Thanksgiving Break

We were planning on going to Oregon for Thanksgiving.  Lindy was speaking in church that weekend and Julie's brother was so nice and said we could stay in their house while they are out of town.  We were all excited to go and have time with the Hams.  We have missed Lindy and we are excited for her to come back to Provo.  We were going to drive out there on Wednesday and home on Monday. I was a bit nervous about weather, but then I watched the weather and Wednesday looked clear.  Unfortunately, Jonah came home sick from school on Tuesday and threw up.  Caitlyn also felt sick and had bad stomach pains. It was a tough decision, but we decided to cancel the trip.  I knew we didn't want to drive twelve hours with stomach problems and we didn't want to get anyone else sick. 

We were all disappointed, but it was the hardest on Wyatt.  He was so excited to see Ammon. Jackson did his best to comfort him.  Wyatt asked if I could just buy him a plane ticket since he was fine. 

We had nothing planned since we were going to be out of town so we had a lot of free time.  Keith and the boys had fun gaming in the basement.  Hallee and I watched movies upstairs while they played video games.  Caitlyn worked a lot.  She stayed home sick Tuesday, but she was feeling better by Wednesday so she picked up a shift that day and worked over twenty hours between Friday and Saturday. 

We had to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner.  Thank goodness for grocery pick up, I didn't even have to go into the crowded stores.  I put in an order Tuesday night and picked it up Wednesday.  The only problem with grocery pick up is you don't know how big or small some things will be.  I thought this ham I ordered would be a lot bigger.  Wyatt thought it was pretty funny. 

I made everything simple and we had a great spread!  Everyone was stuffed and we had plenty of pie for later.  I even got everyone to play a game together.  It was nice to have family time and nowhere else to be. 

Hallee and I ran to the store and picked up canvases.  It was really nice to all be home for a few days, but we all went a little stir crazy.

Hallee and Wyatt had fun painting.  It was nice to have Jonah home for a few days while he didn't feel good.  He was better by Friday and ended up working some and hanging out with friends.  No one else got sick so I was grateful for that.

We needed to get the little kids out of the house, so on Saturday we took them to the Bean Museum at BYU.  

I didn't know Ligers were a real thing.  Keith was telling Wyatt about the one from the zoo named Shasta that was there when he worked there.   Wyatt was excited to show Keith that this was Shasta.

The kids had fun with the interactive games.

We liked the giraffe's Santa hats.  It was nice to get out of the house.

We had a lot of moments over the break where everyone was home and hanging out and it made me so happy.  You have to treasure those moments!

I cut the boys hair.  I think Jonah's turned out really well.

He wanted me to take one of him flexing, ha!

Wyatt's turned out great too.

Wyatt and Caitlyn get very chatty at bed time.  They had fun showing each other funny videos when Wyatt was supposed to be in bed.

Wyatt did not think he should have to go to school on Monday since we were supposed to be driving home that day and he was planning on missing it.  We made him go anyway, so he drowned his sorrows in apple cider, ha!

Keith hasn't taken much time off work this year, so he decided to keep his days off even though we didn't go.  Yesterday Keith and I had a nice day together while the kids were at school.  We worked hard.  We did yard work and raked all the leaves and a bunch of other errands that needed to be done.  Caitlyn had the day off since we were supposed to be gone so we finished setting up Christmas when the kids got home from school. 

I miss the days when they were little and so excited about setting up the Christmas tree.  At least Hallee is still excited about it.

I love sitting in the dark house with just Christmas lights on.  Poor Keith was exhausted after our long day! Hallee and I ended the night reading Christmas books by the tree.  I love Christmas time!

Battle

Wyatt's studio had a battle last weekend. It was a very long battle.  We ended up being there for almost four hours.  Wyatt loves hanging out with his friends from class, so he was fine with it.

They had four different skill levels and a battle for each one. 

Wyatt was in the advanced group. 

I love that they shake hands after each round.

