Thanksgiving

 

 Fun Thanksgiving this year! Jon and I ran the Farmington Turkey Leg 5K. Amber and Isaac offered to watch Lydia and Sophie while we ran and Jon pushed Mia around and up icy hills while I tried to finish in under 24 minutes. I came close, but didn't quite make it. The girls had a blast playing in the snow and love spending time with Aunt Amber and Uncle Isaac. They even made a little family out of snow.

The girls made a cute Thanksgiving craft and wrote down some of the things they're grateful for and they ended up being part of the décor for our Thanksgiving feast.

Dinner was incredible. I was very happy to see our stuffing and roasted vegetables disappear along with everything else. And the the company (as well as the decorations) was wonderful too. We celebrated Nate's birthday and had a little Thanksgiving program put on by Grandma and the grandkids.

We watched Finding Dori in the basement and really enjoyed it. The girls were worn out. Let's be honest; we were too. And the night ended with some fabulous pie. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sister's Retreat

It had been over four years since we sisters had been together last. We'd talked about a Sisters retreat before but until Lizzie told us that she'd signed up for a marathon in Azusa California and that the rest of us were welcome to join her we hadn't done anything to make it happen. Abby and Sarah were already there and Jess thought she could easily make it, so of course I was going to do whatever it took to get myself there too. No sense in putting myself through some serious FOMO unnecessarily. With the plans made we were super excited to get together!

Jon was able to take some time off so that he and Lydia and Sophie could do some really fun things while Mia and I were away. And they sure made some fun memories without us! Pie at The Dodo, hiking Adam's Canyon, pizza eaten at our favorite pizza place, and so much more! The best part was finding out about their awesome adventures on Instagram. So fun when Mom isn't around!

Mia and I got to the airport plenty early on November 10th. I hadn't flown since November of 2011 when Lydia was just an infant and I was a little nervous to fly without Jon. So it was great that we had lots of time and Mia was the perfect buddy to have with me. She has this fascination with birds and ducks lately and it didn't take her long to find the bird flying around inside SLC Airport. We were both pretty mesmerized and it helped the time pass by until we boarded the plane. Mia slept the majority of the flight, and only woke up the final ten minutes to pull earwax out of her ears the best she could. I imagine she was trying to get her ears to pop and that seemed like the best way to go about it. She was absolutely a champion flyer. 

Jess was there to meet us and it was so good to see her and be met by a familiar face after laning safely!  And not only was Sarah waiting with her white chariot to drive us home; she'd made a tasty lunch for everyone as well. We gabbed all the way back to Sarah's and chilled at her beautiful place (I have got to get her to help me decorate!) until dinner time when we headed out for Pupusas at the farmers market. It was so fun to wander around and check out a Farmer's Market in California. Lots of tasty goodness. The different flavored cooking oils was especially interesting.

And then Lizzie and Abby got in on Friday and things were more of a blur the rest of the trip. We lunched at Fiore where Sarah knew the owner. I'm pretty sure I cracked after an incredibly ladylike burp escaped me, but that's not important. Although I should note that their Chicken and BLT were outstanding. We spent the afternoon at the Broad and I'm sure were quite the spectacle with the number of ladies and babies we were toting around. Saw some very interesting art work and just enjoyed being together. 

Friday night we ate at Los California food truck. BBQ pork tacos and chicken. Mia feeding me radish slices in quick succession was incredibly entertaining.

And then it was time to get home and get Lizzie and Abby rested for their big race. Felix's night was not fantastic. He missed Lizzie right away and though I wasn't exactly sure what to do for him I was grateful that Mia decided to sleep through the night (something she's never been prone to do). Jess and Sarah and I did our best to sooth him and I got a little more sleep before we were up and heading to meet Lizzie, who was flying down the mountain, at the finish line. She PRed BIG with a time of 3:08. Who is she?! It was great to see her squish Felix's adorable little cheeks. And he was overjoyed to be back with his mama. I'm not sure what my deal was but I was essentially an emotional wreck the entire time we were at the marathon. Lizzie says everyone cries at marathons, but I was a bit ridiculous. And Abby totally danced across the finish line as only Abby can. She never stopped running once and I am totally impressed. One day. One day I'll run a marathon too. Also, their BLISTERS. Sheesh! 

