Thanksgiving Eve

I've recently realized that, while Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, there simply is nothing better than Thanksgiving Eve. I absolutely love it! I love spending hours baking and cooking and making some of my favorite harvest dishes. I love having the girls home from school - they are such good helpers and are becoming confident little chefs. I love making my house look festive, and it smells soooo good! This is my favorite time of the year, and I believe that Thanksgiving should be a sacred holiday. A holiday to focus on the blessings from our Heavenly Father, our beautiful world, and the ones we love....

Happy Thanksgiving (Eve)!

Misc.

A couple of weeks ago the girls had a Monday off from school. We went to the Church History Museum with their cousins - they had a blast playing!

Last Saturday was the first big snow of the season. Kasidee was so excited to try on all the gear - and she loved being funny by putting gloves on her feet!

Kiera made a little sled for her bears

Sledding with Daddy!

The kindergarten classes got to have a Thanksgiving Feast - they wore pilgrim costumes and had an early lunch in the school cafeteria! (Kasidee chose grapes, chocolate milk, and a roll.)

This morning the school had a "Grandparent's Breakfast." The girls were so excited that Granny could come and be with them, see their classrooms, and meet their teachers.

Kiera and her class also had a Thanksgiving Play - I just love that they are learning so much while having fun!

Funnies

Makenna's favorite toy is a little monkey that has a face only a mother could love. She adores Georgia (and insists that's a boy's name) and loves to take him around with her. Just in the last 2 weeks, she left him at her cousin's house for 5 days, left him at her piano lesson, and then left him at school when we were at SEP conferences. She didn't realize she left him there till 9:00 p.m. Of course the school was closed by then, and all 3 girls were worried that he would be scared, that someone would take him or throw him away, etc. Makenna's little heartfelt prayer that night was so sweet. I sat by her bed as she tossed and turned and tried to fall asleep. All of a sudden, she popped her head up and said, "Mama, did you know that it's a family tradition that if someone loses a toy then they can't sleep all night?" It took her awhile but then she drifted off to sleep. Daddy was a hero the next morning when he went to the school early in the morning and found Georgia, right where Makenna left him. Thank goodness!

The other day Makenna asked me how much money Quentin and I have. Without giving specifics, I thought it would be a good time to have a little lesson about the importance of saving money and preparing for the future. I asked her if she knows what the word "retire" means. She said, "Yeah - it's when you're, like, 60 and you're not useful anymore so you don't work."

Makenna ate some yogurt/fruit/granola for breakfast - she couldn't seem to get enough and had 2 servings. As she was walking around, she said, "Oh - I think my yogurt's on the move!"

Halloween!

Funnies

It seems like I am constantly posting funny things my kids say, but they just don't stop cracking me up - and I want to make sure I write these things down before I forget.

Anyway, Makenna has been saying the funniest things lately. Here's a few from the last couple of weeks:

* One day Makenna told me about her substitute teacher. She said, "She has traveled everywhere in the world.... Well, except for the Ice Age."

* Makenna asked me why I don't like to sew. I told her that I learned how to sew in Home Ec and in 4-H and did a lot of sewing as a young teenager. But now that I'm older I just don't have any interest in it, and it just drives me nuts. She said, "Do you have anger issues with string?"

* Makenna's BFF Sophia (who is just about 2 months younger than Makenna) got baptized today and we were excited to be there. As we got into the car to go home, Makenna very seriously and thoughtfully said, "I just can't believe how fast Sophia is growing up."

Misc.

I love, love, love Kiera's teacher. She was "Teacher of the Year" last year and I can see why. This teacher does a lot of plays/skits that help the kids learn - and makes it exciting to learn. Anyway, this week the class did a play about Magellan and other early explorers. They wore costumes, had a cute set they designed, sang songs, and each had parts. Awesome!

The other day it snowed for the first time this season, but it didn't stick for very long. But the next day we woke up to lots of frost. I was mesmerized by how beautiful it was - every single blade of grass covered in shimmery crystals. So of course I had to get a picture - and I didn't mind laying on my stomach in the driveway as cars drove by so I could get some neat shots!

Ha Ha!

* Now that Kasidee is learning how to read, she is discovering that things aren't quite what she thought they were. Since school started, she has been brining home a paper each day with a letter on it. For her homework, she's supposed to find pictures or words of things that start with that letter and glue them on the page. When we were on the "D" page, I suggested finding a dragon or a drum. Kasidee looked at me like I was crazy. She said, "Um, those don't start with the letter D. Juh, Juh, Jragon and Juh, Juh, Jrum don't start with D." It was the same when we were on the letter T. Apparently tree (ch-ree) and trailer (ch-railer) don't start with T either!

* Makenna is our little M&M. Sometimes she can seem hard on the outside, but she's so soft on the inside. It's just trying to crack that shell that's the hard part! Anyway, she just cracks me up. One day as we were in the car running errands, she said to me, "Can we please turn on the radio...and get this party started?"

Random Stuff

Here's what's been happening the last couple of weeks:

The school had their first annual carnival! We went to check it out but couldn't stay long because the 5 of us (plus Granny!) had tickets to see "Little Women" later that evening. Anyway, Kiera and Makenna wanted to try the rock-climbing wall, and Kasidee got a turn at the bouncy house and the air-inflated slide. Good times, yes.

Kasidee and her 2 little friends were playing soda shop one day and wanted "pink milk." After that, there were lots of bubbles, slurps, and giggles!

Last week the girls planned a "Sisters Club" for a Friday night. They set up our little castle tent and extended it with a fort made out of tables and blankets. We had pizza and the girls watched a Barbie movie while Quentin and I watched our own date night movie in the theater room. The girls wanted to have a sleepover with each other in their tent (even though all 3 of them share a room and have a sleepover every night!) It apparently was so fun that they did it again Saturday night!

