Giving Thanks 2016

Quick, before it's Christmas!

Thanksgiving was a great time, so here's a quick rundown for posterity.

Halloween leftover.  I guess it didn't make it through the fall OR the varmints.

We started the day out with our 2nd annual T-Gives Day Murdock Canal Trail Turkey Trot/Fun-Run/Walk/Stroll/Bike/Meander (name is a WIP)and it was a hit! It was freezing at the start but cleared and warmed up just in time for the pumpkin streusel muffins.  My time was something or other and I came in second again to Katy (who ran even farther than necessary, hard to believe anyone could misinterpret my on-the-spot hand-drawn mile markers!), with Penneh and Smoochface along for the final stretch.  Thanks to everyone for coming and joining in!  I may expand in future to friends and such if people are interested.

Runners and walkers!

Teamwork for two years running!

Then we had time to get ready for dinner which was of course amazing.

Om nom.

Then we heard there wasn't a pumpkin pie on the menu so The Wife whipped one up with stuff we just happened to have around the house, NBD.  Also a BUTTERBEER PIE.  It was as delicious as it sounds, as were the leftover filling and topping on egg nog and/or peppermint ice cream.

There were so many desserts it was amazing I tried every one some more than once.

Then it was Black Friday and it was all happeniiiing.

Apparently it's the tallest Christmas tree in Utah, thus saith the governor.

Keeping Kitty nice and safe.

Then this wasn't really Thanksgivingish but it was during the break, so there you go.  We saw Moana!  I loved it.  It was just what I was hoping for and expecting and I'm probably the only person around who's waiting for Christmas to get/listen to the soundtrack.  I look forward to seeing it again and I think the kids will love it.

And that's that for now!  I'm so thankful for so many things and I'm glad for a day set aside to remember to focus on gratitude.

2 Birthdays, 2 Years

These posts do seem to get combined more and more regularly these days.

Anyway, we had two big birthdays a couple of weeks ago!  We're starting to get the hang of this juggling of two special days one right after the other.  The Wife posted a fun update here, but by way of update here, I'll say that we had a lot of cake and lots of fun times.  For The Wife's birthday we had fun times at home with some fun surprises and cupcakes and ice cream (on separate outings), and then over the weekend she made one of her epic cakes (it's been a while!) and we had a fun turnout of friends and family.

Beautiful birthday girl.

Happy 1st, Wife!  Observe The Boy's leftovers on the right.

One of her favorite presents from The Husband (and The Kids)

Then on The Boy's birthday we had breakfast at Kneaders and then met up with my parents for a fun morning at the dinosaur museum (which he liked even more than he did last time), after which there were new trains and super hero getups, and then later in the week we had a fun playdate with some little friends, where bubbles and sidewalk chalk and a little chocolate cake abounded.

Fun and delicious times!

Presents and a little browniecake!

And now we have a two-year-old in the house.  This boy is clever and sweet and funny and lively, he says almost everything like a very enthusiastic question, he still loves tractors and trucks and cars and airplanes and helicopters and riding or pushing anything with wheels (especially his little lawnmower from his birthday, which he doesn't even know blows bubbles!), and he loves his baby sister.  He loves visiting cousins or Nana and Papa, he loves Nursery, and he always loved a ride in the running stroller or the car.  He will occasionally stop everything he's doing and collapse in hysterics, stretching out on the floor in his most recent version of a tantrum, but it doesn't take long for him to find something to distract him or to make his needs known.  He's putting together sentences and figuring out electronics (yikes, more reason than ever to have the phone out at an absolute minimum), and is getting pretty familiar with his alphabet and his 1-10 numbers.  He loves books, and he loves to look at pictures and videos of people he knows, especially himself.  He's done such a good job adjusting to having a little one in the house who demands so much of his parents' attention, though he's certainly not afraid of letting himself be heard!  He's just a good little kid.

Trying out baby's new bedding

Finishing up our Disney movie indoctrination education

Getting over a sad little sickness just before baby's arrival

So happy when they bounce back!

Hairy little mancub.

He's starting to do his part a little more.

Testing out his old things for Baby's future use.

A P.S. to the series.  The circle of life continues.

Just a dude hangin' out at the auto parts store.

He loves Papa's "tractor" SO much.

No way this boy's going to grow up without an appreciation of art.

This was a not uncommon morning occurrence for a while.

This kids loves having neighbors across the street with lots of fun toys.  He can't quite reach the pedals, but it won't be long now.