We headed to Hook Burger for lunch. Tasty shakes, awesome sweet potato fries and a delectable burger. We got to see Ab's place. Love the decorations and pictures of everyone she has hanging up in her room. Then dinner at Cafe Rio with Hilary and Andrew. So good to catch up with them and realize that no matter how much time passes, they are the cousins and we will always be able to pick up right where we left off and talk about anything. This was where I learned that Jon and I need to watch Stranger Things because I was the only one there who knew nothing about it. Having watched it at this point, it's definitely worth it. And really hard to stop after just one episode. 

Milo showed Mia such a good time. I think she loves him. Every time I mention Milo she lights up. How fun for them to be birthday buddies. He's such a sweet gentle giant. They jumped together on the bed and Paul would trade off between Milo and Mia, tossing them on the bed. A game that could have gone on forever. They were fun to watch during sacrament meeting at church that last day. They were totally in cahoots about something. And Sarah's made us garlic lemon Greek pitas right before we left. So yummy!! Also, her bread. Mmmmmmmmm.... I got to bring some home and tried to make the delicious French toast she made for us, but fell short. It was good, but not quite as tasty as the mouth watering breakfast she cooked up for us.

And through all of it there was definitely not enough bonding time with the five of us. Sure, we got to chat quite a bit. And annoy each other (Jair Bear Banana Abby. Jair Bear Banana). And crowd together around the bathroom mirrors as we got ready for church. But it still wasn't enough time. It never is. I'm so grateful we did it. And we'll have to do it again sometime. I'm so lucky to have these four ladies as sisters and best friends.

I should mention that Mia and I almost missed our return flight. Thank goodness for Aunt Jess!! We were at the wrong side of Long Beach Airport. Who knew there were two sides??! And then we had a hang up with the Desitin. I had two half empty tubes in my diaper bag but they were on top of each other just wrong so that it looked like more than what it actually was. It didn't set us back too much and once Jess sent us in the right direction (we were aware that our flight was delayed but the status changed to on time without us knowing) and Mia and I barely made it into our seats before they shut the doors and we were in the air. So relieved we didn't miss it! We had a nice seat buddy with pretzels who tried to make Mia's rough return trip less miserable for her. And then we were home and Jon and the girls were there to pick us up. So good to be back with them. So grateful for new memories with the sisters.

Mia update

I haven't blogged solely about Mia since her first birthday and she's grown so much since then!! She'll be 17 months on the 21st and I can't believe this little lady will be going to nursery in December. What happened to my baby??!!! She's doing such big things these days. She started walking a little after her first birthday and by 14 months she had things figured out. I've loved watching her master walking (with all the stumbles and near falls that go with it!) and get such a kick out of watching her run. She gets so excited about so many things. And there are others that she could do without. I think Mr. Zomba grew on her last month. She was not amused with him at first, but after watching how we all interacted with him it didn't take her long to adjust. My favorite though was watching her get used to the witch we hang on the door leading to the basement. She's got a fun history! Lydia was so terrified that we put her back in the bin and eventually into the basement her second Halloween because even if she was out of sight Lyds knew she was there and wasn't okay with it. Soph was scared of her too (she cried at the sight of the witch last year and we had to put her away early then too), and apparently hadn't completely recovered from previous years. This year she'd do whatever it took to avoid getting anywhere near the witch. If she needed to get to the piano from the kitchen she'd run around to the front door and get to it that way. And Mia. So cute. Not a fan at all at first (she was a little standoffish), but over time she took her cues from her sisters. Eventually she got to be on pretty good terms with the witch. If she had to walk past her she'd look at her for a good long minute and then proceed on her way, patting the witch's dress as she walked by her. I so wish she could have told me what she was thinking when she did that, but it looked to me like she was pacifying the witch. Promising her that she wasn't going to give her any trouble, so no need to get upset. And then she'd rush on her way.

She loves loves loves this little smock. If we're headed outdoors she makes sure to let me know that she needs to be wearing it. That or her cupcake hoodie. And she's fallen in love with shoes. Shoes, earrings and hair accessories. I'm convinced that she's okay getting her hair done because she's watched her sisters get theirs done many, many times and knows what it's all about. She puts bows and flowers up to her hair, and if we start talking about hair at dinner we can count on her to touch hers. Not my favorite (especially if we're eating something particularly messy), but I love that she's chiming in. She also enjoys her food more lately if she can eat it off a plate or out of a bowl. I loved watching her eat ham and potato soup the other day. She did an awesome job with that spoon!

