Thanksgiving Week!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week! It was packed full of family and fun, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way!!

Mom & Dad (Drysdale) came to visit from Texas. They arrived Sun evening.

Monday:  Spent a lot of the day preparing food and we had an early Thanksgiving feast.  (that way we would have leftovers throughout the week!)

Tues night: Went on a date with Mom & Dad and Jonathan & Rachel to Brick Oven. Always a fav (and a MUST) when people visit!

Wednesday: Jeff and Rachel were off work, yay!! The first half of the day was Girl's day, which included breakfast at Kneaders and of course shopping!  The second half was Guy's day, which included a movie and food. :)  

Thursday: Thanksgiving!!  We did the un-traditional by going out to eat!!  Everyone invited the family and friends they wanted and we all met at Chuck-A-Rama for their famous buffet. Unfortunately, even arriving at 11:30 am it was WAY too packed. We had at least an hours wait so we headed over to another buffet place. We got in right away but it was CRAZY busy! Seriously, I had no idea so many people went out on Thanksgiving!! It was a lot of fun to do something different, though (and have no mess afterwards!)

After the meal, the guys headed back home to put Ryder down for a nap and watch the Cowboys play. The ladies took West & Tave to see Arthur Christmas. It was a fun way to get into the spirit of Christmas and the boys loved it!!  

Then we all met up at the house for games and dessert.  So fun!

Friday: went up to Salt Lake for the night!  We checked in to the hotel and then went to Temple Square. We  played at the Church History Museum for awhile, which is SO awesome. there are tons of kid friendly activities that teach about the church and the scriptures. Loved it! 

Then we had dinner and went to see the lights on Temple Square. It was a fun experience that we haven't done with the boys before, but man, it was COLD!!  

Once we were back at the hotel, the adults took the boys swimming  while I put Ryder down for bed.  Then when the bigger boys were in bed, all the adults played games in Mom & Dad's hotel room (which was connected to ours). It was such a fun(and funny) night!!

The next morning we said goodbye to Mom & Dad (boo, it was very sad) 

and then we took the boys swimming again before heading home. They absolutely loved staying in a hotel and thought it was the coolest night ever!

It was such a wonderful and FULL week. We loved every minute and are so glad Mom & Dad came out to spend time with us. It was also a fun week with Jonathan & Rachel before they moved to Texas. 

We have so much to be thankful for!

Arrrrg, Mother-Son Pirate night!!

Weston's school had a pirate night for the boys and their moms. It was so fun and West LOVED going on a date with just me. Add dressing up, walking the plank, pirate bombing, and a treasure to the mix and it sure to be a sucess!!  

We had a blast!

Weston and his friends, walking the plank:

13/40

Well, since the first trimester is officially done I thought I should post a little bit about this pregnancy so far.

We are super excited to be welcoming a fourth little kiddo into our home.

Honestly, it is just as exciting this time around as it was the first.

Since each new little bundle has come into our lives, we've seen their personalities grow, their relationships become so sweet and beautiful, and our family dynamics are changed and enhanced.

It is an amazing thing- having a family.

So we cannot wait to see what this little one will bring.

Alright- my info:

Don't feel great. I've been SO sick this time around. I don't know if it's having three other kiddos to chase, or the fact that my body is a few years older and has gone through this a few times now, or maybe all of that, but this has been a tough one. 

I've been sick most of the day, mainly in the mornings and then from 2ish until I go to bed. 

but you know what - it's worth it. Every bit of nausea and fatigue. I'll take it for this sweet little reward I get at the end.

I've gained 3 lbs. :P

And I started showing a few weeks ago. 

Jeff told me just last night that I am officially looking pregnant now and not just chubby. Whew, that's good. Thanks babe. ;)

I crave mint.(which I talked about before)

And chocolate. And pretty much all fattening food. It's a miracle I've only gained 3 lbs. 

But that's it. 

We can't wait to find out if we'll be getting a boy or girl. (In Dec)

I'm planning on a boy and seriously fine with that. Lots of people ask, and while we would love to have a girl join our family, we will also love having 4 crazy, rambunctious, and busy boys. So win/win either way.

We're just happy to have a baby. :)

Family Photos - November 2011

Though I am not usually a studio picture fan, I am so thrilled with how these turned out!!  Ryder is a crazy little guy who RUNS everywhere now. With the cold, snowy weather, we knew a studio was the best option for us for family photos for the holidays.  I sure love my guys!!

Halloween!

Since our ward hasn't done a trunk-or-treat the entire time we've lived here, our neighborhood decided to put together a little Trick-or-Treat lane in the grassy loop. This was our 4th year and it's always just perfect. The kiddos get to see their friends, we chat it up with our friends, and it is just right. Weston really wanted to knock on some doors this, year, though (since we haven't really done that) so we let him do a few on our way home. I guess next year we'll have to officially start going door-to-door! 

