Thanksgiving week

Thanksgiving break has almost already come and gone, and it seems to have gone by with the blink of an eye. It was a busy and fun filled week.

We went for Claire's 15 month well check on Tuesday, and the curse of the well check struck again so we were not able to get her shots due to a pesky cold, but that seems to be the norm with her. Here are the 15 month stats....

Weight: 20.4lbs (25%); Length: 30inches (45%)
at 15 months Ethan weighed 25.6lbs (60%); length 30.5 inches (48%)
at 15 months Davin weighed 22.2lbs (20%); length 32.25 inches (75%)

Claire has built a nice little vocabulary. She enjoys saying no, mine, stop that, don't, and uh oh in addition to mama, dada, baba, hi, bye, etc. She also calls the dog to the table when she decides she wants to throw him her food. "Diesel," she shouts! It is as clear as crystal. She has also become quite the skilled climber these days, and we have even found her on top of the kitchen table! She has already figured out that she can scoot the chairs around the kitchen to climb up on top of the kitchen counter. We are in big trouble with this little girl!

Claire was able to put some of her running and climbing skills to use after her check up when we went to meet some friends for a picnic lunch in the park. Ethan was an excellent helper with Claire who thought she could go and do anything her brothers could.

Davin played with Jacob from his blast ball team.

After we played at the park we went home and got ready for Doug's parents to get here from El Paso. We had a big Thanksgiving at our house with a lot of family this year. It was a lot of fun having everyone together.

Doug's turkey always turns out just perfect.

Claire kept playing with this scarecrow like she thought it was another little kid. They were about the same size. It was too funny.

My mom and dad at Thanksgiving. I didn't get any pictures of my sister and brother. I guess my brother really didn't hang around long enough for me to get his picture. I'm not sure why I didn't get any of my sister.

The post turkey nap.

Papa Fred and Granny at Thanksgiving. I think it is really special that my kids are able to know their great-grandparents.

mom

Granny

We didn't do any shopping this weekend, but we did do a lot of decorating for Christmas. By Saturday evening we were all tired of leftovers, and decided to go and enjoy dinner at Babes.

Davin and Grandma Tonya.

me and my handsome boys

Papa Don and Claire Boo

We finally finished the Christmas tree today, but we are having a hard time keeping it finished with Miss Claire. I trained Davin to leave it all alone when he was little so I will get Claire there eventually as well. The bottom 3 feet of the tree have non-breakable ornaments, and it is a little bare compared to the top.

I think Papa Don and Grandma Tonya enjoyed their visit, and the decorating fun! I enjoyed some goal setting for the year to come with my mother-in-law ;)

I have mentioned before how blessed Doug and I are that both of our parents are still married (his for 42 years and mine for 32 years). We are thankful for good parents, and for loving, caring, grandparents for our children, and for the gift of the example of long lasting marriages that our parents have set for us and our children.

Happy 1st, Micah!

My daughter has not been the most cooperative when it comes to having her picture taken lately! I particularly love how she has her tongue hanging out of her mouth in this one. She is climbing on the couch to try to get to the remote and the computer.
She is also way too attached to her pacifier. I am going to have to do something about that....later.
I know it is a tad on the dorky side, but I thought it would be fun if Claire and I wore matching camo to church and to Micah's party on Sunday. It was pretty fun!
We spent Sunday afternoon celebrating our friend Micah's 1st birthday! Claire and Micah are good buddies. They enjoy sharing cheerios on long walks together.

Levi and Ashlea were so gracious to host so many friends and family. Things got a little hectic, especially during present time, but they never lost their cool.

Micah waited patiently for his birthday cake.

Micah wasn't real sure what he thought about his cake, but he sure did make a big mess with it!

What a cool cupcake idea. That's a lot of cupcakes!

Claire wore some of her cupcake as well. She was trying to get to my cupcake in this picture!

