Thankful

We recently returned from a week long trip to Denver for Thanksgiving.  Thankful describes every day of this journey.

Thankful for dear friends who live on a farm at the perfect half-way point of our drive.  Not only do they provide a cozy place for us to stay and yummy food to eat, but excellent company and a cold beer to enjoy while listening to a painful KSU game on the radio.

 

Thankful we arrived safe and sound at my parents house without any weather or traffic issues.  And a big thankful that Asher was a much better traveler this time around!  Thankful for relaxing days spent with family and the kids playing outside (looking for that paper airplane that went over the fence!)

Thankful for Hanukah gifts exchanged early to see the joy in person.

   

 

 

Thankful for beautiful weather and an new found treasure in Dinosaur Ridge.

 

 

 

 

Thankful for a Thanksgiving Day celebration at my Aunt and Uncle's new house with family and food galore and breath-taking views.

Thankful for an uneventful drive home that included a stop-over with more dear friends (minus pictures).

Thankful for a day to regroup before getting back to the grind.  And thankful for getting back to the grind.  :)

Halloween Wrap-Up

October was one busy month for us!  We had planned to go camping the first weekend, but had to cancel due to the weather.  Instead we spent that weekend at home with a few of us coming down with various illnesses.  Fun.  The next weekend was our visit from Keenan's parents and the next weekend my sister came out for a visit.  After that we've had school events and Halloween parties to keep us busy.  Now just 2 weeks to get ready for our Thanksgiving trip!

Since I haven't had much time to post, here's a quick wrap-up of the past few weeks:

While my sister was here, we took a trip to the pumpkin farm (which is now 8 miles closer to us!)

Testing out the tractors

Getting some help from Auntie Jill.

Keira the scarecrow

Ari the scarecrow

Asher the scarecrow

Feeding the goats

Peeking out of the hay house

Inside the hay house

Keira's library story time Halloween party 

(we went to the library 3 times for Halloween parties!  Free and fun!)

Playing games with Mommy's keys

Gutting pumpkins

Look, I got a seed!

All ready for Halloween

Kindergarten Hootenany or Scarecrow Day

(the kindergartners are allowed to dress as scarecrows on Halloween.  

The rest of the school is not allowed to wear costumes at all.)

I volunteered to help paint the kids' faces and got to hang out with Ari at school for a bit

Ari immediately came home and changed into his vampire costume

My vampire, Batman and Batgirl ready to go trick-or-treating

Our new neighborhood friends invited us to join them trick-or-treating.  Their tradition involves the Dads hanging out in one driveway passing out candy while the Moms take the kids around the block.  There were 10 kids total and 5 Moms, but it was still crazy.  Ari and his buddy led the pack and were usually one house ahead.  Keira was lagging behind most of the time and I ended up carrying Asher who was done with the stroller by the first house.  The other moms were very helpful, but I still felt nervous keeping track of my own kids since I barely know the other kids, moms and neighborhood and it got dark pretty quick.  It all went well and the kids had a blast so I guess that's all that matters in the end.

We hope your Halloween was just as happy!