Spokane Thanksgiving Trip Part 2

 On WEDNESDAY we took off to visit my brother, wife, and kiddos in Moscow. He is there for med school right now. He took us to a beautiful arboratorium that was across the street from U of I. Even though everything was dead it was so beautiful!

 The weather was perfect and the kids loved running around, rolling down hills, and collecting leaves, rocks, and anything else they could find!

 It was fun getting these kids together again since they haven't seen eachother since summer time. And little Ty man has grown and changed so much! Carter loved being able to hold him.

 

 On THURSDAY it was of course all dedicated to eating! Chet smoked 2 turkeys and
OH
MY
GOSH
It was the best turkey I have ever had!!

 Chet and Clark got the lucky job of carving the birds.

 We had tons of food! The Hymas' know how to do a feast!!

 I think for thanksgiving my kids ate a roll and some carrots but I wasn't about to ruin my meal by trying to force some food in their mouths!

 Grandma Reed made the kids some cute T day shirts and here they are looking as cute as ever!

 Thursday night we loaded everyone up and went to a movie. Big Hero 6 was a wonderful show! We really liked it and it will be one we buy for sure. Carter laughed so hard in it and Mollie fell asleep!
That night we gave G&G Hymas a gift that all the kids pitched in on. They are getting to have quite a few grandkids and here are most of them!

Friday was all about clean up and pack up. Mindy & I escaped for a few hours to do some shopping in the afternoon. Target is a great stress reliever for 2 tired gals! We came home much happier! and with a lot of Christmas items marked off my list!

The kids by this time were very exhausted. For the most part they did really good with only a few meltdowns. Poor Mollie was so tired one night she fell asleep mid way through her book!

 Saturday morning we hopped in the car and made the 6 hour drive to Butte MT. Half way there we got caught in a snow storm and it really slowed things down for a while. Glad Chad was driving and glad that we were in the other lane of traffic. The other side was at a complete stop.

 We reached MT and stayed the night in a hotel room. We woke up to 7 degree weather and drove on some more slick roads. When we stopped at a rest stop, Carter begged to get out and run around. And that he did! He ran and ran and ran until Dad came back from the bathroom. He even found a patch of ice to skate on for a bit.

After a quick stop in Blackfoot to see my grandpa we then made it home by sunday evening! We were so glad to be home after 10 days but so glad we went too! The kids already are asking when we are going back. Such a good time and such wonderful memories made. We are so grateful to Chet & Mindy for their hospitality and kindness.

Spokane Thanksgiving Trip Part 1

 The week before Thanksgiving we loaded up our van and took off on a 10 day trip to Washington! We were invited to Chet & Mindys new house and so was all of Chad's family. 4 of the 7 siblings were there and their families.

Friday night we took off and stayed the night in Idaho at my parents house

Saturday we spent the day in Twin Falls with some great friends the Sorensons & Browns and took care of some rental business.

Sunday we drove! And drove....and drove....and drove!!!! I was really worried about a lot of the ride but the kids did great and Brielle especially did great. I don't want to do the drive again any time soon, but it wasn't too bad! We arrived in Spokane around 5pm and the cousins went crazy!

 Monday we went into Cour'delaine for a Santa cruise! It was so fun! W hopped on a big pontoon and headed across the river to the North Pole. On the ride over the kids could write a letter to santa and give it to an elf to deliver to Santa.

 Along the way there were tons of lights to look at!

 When we reached the north pole Santa read the names of all the kids on the nice list! The look on my kids faces when their names were read was priceless and worth every penny spent on the ride!

 We were afraid the weather would be awful and get rained out but we went anyway and it was perfect! It started to sprinkle just as we left.

Afterward we walked around a cute mall with all the cousins. Here they are!
 On Tuesday we received some surprise dental work from Chad's brother. His office is really nice and Mindy insisted that we both head in to get our teeth cleaned. Chad got a crown and some cavities filled. We also did some shopping since we forgot carters bag at home with a weeks worth of clothes in it!

 Brielle liked looking at their cat from inside the house.

 TUESDAY night we went to a fun trampoline place while we waited for G&G Hymas and Chelsey and her family to arrive.

 The kids were in heaven and we got some energy out!

 Even Brielle had a good time!

 When 4 more cousins where there, there was not a quiet spot in the house! It was pure pandemonium and it was fun...for a little bit! Then we tackled them and put them in bed.

Stay tuned for part 2! We did so much it was hard to fit it all in one post!

Chad's 32nd

 Wow blurry pictures! But these were the only ones I captured for the whole day! He actually got called into work a few hours after breakfast so we had doughnuts and some fruit and opened presents. He got a candle in his doughnut since there was no time for cake.

 I was babysitting for a friend the day of his birthday too so we had a few extra kids to help us celebrate!

He was gone the whole day until about 9 pm. He brought us home some take out food and we watched the BSU game to finish off the night. Luckily we were able to have cake and do a little more celebrating on sunday. Sure glad for this man in my life and all his hard work! Love you Chad!

11 months!

 This little smiley girl is almost a year old! She is so happy and loves to crawl around and recently started pulling herself up to standing.

 She loves all and any attention she can get!

AND 2 new teeth have popped through and she is loving trying some new food with her new teeth! She loves real food more than baby food! She is growing and changing so much and learning so much too. She is well on her way to not being a baby anymore! But I'm hanging on to it as much as possible!

In other news...Brielle is going to be a big sister! She will have a new sibling that is 18 months apart from her. We are all hoping for a boy!

Haircuts

 I really didn't want to do it but Mollies hair needed a cut really bad! A week before this she got a wad of gum in her hair. I tried to be patient but ended up grabbing the scisors and cutting a chunk of hair off. So it was time. AND she has NEVER EVER had a hair cut, not even a trim.

 She was pretty nervous about it as you can see

 I just had the lady trim about 4 inches off and it is so much healthier and easier to comb. Here's the finished product. So cute!

 Carter also had a hair cut and his was a different story as you can see....It was AWFUL!!! I ended up taking him back and the manager fixed it for free. It looks much better now!

The best parts of Halloween

 Every year I feel like I get a bit more frustrated with Halloween. There's so many parties to attend and pressure to trick or treat like 10 times! Whatever happened to only getting candy halloween night?! And it just always seems so busy! But my favorite parts are the memories I get to make with my kids.

 Of course we went to a pumpkin patch and let the kids pick their pumpkins. This little pumpkin was still in my belly last year when we visited the pumpkin patch!

 As always, me and the kids scoop the guts out and Chad is the master artist.

 Heres my little pumpkins with their pumpkins
 And the final products! A transformer, Olaf, and a 2 toothed smiley pumpkin just like Brielle!

 Mollie had her Joy School party too which I always enjoy. She sure makes a cute little witch (for the second year in a row!)

 The kids having story time.

 And making a witches brew.

 Mollie and Braelyn...both witches and best buddies.

 On Halloween night we got to meet up with cousins for trick or treating! It was so fun to go with a big group of people we love!

 And here is Uncle Chuck dressed up as cousin Eddy....

 My little trick or treaters were so excited and did great walking the neighborhoods.

 The highlight of the night was getting a soda, a king size candy bar and one house even had dollar bills mixed in with their bowl of candy!

 And although Brielle didn't get any candy, she was a little trooper and was happy the whole time despite forgetting to feed her dinner! (whoops!)

And what was this boy most excite about? The apple he got! He grabbed it right away and started eating it before any candy!

 And you know it was a good night when the evening ends looking like this!
Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!