Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, filled with lots of food, family, and fun!

A family from the ward joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a mom and her 3 teenage boys, who we did not know very well, so I was a little nervous at first. But I was glad that we were able to provide a place for them to go for Thanksgiving. It ended up being a great afternoon! It was wonderful to get to know their family better, and the teenagers were so sweet to our kids! As usual, I didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner, but I did manage to take a picture of the turkey treats we made. Everyone got one at their place for dinner.

The rest of the weekend included some relaxing, kids playing with friends, a little Christmas shopping, and a lot of Christmas decorating! Fortunately, the weather was great and Ryan was able to hang the Christmas lights. For the first time, ALL three boys got to be on the roof to help!

Nathan and Joshua

Benjamin got to do the tricky corners while Ryan held the ladder

Everyone helped assemble the tree. We have a really great system where Ryan unloads the box in the basement, the kids are the runners to bring branches up a few at a time, and I put the branches in the tree with some help from the kids! When it was time to hang the ornaments, we first opened up our new ornaments from Grandma-ma and Grandpa-pa this year.

Elizabeth loves her new Rapunzel ornament!

Benjamin posing with his baseball-playing penguin!

Joshua wrote his full name on his penguin's bat

You know Nathan is happy when he doesn't scowl for a picture!

decorating the tree

Ryan likes to joke that the whole reason I wanted a fireplace installed was to have a place to hang the stockings at Christmas. I have to admit that he is mostly right! So I wanted to make sure I got a picture of our first Christmas mantel! I still have work to do on the bookshelves, but I love the mantel!

Happy Halloween

Our Halloween festivities started yesterday when we were fortunate enough to attend Uncle Brett's work party. He works for Adobe, and they are known for their amazing Halloween party. We got there when we could after school, but it was a couple hours into the event. We were told we would have to stand in line an HOUR just to get in the door! That's how popular this party is! After about 15-20 minutes of waiting (and some popcorn from the food tent near the line), they took the majority of the line and had us go through the last building. Each Adobe team makes a themed display for the families to walk through, and so it was in multiple buildings! There is a contest among the employees, so they go all-out in their displays. It's too bad we didn't get to see everything, but I was amazed by the detail in what we saw . . . Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, mad scientist laboratories, etc. The kids got some candy for their bags, and we each had a soft-serve ice cream cone before heading home.

on the hay ride from the parking lot to the building

waiting patiently in line

It's almost our turn!

This afternoon the school had a Halloween costume parade. The kids walked past me pretty quickly, but I managed to get a picture of each of them! Elizabeth spent most of her time on the playground instead of watching the parade.

Nathan is Twins baseball player Kirby Puckett

Benjamin is Iron Man

Joshua is Jango Fett from Star Wars (for the 2nd year in a row)

Elizabeth was SO PROUD of herself for climbing all the way to the top of the "spider web". I was just nervous!

It was a great evening tonight for trick-or-treating . . . the weather was beautiful! Nathan got to go with his friends this year, and really loved being able to go with them to an adjoining neighborhood after they were done in ours! Joshua and Benjamin went with our next-door neighbors and their parents. Elizabeth went with Dad and with her best friend Izzy, while I stayed home to pass out the treats.

The kids in character -- that's Benjamin's Iron Man pose (he's not mad I'm taking a picture!)

"When will my trick-or-treating begin?!"  -- our little Rapunzel!

Best friends are both princesses!

"Trick-or-treat!"

Nathan with his friends; yes, that is Ursula in the background -- Izzy's whole family was Little Mermaid characters and they looked amazing!

To Be a Pioneer

The 24th of July is a major holiday in Utah: Pioneer Day. Since Ryan and I did not grow up here, and since he does not get Pioneer Day off of work, I always forget about it until the day of. So our festivities usually are doing the things we do any other July day :) Earlier this month I saw some ads for the city Pioneer Day celebration, and I made the effort to plan ahead and actually do something fun this year!

First we attended a neighborhood pancake breakfast, which included a huge slip 'n' slide on the hill of the park. Later in the day we went to the city Pioneer Day event. It was crowded but a lot of fun -- there was so much to do!

an Old West jail

 I think the boys' favorite activity was the ax throwing!

Benjamin                                                                        Nathan

Joshua

the target

 They also enjoyed the slingshot booth!

Nathan                                                                                Joshua

 Benjamin really got into it!

We wandered over to the adjacent Pioneer Village (which is always there, but we have never been to it). We got to see inside a typical home from the time the pioneers settled the area -- it was one itty-bitty room! I can't believe they would fit a family of 8-10 in there! We also went in a blacksmith's shop, played a few pioneer games, and took a turn with the handcart. Nathan was in an uncooperative mood, so Benjamin pulled the handcart alone -- I was very impressed!

Elizabeth made a paper bonnet at one of the booths, but was not ready to pose in it until we got home.

4th of July Disney-Style

Happy Fourth of July! It is a tradition in Ryan's family for everyone to get together for the 4th . . . usually the Arizona group travels up to Utah for a BBQ and other festivities. This year, we all wanted to go to Disneyland during the summer. We thought we might as well combine our vacation with our tradition of being together on the 4th! A big thanks to Ryan's parents for making this whole trip possible!

The morning started very, very early. We met in the lobby for family prayer at 6am! Before we started our walk to get in line for California Adventure, Amy surprised me by having everyone sing Happy Birthday and by presenting me with a gift bag. Inside was a birthday button with my name on it . . . I loved wearing it throughout the day and having so many cast members wish me a happy birthday! Periodically throughout the day, I received other birthday gifts. What a thoughtful way to celebrate my birthday . . . thanks, Amy!

Today was California Adventure day. Cars Land has been open for only about two weeks, and we have all been so excited to go check it out! Because we were staying at a Disney hotel, we were able to get in the park an hour earlier than everyone else. So we made sure we were basically first in line at the gate. Once they let us in, we rushed to stay ahead of the rest of the crowd as everyone made their way to the Radiator Springs Racers. As we would continue to do throughout the day, we divided into two groups: the big kids and one adult per family would wait in line and go on the ride while the little kids and remaining adults waited. When the main group got off the ride, the adults would swap places so everyone who was big enough could get a turn to ride! We had to wait in line about 30 minutes, which is short compared to the 3-hour line it would become soon after the park opened to everyone else! It was a fantastic ride! I hope we get a chance to ride it again this trip!

the entrance to the ride

getting off the ride -- we loved it!

patiently waiting for the other adults to finish the ride

After the Racers, we went to Luigi's Flying Tires - a ride that reminds me of air hockey, and you're the puck! While on the tire, you lean to steer and you are trying to get the huge beach balls and throw them at other people. It is a lot of fun! Afterwards, we finished our time in Cars Land at Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. The whole land is so fun because it really does look like you are in the movie! We even saw Lightning McQueen while we were there!

pretending to be asleep

 

Nathan and Bryson shared a tire

Then it was time for the California Screamin' roller coaster, and King Triton's Carousel for the little kids.

Midway Mania is one of my very favorite rides! Elizabeth had fun with the 3D glasses.

Grandma and Grandpa Partridge

The rest of the day included the Ferris wheel, seeing Minnie Mouse while the big people went on Soarin' Over California, and the Silly Symphony Swings.

After dinner, we went over to Disneyland and staked out a location for the fireworks. The kids stayed busy eating churros and playing with their cousins until the show started. It was a great patriotic show! Happy 4th of July!