November

When you pour your granola onto your acai bowl and a marker comes out... you know there's a cute toddler in the house. 

And there he is! Hanging with our buddies at the San Tan mall!

Elkie found a home again! (Help us with a name!) After 3 years in the garage, scaring passersby, he is now securely in our stairwell. It was a precarious situation getting him there... but I'm happy to report, no dentists broke their back in the hanging of that beast! And his is a BEAST. So darn heavy. At one point, I thought maybe I should stand underneath to help if Travis fell, then decided our kids didn't need BOTH their parents in traction. Tanner was so funny the first few weeks after he was hung there. Every time we got him up in the morning, he'd point at it and go "oooo" with big eyes!  But he wouldn't touch it! Uh uh. So we'd touch it, and jump when our hands made contact with the fur and Tanner would giggle like it was the funniest joke. 

Sunday night dinners with the three amigos!

Doug came into town really quick with his partner, Glenn, to shadow Dr. Frost, so Travis met him for lunch!

We signed up to feed the homeless again! We made sloppy joes and it alll got eaten up! Olive was the best bun-hander-outer there ever was!

And the boys were in charge of cutting the tops off the otter pops!

Story time at the library! He really surprises me how well he pays attention. Still gets distracted, but really seems to like the songs and finger plays!

Boxes make the best toys!

I don't even remember what food he's smushing into his hair, but you get how meal times are around here.

The final bottle! We had dwindled to just one a day, but the good times had to end sometime, huh?! 17 months is about right.

Weston in the 2nd grade music performance! He was soooo cute, singing with all his might! Full out actions and big, open mouth! He was ALL IN. Have I mentioned how much I love this boy?!

Sometimes when you get to the Wiggle Worm room early, you have the whole place to yourself!

Collin's first attempt at a cartoon. I thought it was pretty funny!

Our broken, hand-me-down trailer got the boot during the move, so I bought this little seat for Mr. T during family bike rides. 

The green grass and white, picket fences get me! I remember living in Farmington and Gallup and seeing friends' Instagram pictures of their perfectly manicured and beautiful neighborhoods and feeling twinges of jealousy. I think about that often and don't take for granted this beautiful area we live in. 

One day, when the kids had school off, we met up with Shelley and Leah and their kids at the park. Morrison Ranch's park used to be our go-to place and now I laugh that it's our neighborhood park! Ironic. They came over and saw our house first and I made acai bowls for us to eat. 

Tanner and Della actually did pretty good together, following each other around. Tanner had a runny nose and then took a skitter down a hill and crashed. I watched the whole thing, sort of amused, sort of apprehensive that he would get hurt. But I stayed in my chair and let the other kids tend to him until his crying demanded a mother's attention. Poor guy! Came up to me with grass all glued to his face from the boogers!! 

A girl named Jill Kirk moved into Allen Ranch ward not long before we moved out, but Camilla and I got to know her a little bit. She invited us to go see a live recording of the Awesome with Alison podcast! I had never listened to her podcast but it sounded like a fun girl's night, so I was in! We got the Chop Shop for dinner and then danced and laughed the night away watching Alison. That girl is FULL of energy and happiness and dancing. Perfect combo. They gave us swag bags and had the most amazing macarons to taste! We maybe/might have even danced on our chairs like we just don't care. 

No one turns down a Tanner hug!

My scorched brain cannot remember why I was at my dad's office!! Writing a blog about things that happened 5 months ago isn't always the best. I feel like maybe I baked something and brought it in for him? Gah. What was it?? Lemon squares? Shortbread cookies? Who knows. OHH!!! I think it was part of a "thank you" for taking us to Oceanside! Yes, that has to be it. And we had Scarlett over to play that day so she came along!

Just two, cute brothers waiting on their third, cute brother to finish soccer practice!

Olive had "Rock the Trot" day at school which was a glorified Turkey Trot/Track and Field day sort of thing! Parents were invited so we ran laps around the school together and had fun watching her compete with her class in a bunch of activities!

She loves having Piper in her class!

I'll take these, thank you very much!

Sometimes you wanna be a Super hero.

And sometimes you wanna be a princess!

After school slushy run!

If I remember correctly, they all had diarrhea later. Seriously. Sudden onslaught of sugar?? I have no idea but it definitely seemed to be a direct correlation to these drinks. No good deed goes unpunished.

