Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving this year was so great! This is our second Thanksgiving/Christmas as a family away from our family and it was SO nice to have family visit us. We had my parents come from Seattle as well as my brother Braden, his wife, Amanda, and their son, Mason, from Utah. This is the first time we've been able to host a holiday like this since we've been married and we were so excited to have family visit and stay for a while. Oma and Opa arrived late Monday evening and stayed until Sat afternoon. Braden and Amanda came Wed evening and left late Sat morning. The food was wonderful, the conversation was great, the company was so fun... it was great. Here are some pics with some explanations if needed.



Here is a cute little decoration that Sarah made at a friends birthday party the other day.
Nathan loved cuddling with his Opa.

Nathan only gets his pacifier now if he is going to sleep or going to have his own quiet time with his blanket and bear either by himself or cuddling with someone. Opa was the perfect willing target! For the first couple of days after Oma and Opa left, whenever Nathan would wake up from a nap or bed he would ask "where's Opa?" or "cuddle with Opa". Opa you're welcome back anytime.

Sarah enjoyed helping Oma make the Multi-Berry pie and it's topping. I enjoyed eating it with ice-cream! [I'm not a big pie fan at all, but with ice-cream, I can enjoy berry or apple pie anytime... especially warm... mmmmmm!]

Oma and Opa giving the kids some animal rides (the actual type of animal changes from moment-to-moment and I'm not really sure what they are at this moment)

It was cute to see Mason and Jane together. They are four months apart, but Mason is actually heavier then Jane. It was funny to see Mason laying there as a 3-month old and Jane full-on crawling around the house. Yes, Jane is full-on crawling. It was fun because she was just starting to crawl decently when Oma and Opa first got here and by the time they left she was going from one side of the house (Sarah's room) to the other (toy room). It's cute to have her just show up in a room behind us now.

Last year I was disappointed when I found out that the ward here doesn't do a "Turkey Bowl". But this year I was excited when our new Young Men's President issued a challenge between the Young Men and the adults. I was really glad that Dad and Braden came and played with me. The weather was amazing and we had a great time. I'm ashamed to admit that I was still noticeably sore on Sunday.

These are Sarah's Thanksgiving pictures that she colored (except for the one on the top-right which Mary did at Sarah's insistence). One of our friends asked if we were going to put Thanksgiving pics in the frames and we thought that was a great idea, so Sarah was excited to color them! They're really cute and she does such a good job!

Here is the spread: [L->R] Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, rolls, fruit-filled cool-whip salad, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, gravy, pickle-olive tray and green bean casserole. Good stuff and it all tasted wonderful!

Here is our Thanksgiving table, with Sarah and Nathan just out of reach. They enjoyed having their own table, but didn't eat much of anything.

In spite of being a great daddy himself, Braden also made time to be a great Uncle for Nathan and Sarah as well. The kids enjoyed having them read books for them and play with them in other ways as well.

On Friday afternoon we headed over to my Aunt and Uncles house in Fruitland and had a grand old time with many of my cousins and other family members.

Mom made some of her amazing salsa. I wish that you could have an understanding of how big that bowl of salsa is. I'll just say that even though there were over 50 people there, it didn't all get eaten by the time we left. We still got to take some back with us and left some there with them. Mom was literally making this salsa for like three hours (while also doing other Oma things here and there). Amanda made some delicious guacamole and we made some yummy bean dip.

Here are Sarah and her cousin (2nd cousin? or something) Eli playing in the castle at the Farmer's house.

There was a big group of people that played flag football at the Farmer's on Friday evening as well. I was too sore to play but I enjoyed watching from the balcony pictured. We had a great time and it was great to see so many relatives.

We look forward to the Christmas gathering we are planning!

Jenny's Visit

Mary's sister came to visit us (okay mostly to see Jane and Mary and to help out). It was so fun having her. She flew in on Thursday night and left last Tuesday evening. She came with no kids. We love her kids, but it was a unique and very rare opportunity to have her to ourselves for 5 days! Sarah and Nathan loved having her around and it was cute to see how excited Nathan was to see her each morning or when he woke up from a nap. Even though I don't think he had much of an awareness of who she was before she arrived, he took to her pretty quick. We enjoyed playing games in the evening or just talking and had some adventures while she was here as well. Here are some pictures of her visit:

We got some good pool-time in while Jenny was here and the weather did not disappoint, reaching 100 on one of the days. Sarah and Nathan loved playing with Aunt Jenny in the pool!