The kids and I got out and about today, but unfortunately my camera did not. Sarah and Rachel came over for a brief play date this morning before we all went and had lunch at Chick-fil-a. Sarah and I both had 2:00 oil changes scheduled. After oil change were done, we spent the rest of the afternoon outside riding bikes and going for a walk with Ashlea and Micah on this unseasonably warm 82 degree November day. I was lucky enough to spend my evening enjoying a pedicure once Doug got home from work. My BFF, Cindy, was even able to join me at the last minute as an added bonus!

As I reflected upon our day, I was overcome with thanks. I am thankful for having the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I am thankful I had the opportunity to spend time with several of them today. I am thankful that I can be myself with them, and them with me, and we that love each other faults and all. I am thankful for three beautiful children, and for the extra time I am able to spend with them this week. I am thankful for parents and for family that are so positively and actively involved in my children's lives. I am thankful for a husband that loves me, and shows love to our children everyday. I am thankful that I have been blessed far more than I ever deserved.

Ft. Richardson Camping

We decided to take a fall camping trip back to Fort Richardson State Park since we were not able to camp there in October as we had planned. Unfortunately, our friends, the Sterns, had to withdraw at the last minute, but I suppose we can forgive them ;). I enjoy this park because it is very pretty, the sites are set up well, and you kind of feel like you are in the middle of no where even though you technically are close to somewhere.
Claire loved climbing up and down these stairs, but one thing she did not love this camping trip was sleeping. She is extremely congested, and I am sure that has something to do with it, but normally she will throw in the towel eventually. Not this time folks. I didn't get her down for the night until about 10:30 last night. She slept until 1:45a.m. and then she was up for the long haul after that. My parents even put her in their bed to try to get her to go to sleep, but all she did was play with my dad's phone and tell him to stop if he tried to take it away from her. She did fall asleep briefly at 5a.m. which is when Davin woke up mad coughing and congested. I got him back to sleep about 6a.m. just in time for Claire to wake up and start crying again. I gave up then and told Doug to go put on the coffee. Needless to say, everyone was just a tad bit tired today, but we still had a good time and made the best of it.
The boys enjoyed playing their new horse shoes game outside with their Dad and Grandpa. They also played some soccer and rode their bikes.

Davin enjoyed playing on the stone wall at our camp site.

Mid afternoon, we drove up to the historic Ft. Richardson to see the sites, historical markers, and tours. This part of the park was closed last summer due to an infestation of bees, so we were not able to see it then. The boys seemed to like the hospital the best. Ethan did not like these old toilets.

He was also unimpressed with the hospital beds in the one large hospital room, and said the medical kit was pathetic. I guess he wouldn't have done well in the 1800's.

Davin wanted to go in the kitchen and play with the dishes.

Davin was very intrigued with this statue of a Civil War soldier. He kept telling random people who would come into the room to watch out for the dead soldier. I told him it was just a statue, but we did also visit the morgue so maybe he was just having a little fun!

This is what was left of a guard house.

There were several other buildings that we got to visit that were perfectly in tact like the old bakery, some of the soldier barracks, the Officer's house, and the weaponry storage facility. I still think the boys favorite was clearly the hospital.

After we returned to the camper after visiting the fort; Davin, Claire, Doug, and myself decided to hike one of the trails that leads to a playground. It is a very pretty, and very easy hike that is only a mile long. Ethan was so tired that he just wanted to stay at the camper and play Uno with his Grandma, and that is what he did.

This trail looks very different in November in comparison to last July.

Davin and Grandpa had to have their walking sticks.

Claire feel asleep briefly on the hike. Poor little girl! You can even see all the dried up boogies all over her nose and face.

Davin enjoyed swinging high, and playing on the slides.

Claire also woke up and enjoyed swinging as well.

I did not enjoy having to carry Davin all the way back to the camper because he was too tired, but I did it anyway. Claire was getting super fussy again, and was still not going to sleep so we decided it would be best for all of us to pack her up and bring her home so she could be put to bed in her own bed. The boys stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa for more camp fire fun. They were planning on smores (of course), and popping popcorn over the camp fire.

It was a really fun day. Hopefully we all will get a good nights sleep tonight!