{project thanksgiving...the BEST surprise ever!!!}

About ten days before Thanksgiving, I had a crazy idea. Why not drive to Utah and surprise my mom and dad?  We hadn't been to Utah for Thanksgiving since we were married, and they certainly would never guess that we should show up on their front door!  Rick was in Europe at the time, and wouldn't get home until the day we had to leave, but he was on board.  The kids were thrilled to say the least, so Project Thanksgiving went into planning mode!

I packed and prepared in the days before we left, so all we had to do was get in the car when Rick got home.  He walked in about 7pm the Friday before Thanksgiving, and we were on the road by 8:30pm. To say it was an eventful trip is an understatement.  We hit a storm in Illinois and had blizzard-like conditions for quite awhile.  It was very slow going, and then I-80 ended up being closed for a few hours.  We took the opportunity to catch up on sleep, and the off we went again.  We ended up seeing more than 75 cars and semi-trucks off the road, and it was pretty crazy for awhile.

The weather got bad again in Wyoming, and once again, the highway was closed.  We lined up with a few hundred other big trucks to wait it out, and after a few hours of rest, it opened, but we had to go about 35 miles an hour.

Through all of this, the kids were really great.  I purchased headphones for all of them, and they all had something to listen to or watch, and that worked really well.  We ended up being in the car for 43 hours straight, only stopping to use the bathroom!

We arrived in Bountiful about 2:15pm on Sunday afternoon, and I called my mom to make sure they were home.  I was happy to find out that they were both there, so I told her I needed to call her right back and then hung up the phone. We parked a little ways down from their house, then snuck around to the back kitchen window. Rick held Caroline up to the window until my dad saw her, and then we all ran around to the front door.  Mom was crying, the kids were shouting, Dad was looking incredulous, and it truly was THE BEST surprise ever!!

We had such a fun time while we were there! We spent one day at Boondock's, which every single one of the kids requested from the moment we knew we were going to Utah. Race cars, laser tag, bowling, mini golf...it's their favorite place.  We also went to Temple Square, went bowling again, shopped at City Creek, had lunch and saw Santa Claus at Station Park, and spent time with family.  Thanksgiving came all too quickly, but we had a delicious meal, watched Christmas movies, and played!

We headed out on Friday around noon, and thankfully, the weather was much better on the way home, and it didn't take us quite as long to get there.  We arrived on Sunday morning, which gave us time to unpack and get settled before going back to work and school the next day.

What a fabulous trip!  Yes, it was quick, and we couldn't be there a really long time, but it was totally worth it.  Project Thanksgiving was a success!!

{the dentist}

I don't really know why I post about the dentist, because it's a pretty routine thing to do, but for some reason, it always seems like a production when we go, because we all go at once! I love being able to get everyone done at one time--it really saves me so much time and effort in the long run.

Usually Rick tries to go with me, to make it a little easier, but this time I was on my own. That's always a little tricky, but the office is really good about making it all work.

Even Caroline got her cute little teeth counted, and she even let them brush them and put a little polish on.  We found out that both Emma and Kate will definitely need braces, even as soon as next year, so we better start saving! Henry hasn't lost any teeth yet, so no problems there, and Jack's all looked great.  And the bonus...no cavities for anyone!!  That's a success in my book!

{a crazy trip to Ohio}

I really don't know what got into us.  Amy Kerksiek, Betsy Brunner and I all moved here from Texas, and miss all the yummy Mexican food desperately.  You just can't get anything close to it around here, and so on a whim, we decided to make the five hour trip to a Chuy's restaurant that just opened in Ohio.

Yep, five hours! We left as soon as the kids left for school, buckled our two girlies in their seats in the back (Caroline and Amy's little girl Kielle, who is the same age), and off we went.  It was such a fun trip--lots of laughing and talking--and the time went by quickly.

When we arrived, we couldn't wait to get our hands on the chips, salsa, and creamy!  SO yummy!!  We quickly became celebrities when the waitress and management found out we had driven all that way, and we were give the royal treatment.

After we finished eating, we ordered a TON of takeout to bring home to our families, and while it was being prepared, went over to the nearby outlets and did a little shopping.  When we picked up our food, we discovered that they and given us all of the salsa we ordered for free! (and it was A LOT!)