I mentioned her love of shoes. She'll try on everyone else's shoes, and take them to whomever they belong to, but if we ask her to put them back where they go, she does so immediately. She's very obedient and understands so much. I love that she'll take her diapers to the trash can, put away blocks for me and carry cans of food up from the basement too. She likes to brush her teeth and she's obsessed with the pantry. I've found this Tupperware of rice in many different places in the house on several occasions. Cracks me up. I've almost knocked it over a few times running into it in odd places. She loves pushing down the toaster button and carry odd appliances in and out of the pantry. So many treasures in there! And she knows some of her colors! About a months ago she was passing out pieces of cake from her tea set. She brought me a yellow piece and Soph asked if she could have the blue one as long as Mia was passing them out. She walked back to the table and got the blue one for Sophie. Like I said, she understands things so well! She'll respond back as well as she can with an enthusiastic Uh-huh or an emphatic NOOOOO!!! And it's always a no (it might actually be her favorite word) when I suggest she take a nap. She's pretty much not a fan of naps (or sleep in general- she's a night owl!), but isn't quite ready to give them up either.

She also loves to be outdoors. She loves the tramp and being on there with other kids. She's definitely a people person, and if there are other kids around she wants to be with them! When the weather was warmer she loved hanging out at our water table and splashing in it like crazy. She's a great splasher! During her baths I get pretty drenched. And she could swing in the swing for hours if time allowed for it. She's loved the freedom and independence that's come from learning to walk. She'd prefer to walk if given the chance. Occasionally I can be seen walking around the neighborhood with Sophie on my hip and holding Mia's hand. I love that she wants to walk everywhere. Taking Lyds to and from school, walking back to our car at Lagoon, or home from church are just a few of the times she'll take off on her own. Sometimes she prefers the grass to the sidewalk, but she doesn't yet understand the danger of the street. We'll get there!

She's also discovered treats. Sometimes I think she'd ask me why I feed her anything but candy if only she knew how. She loved standing in front of people's houses with her sisters with her candy bucket in front of her on Halloween. Clearly people were more than happy to share their treats with her and I'm guessing that's what she was thinking when she shoplifted a Butterfinger's Crunch at Bowman's the day after Halloween. She was riding in one of those kid shopping carts where they can "drive" around in front of our cart, and must have swiped the candy bar while we were waiting at the check out. I didn't have any idea until we were loading up our car. Fortunately it was still in tact and we got it back inside the store without incident.

And finally, this girl is tough as nails. She pulled a chair from our kitchen table on top of herself the other day. Didn't make a peep. Just waited there until I pulled it off of her. She gets tackled by Sophie all the time and Lydia too. Lots of love wrestling. Sometimes I think those girls think of her more as a doll and not so much as a tiny human person. And for all the bumps and thumps that have happened you'd think there would be lots of tears too. Not at all. She's enthusiastic and fun, knows what she wants and we love her! She hasn't really cared for TV much at all to this point, but in the last couple of weeks she's discovered Goldie and Bear on Netflix. And fallen in love. Like giddy excited in love if one of us mentions it. And books. She isn't ready to listen to Grandpa Blackhurst with her sisters yet, but she'll bring me books throughout the day and we'll read together for a few minutes.

Sophie loves Mia's laughter. She often thanks Heavenly Father for it. She loves giving her stuff and hugging her, and has tried to teach her to be reverent during mealtime prayers. She also loves choosing which outfits Mia wears.

Lydia likes it when Mia plays with her. She loves it when she giggles and when she pulls her hair, and she likes it when Mia holds her hand when they're walking.

We all love Mia's funny faces. She pulls lots of fun faces at the dinner table. She adds so much to our family and we just adore her!!

Happy Halloween!

Oh how I love these girls! Halloween was so fun with them. Lydia was one of the few students in the district (our school is the only one on a track system) who had to go to school on Halloween. But when she got home it wasn't long before we were dressing up and getting ready to go out. Uncle Tophe texted a few days ago and offered to man our door so that both Jon and I could go trick or treating with the girls. So nice of him! He took the girls for rides on the witches broomsticks before we went out. One of the best parts of their night.

We made quick visits to Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst and Grandma and Grandpa Frazier. And took a few pictures at each stop. We realized that we should have started earlier. By the time we left our house in our neighborhood it was much darker than we'd have liked. Next year! We're try to remember to start out earlier next year!

