November

November was so busy and so fun. The first few weeks were the chicago trip, taking lots of pictures,  my half marathon and Evening in Excellence (or Young Women in Excellence whatever they are calling it these days). Then we had Thanksgiving and full out Christmas time!! 

Thanksgiving was a blast. The week before Angell and Sean and their girls were here. All of my dad's siblings came into town for Thanksgiving and Aniston's baptism. We were so swamped with family. It was awesome. And busy. And exhausting. But mostly awesome. 

We started out November with an exciting event! Lacee officially signed to play basketball for SUU. She is such a neat girl, and it has been so much cheering her on all these years. I am so excited for College games I can hardly stand it. 

My girls are seriously the luckiest to have an Aunt like Lacee. She is such a great example to them. 

I had to be sneaky about this picture. She doesn't like pictures. But I just want to remember her like this. Her artwork taped to the walls. Seriously every wall in the house. Telling me stories. Her messy ponytails that she does her self. I love her.  

This picture has the cutest story! We were waiting in line at Michaels and the girls were looking at these beanie boos. Abby came running back to me and whispered in my ear she knew what she wanted to get Jules for Christmas. She went back over to Jules and started being "sneaky" asking which one was her favorite so she could get a good idea of what to get her. It was the first year that they were really starting to get the idea of I'm getting a gift for someone else, so I want to get what they would want instead of what I would want. It was fun! 

Abby always makes her bed in such a cute way! 

The book end grandkids! Me and Aniston. She got baptized the weekend after Thanksgiving. All of my grandparents grandkids have now been baptized! Such a cool thing. 

I took a video of Juliet eating soup. She can be a very picky eater. Not the worst I've seen, my brother was wayyyyy worse growing up. She acts like it is the worst ever. She tells me she doesn't eat "green food". So kyle ended up helping her eat it and she ate every last bite. She loved it, once she gave it a chance. But every time I make we go through this dance at the beginning. Its unfortunate because Abby loves loves loves soup. She would eat it every day! 

Our grateful tree! 

I was over Young Women in Excellence. We did it in my parent's back yard and it turned out amazing. The theme was "By Small and Simple things". Every girl had a tiny little jar to fill with a project they had been working on or finished this year. It was so fun to see how creative they got. 

For the presentation we went through each value and talked about a small and simple thing that represented that value. Then at the end the girls got to pick out these really really tiny jars that had a little representation of the value in it. The girls were freaking out. They loved them. I don't know what it is about tiny jars, but they are the best! 

This was the Back drop! It was decorated with larger representations of the values, same as was in the teeny tiny jars. Faith was pearls, divine nature was the forget me not flower, individual worth was heart beats (it was based off of a talk by President Nelson about how our life is made up of individual heart beats, and how different our lives are. It was so cool) Knowledge was books, choice and accountability was butterflies, good works was bees, integrity was crystals, and Virtue was gold chain mail. It was seriously awesome. I am so grateful for pinterest and creative people that make my life so much easier. 

A typical arizona fall morning. Jackets because its "cold" but popsicles because its really not. 

 Starting to let some Christmas decorations sneak up! 

A close up of the tree. I loved all of the girls pictures. They loved doing it this year. 

Abby is grateful for piano lessons, and the cleaners that help mommy so she doesn't have to clean the toilets with my big belly. Ha ha! 

OCD Abby put up the felt tree. 

Running in the park with cousins! 

Abby had a couple days of school while the cousins were here. So I got Brinley and we went and met Abby with some lunch. It was the cutest thing. I loved listening to them talk. They have the cutest relationship. I can't wait to watch them grow up together! 

bahama bucks! 

These sweet girls helped me make the Thanksgiving pies. It was so much fun. They were really into it. Abby loves pumpkin pie so she was all over helping me. They turned out so good too! 

Chocolate pie! 

We also made these turkey hats. I had the idea, but they turned out way better than I pictured in my mind! The girls wore them all weekend. So cute! 

She kills me! We brought donuts to my parents house one morning and everyone was still asleep. Like at 9. It was crazy. I had to send the girls in to start waking everyone up! 

Kyle's braiding skills are getting really intense. 

Abby played the piano at a family recital. I was so incredibly proud of her! Getting up in front of people is so hard for her. But she rocked it. She is growing up so much. 

These girls love their mema.

I love this Juliet. Her last month of being 4. It flew by way too fast. 

