Bdays, turkey day and more

We've had a busy past few weeks. Aubrey turned 4 this year. We started her special day with her traditional smiley pancake breakfast, which she's requested the last 2 years. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated with a small family party that day. We threw up some decorations and had cake and ice cream in the afternoon, and she was so excited to be turning 4 years old. She is still a really good girl -- cooperative, helpful, sweet (most of the time), and generally well behaved. She really is a big blessing in our family.

Who can resist chocolate chip pancakes with a big whip cream smiley face?

The following weekend, Aubrey had her official birthday party. It was princess themed so all the girls came dressed as their favorite princess/ Disney character. Aubrey dressed up as Tinkerbell and we had about 5 girls over from our church for the party. We played Pin the Frog on the Princess and decorated tiaras that the girls could take home. The rest of the time, they played, ate pizza, cake and ice cream, and watched Sleeping Beauty. It was a low-key party and all of the girls were so calm -- which was a huge help for me since I am still not feeling completely like myself yet!

The Pretty Princesses!

Decorating our Tiaras

Ready for birthday cake (round 2)

Opening presents

Also, this year, we decided to spend Thanksgiving at home. We spent it with our neighbors who have become like family to us. I seriously don't know what we did before we knew the Dobbs. They help us out in so many ways -- I truly am grateful for them. We ate TONS of food, played games, and just relaxed and talked while we munched on more food. It was great!

The surgeon - ready for his first incision
We're definitely outnumbered by the kids!

Evan diving into his yummy jello
The kids playing and playing some more
Dallin taking the kids for a spin around the Dobbs' awesome backyard

And lastly, since our last General Conference, we have been working on a "Warm Fuzzies" jar. For those of you who listened to Thomas S. Monson's talk, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, we challenged our kids to earn 100 warm fuzzies, and when they did, we would reward them with something special. Well, they did it! And they chose to have a campout in our basement. They specifically thought of this reward on their own, and we thought it'd be fun. We let them eat popcorn and snacks while they watched a movie and then they set up the tent and slept in it with Dallin. (I slept upstairs in my comfy bed! :) We would have camped outside except it was really cold and snowy outside.

Catching Up on Halloween

OK, so here's a quick recap of Halloween this year:

Ward Halloween Party

Every year our ward has a trunk or treat at our chapel. This year was no exception, although they moved it indoors because it was quite cold that evening. My dad was in town visiting so he and Dallin took the kids to the party. As usual these days, I stayed at home in bed. But the kids had so much fun. They came home with a ton of candy, played all kinds of games there, and they got to walk around in the costume parade. This year, Jacob really wanted to be Darth Vader, Aubrey was a princess (of course!) -- Snow White to be exact, and Evan was superman. Dallin and I usually dress up, but since I wasn't up for it this year, he got dressed up as... well, I'm not exactly sure what he was supposed to be. But maybe you'll have a better idea than I did once you see .

Ready for the party

Yeah, I'm kinda at a loss for words, too! :)

Pumpkin Fun
Also, while my dad was here, the kids went to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm over in California. It's about a 2 hour drive (or more, I think) over there, but it's a cute pumpkin patch, complete with a train ride, petting zoo, hay ride, all kinds of playgrounds and things for the kids to climb on, a puppet show, and more. We usually alternate going between Bishop's Pumpkin Farm and Apple Hill, but being that I wasn't feeling well, we thought it'd be best for Dallin and my dad if the kids went to the pumpkin patch. A good time was had by all.








Trick or Treat
My kids absolutely loved going trick or treating this year. It was fun because this year, Evan really "got" it. After every door, he'd turn around and yell, "Let's do that again!"

A Mischievious Looking SuperManI know I'm biased -- But she is Soooo Cute!

I know you're thinking, "Luke, I am your father"

Ready for some candy!

And finally, I'm including a few other random pictures from the last few weeks. The first is of Jake finally learning how to ride a bike with no training wheels. It's taken him a while, but he's finally starting to get the hang of it. Here he is practicing behind our house.






And the next few pictures are of the kids walking along the river with their Daddy (one of their most favorite things to do!) We love the Truckee.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

After experiencing a good bout of morning sickness this pregnancy, I am happy to report that this past Wednesday, I started to feel better. Don't get me wrong -- I still get nauseous in the morning and at night, but at least I can get out of bed now and function on a somewhat normal level. My kids are ecstatic that I am returning to "normal" -- being that I have totally ignored and neglected them for the last 6-8 weeks. It's been a bit of a bummer too since Halloween is one of my most favorite times of year. But this year, I was forced to skip all of the trick or treating and halloween fun and opted to instead lay in bed. But enough complaining... it's time to catch up on some of the fun we have had.

First up, this year, we went to our local pumpkin patch to go on a hay ride, play in the pumpkin patch, jump in the bounce house, and look at the animals in their small farm. We ran into our friends, the Petersons, while we were there, so that made it more fun too.

Also, earlier this month, we decided to head over to the Zephyr Cove area in Tahoe for the weekend (Dallin's boss has a beautiful cabin there right on the water, and they offered it to us). It seriously was in one of the most beautiful places and being right on the water was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't do much while I was there because I was sick, but the kids and Dallin had a blast playing on the private pier and on the beach.

The kids and Dallin enjoying the hot tub

Roaming the beach

The view from inside

Private pier

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I'll post about Halloween next entry!