Random November

November 2012

One Monday night after family home evening, we went to PeachWave for dessert. It was our first time. It's a fun little place and it's always fun to see the different frozen yogurt/topping creations that everyone comes up with!

One afternoon the kids were outside playing basketball, enjoying the afternoon. Emily loves to be with her brothers no matter what they're doing. When she saw them playing basketball, she naturally wanted to play to. I was just watching from a distance, and I loved how sweet Jacob and Caleb were to her. She can't get the ball even close to the hoop, but Jacob picked her up so she could make it. She is a lucky girl to have such sweet brothers.

One of the boys favorite shows is Phinneas & Ferb. We don't have cable, but we've been able to watch some of the older seasons on Netflix. I think it's a pretty cute show myself. Well, one of Matthews favorite birthday gifts was a Perry the Platypus backpack. I just couldn't pass it up when I saw it. I know it won't be too long before he thinks he's too grown up for a character backpack- he thinks it's so cool, and I love seeing him wear it. I also love how 5 year old boys have to RUN everywhere! Everywhere we go, Matthew loves to see how fast he can run. There are usually a few good 'jumps' in there as well. I just love little boys!

 Our November has become pretty busy with wrestling practice. There are usually two practices a week. Matthew and Caleb practice from 6:30-7:30 and Jacob is from 7:30-8:30. It's usually held at the middle school that's about 15 minutes away. Some nights Jeff is working, so I'm there with all four. Sometimes it gets a little tricky to entertain a 2-year old sister for 2 hours in a wrestling room, but it's been fun for the boys.

 They always say that a cardboard box provides better entertainment than most toys and it's usually true. We got a cupboard/entertainment center for our basement and it came in a giant box. I figured I would let Matthew and Emily have a little fun with it before it went out with the recycling. I cut a hole for a door, gave them some crayons and markers, and told them it was their house. They had many fun hours with their little cardboard house.

 Jeff and I got a Christmas tree the very first year we were married (2002) from some friends who left it on our doorstep as a surprise when we said we weren't going to get a tree because of cost & because we were going to be out of town for  a lot of the holiday season anyway. That little 6 foot tree has served us very well for 11 Christmases! This year, I finally decided to get a new bigger tree for our upstairs. 6 feet sounds tall, but for a Christmas tree it's pretty shrimpy. So I hit a Black Friday sale and got a beautiful new 8.5 ft tree for just over $100. I couldn't bear to get rid of our little tree though, so we've decided it will be our 'Kid Tree' for the basement. The kids had fun putting on the brightest lights they could find and all the sweet homemade ornaments we have. It was fun to help them and see all the cute things they've made over the years. Now we have a cute tree in the basement, and another tree for the upstairs.

 During November, the scouts had their annual Raingutter Regatta. It was a pirate theme this year and they had all sorts of fun decorations and costumes to go along with the evening. The kids all had a blast! It was fun to see friends and watch the boys race their boats.

 One night I was able to talk Jeff into going to "Breaking Dawn 2" for a date night. It was the last movie in the Twilight series. The theater was pretty packed, but Jeff was happy to see that at least he wasn't the only guy in the room. The movie was pretty good, but mostly it was just fun to enjoy a date night together.

 Another night, a few girls in our ward decided to do dinner and Breaking Dawn again. I didn't mind seeing the movie again. It's always fun to have a night out with the girls. I feel so lucky for these and many other wonderful  friends.

It's A....

 Well today was our big ultrasound! They had actually scheduled it for 8am on a Tuesday morning. I was hoping that if it was early enough, that Jeff would be able to swing by quickly before he had to go into the office. It made it a little crazy Tuesday morning. We had the boys up and ready for school, Jacob caught his bus at 7:25am, and we took Caleb to school a little early at 7:45 (they can go early if they do breakfast- he was pretty excited about it :). With the ultrasound being so early, I didn't want to have to ask anyone to babysit so early in the morning, so we decided to just take Matthew and Emily with us. Which meant, I also had to have Emily and Matthew up, fed, and ready to go by 7:40 too. Of course the rush-hour traffic is a little worse than normal, but we made it to the maternal-fetal medicine site right before 8 am and got checked in.
I always love the ultrasounds-it kind of reminds me of Christmas morning as a child. It's hard to wait and feels like it will never come. I always feel a little nervous as well as excited- you hope that you can find out what you're having, you hope that everything looks good and that the baby is growing the way they should be. I'm always grateful when Jeff can be there with me- it calms my nerves!
We didn't have to wait too long before they called us back and started the ultrasound. They asked us right off if we wanted to know what we were having- and of course we told them yes! They tried to do a quick peek, but baby wasn't cooperating, so they did all the measurements and looked at all the parts, organs, bones, etc. Everything looked good- which is always such a relief and blessing. Then they did another check and this time baby cooperated, so they were able to see that we are indeed having a

Baby Girl!! 

