The High, The Low, and Everything In Between

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Utah with my parents and sisters and their families.  We had a great trip.

The High (temperature): 38 degrees, on our way home, just outside Grand Junction
The Low (temperature): -16 degrees (yes, you read that correctly), for a potty stop in Vail (great timing, Sadie!)

Now, for the actual trip:

Aren't Colorado mountains beautiful??  Now, if only Denver looked as picturesque as this...

We were up at 4:30 am, on the road by 5:15, and by the time we finished Thanksgiving dinner, dessert, and playing with cousins, it was past 10 o'clock!  Both of the girls were asleep within moments of laying them down!

I found these reindeer antlers at the dollar store and they were too cute to pass up!  I wish I had gotten a picture of all the kids wearing them together!

The entire weekend, these 4 girls played together so well.  We didn't have one issue at all and they spent A LOT of time together! It was so great to see them just enjoying their time together and having a blast!

At Thanksgiving Point, there's a Dinosaur Museum.  There's a sand and water part (I have to admit, I was very skeptical when we entered the room.  I was prepared for a bunch of messy kids!) and the kids just loved it!  Ben walked around collecting all the dinosaurs and lining them up!  He got so upset, though, when the water washed them out of his reach!  Poor guy!

Morgan worked on her Dinosaurs' "home" as she called it, very intently and was proud to show off her work!

After the sand and water part, you go into a room filled with sand and dinosaur bones.  Each of the kids grabbed a paintbrush and started searching for dinosaurs!  Here's Morgan and Afton.

This is a picture of Mei.  I included this one mostly for my sister.  After a long night, she stayed home while my dad, Brian, and I took all the kids to the museum.  Afton and Mei insisted on wearing their skirts, and I wasn't up to fighting them on it.  

On Friday, when we first met Baby Jack at dinner, Sadie was very jealous.  In fact, while I was holding him, she came over to me, started pushing him away and squeezed herself between me and Jack.  Then, she proceeded to push him onto the table, over to anyone else who would hold him.  She wasn't sharing her mom!
Later that night, I asked her if we could take him to our house and she even offered her bed for him to sleep in, but still wouldn't come near him.
This picture is from Sunday afternoon (the next time we saw the Jones').  Sadie walked in the door and said, "I hold "duck" (Jack)!  I hold!"  She screamed when Alex took him away to feed him a bottle!

 Morgan got a chance to hold him, too (barely).

We stopped by the Nordstrom's on Sunday night and Morgan discovered the dress up box!  Here she is in her "wedding" dress!  And, no, she's not kneeling--it's about 2 feet too long!  She was tripping all night!

Here are the girls.  It's amazing how they can have 3 years' age difference, and go over a year without seeing each other and still have a blast playing and enjoying the company!

We had a fabulous vacation!  I just realized I forgot to get a pic of our stop in Grand Junction to see the Deans and the Wrights, but we loved seeing you guys, too!

I figured they were up to something...

Usually, the girls go right to sleep when we put them down.  The deal is, if they go to sleep and we don't have to go in and they don't come out, they earn a "money" for their jar.  

However, the other night, they didn't come out, but they were awfully chatty and giggly.  When I checked on them before I went to bed, here's what I found.  

(sorry it's sideways, I can't get it to flip!)

At least the slumber "party" was short lived!

Morgan's Cosmo Story

Here's Morgan's recap of meeting Cosmo--for the 3rd time 

Despite my best efforts, she still doesn't put spaces between her words or erase when she goofs.  And, most of her spelling is quite creative (she's 4, what do you expect??).  If you get tired of figuring it out, I've transcribed it below.

Picture (L to R): Daddy (it's a cloud above his head), Cosmo, Morgan, 2 Cheerleaders.

The Third Time I Met Cosmo

When I met Cosmo the third time I liked it.  Daddy was there so I was not scared.  I liked Cosmo.  It was fun.  Daddy's friend David, he came too to the football game.  Do you know three houses away from the game by us was ------- (I can't even decipher that part and she's asleep!)

I was happy that I went to the game.

Hard at Play!