We put the girls in their pajamas, knowing we would get home late, and off we went.  We got home around 10:30pm, but it was well worth it. The food and company were perfection!

 Can't wait to go again! :)

{halloween 2015}

What a fun Halloween!  We went for another theme this year, and all the kids wanted to be superheroes.  Originally the plan was to do Alice in Wonderland, but I couldn't quite convince everyone to go along.  Ryan actually dressed up as the Mad Hatter, and it was awesome!  Kate was Catwoman, Emma was the Black Widow Avenger, Henry was Incredible Hulk, Jack was Batman, and Caroline was Wonder Woman, although she thought she was Batgirl. :)

We were invited over to the McAfee's house for Halloween night along with several other families,and the kids were thrilled.  We all brought soups and rolls, and it was all delicious!  Then we all headed out to go trick-or-treating, and separated into groups of big kid sand little kids.  It was a beautiful night, really the perfect temperature for being outside--a little chilly, but not too cold. 

The neighborhood was a very wealthy one, and the majority of the houses gave out full-sized candy bars.  Their bags and pails were just not big enough to hold all of their loot!  When we got back to the house, they quickly dumped it all out, and started counting and then trading.  You couldn't even see the floor for all of the candy!!!  

The moms talked, the dads watched football, and the kids ate candy and played.  Everyone was happy! Another fun Halloween for the record books! 

{october happenings}

Oh, how I love October!  It comes in a very close second to December, but it's very, very close.  I adore everything about it, and being here in New York has been like a fresh breath of air after being in Texas for the last couple of years. We were here last fall too, but Caroline was in the hospital almost all of September, and some of October, and after that we had to be inside a lot. So...this is really our first fall here, and we're soaking it all up!

I've already shared the fun fall activities we've done, but here are all the extra pictures I've taken over the month--our October happenings!!

Fall leaves!!

My pretty girls...

It's just the two of us, and we have so much fun together!

Henry got to hold this cute baby, and he LOVED every minute of it.

Hanging out at the McAffees' house!  One of our favorite places!

Sunday morning snapshot...

I LOVE this grin!

Our cute little town has this gratitude tree up at our tiny four corners, and everyone gets to write what they're grateful for and leaves them on the tree.  It's even lit up at night!

My cutey-cute girl!

The totally cracked me up!  Henry was channeling Humpty Dumpty on this one!

I stumbled upon this scene, and just had to sneak a picture.

Miss Caroline at our weekly story time!

Rick takes each one of the kids to breakfast all by themselves in the weeks after school starts, and they absolutely love it.  It's hard finding a place with gluten-free breakfasts, especially since she hates eggs, so they decided to get cupcakes! Lucky girl!

Rick has traveled to 13 countries so far this year:  Austria, Hungary, Germany, Turkey, Spain, England, Switzerland, Mexico, Uruguay, China, France, Panama, Brazil, and he still has Russia and South Africa to go.  His passport is so full he needs new pages!

Little Miss Independence right here! She insists on brushing her own hair. And pretty much doing everything herself.

I love our weekly Sunday snapshots. The kids...not so much :)

We had some chilly mornings this month, and one morning when we woke up, Caroline said the ground was "frosted".  We had to take a picture to document it!

Now, on to November!

{pumpkinville}

Going to the pumpkin patch is definitely one of our favorite family fall traditions. (Say that 10 times fast!) When we lived in Michigan, we had our favorites, and we went there year after year.  Texas was hard move for us when it came to fall activities, but we managed to find one that would suffice.  Needless to say, I was thrilled when we moved to upstate New York, because I knew we would be back in pumpkin patch territory! I have not been disappointed--none of us have!

This year we traveled about an hour and a half to a cute little town called Ellicottville. The drive was so scenic, it was lovely! There's usually a lot going on there, all year round. This particular pumpkin patch is nestled right in the mountains, with the most stunning scenery--as soon as we drove up we couldn't wait to park and start looking around!

In addition to pumpkins, they had a bunch of other fun activities, and the kids were so excited about each one of them. We went on a hayride, ate (devoured) the yummies donuts ever, toured the spook house (more than once), conquered the corn maze, and the kids went on the cow train, rode the pedal cars, jumped on a huge bounce pillow, and then did it all again.  It was spectacularly fun, and we've definitely found our new favorite pumpkin patch!