They had three judges and they would point to the winner of each round.  Wyatt got all three votes in his first round. 

He went out during his second round.  He did great!

They didn't take very much time for the boys verses girls battle since it was so long.  Wyatt and his friends worked on a routine for one of the boys to enter, it was really cool.

Grandma and grandpa were so nice to give up their whole Saturday to watch Wyatt.

We love watching Wyatt do what he loves!

One of you has to walk Jackson and one of you has to walk mom

The other day when Wyatt and Hallee got home from school I told them that one of them had to walk Jackson and the other one had to walk me.  Hallee picked me, so we walked over to Lakeview.  She wasn't too excited about it, but she ended up having a lot of fun.

She had fun showing me all of the things she likes to do at recess.

I think Hallee needed my undivided attention, she talked nonstop.

We walked around to all of the different play grounds and stopped and played at all of them.  I think I need to make Hallee take me on a walk more often.

Hallee has been wanting to play at the park a lot since then. Keith took Hallee and Wyatt to a park we haven't been to close by and the kids loved it.

Hallee has been asking to go back to that park every day. 

She loves the zip line.

Wyatt didn't want to go so Hallee and I went.  We've had some snow on and off, but it isn't too cold yet. Hopefully we can fit in some more park days before it gets too cold.

Life Lately

My beautiful girls! 

I love watching them have fun together. 

Caitlyn does not like to spend money, but she finally broke down and bought herself some sweaters and a blanket that she wanted.  The sweaters look so cute on her!  She sure is a beauty.

Hallee has been very busy this year.  She has her voice and dance class back to back on Wednesdays. She is gone for dinner so I try to have something ready that she can eat before she leaves.  She also has school choir Tuesday and Thursday morning.  She is going to be in Hope of America this year so she has practice for that Wednesday right after school.  She loves being busy and she loves spending so much time singing.

Hallee wrote a story for the Reflections contest and she won an Award of Excellence for it.

When the boys won awards they let me know so I could be at the assembly, but I didn't hear anything this time, so I didn't know the assembly was happening.  I took this picture from the school Facebook Page.  Hallee was excited to come home and show me her trophy.

Last week Hallee got to go to Tessa's birthday party at Lowes!

Hallee got to spend the whole day at Tessa's.  She felt like it was her birthday!

Hallee made this flower for the art show at school.  It says, "Dedicated to my mom because: She's so hardworking, kind, funny, and such an amazing mom.  I love her so much and I wanted to show that through a flower.  Because she is as beautiful as a flower."  Hallee is so sweet and she sure made my day.  It's so fun to get praise from your kids!

It's been cold and Jackson got a haircut so it was time to pull out his pajamas.  He actually seems to like them. 

Keith had Veteran's Day off.  It was really nice for us to have a day together while everyone was at school.  We went to the temple and did sealings and then went to lunch.

That afternoon everyone was home and just hanging out in the front room.  I'm realizing that a lot of life is hard and stressful, but there are moments that are pure joy and this was one of them.  Jonah made fun of me for taking a picture, but I had to capture it.  I felt so much gratitude for my family and that we were all together and enjoying each other's company. 

We went shopping that afternoon.  Wyatt's facial expressions crack me up.  We were in Ross and Wyatt comes rolling by in a chair making this face at me.  I love him!

That night Hallee and I watched a movie together.

Wyatt and Keith went and saw the new Black Panther movie. 

Last Saturday Tessa and Rockwell came over for the day.  Hallee and Tessa always love to play in the shed. 

I love watching Hallee and Tessa play pretend, it is so cute!

The girls thought it was fun to take their dinner out to the shed.

Wyatt and Rockwell made movies, played video games and laughed a lot.

We had our primary program last week. Hallee did a great job and loved having grandma and grandpa there to watch her.

Last Sunday was Garth's 88th birthday.  Kelly made him a cake and planned for people to come by and celebrate. 

Garth told us stories about his mission and how God has helped him throughout his life. It was nice to have that time with him.