 Watching Sadie play in the basement this morning reminded me of when Morgan played at this age down here 2 years ago!  The only difference is Sadie was so focused on putting a meal together she wouldn't look at the camera.  I tried for almost 10 minutes and she ignored me.  All I could get was, "Where's daddy's spoon?  Can't find Daddy's spoon!"  She found it and went right back to ignoring me!

45 minutes ago...

...this was a tantrum.

Sleep tight, Morgan!

Brian's Birthday WEEKEND

What a spoiled guy!!!  His birthday lasted Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!

Since this could very likely be the LAST time Brian can go to a BYU game in Colorado, he and Morgan went up to Fort Collins on Saturday to watch BYU smoke CSU!!  Go Cougars!

When they got home, I asked Morgan as she walked in the door, "Did you have fun?"  She answered very enthusiastically, "Yeah! And our team winned!!"  She then continued to tell me all about the third time she met Cosmo because "the first time I was just 2, and the second time was when he was in our BYU book.  That's like meeting him, right, mom?"

Think she was happy to see Cosmo and the cheerleaders?  She's now decided that when she grows up she wants to be 3 things.  First, a BYU cheerleader; second, a ballerina, and third, a mommy.

Sadie was quite upset when Daddy and Morgan left without her for the football game.  So, the whole time they were gone, I faked her being there by showing college football on TV.  She was content.  But, when Brian got home, he took Sadie out on a special date and they went for dessert at Chili's.  She was elated to go get ice cream and dip chips in "sauce" (salsa).

Then, after opening presents (Morgan couldn't wait any longer) Sadie combed daddy's hair, "just perfect" before bed Sunday night.

If you know Brian, you know he loves burgers and fries.  Sadie will tell you where we went for his Birthday dinner.

We love you, Daddy!  Happy 29th!

Giving Thanks

 A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me if I had any suggestions about where to find leaves for a "Thankful Tree."  So, I gave her the suggestion of the dollar store, and then sent off to check my own dollar store--to no avail.  (Tiffany, however, found some!)  Determined to still make a thankful tree, the girls and I traced and cut out a bunch of leaves for our trees.  (Thank goodness I thought to cut four layers at a time!  We would have been cutting forever!)  Each night at dinner, we add 4 leaves to our tree.  So, here's our tree...so far.

Sadie always has the same "thankfuls" every night.  1. Jesus 2. Rainbows 3. Kitty cats.  Then, we usually can get her to think of something she hasn't already put on the tree.

I saw this cute craft in a magazine (family fun) and thought I would make it!

Sadie likes sorting the vegetables by color and Morgan and I put them in alphabetical order.  

Randomness

This picture needs no explanation...

...but this one does!  

The girls have very rarely woken up to "monsters" in their room and here's why:

1. Froggy (the humidifier) eats them all gone

2. Monster spray (if you don't have some, you should get it--it's very affordable!) Thanks Grandma Tammy for telling us about it!

3. The Monster key on the door

4. The Monster Tigers and Monster Lions (see below) -- she drew them all by herself and carefully placed them on her dresser.

What will Morgan think up next???

Sadie's First Bus Ride

Just before Sadie was born, we took Morgan on the bus downtown.  She'd been begging for months and so we made a trip out of it.  Sadie hasn't necessarily been bugging us for a bus ride, until recently, when a little "bird" dropped the idea.

She (im)patiently waited for the bus to come.  To be honest, I think she really didn't know whether she was supposed to be excited or scared.  

When the bus did come, she was very tentative.  I guess those of us who have experienced a bus ride before should have given her a little heads up.  (Oops!)

After we found a seat and sat down, Sadie looked for her seat belt.  When I told her the bus didn't have one, but she needed to stay seated, so just turned and looked out the window.

This was within the first few minutes.  Still doesn't know what to expect.

15 minutes later...she's riding like a pro!

Of course, we couldn't leave Morgan out!

This picture actually has nothing to do with the bus ride.  But, we saw it next to an outdoor BBQ stand downtown and I immediately thought of my parents.  It's a train BBQ!

Yard Work

Other than this first picture and the video, Morgan took all the pictures while we worked in the yard on Saturday, getting it ready for the winter.  In addition to a few of the family, I decided to include a selection from what she deemed to be more interesting.  Scroll down and you'll see.