Jefferson making a snow angel:
Sorry for the long absence. We've been continually hit with illnesses and I've just gotten so backlogged in everything- housework, bills, e-mails, etc- that I haven't had time to just sit and type. I'm now working on sorting through the pictures we've taken in the past month to figure out which ones to share. I'll post some within the next day or two, as long as the kids let me!
Jefferson has said some funny things lately that I thought I'd share.
The other day Jefferson informed me, "daddy won't let me have a sister." And I said, "yeah, daddy does think that, but he doesn't really get to choose." Then Jefferson got real close to me and said with really earnest yet concerned eyes "how much does a sister cost?" I laughed a little laugh before telling him that you don't buy sisters in the store. That didn't seem to help because he said, "how do I get a sister then?" I told him, "well, if you are meant to get a sister, you'll get a sister." He seemed to accept that.
Another recent day Jefferson was playing with his brothers and Mason was doing something that was annoying Jefferson to no end (you get back what you give!) so Jefferson came up to me and said,"I don't want Mason as my brother anymore. I want to trade him in for a different baby." I told Jefferson, "Mason just loves you and wants to be like you so he was just trying to do what you were doing." Yeah, didn't help Jefferson much, but it's true!
WARNING: Extremely Long Post!
This year was Nate's family's year to get together for Thanksgiving and so we made the trip down to California. This was Mason's first time to make the trip in a car in one day. His past two trips to California we done by airplane and a drive with an overnight stop in St. George. We left bright and early (5am) on Wednesday with the idea that we would get a few hours of peace on the drive because the kids would be sleeping. It mostly worked out. Jefferson didn't really go back to sleep but Jackson and Mason did. As much as I hated getting up so early, it was nice to arrive at Nate's parents' house in the afternoon instead of the evening. A couple hours after we arrived, Nate's sister, Janna, and her family arrived. Jefferson was sooo excited to see some of his cousins again. Janna brought up a bunch of bikes and scooters so that all the cousins could ride around outside on something and not fight (as much) over the bikes at Nana's. Here's some pics of the kids playing (Even Aunt Lacey and I got in on the action):
While the turkey was cooking, we went to Millard Canyon to hike up to the waterfall, but due to unforseen circumstances, we weren't able to do the hike so we just picnicked and played on and around the rocks in the campground area. The kids discovered that one of the big rocks was perfect for sliding down and so they all tooks multiple turns sliding down it, as you can see in these video clips:
Jackson and Mason had fun walking around and we even got a group shot of the cousins (minus Seth & Shayla's two - Ian and Katie - who didn't make it out to California, and Conner, who just didn't make it in the picture):
That evening we all sat down for the holiday meal. It was a full house with Nana & Pops (Nate's parents), Jason & Jeanette, Janna & Justin, Lacey & Ken, and me & Nate. Maryn (Janna & Justin's) also got to sit at the table with the adults. The rest of the kids hung out in the kitchen- Blake, Brayden, Davin, & Connor (Janna & Justin's), Samantha (Jason & Jeanette's), and our three- Jefferson, Jackson, and Mason. Of course, we would have still made room for Seth & Shayla if they had been able to come (along with Ian & Katie). Thanksgiving dinner was great, although I was disappointed that my appetite still hadn't fully recovered from my bout with Strep throat.
That night, Nate and I ended up staying up all night with Mason because he had become so congested that he couldn't sleep laying down. We all got small doses of sleep and by morning Mason had finally fallen asleep for about an hour and a half leaning against my shoulder. We considered taking him to the emergency room, but, sadly, due to our enormous co-pay ($200) we just said a prayer and waited 'til morning when we could take him to a doctor. Friday morning Nate's dad called a family friend, who is also a doctor, and got Mason an appointment at his home. So while I went out to do some shopping with Nate's mom, Nate took Mason to the doctor and got him another prescription for antibiotics (he had just taken his last dose of antibiotics from having strep that morning) and a recommended over-the-counter medicine to help his congestion and allow him to breathe easier. The medicine helped tremendously and Mason had a much easier time sleeping is is now healthy.