I really don't have time to get super deep, but I needed to document this. I had been having a really hard time. I don't know if on the outside, anyone could tell. I had broken down to two friends about it, but the normal crying and venting didn't help. I mean, it probably did help a little bit for a moment, but it didn't last. These feelings had been building up for weeks, and I couldn't shake it. I just felt SO down. SO done. Depressed. Dragging through my days. No spark of light or happiness or even hope. I was cranky with my kids. My life felt like a mess. Nothing was ever accomplished. Tanner was always crying. I just felt really unfulfilled in my day to day routine. I remember crawling into bed one night and just sobbing. At some point, before falling asleep, I opened up Instagram and had this direct message sent to me from Kathee Merkley. Completely out of the blue. No way for her to know how I had been struggling. I read it and cried again, but this time it wasn't for the same reasons. I immediately messaged her back to let her know how much it meant to me and spoke to how I was feeling lately. She told me she has stopped second guessing herself when she receives a prompting to do something. HOW GRATEFUL I was for a message from Kathee that I KNEW was actually from Heavenly Father. A little reminder that He knows me and my thoughts and feelings. And more importantly that He cares. It didn't mean that the next day I went to Disneyland or had fairies helping me around the house, but I do remember it as the night that things started changing for the better. In small ways that gradually built up to a happier existence than I had been experiencing. 

If you pack carefully, there's even room for a baby.

My mom came to watch a little bit of their games right before the season ended, and she got a goal that Collin made on video!! Yay for Grandma! Yay for Collin! I was over watching Weston's game at the time, so I missed it, but am so glad to have it on film!

Her second dance performance at Dobson High School! This was in front of judges who were just critiquing the studio on their choreography. It lasted THREE hours!! Oy!! And she was really nervous beforehand and cried when I had to leave her with her dance teacher, backstage. But after the first dance, when I went back to help her change, she had completely changed her attitude! She LOVED it and couldn't wait to get out there and do their second number! I was so proud of her! Then, she got to go on a special date with Travis and I afterward for Chinese food and Creamistry! We love our little dancer.

I was asked to help in nursery 2 or 3 times which was perfect for Tanner who is turning 18 months the beginning of December. He loved it and was finally happy during the last 2 hours of church!

Collin really loves to draw so the others often join in!

 Just a little Krazy Air fun!

A bunch of Kindergarten turkeys! 

 I invited Shelley, Marcie and Abbey over to revive the old tradition of eating donuts and watching Thanksgiving FRIENDS episodes! 

 I think this was her first teeth cleaning. But don't quote me on that!

 Someone might be a little excited for the Turkey Trot in the morning! I bought some fun hats at Target this year to be more festive in our running!

 The free donuts are probably everyone's favorite part. 

Looks like I caught them all mid-bite!

 It's snowing!

 Ugh. This event is catching on! The first couple of years were awesome because it was so small. Like a little known, Gilbert secret. Guess the word got out. 

 They redid the route so you stay on San Tan Parkway road almost the whole time which was really nice. Lots of space and no canal running. But poor Weston was struggling a bit. I was going to stay back with him, but Travis waved us on. I don't think he minded sticking with Weston, as he hasn't had much opportunity to exercise lately. So I pushed the stroller with Tanner and Olive in it, and Collin did awesome keeping up! Olive ran sporadically.

 I made the pies the night before so it was just the corn casserole and yams to bake, then it was off to Grandma's house! I made the cherry and custard (and a chocolate one that stayed in the fridge so I could bring it to the Evans that night).

 Get in my belly!

It was all divine.

To mix things up a bit, I suggested we go around the table and say what we're thankful for, but we started with the letter "A" and went through the alphabet. So you had to say something that started with whatever letter we were on when it was your turn. Made it a little more interesting and out of the box!

 Shelley and Casey brought 9 square to play and it was FUN! Perfect for all ages. I even held Tanner and kept up ok! Lots of jumping and reaching and shouting and laughing. 

Couldn't help myself and had to tape Lindi freaking out when Daisy was let outside! The poor girl! She was LEGIT screaming for her life!

Polar bear plunge! They all did it! Rusty got the award for being first!

 The grandkids sure are lucky that artistic, Auntie Aubs is around!

 Shopping for a Christmas tree with the WHOLE family on Black Friday! And nope, didn't find one. But Travis DID find a T.V! I still remember buying the flat screen that we have now, not long after Travis graduated from dental school and it seemed so fancy. Now, almost 7 years later, it is OLD SCHOOL. Travis doesn't spend money on himself, so I was glad he splurged and got it. 

 I love family hikes! This one was the hieroglyphic trail in the Superstitions. Not long at all. 2.8 miles round trip. We thought it was that, one way, so we were surprised when it was already over.

 I could have done without the cliff climbing though. Ugh! They looked like mountain goats and I could hardly watch! It was hard enough to keep Mr. T from falling in the mucky "stream". 

 Where's Tanner?! 

I had to lug the box of diapers in one hand because I ran out of room!

Figuring out how to pour water on himself!

 Gotta love those specialists always shmoozing the office!

 I finally found a tree at Target after lots of shopping. Why do they have to be so expensive?! Olive was the designated star topper!

Olive learned a little Christmas poem for her concert coming up. I thought it was adorable!!

 On Nov. 30 they had a Mother and Son game night at Neely that turned out to be really fun. We were put into groups and worked our way through the fields playing soccer, hopscotch/paper rock scissors races, 3 legged races, obstacle courses and scavenger hunts. They had BBQ food in the cafeteria and a photo booth too! I loved it! It was really fun getting to focus on just the boys and PLAY together! Not something we do often. Love them.