Thanksgiving 2014

For the first time in years, we traveled this Thanksgiving.  Jeff's parents moved closer and so we thought an 8 hr drive over wouldn't be too hard for a long weekend with the kids..well, it never took 8 hrs...but we made it there and home and had a great time with family in between!

Raegan enjoyed spending time with her cousins.

They loved sharing and swapping snacks.

Of course there was football.

And cooking.

The kids table.

The babies at the adult table.

Soaking up the sun.

They wanted a picture but then Raegan got hurt somehow so she wasn't excited about a picture after that.

Frosting ginger snaps for Grandpa's birthday (and we celebrated Jeff in there again too).

More movies and relaxing.

More enjoying the weather in FL.

Grandma and Bode.

Bode loved the stairs at the house.  We don't have stairs so she isn't that great with them.  She would climb up and then yell at the top until someone came to get her down.

We spent an afternoon out at the beach near Destin.

It was cold so I didn't bring swim suits, but sure enough, my kids still got in the water.  They went home in whatever was left that wasn't wet...it wasn't much, but they had a great time.

Grandma and Grandpa Ward with all the grandkids who were there.

Jeff and I even snuck away for a quick dinner where Jeff got to satisfy his craving for oysters.  They were good I guess but I like my crab cakes better!

Then the drive home...it took us all day and this poor girl wanted to sleep but couldn't get her head right, so we tried to rig something...it kind of worked.  We made it home in one piece and can't wait to go back when it is NOT the busiest traveling day of the year!!

November

November started with our first ever lost tooth!  His other tooth was already coming in so we were happy to get that one out!  The other side...we are heading to the dentist for :(

A little dress up.  Sometimes by herself.

And sometimes with some help!

My babies!

Swinging in November...I really love somethings about TX!

Bode loves getting in Casey's space...I think she likes the crate more then Casey does.

Jeff had a birthday this month and we had fun celebrating him.

My little monkey...for most of the month, the chairs were all up on the table because otherwise this would happen.  And we have had a few falls!

We went to Harrison's turkey trot at school and helped do some laps.

Testing out the cold weather gear before heading up north.

We went to a new nature reserve near our house and had a lot of fun one Saturday morning.  The paths were short enough for the kids but still full of things to see.  Then there was the large watch tower which we took turns climbing up and even Bode tried to get to the top on her own.  The views were nice.  Harrison was at the top and Bode at the bottom in this picture.

Surprise trip!

My little sister just got home from her LDS mission at the end of October.  I wanted to have her come down and see us (and meet Bode!) in November before she returns to school.  Well, when I found a great deal on a flight and called, somehow I got talked into switching the plans and I ended up flying there with all my kids!  How does that happen?  My mom can be very persuasive I guess!!

So, we played hooky for a week and headed up to the cold.  My kids loved the airplane and all did very well on the way there.  We had plenty of room to spread out!!

I'm pretty sure we looked like the scene out of cool runnings when we walked out of the airport.  My kids did not like the cold!  But we were excited to be there and see my family.  We managed to surprise a few of them and I took a pretty awesome video of Dillan totally surprised and almost in tears when we walked in the door!  Pretty great!!

And we loved holding this little marshmallow baby!

And we tried to winterize ourselves.

Loving her grandpa time.

Harrison loved the snow and Raegan thought it was nice until her toes got cold...then she was done!

Grandma helped the kids make some great thanksgiving cookies.

Riding on grandma's scooter.

Twinners!  They are going to be the same size before we know it!!

Decorating those cookies.

And enjoying the amazing pizza traditions of Chicago!!

We enjoyed a lot of family time in the few short days we were there.

And we tried to bundle better and get out in the snow.  It is the only snow my kids will see and although it wasn't a lot for up there...

it was enough to make snow angels

and throw a few snowballs.

Poor Bode got so cold so we tried to bundle her.

 And these boys were just exhausted!

 But we had a great time visiting, playing and making memories and we can't wait to go back and visit.

 But I am not excited about another plane ride by myself...This is the face after 30 minutes of crying.

 This one just passed out

 and this one was awake with me the whole flight home from 8:30-11pm!  Stinker!!

 So glad we got to see Diana after her mission and spend a few days with her!  She is awesome!!