Helping me change the sheets. I don't know what I would do without this girl. 

The birthday cake I made my mom. Its a red velvet ice cream cake with whipped cream frosting. It was delicious! 

We celebrated 9 years together. Our big trip was to Chicago so we didn't do anything for our anniversary. My gift to Kyle was golfing so he went golfing that morning.... I'm still waiting for my anniversary gift..... ;) Its been the best 9 years. I am in love with this man and the life we are building together. He is the best partner, team mate and friend. Being married to him is the best! 

Kyle took this picture from the roof while putting up Christmas lights. Its a gorgeous view! 

Juliet being the center of attention and teaching new friends to do the hula to moana songs. 

November was fantastic! The holidays are easily the best time of the year. These girls make it so incredibly magical. I am the luckiest mom and wife in the world. Now on to the big one... CHRISTMAS! 

Anniversary trip to Chicago

For our anniversary we went to Chicago!! A few weeks before our actual anniversary but it worked out great. 

We left Friday after noon and got back late Monday night. It was so nice to really get away, we needed it. Although we missed our little girls like crazy. They had so much fun with Mema and Pappi though. We are so lucky to have such supportive families! 

On Friday we went and took Abby out of school for lunch. I didn't like that I was going to go a lot of extra time not seeing her because we would leave before she was out of school. I just love those little girls. Our flight went so smooth! I love flying when it is just the two of us. We downloaded a bunch of Blue Bloods episodes on my phone and watched those, and played games and just relaxed. We took a Lyft from the airport to our hotel in downtown Chicago. That whole lyft/uber thing is amazing. We love it. We stayed in the Residence Inn Marriott right in downtown. It was so nice! We were so lucky and they upgraded our room to the tower so we had a great view. We were right by Millennial Park and not that far from the Magnificent Mile. 

That first night we just went down to the hotel restaurant and got some yummy food. We really just relaxed and took it easy. I told Kyle the one things I wanted out of this trip was to not ever feel rushed. I just wanted to relax and take my time. I am always rushing at home and I just didn't want to feel that way for a few days. 

The only bummer thing about our trip was that it was cloudy and rainy most of the time. On Saturday we went to the top of the Willis tower but it was so cloudy you couldn't see anything. We were right inside the cloud! It was still really cool and we learned a lot about Chicago. I was so shocked by how much fun that place was! It was the coolest downtown area I've been to. Then we took a lyft up to the Magnificent Mile. We walked through some really cool stores. Our favorite was Saks Fifth Avenue. There was a dress there, just a little black dress that was $4,000!!!! Can you imagine?!?! I found a pair of very ugly flats for $800. It was blowing our minds. I can't even begin to imagine spending money like that. I don't care how much money you have. Its a pair of shoes! Then we had lunch at Giordanos. It was amazing! We got there a little earlier than we planned, but that worked out perfect. We wanted to try the famous deep dish pizza and we had read this was the perfect place to get it. It was a really cool restaurant and the food didn't disappoint. The pizza's take at least 45 minutes to cook! So it was good we got there so early. By the time the pizza came out we were really hungry. Also when we got there we walked right in, but by the time we left the place was packed and there was a line out the door. The place was amazing though and that pizza was fantastic! 

Then we walked all the way back to our Hotel. I would get so turned around in those tall buildings. You couldn't see any landmarks to help you get your bearings of which way was north, west, east or south. I don't usually get turned around like that, so it was really tripping me up. Kyle was the master at it though. He got us all over the place with no trouble. We walked all the way do to Millenial Park and saw "the bean". Then back to our hotel for a nap! Then we started getting ready for the absolute best part of the entire trip. Seriously. HAMILTON!!!!!!! 

Hamilton was amazing. Seriously amazing. Our hotel was within walking distance of the theater so that was perfect. We had a delicious dinner right across the street before we went in. Luckily Kyle had done a bunch of research before he bought our tickets and we had the best seats. The theater was so cool! It was gorgeous on the inside. But that show is seriously the best. We have listened to the soundtrack sooooooo many times. We can recite it word for word, which is saying something if you have ever listened to it. I love American history so this play is right up my alley. Seeing it live was an incredible experience. We were just blown away. We couldn't and still haven't stopped talking about it. Its seriously amazing. 

