Small Update

It snowed...a few weeks ago.  Kinnie was really excited about it as you can see.  It hasn't snowed since and I am fine with that, as long as it doesn't wait to snow the day we want to get out of this place and head home for Christmas.  We are a tad nervous about driving home in a few weeks.  That darn Wyoming stretch might be brutal, we are hoping for the best!  I tend to ignore the thoughts that come into my head about it being really bad and Landon is all about being prepared.  I am glad he is thinking ahead about it...emergency kit for the car, lots of blankets, a shovel!

Kinnie loves to talk on the phone with her Grandmas.  She is quite the chatter box and conversationalist.  She is so expressive with her hands when she talks so I love to watch her talk and use one hand while she holds onto the phone with the other.

Kinnie overcame a really big challenge in her life (maybe I will write about that later) so we had a celebration.  It was a pretty big deal and as you can see from her face she is really proud and happy.  Grandma Bell sent her some party hats and party blowers and fun things and Grandma Bruschke sent her a card and the necklace she is wearing.  

Andrew the supportive brother.  He is always right be Kinnie's side.

Thumbs up!

Silly kids!

Thanksgiving

I made my first Thanksgiving feast and didn't even take pictures to prove it!  I had nightmares the night before of how awful it was going to be.  I think I called my dad a handful of times to ask him questions  I really was a bit terrified.  I had never done a turkey before and what about the timing of everything!?  When do I start boiling the potatoes...when do I start the rolls so they can rise...how do I cook a turkey??  I really kind of had to get my game face on and just focus on the next task.  I made sure I made the pies the day before and baked the sweet potatoes so they would be ready to mash.  It was scary but guess what, it turned out great (the turkey was a little dry but it was fine).  It was a lot of work but I knew it would be and I am so glad I did it.  It was fun to share it with some of our friends out here.  And I can't really claim that I made everything.  I was happy for their help in bringing some of the dishes.  Kinnie had a ton of fun with her friends and I got to stare at a week and a half old baby all afternoon!  I was dying to hold him but I was just getting over being sick.  We missed our families like crazy!  We thought a teeny tiny, little bit about driving home but we will be doing that in a few weeks for Christmas!   

Halloween...

I will be honest.  I am really glad it is over.  I realized this year that I love the simplicity of Halloween that I was raised with.  Growing up, Halloween was basically a Halloween party and parade at school and then trick-or-treating on Halloween night.  This year with trick-or-treating at Landon's school, a friend party, trunk-or-treating at the church, and then actual Halloween night, I was ready to be done with Halloween.  I just felt like it wasn't as exciting for the kids to dress up Halloween night because they had already worn their costumes a few times.

With that said, we had a good time.  It was fun for the kids to have a special day to go to Landon's school.  We are so lucky to have friends that put on an awesome party and did all of the dirty work of putting it together.  We were happy to support the ward and go trunk-or-treating and be with our ward family.  And Halloween was great.  Kinnie and Andrew had a good time and it was fun to see the excitement as they went from door to door yelling "trick-or-treat".  Andrew was so polite and made sure he said "thank you" to everyone. 

Some of the cute kids at our friend's Halloween party

Kinnie blindfolded, ready to play "stick the mouth on the skeleton".

Hey we at least tried to dress up.  And Landon did have a fake mustache but had taken it off to eat.

The only picture I took at the trunk-or-treat.  One of the dads dressed up like Cookie Monster and passed out Chips-A-Hoy for the treat.  Our kids were loving it and I should have gotten a picture, it was pretty funny.

Our nice neighbor Sharon always brings over some homemade crafts stuffed with treats on the holidays.  This is what they got this year.

Ready to go out trick-or-treating