We had a blast and the weather was PERFECT. We couldn't have asked for better. :)

The boys picked out their costumes about 2 months ago...they have been super excited to wear them.

We borrowed Ryder's costume from our good friends. Delaina made the adorable Pacman for her little girl last year and it was just right for Ryder.  Jeff and I went as the ghosts. Ryder was a pretty good sport about the whole thing, he did fall once and couldn't get up! So funny.  He pretty much kept me on my toes by running for every exit he could find. And once he had a sucker, he was good to go! Oh I love this boy.

Weston had a blast running around with his friends. I don't even know how many times he went around the circle! and then cute Tave was happy to pass out candy with Dad once he had gone around the loop for himself.

Such a fun night!

After Trick-or-Treating, we headed home to carve our big pumpkin. The boys have been so excited for this.

Ryder and Tave were a little timid about touching the goo, Weston just dove right in. He couldn't wait. 

By the time the pumpkin was carved, baths were in order, because the boys had gotten goo ALL OVER themselves! So fun!!

And then here was a shot of our yummy, spooky dinner (i didn't go too elaborate on the side dishes...next year I want to make the entire meal creepy!):

My awesome friend, Geniel, bought Tave this huge eyeball balloon. I guess for the past month, every time she has asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween he would tell her "An eyeball." ???!!!  yeah, funny, huh. So she got him one for halloween!  The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever. So awesome!

We started a new tradition this year and it was a hit. 

The boys could CHOOSE if they wanted to leave out their bags full of treats for the Sugar Plum Fairy. If they did, they could see what goodies she brought them in exchange for it in the morning.

They were pretty thrilled with this idea. 

So we let them pick out 10 pieces of candy and then they left the rest on the table. 

The next morning they were so excited to find the toy and puzzle she had left for each of them. 

And this mama is happy she doesn't have to dole out candy for the next 6 weeks+!!  

Win/win!

Fall fun - October

I wasn't the best picture taker during October, due to being so super sick.  But when I finally pulled out the camera, I found some fun things we've done this month. There were more pictures than I thought!

We started off the month by having Jonathan & Rachel over for dinner. We always love visiting with them, and the boys LOVE when family comes over:

October 14th

I went with Weston's kindergarten class on their fieldtrip to HeeHaw farms. It was awesome.

West was super cute and it was really fun to see him with his friends. We loved all of the fun things there were to do at the farm. 

I also went down the slide with each child! They could go together, but they each wanted ME to take them. So my sick-o stomach had to hold on for 4, yes 4 rides, down this thing. Whew.

Not pictured:  we saw brand new baby piglets, picked out pumpkins, went for a hayride, and learned all about corn. Did you know there is corn in tires and makeup? yeah, strange!

Ryder sure has loved this whole walking gig, but it has come at a price! He has entered the bruised forehead stage! You can't see it in the picture at all (I think I was a few days late taking it), but in a period of 2 days he fell over 5 times. Hitting his head in multiple spots, twice in the same spot on his forehead, and cutting his mouth and lip pretty bad. That was not a fun one!  

OUCH! This is one tough kid!

I loved this cute shot of West snuggling Ryder after his nap.  My boys sure love their baby brother!

I rotated the books on the boys' bookshelf and that was their quietest quiet time EVER!  I peeked in on them to find this:

Weston built his own fort all by himself. He was so proud of it and was so nice to share with his brothers (ps, can you see him peeking out of it):

They each wanted their own picture in it and of course, one together:

Funny boys:

 Tave put his red chapstick on all by himself...he didn't want a picture, but I had to because it was so funny:

Apparently this bug shirt (given to him from Weston) is his favorite, he's worn it a lot this month!

We played with play-doh and Tave cut out all of these shapes by himself. This was a big deal because he usually wants help!  He was so excited to give us, in his words, "some cool shapes for you to love"

Thanks, sweet Tave!

Ryder loves climbing on the little table, it's pretty  much his favorite spot in the house:

Shawn drove up to Chelsea's with me one day for a visit. My kids sure love their cousins and really miss all of them.  We had a fun day! Uncle Shawn is always a hit and of course, we had to love on sweet baby Tanneah.  Weston was so excited to see her and hold her. It was really cute.
(He has been praying that our baby is a 'sister', so we'll see what Heavenly Father sends us!)

We love cousin time, the kids did NOT want to leave!

And here is my pedicure that I got at the beginning of the month. I LOVE this color and have been trying to deny that it is cold by wearing flip flops every day still.  However, my toes have been FREEZING!  So I will probably have to admit it's Fall and pull out the boots and close toed shoes. boohoo!

Here's to a Happy Fall, everyone! 

We've been having fun and have a few more halloweenish posts to put up!