We were all so excited! Emily kept saying, "I'm going to have a baby sister!" I'm pretty sure she doesn't know exactly what it means-it'll hit soon enough:)- but she was excited. Matthew said, "I knew it!" and Jeff and I were just so grateful for a sweet, healthy baby.
Once we left, it was fun to start making the phone calls. I also met up with Tania, Heidi, Hazel, & Wendy for lunch and they were excited to hear the news. Then of course, you have to make it official on Facebook and Instagram- and it's fun to see all the comments. Everyone was excited for us and we are just absolutely thrilled to be welcoming another sweet baby girl to our family! Now for a name...

Jump Time

November 2012

One activity that we've really enjoyed this winter is a toddler jump time at a local gymnastics academy. Some of my friends told me about it, and we thought it would be a fun activity during the cold months when going to the park isn't an option. It's just once a week on Thursday mornings, so Emily, Matthew and I have been going and it's been so much fun for the kids. Sometimes we have other friends there, and sometimes it's just us, either way it's been fun. 

They have all sorts of different inflatables, trampolines, foam pit, toys, and gymnastics equipment that the kids can play on. Obviously there are some things that are off limits for safety's sake, but for the most part, they can play on and in just about everything. 

I've loved watching them! They're so cute jumping on the trampolines, playing games with the other kids, and going through the inflatables. You get about 1.5 hours, and I'm always amazed by how fast the time goes! It's definitely a great way for them to use up some energy too.

5th Month/20 Weeks/Halfway!

I hit the 5th month/20 weeks/halfway mark on November 23rd. The time is really starting to fly! And it always seems like once I hit the halfway mark, the second half goes even faster. I feel this baby moving all the time, and I love it. We will be having the big ultrasound next week- I can hardly wait! We've had quite a few people give guesses- some say boy, some say girl. Most of our family says girl, and I really think it's a girl. I'm happy either way, but it would be fun for Emily to have a little sister. I've carried pretty much the same way with every pregnancy, so no clues there. Can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

November 2012

This year we enjoyed a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home. Jeff was on call for the weekend, luckily he didn't end up getting called in on Thanksgiving Day, but that always limits the plans you can make. That was fine with us. We were excited to do a special Thanksgiving dinner together at home as a family. It ended up being so fun. We try to make it a special dinner- everyone was dressed up in nice clothes, we set the table with special dishes, and we were able to just sit and enjoy the meal together. I loved being able to sit and enjoy a long meal while we visited together. We were able to sit and eat and visit as long as we wanted- with nowhere to hurry off to. It was perfect.
The kids were excited to help set the table with some of our special dishes and even crystal goblets. Those were especially exciting because Jeff bought four different types of sparkling cider to enjoy. Everyone helped with different parts of dinner. We did a pretty traditional meal of turkey, ham, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and corn. The kids especially love to help roll up the rolls!
I think I set a new record for myself this year- I made 9 pies! (only 7 are pictured because we took a couple to home teaching families) It's probably a good thing it's only once a year, I think I was a little 'pie-d' out afterwards, but we wanted a lot of different types, so I did quite a few- apple, pumpkin, cherry, cheese cake, and pumpkin cream.

We have so much to be grateful for- especially these four-soon-to-be-five wonderful kids! Jeff and I were saying how incredibly blessed we feel- they are our very favorite people in the entire world.

We had talked about having friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. When we talked to different people, it turned out that there were quite a few people who would be around for Thanksgiving. It was too big of a group to do a combined dinner at home, and the church was being used during the day anyway. I finally had an idea that ended up being perfect. Everyone enjoyed their own Thanksgiving dinner at home, but we all met up at the church later on in the afternoon for desserts and play time. It was our family, the Blacks, the Jensens, the Taylors, and Stephensons. It was such a fun night! We all brought several different desserts/items to share, and we just spend the evening enjoying more good food, and visiting together while we watched the kids run around and play. The kids brought bikes, balls, and other fun toys. They literally just played for a few hours straight. We were there at the church until about 9pm that night.
It's never easy to be away from family during the holidays. I remember in the past doing our own Thanksgiving dinners, or even doing them with friends. It was fun, but it seemed that it was usually later on in the afternoon and evenings that we would start to feel a little sad as we thought of our families who were all gathered together for the holiday. We were so grateful that we could spend the time with dear friends who really made the day wonderful.
I love Thanksgiving, and the message of gratitude that it emphasizes. We have so much to be thankful for- not the least of which is family and friends. We feel so grateful that we were able to celebrate this time with ours!

(Kristie, Val, Me, Kennedy, Karalee, Mandi)

(Parker, Matthew, Emily, & Chase)

Emily & Chase

-Touring our new primary room- The church has been under construction for several months and is finally coming to an end! We're so excited to have the whole building back!

Jason Taylor, John Jensen, Jeff, Phil Stephenson, Ewan Black

Matthew, Rowan, & Sarah

Sarah, Chase, Emily, Matthew

Matthew, Emily & Kendyl with two of the most amazing girls (& babysitters!) Kennedy & Ailish