The kids wanted Jenny to do a lot of the bed-time stuff and we appreciated it as well. It's funny though, when you're doing it sometimes you're tired and you just want it to be over so they can go to bed. But when someone else is doing it, you love being a "fly on the wall" watching your kids. They loved having her read to them, this was definitely a regular thing, not just at bedtime.
By the end of the day, I think Jenny was pretty worn-out. Sarah was "reading" her books at this time and Jenny did exactly what I do when Sarah reads to me - fall asleep! When she left us we were sad to see her go, but I know she was excited to see her boys! To see more pics of her visit go see Jenny's blog

Okay, so after finding pics to post, I realized that we have a serious problem. When family comes to visit to help, we usually don't get a picture of them with Jane (this is now the case with both Jenny and my mom.... arrgh, sorry!).

Jane's Blessing Weekend

Mary has already posted some great pics of Jane in her blessing dress (see here). So I thought I'd give a little blurb about the weekend overall. It's amazing how much fun we had and time we enjoyed in about 48 hours exactly! My parents arrived on Friday early afternoon with my brother Robb and his two daughters, Hailey and Emma. We just enjoyed chatting that afternoon and had a yummy baked-potato bar for dinner. We got the kids to bed at a reasonable hour and then enjoyed playing Ticket to Ride: Europe. Mary's brother, Kris, arrived about 10 pm or so... just in time for some excellent homemade guacamole and homemade salsa with chips. That occupied everyone until about mid-night... along with some simple conversation. On Saturday, I made pancakes for willing and happy kiddos and then made the quinoa, avocado, cucumber, tomato, lime healthy breakfast for any willing adults... some enjoyed it, some ate the left-over pancakes. We then eventually got ready and headed out for the dunes (previously posted here) which, again, were a lot of fun!

After the dunes I caught the guys, me excluded :*( napping in various locations of the house (some quietly, some not so quietly).

Dad got the futon all to himself.
Robb got the bigger couch

Kris got the little couch

We then got our pool out and pumped up and threw the kids in the pool. I joined them for a while... but you know how that works... it looks nice, you start feeling a little hot, you decide to get on your swimsuit and you go to get in the water and it's like the water is way colder than you thought and the weather has suddenly made a sudden shift... anyway I stood in the pool for a while and allowed some of the kids to splash me a little. It really wasn't that warm so we definitely had some kids shivering (particularly Nathan) but it was an excuse for them to get in the pool and get some of that sand off of them... they didn't seem to mind!

I think at this point we went inside and finished prepping for dinner... which was DELISH... homemade Cafe Rio Salad. I think most would agree that it was super good and that Mary did an excellent job on the rice, meat and dressing in particular! This is now my request for my Father's Day meal... can't wait! After dinner, which was a little late, we sang Happy B-Day to Robb to celebrate his upcoming birthday (June 9th) with a delicious ice-cream cake made by my mom! This was one of the better one's that my mom has made in recent memory! We then got the kids down to bed.

Since I showered on Saturday, I also shaved, so I could look respectable for the blessing the next morning. Of course, I had to have some transition so I enjoyed this cut for the night... though I had already trimmed the length with buzzers at this point, so it wasn't quite as cool as it otherwise would've been.

Then, my dad, mom and I played Alhambra (another board game... mom won) while Mary mopped Kris and Robb up at Ticket to Ride: Switzerland (I've never beat her head-to-head in like 10+ tries!). We enjoyed the evening and got to bed a little earlier due to the difficult 8 AM CHURCH! Ahhhhhhhhh!

We, of course, wanted to be to church early which is no small feat with just our own little family... but with 6 adults and 4 (+ Jane) kids with one bathroom in the house... this seemed nearly impossible. But it worked... we were all at church 15 mins early! AMAZING! How? You ask? Me, Robb and Kris showered Saturday evening. Mary, Dad and Mom showered Sunday AM. I made pancakes for the kids (kids wolf these things down!) for breakfast. Everyone just did great. We really appreciated everyone's effort this early in the morning (this was 7 AM for those from WA!) to get to church so early. Mary had gone to church around 7:15 to nurse Jane there and have her ready for the blessing. I think that everyone got some semblance of breakfast too! Here is a pic of those who came and participated in the blessing after church. It would have been nicer if it was a little more close-up... oh well!

For lunch after church we had veggie pasta salad, which was delicious also. We enjoyed some more ice-cream cake. I played Alhambra again with my dad and Kris (I won this time) and then it was time for everyone to go. Sarah and Nathan were so sad to see their cousins go, but it was such a fun time. I'm so glad that it worked out for Robb to come with Hailey and Emma and that Kris made the trip up from Provo. Of course, my parents had the longest trip of everyone and it was so wonderful to have them here with us.

Opa holding his newest granddaughter! He complained a lot about "cramps" in his arms from holding her.

