Already?

Wowser! Is it Christmas time already?
And some of us are already worn out.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

This year I was looking for a good way to help my kids learn to express gratitude. I found a list of great ideas in a copy Parents magazine. While there were some elaborate ideas that looked great, I had to shoot for something that I knew we would be able to accomplish even when I am working a couple nights a week and Caleb is gone to meetings etc on other nights. What we ended up with was-

THE THANKFUL JARWe tried to each take some time everyday to write something that we were thankful for on a slip of paper and drop it in the jar. Some days when we would ask Henry what he was thankful for he would just say, "I have no idea." But I think by the end it was a good exercise and we had a good time sitting down to read all of our thankful notes this morning. We really have so many blessings and I love this time of year when we can really focus on counting them.
(The fabulous ribbon was on a baby gift we received for Wyatt and the boys have been dieing to use it for something... so voila.)

Frozen Red Butte Garden

This month we had a free pass to Red Butte Garden. Since we missed the chance to go on the nice warm days at the beginning of the month, we decided to head with Nana before the freezing temps and snow arrived. We spent our little time walking around and telling my mom what it would have been like if we had come when things were actually growing. Even though it was a bit windy, we still enjoyed ourselves for an hour or so, and had a nice walk.

It really is a fun place, and hopefully somewhere I will remember to take my mom when she visits in warmer weather.

Because my brain needs a time out

This weekend my Mom came into town and we rounded up some girls to go to Time Out for Women. It was a pretty huge event at the Salt Palace, much bigger than the Phoenix event we have been to in the past. Thanks Mom for reminding me that I really enjoy going to this.
We listened, laughed, chatted, and of course ate at one of my favorite Salt Lake spots, The Blue Lemon. While I missed my sisters a lot, I was so grateful for my sister-in-law and my sistahs (rena, can I pull that off?) from Salt Lake that came along with me.

It really was a great break, and when people ask me how Caleb does watching the kids, I love telling them what a great husband I have. He is alone with the boys often while I work, and he doesn't even blink at staying home while I do something good... and having over a few extras as well.

I enjoyed all of the speakers, but my favorite take away messages were-

Comparison is the fast track to misery.
Get out of the business of Competition.
Be Your Own Best Kind of Mom.
Look at these beautiful ladies taking on the world.

And just because this picture is awesome-

Don't know if it was the high winds or the high spirits that were lifting Caryn off the ground, but I love it.

Our Little Family 2010

So many great shots to chose from. These are some of my favorites. It is pretty obviously that Caleb and I felt a little silly having our photo taken without kids... but silly in a good way.

Wyatt- 4 Months Old

11/12/10- 4 Months Old
17lbs 8oz
26 inches
He has 2 teeth on the bottom and seems to be working on getting the top ones too... Note- Wyatt does not enjoy teething. He can roll over in both directions and now does it all the time, sometimes getting hung up on his play gym.
Wyatt loves to listen to people talk. He will grin and smile all day long if he thinks you are talking to him... what a third child. And his little laugh is very infectious.

He is pre-sitting.
(a positive way of saying that he can't quite sit up on his own, but he tries).

Eating rice cereal and loving it.

Loves to look around at the world in the walker.
(I know I am a super dangerous parent to still own a walker, but we don't move around it in. Just sit and play with toys, so don't judge me.)

We saw the doctor today, she laid Wyatt down on the table and start to examine him. The whole time he was trying to use his feet to scoot around the table and trying to roll over to his belly. She was pretty much having to wrestle him to even get a chance to check him out. Finally she told me that he is considered a high risk for injury because he is already moving so much. And that we should consider him a risk taker because he has 2 older brothers, and to prepare ourselves to try and keep him from climbing when he starts to pull up and walk... or we will most likely end up in the ER. After this verdict she says, "There is just something about boys and the way they function. So when you consider boys in a group, it is even more true. They are just more likely to take risks when they have other boys to try and keep up with." I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. My only reply was, "Yep, welcome to my life." Luckily she is a woman with a sense of humor, and she just laughed. It is nice that she is preparing me in advance, so maybe I will feel a little more ready for chasing three crazies.

Carmel Disaster

I know most people have the fabulous looking pictures to post of their super yummy carmel apples. Not me. I got all excited to make carmel apples this week, but something went horribly wrong. Not sure exactly what happened, but not only were these apples slightly hideous. They were also nearly impossible to eat. We tried to give our jaws a workout on one, and then after Henry dropped one on the floor and the carmel actually shattered, like glass. We gave up the pretense that these edible and chucked them... not at any windows or breakable object, but in the trash. Not really sure what went wrong... maybe I was in too big of a hurry and heated the carmel to fast. That is just one theory though. Who knows?

We love talent

As you can probably tell- I just got back the the photos from our family "photo shoot" with none other than the fabulous Catie. If you have ever seen Catie's work than you have some idea of how much I love love these photos. Just a little preview in the updates to our bios, but I am looking forward to sharing more with you when I have a little more time. It was actually a really fun and non-stressful photo day for me. (I know, Miracle!) Thanks again Catie!

Elko, NV (aka Middle of No Where)

Last week we took a little trip to Elko, Nevada to visit our friends, Wade and Misty before they move to California. The Petersons' also met us there, so it was a fabulous little CarFinPete runion.
Elko was actually in a pretty little spot, but you have to cross a lot of nothingness to get there. We had a great time catching up and the kids had a lot of fun.
The whole crew- poor little Maggie, totally outnumbered. Good thing she can hold her own.

The men.

The Ladies.

Wade also owns a rickshaw. Caleb pedaled the boys around. They were in heaven.

We stayed up way too late chatting and catching up. Always a good time.