When the girls want pancakes for breakfast, they like me to do letters. With a turkey baster, it's easy!

Kasidee gets out of kindergarten right when Kiera and Makenna go to lunch. Last Monday I packed a lunch and Kasidee and I joined them! Here's a pic of Makenna and her BFF Sophia:

We joined Nikki and her family at Gardner Village to celebrate her birthday and enjoy the beautiful Fall day! My kids were talking about her homemade sugar cookies for days!

(Kasidee and Isaac)

The girls have been talking about doing a "Spa Night" for weeks - for some reason Kiera was really excited about trying a mud mask! So when Quentin was at the Priesthood session, the girls and I did mini facials - it was nice and so fun to do with my sweet girls!

Today in between Conference sessions, we went for a little drive to look at the beautiful Fall leaves. We ended up taking a little walk but it was pretty chilly and the girls didn't bring jackets. But the mountains were so vibrant! I just love this time of year!

And finally...a couple of funnies from Kasidee:
* Kasidee and I love to make orange juliuses and in the summer we had them several times a week. The other day she told me she was craving an orange julius. She said, "You get out the orange juice and I'll get the tornado thingy." (Blender)
* Kiera was listening to her MP3 player the other day and when she was done Kasidee asked if she could have a turn. She got the MP3 player but asked where the "Ear Mufflers" (earplugs) were!

A Few More Funnies

On Friday we took the girls to the school carnival. We walked over to the school and Kasidee started skipping and said, "I'm glad I were born!" I asked why she is glad she was born - and she said, "Because I get to go to the carnival and jump on the bouncy things!" Oh yes, life is good!

Makenna got a little trim on her hair. When my mom came over the next day, Makenna exclaimed, "Granny! Did you see my new shortcut?"

Funnies

I've been saving up quite a few funnies...so now you can have lots of laughs!

* Kiera overheard someone at school say the word "kill." She came home and told me that is against the Word of Wisdom.

* Makenna saw some "Booger Candy" at the dollar store (yum, I know). The package said, "Gooey, Tangy Candy" but when Makenna read it out loud she said, "Gooey, TangLY Candy." (At least it fit the description of the candy - yuck!)

* I asked Kasidee to choose between 2 things for lunch. She studied them both for quite awhile then all of a sudden said, "The winner is...dut, dut, dut, dut...the sandwich!"

* The other night we were driving home when it was getting late and Kiera was pretty tired. She said, "Oh, I should have brang my book. Brang? I can't believe I said brang! Anyway, I should have broughten my book."

* Kiera asked me why they put nectarine in cigarettes.

* Kasidee gave the prayer in Primary last Sunday and said, "Please bless our family, our friends, and our fence."

* Makenna filled out a little paper and school about her and her family. Here's some of what she wrote:
- Where do you like to go for fun? Chuck-A-Rama
- What do you like to do on Saturdays? Family Day
- When do you get up in the morning? Almost Never

Yum!

For some reason, in the Fall I start feeling like Martha Stewart. I want to decorate, do crafts, and cook! It's the best time of the year! Yesterday I made yummy vegan zucchini bread...and some fresh salsa using the colander full of tomatoes from my garden. Hooray for the end of summer harvest!

From this...

To this...yum!

Back to School (for me too!)

'Tis that time of year when the girls return to school - and so do I! Preschool starts this coming week, and last Thursday I had my open house - where the students and their parents come and check out their preschool (scavenger hunt!), get to know each other, and get important preschool information. It's a lot of work transforming the theater room back into a preschool, but it sure is fun! And I love having a few years of experience - I feel a lot more confident and feel like I know what I'm doing! I have 10 students this year - this will be a fun year!

Before...

After...

Brigham City Temple

On Tuesday we were able to go to the Brigham City Temple open house. What a beautiful place! Maybe someday Quentin and I can work on our goal of visiting each temple in Utah - I think we've only done sessions in 3 of Utah's temples!

What a neat experience for all of us - and Kiera and Makenna are so excited to be old enough to attend the temple dedication in a couple of weeks!

First Day

I'm a little late...but the first day of school was last Tuesday. I was so excited to have it finally start after Labor Day. It was nice to have one or two extra weeks of summer, but I have to admit that I still wasn't quite ready - mentally or emotionally - for it to start. It just didn't seem real yet. But we went through the motions and I think we're all just going with the flow. So...we've got a fifth grader, third grader, and kindergartener. What happened?! Kiera is loving her teacher (I just found out that she won a national teaching award last year!) and Makenna is excited to have her teacher back - she was there the first day but then had a sub for the next few days so she could be with her daughter who just had a baby. Kasidee is doing okay - after a few months of really hating to be away from me, she's doing, well, okay. Every morning when I wake her up, the first thing she says is, "This is going to be hard." But she's doing it, and I'm proud of how brave she is - but inside my heart is breaking. Thank goodness it's only a couple of hours - I think she and I both count down to when we can be together again!

Makenna's Baptism

It's great to be 8! We are so proud of Makenna's decision to be baptized. It is so fun to see how her testiomony is growing as she learns more and more about the gospel, Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father's plan for us. What a sweet spirit Makenna is - we are so blessed to have her in our family!

Last Hoorah!

What better way to say goodbye to summer than by hanging out in 100+ degree weather in Mesquite and St. George? Last week we spent time there with Corbin, Nikki and their kids - we relaxed, we had fun, we made memories. We swam a lot, went to Zions, and saw "Aladdin" at Tuacahn. So fun!

Weeping Rock

The Narrows

Emerald Pools

Aladdin