Trip to Sand Dunes II

While some more family was in town for the weekend for Jane's baby blessing we made a trip out to the Sand Dunes in Bruneau again last Saturday (sorry if this is very repetitive, but there's not that much to do out here and the dunes are really fun!). It was a little more fun this time since there were more kids than just Sarah and Nathan which allowed for more fun moments and Sarah and Nathan were a little more excited about it and confident on the hills then they were last time. The weather was great... not much sun and just a few brief sprinkles. Also, Mary came along with Jane this time which also made it fun to be out there as a family. Those that came up for the weekend and made the trip out to the Dunes with our family were my parents; my brother (Robb) and his two girls: Hailey and Emma; and Mary's cool bro Kristopher. Kris made the trek up to the top of the really high dunes behind the lake and we just enjoyed snacks and then enjoyed one of the kid-sized dunes. Here are a bunch of pics, not in any particular order:

Here is a good fun pic of our little family of five at the base of the dunes the kids enjoyed playing on.
Here is my brother, Robb, and his two girls, Hailey and Emma.
Here is a close-up of little Jane fast asleep against Daddy's chest... what a sweetie!
Kris giving Nathan a ride up the dunes, it's so great to have bachelor uncles!
Here is a pic of Jane and I up on the top of the dune... and yes, Jane is comfortable!

Sarah took a fall while playing near the lake and skinned her knee which was the cause of much anguish and need of assistance and pity. Fortunately, she recovered and had a blast with her cousins on the dunes... much more active and confident then she was last time, which was great for everyone!
My wonderful mother... it was so great to have her here and enjoy some more time with her! Thanks so much for coming Mom!
My hip Dad! It was great to have him with us as well and I'm so glad that he made the trip also! Thanks so much for coming Dad!
Nathan with Uncle Kris in the background
Emma on her Daddy's lap for a free trip to the top!

A cute close-up of Sarah with Emma in the background at the bottom
Me and Jane (How do you like the beard? I shaved it the next morning so this is as good and scraggly as it gets!)

Opa giving Nathan a lift
Nathan down by the lake... Nice pic Mary!

Trip to the Bruneau Sand Dunes

While we were chatting with Mary's folks on Saturday or Sunday they inquired about the Bruneau Sand Dunes that are "advertised" on the highway. They are about 20 minutes away or so and we hadn't been there yet, so we decided to head out there on Monday (Memorial Day). Apparently this is quite the Sand Dune, as far as sand dunes go. One of the dunes out there is the "tallest single-structured sand dune in North America", which is pretty cool. I didn't have too high of expectations, but it definitely exceeded those. It has a smallish lake right next to the dunes and a good number of camping spots. We (Me, Sarah, Nathan, Nanu, Bumpa and Sneakers) headed out there Monday morning. It was raining a little as we arrived but it turned out great. We had a little lunch/snack by the lake and then turned to conquering one of the dunes. Here are some fun pictures:

Here we are on the way... piled into Nanu and Bumpa's car, unfortuntaely Sneakers chickened out and didn't get in the picture.
Here we are eating lunch at the park by the lake
Nanu was on Sneakers patrol and taking care of him while we enjoyed the hike.
A great close-up of Sarah with Nathan and I way up the dune in the background. It was sometime around the time this pic was taken that Sarah decided that she did want to make the trip to the top.

I think we're on the top here. Sarah was really worried the whole time about "falling off", but she still insisted on carrying her graham cracker the whole way and seemed to be more comfortable as we went along.
Here we are at the top. We forgot our sleds but it was a perfect day for sledding down the dunes because it had just rained so it was packed down a little and not as sinky.
Nathan playing at the bottom with me looking on
A great pic (if I do say so myself) of Bumpa walking up the dunes with Sarah and Nathan.


Nathan running down the dunes on the descent.

We got some adorable pics of this little guy (more below). Somehow we didn't get his squinty-eyed-goofy-smile-"Cheeeeeeese"- face.
Bumpa and Sarah hiking up the dune

Here's some of those aforementioned adorable pics of Nathan.

This was a great time and I'm so glad that Nanu and Bumpa suggested that we do this. We will definitely enjoy some future day trips and maybe some overnight trips out to the dunes. Apparently it's roasting hot out there in the summer and the sand is unbearably hot so it's more a late spring/early summer and late summer/early fall thing, but we'll enjoy it! It was perfect weather as the rain was gone so the sand was cool and damp and packed down, which made for easy hiking and it was great to just take our shoes off at the bottom and walk in pure sand all the way to the top. I've never been to a sand dune before, so this was my first experience... and I really enjoyed it!