Everyday Life

I just wanted to make note of our normal life lately. We are doing good. The kids are doing great in school. They love being back in public school and I love getting to watch them thrive, make new friends and experience things outside of our home. 
I've recently gotten really into making charcuterie boards and I made this one for us to eat while we watched general conference in October. 

It was such a hit. The kids sat and ate and listened for a long time. 
I always enjoy general conference weekend, but its even better when Chris is home and gets to enjoy it with us. 

I recently had to say goodbye to my good friend, Chantyl Staheli. Chantyl and I have become really great friends over the last two years and I'm going to miss her. 
My friend Brooke and I threw her a going away party and it was so fun. 

We called it "Good Pie for Now" and everyone brought a pie to share and we pigged out. 
It was really fun.

Lots of girls showed up to see Chantyl off and I think she felt the love!

It was a great night but I'm going to miss that girl so stinkin much. She's my friend that is always encouraging. She's the girl you call when you need a quick escape from the house. She's one who is up for a girls overnight. She is such a great friend and I'm going to miss having her just one street away. 

Oh also, Chris and Bailey sang in church together recently. It was a group of 4 girls and their dads and it was pretty cute. They sang "A Child's Prayer" and it was precious. 

Chris and I also reached a new milestone recently and so I had to document it. 
We left the kids all home with Tanner and went out on a date. We had dinner together and then ran some errands. It was kind of amazing and the kids did great with Tanner. 

Benson and I have been spending lots of time together on his days off of school. We recently found a new playground. It was really fun to play together and the playground was awesome. 

Another fun thing I got to do recently was attend the temple with my friend Lacey. 

Afterwards we went to lunch and then to liberty jail. I was really excited to go to Liberty jail because we just read these sections in the Doctrine and Covenants and I was excited to learn more about the history. It was awesome. The missionary couple that was serving there knew so much and I learned a lot. 

Okay that's some of the small things that have been going on. We are staying busy but it's all good stuff. We can't wait for December and all the fun that it brings.

I'm incredibly grateful for how blessed we are. Life is good and I'm trying hard to enjoy the little things and our time together.  

 

Thanksgiving in Mtn Home

 Happy Thanksgiving!
We just spent a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with the Drakes. 
We went over to MH on Wednesday and then stayed til Saturday.

We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and it was probably our easiest thanksgiving meal yet. 
Aunt Laura had our cooking times on a schedule for all the different dishes so it went very smoothly. 
Tanner really enjoyed his turkey leg. Dad smoked the turkey this year and it was delicious!

 

Benson thought his olive fingers were pretty great. He was cracking me up. 

All the food was so yummy. We had turkey, potatoes, green beans, rolls, deviled eggs and more. It was all so delicious. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I also made myself  a new shirt. It said "leftovers are for quitters". 
It was super comfy and perfect for thanksgiving. 

That night Laura played piano for me while I sang some of our favorite songs. 
I always love it when Laura plays. She's so talented. I'm not much of a singer, but I love to sing along while she plays. I will always treasure times like this together. 

Friday night we took all the kids to see "Encanto" at a theater in Mtn. Home. It was a super cute movie and we all enjoyed it. 

After the movie, we drove through the ASUMH campus and saw the Christmas light display. 
It was the perfect end to our night. 

Saturday morning we got packed and loaded up to head home. But before leaving we were able to celebrate Papa's birthday. 

We served him a slice of coconut cream pie with candles on top. We sang to him and then all enjoyed some pie. We sure love our Papa. We are grateful we got to celebrate with him!

I feel so very thankful for these beloved parents of mine. I cherish all the time we have together. 

After our pie, we loaded up and headed back home. We wanted to get back in time to put up our Christmas lights because the weather was so nice. 

Camping at Terra Rose

We just got home from a very nice overnight camping trip to Terra Rose. 
This is always a favorite of ours. Unfortunately, it was too cold to sleep in our awesome tent, but we still had a great time.
It's actually way less work for me when we sleep in a cabin so I'm always a fan of cabin camping. 
We arrived in the late afternoon and while Chris and Tanner built a fire, the kids and I set out to play.

 
Camping is getting so much less stressful as our kids get older.  They are getting more independent and it's fun for us to watch them explore and play. 

Sometimes Chris and I even get to enjoy sometime together while we enjoy our kids playing together. 

 

The kids roasted hot dogs and enjoyed their traditional sodas. 

I love these shots of the kids laughing together as they make their dinner.

 

That night we roasted smores and told ghost stories. 
I think Benson's ghost story was the best and he had us laughing at how seriously he was taking it. 

I think the kids' favorite part of the night was getting to sleep in the lofts in the cabin. They were pretty excited about the sleeping arrangements. They were so cute!

We slept snuggly in the cabin and woke up toasty the next morning.

Dad made us yummy breakfast burritos the next morning and we played as the weather got warm again. Tanner built us another fire and the kids went out to explore again. 

We decided to roast a few more s'mores and enjoy the sunshine. 

Of course the kids had a great time playing on the rope swing. This swing has been bringing smiles to my kids' faces for years. 

After playing for a bit, we ate lunch and then headed home. Someday we will plan a camping trip for more than a day but I'm not quiet ready for the work that goes into that. Until then, we will keep enjoying our quick overnight trips. Until next time "Terra Rose", as always, thanks for the fun!