my rotten attitude, I still enjoyed the beauty of the lake (BUT I would have enjoyed it a LOT more if the sun had been shining and I wasn't FREEZING!)





Being the good Mormons that we are (ha ha), we woke up Sunday morning in search of a chapel where we could attend Sacrament meeting. Sacrament meeting didn't start until 11 for the Sequim ward and I didn't want to wait around until then to get our day started. So the only other option was driving 30 minutes to Port Angeles to attend the 9 am meeting. Well, remember my comments earlier about being able to sleep in...and also keep in mind that being late really stresses me out. Add to that the cloudy, rainy, cold day, and my bad mood from the night before woke up with me again. Blah! We left Sequim at 8:45 to venture out to find this chapel 30 minutes away that was starting in 15 minutes. I was ROTTEN, I'll tell you! I really don't know how I lived in Seattle for 4 years without taking "Happy Pills".

I now have a new understanding of why Starbucks is thriving in Washington. It's so cold and rainy that hot cup of "Joe" not only warms your chilly hands, but also warms your chilly insides. And maybe all the caffeine in that cup of "Joe" helps ward off the over extensive use of the "Happy Pills". Living in Seattle, I would either have a serious Word of Wisdom problem, or a serious weight problem (instead of coffee, I lived on Hot Chocolate).

We never found the chapel, but look what we found instead...
A deer...

A Purple house (I love the rainbow of houses found in Washington--with all the gray, you've gotta get color somehow)...


And a super cool old barn that was even FOR SALE!!!

Can you find the old claw bath tub in the front yard?

Our last stop on the Peninsula was at a beach where we were surrounded by wild blackberry bushes and flies. I was grossed out, and poor Paul was just trying to soak up every last minute of the Peninsula as he could. I was trying really hard to be good by this point, but he smells and the bugs were just too much for me to handle. So, we headed back to Seattle.




The sun was shining in Seattle (there's irony, if I've ever seen it). Pike's place was a bustling business district again. I LOVED it!

The world famous Throwing Fish Market...






The sea of colorful flowers...
And all the other various vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables, hand made jewelry, fresh made donuts, hand made clothing, and paintings.

For $2.50 each, we rode the train from Downtown to SeaTac Airport where we were serenaded by the "unruly" Vietnamese ladies and were flowered with the fragrance of an unclean man (how can one individual smell up an entire train?!). Thankfully, the man sitting next to me on the plane was clean, but hung over from the wedding he had attended the day before on Lake Crescent where he too saw the crazy lady water skier (what are the odds?).