Novemeber Family Home Evening

For our November family home evening, Ben and I planned to decorate ginger bread houses. When we were at the store we saw lots of different kits and we decided that the tree was the cutest one. At least that's what I thought. It was pretty fun to do as well. I had never done anything ginger bread, ever. So I was really looking forward to it. It went off without a hitch and I would say that we all had a lot of fun.

Even Gabbi had fun decorating. Well, what decorating we let her do.

JD turn 3

J.D. has turned 3. Can't believe it, he is growing so fast. He was so excited all month long about his birthday. Every time you talked to him, he told you about his birthday. This year he was in a dinosaur mood. So Jeff and Tiffany did a dinosaur theme. It turned out really cute. He got a giant T-Rex for Jeff and Tiffany and he thought that was the coolest thing. It was pretty cool, more then half the size of J.D. We got him a much smaller one, but he still thought that was fun too.

More Thanksgiving

Well, as tradition we celebrate the Saturday after with Ben's mom. This year they asked us if we could host it at our house because we had a bigger space available to fit more people. Well it was a lot of work. I don't know if I want to do that again because it was so much work putting all our furniture in different rooms and bring in table and chairs to fit everyone. It was nice to finally have everyone there, except for Amanda and Dan of course; they are still in Germany. Everyone brought something for the dinner and it did turn out pretty nice, just a lot of work. After all the eating and chatting we did the cleaning, which was a lot of work too, but it was worth it. But once we were done cleaning we were able to enjoy the rest of the night by going to see the fireworks and the lighting of Christmas village. I love to watch it, it's the one thing I look forward to every year.

Gabbi and Daddy enjoying the parade.

The Christmas Village with the fireworks above.

Thanksgiving

Like normal, our holidays are very busy. We try our best to visit everyone, but that always makes us busy. But we like it no other way. This year we did Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma Shupe's house in Orem. We drove down on Wednesday so we didn't have to do to much driving on Thanksgiving. My uncle Hal and his wife Tammy were there and we were able to play games and just have fun getting ready for Thanksgiving. Their kids Brittney and Bronson were even able to join us. It doesn't happen very often when they all live in St. George, but it was great to have them there. My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mike even came. It was a good afternoon, but sadly they have to end. Once we had our dinner and dessert, Ben and I had to leave to make it to Ben's dads by 5. So we headed for our 2 hour car ride, which I was very glad Gabbi slept the whole time, and we even made it on time. While at his dads house we did dessert and finger foods, light and simple and then just relaxed and played games. One of our favorites, phase ten. Girls vs. boys. Of course one of the boys won first, so they got the bragging rights.

Laundry

Gabbi has been a big helper lately. She just loves to help, really in anything. This is Ben's way of helping her to help us do laundry. I think she was more worried about getting stuck then wanting to help us.

Play Place

Gabbi's first visit to a play place at a Burger King. It was kind of gross, I don't think we will do that again. It just didn't look like they kept the place very clean.

Playing with Cousins

I just thought this was really funny. Gabbi is teasing Kamree with a bear and gets really mad or frustrated when Kamree, who is stronger then her, takes it and doesn't want to get it back. At least both girls are having some fun together.

Swine Flu

Well it has hit our house. Wednesday Ben had been feeling pretty yucky at work and when he got home it hadn't gotten any better. He just laid on the floor and didn't want to move. He had to pack for an Army Reserve class that he was to leave on in the morning. So I made him go to the doctors so he could at least get some medicine so he wouldn't feel bad the whole trip. They did a couple of tests and told him he wasn't to travel because he was officially diagnosed with the H1N1 virus. He was pretty upset and so was I. Well not upset, worried. I don't want to catch it. If I get sick like they are describing I don't know what I would do with Gabbi, she would be neglected. So he's been quarantined to the house and not very happy. Luckily we vaccinated Gabbi, I just hope that it works. And for his sake I hope it leave him fast. He hates being sick, but I don't blame him. He doesn't get sick very often, but when he does, it hits him hard. Poor guy.

Halloween Party 6

Monday we went down to Orem to visit my Grandma Shupe. We dressed Gabbi up to show Grandma her costume. Gabbi didn't mind it at all, she loved the skirt. She ran right up to Grandma and gave her a big hug. After posing for a couple of pictures with Grandma she was ready to take off the costume and just play. Her skirt tended to get in the way. We had Kayden and Miranda with us and the three of them had a lot of fun with all of Grandma's toys. Us adults just visited. We had brought KFC for lunch and Gabbi was pretty funny. Last time we had KFC she refused to eat it, so he gave her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but when she saw Grandma take out a drumstick from the bucket, she wanted to do the same. So she grabbed herself a drumstick and did as Grandma did. It was pretty funny to watch her eat the chicken. Once we were done eating visited a little more and then we had to head home. Kayden and Miranda's dad would be home soon and we promised them that they would be home by the time they got home, after all it was a school night. But we had a good visit with Grandma. We don't get to see her vary often, so it was nice to see her.