Our November

A big highlight of November for Hudson (and mom) was that our co-op preschool is no longer at our house! He was thrilled to go to preschool at Mari's house and it's been fun for mom to have a little time two mornings a week to herself!

 We had "Friendsgiving" with our dear friends, the Bennetts. They are expecting their third boy too, so we are just a general mass of little boys running around. We made a turkey, pies and sweet potatoes and Bennetts brought delicious rolls and salad and we had a wonderful feast! Thanksgiving food is too good to only enjoy once! The boys had a blast running around together and playing and we had a great time chatting with Chad and Alyse. I had to laugh, at one point after dinner, Alyse and I were each laying on a couch, pregnant and exhausted while the men did the dishes.

 Daylight savings time has been rough around here- hence for the first time in probably three years, Hudson cuddled up on my lap and fell asleep right at the first of church! He stayed asleep the whole meeting, it was so sweet!

We had Chase's first parent teacher conference and it was great. We love Mrs. Miller, and she loves Chase. Her first question to me was, "Where did the tractor obsession come from?" He is (obviously) doing really really well in class. He's well behaved, learning a lot, and we've been able to see that growth at home. He's already acting more responsible and often responds when I ask him to do something, "I can do it, I'm in kindergarten now." He's reading well above kindergarten reading level, his handwriting and motor skills are improving every day, and he's learning so much about life and interacting with others. Chase is just an awesome kid and is thriving in school- just like we knew he would!

The day of his conference also ended up being election Tuesday, we went out to ice cream to celebrate a good conference (not the election) and had to laugh when Hudson wouldn't take his eyes off his ice cream for one second for a picture. Then we put the boys to bed and watched the results of the election roll in. The results were surprising, since almost every poll had Hillary easily winning the election, but in the end, state after state came in for Trump. We were pretty shocked. This whole election process has been ugly in America this year, worse than I can ever remember. People on both sides sharing intolerant, hateful, and close-minded comments, and social media allows it all to spread like wildfire. In the aftermath, it was a good reminder to me that 1. everyone has a reason they voted why they did- and just because the "issue" that draws them to a specific candidate doesn't appeal to everyone, doesn't mean it isn't valid. We live different lives and have different needs and we should all respect everyone, regardless of who they voted for and 2. This world just needs kindness- and really it is everywhere if we look for it. But this was a good reminder to me to be a little extra kind. There are a lot of people struggling, and they need kindness. That was kind of a tangent from our normal activities on the blog, but it's been on our minds and in our conversations a lot these last few months. Ben and I actually voted for a third party candidate for president, because we didn't feel like either major candidate represented us well. But now it's time to just pull together, support the people around us, do what we can to make our community a great place, and teach our children to be kind. 

 Chase started feeling sad that fall was almost over and we hadn't jumped in the leaves enough. So we made that happen.

 November was so warm, we played at the park with no jackets frequently! This was probably our last warm day and the boys were running around the park (at sunset) as happy as can be. It was a really fun evening. And then two days later we woke up to snow! Just a tiny amount of snow, but it was suddenly cold and definitely different! The boys wanted to play in it so badly, I let them "shovel" for just a minute before school. Luckily, right after Thanksgiving a huge snowstorm came in and covered us in a thick blanket of snow. The boys have already spent many happy hours out playing in it!

As a final part of our November, we did another thankful tree. I love doing this and helping the boys understand the spirit of gratitude. Hudson didn't quite get it this year- he mostly kept being "thankful" for things he wants, but doesn't actually have. But I feel like we are getting there! 

Thanksgiving in San Diego

We took off the weekend before Thanksgiving for our much anticipated trip to San Diego, California! My parents generously treated us to a week there and it was amazing to be all together, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery, in such a fun area! Our week was packed full of activities! We took our new van on it's maiden road trip, and I think we all give the van two thumbs up! The DVD player saved us- as did all the additional packing space! We split the road trip up with a night in St. George- and you should have seen how giddy the boys were about our hotel in St. George. These boys love to travel (and apparently aren't that hard to impress!) After another six hours of driving on Saturday we were so happy to be out of the car and at our resort. We didn't have much time before sunset, but the boys were anxious to hit the pool, so we did!

Sunday after church we headed out to La Jolla to see the beautiful San Diego temple. Then we headed to the beach to see the seals and sea lions- they did not disappoint! Hudson loved seeing the animals up close, and Chase was much more interested in playing in the sand, discussing the architecture of the wall and how it was possibly built. True to their natural personalities! 

 We paid a little money to go tour this sea cave- it was pretty cool! 145 steps down and you end up with this view! The boys thought it was a grand adventure and worth the short stop.

 Monday was a full day in San Diego- the boys started by touring the USS Midway, a retired air-craft carrier that is in now permanently in port in the San Diego Harbor. The boys loved it! After lunch at a delicious place Ben found we headed out to Coronado to play on the beach for a little while. We ended the day in Old Town, toured the Mormon Battalion Museum and had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

 Tuesday we had a "chill at the resort" type day. The men golfed, I napped (a lot- all this traveling took a tole on my pregnant, tired body) and in the afternoon we entered cupcake wars! We let the kiddos have a lot of creative license and ended up with a Martian-Dolphin cupcake- that was mostly covered in sprinkles.

