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!