Sophie was the cutest cowgirl (or cowboy/girl as she referred to herself) ever with lots of personality and happy to ride in the wagon this year. Her horse rode with her and sometimes Mia did too. Nothing scary jumped out at us, and she was more than okay with that. And she loved getting lots of yummy treats.

Mia had lots of costume options this year, but we all just about died from her adorableness when we saw her in this. And she had a great time trick or treating. She stood by her sisters at each house and reached in everyone's candy bowls when offered and figured things out rather quickly. She never complained about the cold, despite her freezing fingers.

Lydia started the night with s stumble right outside our house. We'd barely started when her broom (maybe?) slipped out and tripped her. She said her knee hurt real bad but she was walking just fine and didn't want to quit. At the end of the night we saw that she was scraped up enough to draw some blood but she toughed it out and it didn't become a problem. Also, why does she look like she's suddenly become a teenager??

This post wouldn't be complete if I neglected to mention Mr. Zomba and his shenanigans. One Saturday (weeks ago) Jon and the girls went to Home Depot to run some errands and came home with this guy. Only they kept him a secret. Mia and I had gone for a run and the girls kept asking me if I wanted to take a shower. They kept it up long enough that I started to suspect something so we all made our way into the bathroom and opened the shower. And though I knew something was up the sight of Mr. Zomba still made me shriek a little. The girls thought it was hilarious and Jon heard me in the basement. Mia, on the other hand, was not amused. Later on, before we set off for the grocery store, I discovered Mr. Zomba sitting on the pot looking like this:

I gasped when I saw him and then asked Soph to get me some tissue a few minutes later when she joined me. She stopped dead in her tracks, put her hands to her mouth, and screamed when she saw him, despite being in on the whole thing. We found him in different places in the house over the next few weeks. He was standing by Mia's chair wearing an eye patch and holding an inflatable sword one morning. Another morning he was sitting on the couch having a tea party party with Mia's tea set. The girls remember him sitting at the kitchen table eating a cookie and soda and playing the piano another day. Some blankets went missing one day and we found Mr. Zomba sitting at the piano with the blankets draped around him.

His days of popping up all over the house ended with him sitting out on our front porch, adding to the ambiance of Halloween. He's now retired to the basement until next year when I'm sure he'll surface and entertain us with his tricks.

We didn't quite have a theme going on this year, but seeing as I didn't realize Jon and I were dressing up until he came home at 4:30 on Halloween with a broom he'd borrowed from Stacey for me, I'd say we did alright!

I also wanted to record that Lydia and Sophie participated in Grandma Blackhurst's Halloween talent show. Lydia was the girl and I was the witch in The Girl and the Witch while Grandma narrated. And Soph did an incredible job presenting "Five Little Pumpkins" in front of the fam. Both girls had their parts as well as each other's parts memorized spot on. They experienced a bit of stage fright and were much quieter during the show than they ever were in practice. I loved their enthusiasm!

Pumpkin carving

On Friday night last week Jon asked the girls what kind of pumpkin they wanted this year. Sophie immediately requested a witch, and it didn't take Lydia too long to decide on a cat. They put their heads together and decided that a spider for Mia would be just perfect. As long as it was cute and not creepy. And with those requests in mind Jon searched for the perfect pictures to recreate and we got to work.

And this was how things started out. With Mia locked into her highchair. Totally unacceptable. She's not a baby anymore! What were we thinking?? So we moved her to a big girl seat and she got busy creating a masterpiece! Only a little bit of sharpie got on the table, so overall I'd say it was quite a success. And I loved watching her participate with everyone else!

Lydia braved the disgusting pumpkin guts and both she and Soph could be heard squealing, "Ewwww!!! Don't let the grossie guts get on me!" or some variation of that phrase as we emptied the pumpkins of their insides.

Soph didn't like it anymore than Lydia did, but she kept pulling the best faces ever as she scooped. This is perhaps my favorite!

It was a lot better for the girls when Jon and I stepped in and got rid of the smelly, icky, gushy insides.

And once the pumpkins were cleaned out Jon got to work and did what he does best! Aren't these awesome?! Mia smiled every time she looked at her spider, Sophie loved her witch, and Lydia was very happy with her cat. I loved seeing them on our porch, and hope these little ladies know just how much they are loved!