Wednesday was our big day at the San Diego Zoo! It was such a fun day. The whole family was there and we had a great time. The panda was so active, just sitting there eating bamboo right in front of us! Hudson said his favorite was the elephants, bears, and lions (they were huge!). We were there for almost the whole day and still only saw about 2/3 of the zoo.

I don't actually have any pictures from our Thanksgiving day, but it was maybe my favorite day of the trip. We hung out at the resort, swam and enjoyed the pools (and Chase used the waterslides a lot). We had a good afternoon nap and then all congregated at my parent's condo for dinner. Our dinner was mostly bought at Costco and included very little preparation, and it was still delicious. After dinner we played a hilarious game of Taboo and some Apples to Apples (Chase's favorite game these days). We have a lot to be thankful for, and this trip was a good reminder of the things most important, our healthy, happy family!

Friday was our last full day in San Diego and we spent it at Legoland! It was pretty crowded, but the boys had a great time nonetheless. Chase is so obsessed with all things building related, so this place was great for him.

And then our trip was over! We took two days driving home, stopping in St. George again. Although there was a little traffic that slowed us down, the drive was otherwise uneventful. We laughed pretty hard when we finally pulled into Kaysville, to my parents house to drop them off and Hudson suddenly burst out in angry protest "NO! I don't want to go home! I want to go back to San Diego!!!! Vacations are supposed to be long! That was short!" It apparently did not occur to him during our entire two day drive that we were going back home. He's since adjusted, but it was very obvious that both boys loved our trip just as much (if not more) than Ben and I did. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving full of wonderful memories.

Halloween

 I know I say this every year, but Halloween with little ones is just the best. We really love that they have so many opportunities to dress up and I feel like we've fully embraced the holiday by the time actual trick or treating happens! This year the real Halloween festivities started on Thursday with a carnival at Kaysville Elementary, where Nana teaches. Since I was still feeling sickish from the flu, my mom and Pam took the boys to the carnival and they had a great time!

 On Friday they celebrated at school. First there was a costume parade. Each kindergartener was paired with a 6th grader and Chase got lucky to be paired with cute Averee (who was in our old ward). Apparently he didn't want to hold her hand because "my hands get too sweaty!" and compromised on just holding one finger. After the parade the 6th graders put on a spook alley and party for the kindergarteners! Needless to say, Chase had a blast!

Friday night (when Ben was finally back in town!) we had our ward Halloween party! It was amazing! They had a delicious dinner, the whole church decorated, and lots of fun games and activities for the kids. Our boys had a great time. The only picture I got was Chase and his buddy Porter, who was wearing the same costume (thanks Costco!).

 I loved how cute they looked in their costumes this year! Chase saw this costume at Costco back in August and he loved it so we bought it. I've only now bought a grand total of 3 costumes EVER for my kids (all for Chase actually) and then each costume has been worn multiple years, by both kids! Hudson, magically and happily, has always been excited about wearing the hand-me-down costume, and this year was no exception. He was thrilled to be a fire-fighter!

 Saturday night we went to the trunk-or-treat in my parents ward, which is also our old ward. It was so fun. Chase loved running around with all his buddies and it was a beautiful, warm night!

 I love this picture with their cousins. Nora is super into Monsters Inc these days, so she was thrilled with the idea of wearing the old blue monster costume both my boys have worn and loved. So Anna was a tiny Mike Wizowski, Kate was Roz and Will was Mr. Waternoose. These boys love their cousins and it's so cute to see their bond grow!

 Monday, finally it was Halloween. We finally got our pumpkins carved. Ben figured out last year that it's easiest and fastest to use a drill, which is how we did most of their pumpkins which delights the boys. The boys picked out their pumpkins weeks ago with their grandparents, Hudson grabbed the first one he saw, and Chase carefully searched the pumpkin patch for the biggest one.

I decided to try to make "dinner in a pumpkin" for our Halloween dinner. When I explained it to Chase he gave me a huge hug and told me that I was the best mom in the whole world! And it was actually tasty and we all enjoyed it. I was also glad to get a good, healthy dinner in them before the deluge of candy. 

And then it was time for actual trick-or-treating. We stopped up at Nana's first, and did a few of their neighbors who love the boys. This Halloween was super fun because Aunt Heidi flew in for a few days, so she came trick or treating with us! Then we hit up our neighborhood and the boys pumpkins quickly filled up! Some of our neighbors really go all out- our favorite is the house that does homemade scones and hot chocolate! After trick-or-treating we snuggled up at home and watched "The Great Pumpkin" just like we did last year. It surprises me with how old that movie is, but our boys LOVE it. They think it's hilarious. It was a wonderful Halloween! 

Oh, and Hudson had me draw a mustache on his face for trick or treating because "I just need one, okay!"