polar express

The saturday after Thanksgiving while everyone was still huddled into our abode, we piled into our cars and made the trek up north to take the boys on the Polar Express. (This was definitely a "parent's will remember more than the kids will" kind-of deal but we couldn't pass it up) It was a bit of a drive for only an hour and a half train ride but the output was definitely worth input.

We all dressed up in our night clothes and piled into the train,

waved goodbye to Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Smelly (they were too cool for the train)

and headed to meet santa!

Words fail me when I describe how much fun we really had on this little train! Our chefs walked up and down the aisles with hot chocolate and cookies while reading the story to us and letting each child see the pictures. Once we arrived at the North Pole, Santa came on board and gave each child a bell! ...of course we lost ours *irony* and Santa turned right around and gave us a new one!

Once Santa had paid a visit to each little boy and girl, we journeyed back to our homecoming while the chefs danced and sang up and down the aisle. G and W adored it!

thankful

"the best Thanksgiving ever" - big Wade

The results are in and even the family Scrooge agrees that we had a rockin' Thanksgiving! It was so fun, so packed, so delicious, so eventful and so fast! I wish we could stretch Thanksgiving to a whole month! I can't remember a better Thanksgiving, honestly! (well if you compare to last year when I went into preterm and missed out on our big family trip... then anything is obviously better). Tanman and I hosted this year so everyone (minus Hannah) showed up at our house! The best part about this craziness was that somehow or other everyone fit!

We even got to have Melissa's new fiance come too.

On Thursday morning Liz, Dave and W made up some excuse to leave us at the house and they come back with a HUGE surprise!

They came back with HANNAH!

Hannah had to work Wednesday night and Friday afternoon so she decided just to stay in Utah for the holiday but Liz came up with a brilliant idea to fly her down early on Thursday morning and then back again on Friday right before work. BEST. IDEA. EVER. We were all so excited and it made the whole week that much more special.

the boys were excited too!

It was so fun for G to have W to play with! He was always so excited when he woke up from his nap because he knew it meant play time. These two boys are going to give us a run for our money when they are older, I can just tell.

(we start them young)

When the food was in our belly we headed on over to the Temple to see the Christmas lights.
We never had Temple Lights growing up and it was so fun to see the whole thing so decked out! I loved it.

G's having a good time!

This is one of my favorite pictures from this week! It looks like G is totally into this funny joke that he is telling Mort and Mort is thinking it's the best joke he has ever heard! haha

What an amazing weekend we had! I just love my family so much. They are the best. No one else can quote Tommy Boy, John Denver and Pride and Prejudice in the same sentence quite like we can. I would be lost without them in my life! Love you all!

magical

we learned how to clap!

he is so proud of himself! Love him.

goonish recap

Yes, I am fully aware that we are now to be celebrating and looking toward the day of Thanks and the First Noel, but let's pause for a moment and recap the fun that Guns has had this Halloween season. We went to a trunk a treat for our church and G got to pass out candy to all the kids. He loved it! Can I just tell you have glad I am that he was dressed up in pajamas? This was quite possibly the most genius decision I have ever made. Next year probably won't be as easy but I will rejoice while I still can. The best thing about his outfit is that it glows in the dark so when he sat in the trunk while we had the bliacklight on, he blended right in with the decorations! On the Eve of Hallow's we handed out goodies to the munchkins that came to our door and then headed out for our own celebrations! Toward the end of the night, G and I made it to Mimi's and Grandpa's house and we went trick-or-treating with them in the neighborhood. He had so much fun that he was asleep in the car before I even put on my seatbelt! Gunnar. Out.

Those eyes are my kryptonite. In case the previous photos didn't give it away, this kid spends whatever time he doesnt have food or a passy in his mouth sucking on his top lip. All together now, let's say "teething!"

G got to snack while all his cousins were getting candy so he didn't feel left out.

pumpkinning

Last weekend we took G to a pumpkin patch so that we could take the obligatory picture of your kid playing with the pumpkins on their first Halloween and I was all for it! We had so much fun! It was the first time that I had ever been in a corn maze. It reminded me a little bit of The Shining and the creepy movie Children of the Corn that my uncle locked me in the room and made me watch when I was little while he dressed up in a Jason mask and starting banging on the window to freak us out! Anywho, We had a blast! We went with Tanner's brothers and sister and all our kids.

After the pumpkin patch and the corn maze, we played around on the blog and teeter-totter till the sun started to set.

After the farm, we decided to be brave and take the kids out to dinner. In a word it was eventful. The kids had fun at least and that's the point of it all anyway, isn't it? (sorry for the phone quality pictures)

mover and a shaker

G has become mobile! let me tell you that this new development makes the diapering process that much more unmanageable. The second (and I mean the second) this kid is diaper free he is off and crawling... free as a bird. For the sake of G's bottom, I will leave those pictures for another post or to embarrass him in front of a future main squeeze and part with some of him in full attire. I apologize for the phone quality photos.