November 2020

We needed a full representation of the pumpkins we were spoiled with this year. With Thomas' shorter  school days and time to kill, he took his liberty to make several "jack-o-lanterns". He got out a sharpie and put a face on almost all of them. It was a couple of days before Halloween when we finally got out some knives and for the first time carved a real jack-o-lantern. I realized that he's been learning about jack-o-lanterns in school, but never realized that you can actually carve a pumpkin. 

The district decided to allow kindergartners to attend school. So, four days a week, Thomas gets to go into the school with a teacher and 6 other kids for two hours. If we get there early, he gets some time on the playground.

One last round of zucchini boats! Kyle brought his kids to visit for a day. We had fun biking over to Sugarhouse park and enjoying quite the adventure trying to wrangle nine kids.

And another trip to the rope swing in Centerville. The Blackhurst's came with us for another fun adventure.

I love my hiking boys! This is Thomas!

And here's Lincoln!

Lunchtime! We've really taken advantage of school lunches this year. The Covid relief fund has given these boys lunch for months!

Family pictures were another...well...they happened again this year. Ezra was one of the highlights and one of the hardest parts of family pictures this time around. He was a typical two year old who would not participate, until of course, he wanted to.

This nine year old was a champ and was ready to smile the whole time!

Here's our best picture of everyone. It was the best by far. As that Thomas boy had a stubborn hour and wasn't willing to touch anyone, or smile when asked.

Oliver loves every single second he gets positive attention from his big brother. Getting pictures taken was no exception. 

It was after the photo shoot when we were playing on the playground that Madi caught this gem, with a real smile from that kid. His smile ALWAYS makes me smile!

These kids were trying to recreate pictures from years past...and of course, there was one missing for the fun.

Oliver is also good at making me smile. He was pleasant the whole time, and left often to play on the playground when we were all about to say "cheese".

Here's the light and life of my energy and soul. I am one lucky mama! 

I love it when old toys bring hours of entertainment! This ship should take hours to put together. This crew usually spends up to 30 minutes putting it together the right way. Then looking at the instructions gets old and they just start playing and pretending. And that's okay too.

And here is our Thanksgiving fun. We were lucky to spend the weekend in St. George at Troy's house with Marissa hosting along with Jodi and her family and my mom. It was a very uncertain year with uncertain decisions. I was hoping and praying that we wouldn't regret our decision and be that family where the Rona spread. Once we made the decision and we were there, I didn't regret it for a minute. I've missed my family so much this year. We missed two of my brothers and their families, but I loved being with this crew. Troy had to work most of the time we were there, but Marissa was quite the hostess and the kids never stopped having fun together. Cousin time is the best!

Across the street from their home is a hill that is a hike that even Ezra can summit with a great view of Washington County.

One of the main events was pickleball. There was always a race for court time. 

On Thanksgiving morning we had our own 5K race. Kids on scooters or strollers and adults could walk or run, or both...we all made it and had an awesome ride with the promise of donuts for all finishers. 

This was our destination. There was some guy flying around in a fan plane that the kids loved watching for a really long time.

Another big hit was the giant hot tub. The kids really couldn't stop having fun. Thomas' face says it all.

Everyone had scooters, so we rode scooters to a nearby park.

We had fun going to crystal mountain. Marissa had found a new crystal mine that we hadn't seen before. Plenty of digging for everyone!

Khari and Oliver were bringing home their loot however they could.

On Saturday we tried to go rock climbing. The only place I knew to take a crew with a bunch of kids was completely packed. I wouldn't have felt comfortable going there with that crew even on a non-covid year. We were headed to plan B-Gunlock, when my mom remembered the Anasazi Trail along the way. It was the perfect spot for this group. It was a mile hike with petroglyphs along the cliffs. Plenty of cliff hopping and wall scaling for everyone.

Thomas thought today was picture day. He wanted his picture taken at every angle with every camera by each petroglyph.

We came home and had pizza and then s'mores at their fire pit in their backyard. Marshmallows and chocolate will always put a smile on Oliver's face.

Thomas doesn't care for marshmallows, but he'll enjoy a s'more his own way.

And some more Thanksgiving, Poll cousin time fun!!!

Once again. I am so grateful for my family, I'm grateful we were able to spend a few days together over Thanksgiving. Once again, I'm a happy mama, but I also got to be a happy aunt, a happy sister, a happy daughter and a happy wife all weekend long.