All by himself!  Well, he's getting the hang of it.

Starting early on our new and exciting new addition.  He loves the Tangled book for the plentiful horses.

Such a big boy with his new haircut!

Helping himself to Mommy's Mother's Day breakfast in bed.

Happy birthday, boy!  You are a sunbeam.

Five Years / Fifteen Months

So, as promised, here's my follow-up post about the happenings around about a month ago (I still want to do a post more about our house-buying shenanigans, but I won't bother with that just yet).

As it turned out, our anniversary fell squarely on moving weekend (or the weekend after, which is basically the same thing), so we didn't get a chance to go out of town or to a fancy dinner or really anything too special, except of course, you know, buying and moving into a house and everything.  There were still flowers and reminiscing about the blessed day five years ago, as well as anniversaries since then, but there was also a trip to Home Depot and a little frustration at trying to get this or that fixed or functioning.  It was enough to be together and have a nice place to live and be, and then we can celebrate more fully and appropriately sometime down the road.

After that we reached another little milestone in The Boy's lifetime, and at 15 months he's doing great.  His personality is definitely starting to show a little more prominently, and he's starting to assert himself (which is fun but also a bit bewildering at times).  He loves to make a mess at mealtime and is starting to be a little more selective with his preferred foods.  His favorite foods are bananas and Graham Crackers, both of which he will eat at pretty much any time and in almost no time.  He still sleeps like a champ, with the occasional (brief) episode at night or the occasional short nap (the new church schedule we just switched to might do a real number on the nap/lunch setup on Sundays, so we'll have to see how that goes...).  He loves to put things in and out of other things, and he can play with his set of IKEA stacking cups for ages.  He plays with any and every toy he can find, even if it's not a toy, and each night it's amusing to go around and pick up all the debris the li'l tornado has left in his wake throughout the day, just because you never know what you'll find or where.  He is very vocal, and says a handful of words, but definitely does plenty of animal sounds.  He sometimes growls for a good long while, no matter what animal he sees in a book or what animal sound we ask him to say.  He's very good and usually silent in the car.  He just stares out the window with a somewhat bemused expression on his face and watches the world go by (unless of course we're on a two-minute drive home from church, when he might probably fall asleep, and unless of course we're on a late-night roadtrip drive home, when he might fall asleep for a little while and then never fall back asleep again, much to his dismay... and the dismay of everyone else in the car).  But really, 98% of the time he is just an absolute delight, and his funny faces and tub splashes and squirmy diaper changes and elated wanderings around the house are a joy to his parents and all who meet him.  It's the best thing when your little one runs across the room just to be close to you or jumps into your arms with a huge, 7-toothy smile on his face.

Now it's time for an Instagram photo onslaught!

Make it blue!

You can be a champion too if you eat Kanine Krunchies!

The Boy who would be king.

Bath time with Daddy!

So many animals in this one!

Just a little pounce.

Bobo, Robin, Robin, Bobo.

He loved the splash pads this summer!  It took a little bit and he still mostly likes to skirt around the edges and flirt with the little spouts, but he still finds the whole thing pretty delightful.

The wonderful thing about Bobos is he's the only one!

Blurrily getting into things with cousin Nora.

Matching bedhead!

I really didn't mean to give him a scar on his forehead (L), but Elise definitely did (R).

Bleurgh, mushy stuff.  He'll change his tune one day.

Pop Rocks in my shave ice?!?  Oh my yes.  I love how Little Mister caught me taking the picture.

We finally made it to see the balloons!  (Okay, we missed the launch, but at least we saw some this year.)

The best of friends.

Time for a little visit to Prydain.

He's doing a little detective work of his own, I guess.

Just a family of cows at Chick-fil-A.  That tail!!!

Checking out the new Bean Museum (mixed feelings...) but he sure loved all the lions,  of which there was an abundance.

His first Disney crush?!?  He kept toting it around and giving her little kisses.

He just mostly likes to get around during these movie happenings, truth be told.

That's it, enough people have called him "her"...  time for a little trim.  Still so handsome.

Saying hello to Nana and aunties on the neighbors' U-Haul truck.

Pay no attention to the Christmas presents on the cart, young man.  We love a good consignment sale.

The one that started it all for me as a lad.  His first viewing didn't have quite the same effect as mine did.  Ah well.

Happy year-and-a-quarter, son!  You are a beloved child of ours indeed.