We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Thursday was just a normal day for us. In fact I even taught at the gym that morning. I mowed the lawn, we worked in the yard etc etc. It was a great day filled with family time. My parents flew out the next day so we decided to have Thanksgiving on Sunday instead. We had the missionaries over and our friend Samuel. We came home from church and cooked everything. It was really rushed but it ended up being yummy and what thanksgiving isn’t rushed. 🙂 As we ate we did our tradition of sharing what we are grateful for. This year I was grateful my parents were in town. It had been a year and a half since they had visited so we were blessed to have them come and stay for a week!
After dinner the kids made a gingerbread house with Nana and Papa.
This year Hallie decided she wanted to be a princess for halloween. Surprise. surprise!! haha At first she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty and then it changed to Belle. This made my life really easy because she already had the dress and the shoes. I ordered a crown on amazon.com but because of the hurricane it didn’t make it here on time. She didn’t seem to mind. Thank goodness! Kyle was Prince Charming. And a handsome Prince Charming at that! I doubted my choice for him because he has recently become obsessed with Buzz Lightyear but I figured this was the last year he would let me choose for him so I stuck with the prince. My amazing mom made his costume. She is so good at everything she does. The costume was so awesome and he looked like a handsome handsome prince! I’m seriously obsessed with this boy!! 🙂
I can't believe how big my kids are getting!We asked Kyle if he was going to protect the princess and he said, "No fight bad guys!" Ben made Kyle a sword out of cardboard and duct tape. It turned out great!
Do you see why I am so obsessed with him?!
Hallie and her friend Kaitlyn. They were inseparable at the church halloween party.
A few weeks ago we went on a preschool field trip to a nature center. The kids had a great time exploring on a walk and then inside the nature center. They were able to see animals and bones and old snake skin. So cool!
Hallie still had her stitches when we went hence the giant bandaid.
The fall is the perfect time to go to the Zoo. Kyle didn’t know what Zoo meant so we told him it was where the animals lived. All morning he kept saying “anmal” because he was so excited. I think the favorites of the day were the monkeys, elephants, and farm animals. They talked about them all day!
We started another co-op preschool this year. It was actually a huge answer to my prayers. Hallie really enjoys preschool and I wanted her do it but we can’t afford the crazy prices that a drop of preschool costs. A mom I knew from my mission emailed me asking if I wanted to join their preschool. (They only live about 10-15 min away) I was so grateful!
The first two weeks of preschool were at our house and things were so crazy that I didn’t take an official photo of Hallie. Since last week was her first week going to someone else’s house I figured it still counted as her first day. 🙂 She loved it and Kyle cried when we dropped her off. He finally calmed down once we got to the gym. When I picked him up after my workout the first thing he said was “Hallie, Joe Joe’s house. Get Hallie!” haha He really missed her.
Ben cut Kyle’s hair again yesterday. We LOVED the curls but it was getting so long on the top back that we had to trim it. We gave Kyle some food and Ben tried his best. Kyle was moving all over the place. Ben kept saying it was the most difficult hair cut he had ever done. 🙂 Kyle’s hair ended up a lot shorter than we were expecting but he still looks handsome and Ben did a great job regardless of the circumstances.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
He’s just like his daddy and you couldn’t make him look bad. Although, I am looking forward to the curls growing back!
A few weeks ago Ben’s mom and brother flew out from Utah to visit us. I love when people come and visit! It was such a treat for all of us. The kids were spoiled with lots and lots of attention from LaRae. Hallie cried and cried when it was time for them to go home. LaRae played pretend all day everyday (which is Hallie’s dream come true), took the kids to the pet store, bought them ice cream and watermelon and just spoiled them all around. They were in heaven. I’m so grateful my kids have such amazing grandma’s!
While LaRae was here we took advantage of the babysitting and took a trip. Ben and I went camping and then canoeing on the Shenandoah River. We did 12 miles and it was so fun and relaxing. I love being outdoors and so it was heaven to me. Thank you Ben for putting it together and thank you LaRae for watching the kids and making it possible.
Top two memories: Seeing a Bald Eagle hunt. It was incredible! Not seeing a soul for miles on the river and being just the two of us.
The scenery was amazing!Our camping spot right on the river.Setting up camp.Beginning our adventure.We found a rope swing. It was awesome. Don't worry I did it too. 🙂My view was the best!Happy as a clam! (We had to put our life jackets on as we pulled up to the canoe rental shop.)
That same weekend (It was Labor Day weekend so it was long.) We took Ben’s brother Shawn to Ocean City, Maryland. Shawn had never been out east before and he really wanted to see Maryland and the beach. The weather wasn’t the greatest and it was a spur of the moment decision but we are glad we went. It was a fun day.
Ben and Shawn. Ben obviously playing the older brother and explaining something. lolTwo of the four Crane boys. Good times relaxing and playing in the waves not having to worry about watching the kids.
Shawn wanted to try Maryland crab. We tried this place called "Hoopers" and the guys loved it. I snuck in a Panera Bread salad. (I hate seafood!)Ben with the "goods" I love his face in this one. He was so sick of me taking pictures all afternoon! He was saying enough already! 🙂 I couldn't take my eyes off of the boys while they ate. It was hilarious. They were wolves!
Instead of driving home the same way we came we decided to go the long way and see more of Maryland and Virginia. We drove down through Virginia Beach and back up to Woodbridge. Ben has been wanting to see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and with no kids he took this opportunity. (Our kids in the car for long trips is no bueno!) Not only was it a long drive but we got stuck in traffic for two hours! Yikes! We were in the car for around 11 hours that day. We got lots of time to listen to Ron Paul books and lots of time to talk. 🙂