So, I did some shopping with Nate's mom at Costco and Burlington Coat Factory. Two places that didn't have the crowds. We went to Costco so I could get my new printer for $50 off with the THanksgiving weekend only coupon and Nate's mom took advantage of another coupon to get a really nice Christmas present for Lacey. We hit Burlington to get some clothes for all the kids, but their selection just wasn't as good as it has been in the past. After that we returned home for lunch. Later in the day we took a trip to a nearby dog park that also has a big and little kids playground. All the kids had lots of fun playing on the playground and watching the dogs. Jackson especially had fun on the slides. At first he stayed on the little kid playground (for kids ages 2-5) but after I showed him the big slide on the big playground, he didn't look back at the little kid playground. Here's some video of him on the big slide and also a video of Mason and Connor on the little slide:
Saturday, while Nate was off taking a section of the CPA exam, the rest of us went to the California Science Museum in LA. Jefferson wasn't excited about going to a museum, but when we got there he found out that it was full of things that he loved. We started out in an exhibit about cars and transportation. They also had a fear exhibit that was interesting. They had a hissing cockroach that you could touch and hold (I did it-no biggie) and a snake to touch. I was shocked to see Jefferson go up and pet the snake, although he steered clear of the roach. Here's some pics outside of the museum: 
Once again, we left bright and early at 5am on Sunday to head home. I had hoped to stop at our friends, The Boyle's, house in Vegas as a breather, but since we left so early, we drove by their house around 8:30 and I figured that that was just too early to stop. Our trip home was pretty uneventful and the kids didn't complain too much- they even got a good amount of sleep in.
We are grateful that we were able to make the trip down to California to spend time with Nate's family, glad the trip went well and Mason was able to recover from his illness, and glad to be home safe.
Here are some fun pictures I have taken of the kids in the last few weeks:
Jackson and Mason riding the "Vacuum Train"
Jefferson and Mason "in jail"
Jackson pretending that he was going to school
Sorry I've been MIA for awhile now. I have a miserable case of strep throat and all of the kids also came down with it. Somehow Nate has avoided it thus far. I'll post more when we are all better
I know I'm a little late getting these up. I've been waiting for some pictures a friend took at our Ward Halloween Party, but it's been 2 weeks and I still haven't received them, so here are the pictures from actual Halloween night:
I have to apologize to Jefferson- he inherited his klutziness from me. And just like me, he has trouble walking without tripping- especially up stairs. He came downstairs whining about something after we put him to bed and on his way back upstairs he tripped and managed to bust his lip open. He came crying to me in the family room where Nate and I were watching TV and I gave him a hug not realizing that he was bleeding (the lights were off). I realized that his teeth looked a funny color and then saw the mouthful of blood (and the blood ALL OVER my shirt). This is a picture of him the morning after he busted his lip open:
Then, the next day he tripped on the playground at school and opened back up his cut on his lip. The office called me to tell me his lip was swollen and had bled a little and they gave him some ice. I then told them that he had actually cut his lip the night before so not to worry about it being swollen. His teacher hadn't actually seen him before he fell since the fall at school happened before school started (the kindergartners play on the kindergartner playground between getting dropped off and school starting) so they didn't know he had come to school that way.
I was able to help out with Jefferson's class Halloween Party. We sent up four stations for the kids and rotated them around the room. We did Pumpkin Bowling, Don't Eat Pete, Halloween Bingo, and cookie decorating (and eating). I was in charge of Pumpkin Bowling. I took a bunch of bottles (juice, soda, milk) and covered them with white fabric to look like ghosts and then the kids took turns bowling a small pumpkin trying to knock over the ghosts. The kids had lots of fun (and silly me didn't think to take any pictures of the kids in action).
Here are some pictures of Jefferson's class, another parent, and his teacher:
The Saturday before Halloween we took a trip to a local pumpkin patch (Mabey's Pumpkin Patch in South Jordan- a great find!) to pick out some pumpkins and take some cute pictures. It was getting a little late in the season to be picking out pumpkins, so the choices were limited, but we still found some great pumpkins to take home. The kids had lots of fun running around the pumpkin patch and picking up pumpkins. Jefferson was ready to buy almost every pumpkin but we talked him down to his favorite two (one of which was "for dad"). Mason loved picking up the small pumpkins, and Jackson was fascinated by the tractor going around.
For FHE on Monday we carved the pumpkins. I carved a mean Jack Skellington and Jefferson had Nate do a traditional Jack-o-lantern face. Jefferson had fun scooping out the insides of the pumpkins. Mason and Jackson weren't interested.
