Highs and Lows of Thanksgiving Break

Well, she's pretty much always one of our highs. Especially in a Thanksgiving outfit. Except when she's having her lows. Then she's a high having a low. Got it? Oh and another low is having a blowout in your holiday clothing.

Seeing family was definitely a high. It's been years since we've seen some of them and we used to get together almost every month. The low? Hmmm, I guess splitting the time between such wonderful people.

Girl time is always a high in my book. We had a great time around the table working on a cute craft. I am thinking that the low is that I don't have a picture of me with my mom, aunt, sis, and cousins at a delightful place called La Jolla where we had lunch. You should all be very jealous that you were not able to be a part of the conversation there. Always a hoot.

Oh Golden Nugget from Leatherby's. You are my naughty high. The low is how many nights of Jillian's "30 Day Shred" I am going to have to do to work that one off. Our spoons were coated with fatness.

Oh hello again Emmy! Your cute sweater is the high for this picture. Driving in adverse weather conditions for hours and hours with you is...A LOOOOOW.

It was a high seeing Natalie dabble in all things princess-y. It's a low that I probably need to do more Christmas shopping that encourages that sort of play.

High? Great men gathered together. Low? Their mood after the BYU/Utah game. Actually, they handled themselves very well.

Isn't this moment a great high?

And an unrelated low...getting a call at 7 in the morning on Thanksgiving informing us that our downstairs smoke alarm was going off. Our security company sent the Fire Dept over there, and although they couldn't get in the house and wouldn't since no one was home, a survey of the outside showed no sign of a fire. Well this happened a couple more times over the course of the day. And a few days later we got a call that the burglar alarm went off. At 1 in the morning this time. To make a long story short, they were false alarms and we're not exactly sure why. Scared the snot out of us a couple times though!

Snippets of Life

Emmy is smiling now...has been for a couple weeks. How is it that just turning up the corners of her mouth and squinching her eyes a little can bring us so much joy? This picture captures a part of a smile. She often does a big, gummy open mouthed one that I adore.

We had a minute before running out the door to walk to school to snap a picture. Mornings are crazy.

Jansen and Natalie love to sit in their seats at the counter and draw, cut, and color. I caught this picture of Jansen drawing in a very strange position!

And sometimes we even bathe Emmy. :)

She's 9 weeks. Sleeping in her own room now. HALLELUJAH! And has somewhat of a bedtime. I cannot even begin to describe to you how this feels. It feels like some freedom!

Air Show!

We went to the Air Show on Nellis Air Force Base on Saturday. Here we are:

Ha! Just kidding. That picture is from like 6 years ago when Nate and I were dating and we drove from Utah to see the Air Show at Nellis. And now here we are with three kids. Weird.

Natalie spent most of her time being a squirmy worm in the stroller.

And Emmy spent her time here:

We were so happy to have this lovely couple here for the weekend:

  Check out some of these great shots Nate's dad got:

It was soooo loud sometimes. But as Nate always says, "It's the sound of freedom." Love that.

Bless You

Raise your hand if you were blessed today.

Okay, now raise your hand if you fussed all the way up until and during some of the blessing.

Emmy. Come on now. Be honest.

Well, whether you are willing to admit it or not, we have some proof.

And raise your hand if your father did a fantastic job and you were the most beautiful thing in the church that day.

 Oh, don't be embarrased! You were gorgeous!

Sure, we'll get a side shot of you as well then.

Oh and one like that too?

Love you Emmy! It was a special day.

(Oh and we still have Jansen. He just wouldn't be in the picture because it wasn't by the car. It's complicated. His mind is complicated.)

Thanks Natalie for the Boost of Confidence

"Daddy this is you."

"And this is me."

"And here comes Mommy."

Thank you Natalie. Wikipedia says gulls are are "resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent." I'm assuming that's what you were trying to say. Yeah, that's probably what you were trying to say.

Moments to Note

There was a moment that my mother put a parsnip amongst the items on my bathroom counter.

There was a moment that Jansen decided to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. We are still working on it.

There was a moment that I actually got Emmy dressed in more than a onesie. And for two more points I put a headband on her.

There was a moment while living in Las Vegas that I actually wore my hair down. And I wasn't too hot. But it did get grabbed by itty bitty fingers a lot.

There was a moment when the sun was in just the right place and it made an already beautiful temple look amazing.

Can't you just feel that this is a special place?

That Was Sooooo Last Saturday

                               Am I already the last one to blog about Halloween celebrations? So be it.

           Friday afternoon we trick or treated at the Family Medicine clinic at the hospital.

           Natalie, Paisley, and Jansen...just a few of the gang that made their way through the halls there.

    Another shot of Iron Man and Doggy. Natalie had her little heart set on being a dog for months. As for  Jansen, well, we just browsed through Walmart.com until he saw something he thought looked cool.

At the Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot. Perfect way to get lots of candy fast and see friends! No costumes this year for me, Nate, or Emmy. Maybe that means next year we should be something extra cool. We'll see!