The next day we slept in late which was so nice! It was still really rainy and cloudy outside so we went and explored The Field Museum. That was so cool. They had this special Jurassic World exhibit that blew my mind. It was really cool. Their ancient Egypt exhibit was really neat too. We learned a lot. After we explored all over that we headed back over to find some lunch. One of Kyle's hygienist had suggested a place for us to try. It wasn't really our scene. It was a really really expensive brunch place that was more about drinking than eating. We are all about eating. So we went somewhere else. That afternoon we went and saw Thor at a recline and dine by our hotel. That was kind of a disappointment. We love the Marvel movies, but this one was a bit much! Maybe it was that we had just seen Hamilton, or that this family brought their 6 year old and he would not stop talking then entire time!! It was really bad. But after that we ordered some Jimmy Johns to the hotel and ate dinner in bed. I love vacation. 

Monday was our last day and it finally cleared up! We got up and went off a little 3 mile run around Millenial Park. That was so much fun, but it was so cold! Then we came back, got ready and went to the John Hancock building and went up to the top. The views were spectacular. It was amazing! We did "the Tilt". That was so much fun and a lot scarier than I thought it would be. You get in the glass box and then they tip your towards the ground. It was so cool! After that we walked down the magnificent mile and got some hot chocolate at Ghirardelli. We sat and looked over the river and that was really fun. Then we grabbed some lunch and headed back to check out of our hotel. Luckily they had a bag check there so we left our bags and went to go get on a river boat tour. Unfortunately the timing of boat tours leaving and when we needed to be back to our hotel to get our bags and head to the airport didn't work out. The boat tour was supposed to leave from around the Navy pier and once we got there and realized it wouldn't work out we decided to go ride the big ferris wheel. Most of the navy pier was closed or under construction since it was the off season. Riding the ferris wheel was a lot of fun! The only bad part was waiting to get on. Once those clouds cleared out it got so much colder. I felt like I was going to die. I really don't like the cold. Then we went and got some popcorn to take home to everyone. Got our bags and headed back to the airport. 

Everything went smoothly with the flight until it came time to get our bags. Seriously it took forever and the airport was packed. It took forever to get home. But we finally made it and the trip was beyond amazing. 

I am so grateful for Kyle. He really is the best. We make such a great team! Its always so nice to get to spend an extended amount of time alone like that. We love being together! Marrying him was the best choice I have ever made. He makes so many of my dreams come true, and I love the life we are building together. I especially love the little kids we've made together. They are the best! Thank you Kyle for always being there for me, and for loving me and supporting me through everything. I love you! Heres to another amazing 9 years! 

A picture after our fun family lunch together. I seriously love these girls. 

Just us on the airplane! 

baby bump selfie

This is what the inside of a cloud looks like from the top of the Willis Tower. 

A really cool golf simulator in the Under Armour store on the Magnificent Mile. 

All ready to go see Hamilton! 

HAMILTON!!!!!! Seriously so good. One of my all time favorite memories for sure. 

Jurassic World. They had these amazing animatronic dinosaurs. It seriously felt like you were looking at real dinosaurs. So cool. 

We we went running we were the only ones at the bean. It was so cool! 

I was obsessed with this little church at the bottom of the John hancock building. 

We went and checked it out after the John Hancock building and it was amazing. 

Thats the John Hancock building. You can see some slightly different colored windows at the top and those are "the Tilt" 

Hot Chocolate at ghirardelli. 

On the Ferris Wheel 

The view from our Hotel room

One of the reasons we chose The Residence Inn Marriott was because of the breakfast. It was included with the stay and it was amazing. They had stuff to make breakfast burritos, oatmeal, waffles, cereal, yogurt, fruit, pastries and bunch more. It was awesome! 

Top of the Willis tower. It was really too bad you couldn't see a thing!! Ha ha! 

Thats what it would have looked like had it been a clear day. 

That deep dish pizza was seriously something else. 

Trump tower! 

Anytime Kyle and I are in a downtown area he is always trying to get me to walk down dark alleys. I refuse. I will not ever. That is how just about every cop show starts with someone running down a dark alley. Not happening.  

It was unreal to see this sign and realize we were going to be seeing it! 

Dinner before the show was so yummy! 

More Field museum. It was so cool! 

The view from that swanky restaurant was pretty cool so we took a few pictures and then ran off to find some normal people food. 

Walking around was so much fun. There was so much to see! 

The views from the John Hancock building were amazing! 

I was seriously so cold that last day. It was awful! Kyle was laughing at me all day.