Thanksgiving

Henry gave us a great lesson on Monday night about being grateful.  Everyone was able to add leaves with things they are grateful for to our tree.

The boys had the entire week off!  We had friends over, went to the library, finished reading Wonder again, and just relaxed.

Thanksgiving Day was really low key.  We didn't have anyone over for dinner this year and although we had a really great conversation at dinnertime it just wasn't the same without sharing it with another family.

Henry set a beautiful table though.

I found a few feathers in our turkey when I went to cook it!  Kind of gross.

We really are so blessed in so many ways and I'm glad to have a holiday where we can really focus on and remember those blessings. 

Lydia Lately

Lydia is so much fun lately.  She's a little chatterbox that needs to narrate everything that is going on.  She loves to say the prayer everytime.  She is always asking to have her girls over to play.  And she's beyond excited for every holiday and birthday.  Occasionally she does stop to rest.  One day she wanted to watch a show so I asked her to go wait for me upstairs while I finished whatever I was doing.  When I finally went to help her I couldn't find her.  There was a large unfolded blanket on the couch though and when I went to pick it up I found Lydia underneath--fast asleep.

Lydia used to play upstairs by herself occasionally and have "alone time" while I had my own alone time and read scriptures or got other things done.  Now, I have to worry what she's getting into.  This particular day she found my lipstick and gave herself a makeover.

She also drew on my mirror and colored the couch!  Not a great day for alone time.

Lydia finally likes to go to the library.  The other day we found some trees that had changed color...  she loved the red leaves.

As I was cleaning up a shelf I found this rose.  Lydia picked it up and told me that it was from her date.  When I asked her who she went on a date with she told me "with dad."  I don't know where she comes up with this stuff!

One of Lydia's favorite things to do is to take pictures with my phone.  She can take over a hundred pictures in a matter of seconds.

Surprise!!

William's 13th birthday was pretty low key.  Since one of his gifts was BYU tickets he didn't have a ton to open.  I could sense his disappointment although he didn't say anything.

He requested a chocolate pie for his birthday treat.  It was delicious.  (He asked us to grill hamburgers and hotdogs with Garden Salsa Sunchips for his dinner).

Little did William know that we had planned a surprise party for him that weekend!  We invited quite a few of his friends and had a great showing.  We got him out of the house just in time!  The boys all hid in the kitchen while we awaited William's arrival.

Lydia put on her bossy pants and made sure those boys were quiet!  She kept shushing them!  They thought it was pretty funny.

She also took lots of pictures of the boys with my phone.

I was really worried that one of the boys would give it away and say something to William at school but everyone kept it under wraps!  William was so surprised!!

The boys had a fun time hanging out.  They ate lots of food (though not as much as we thought they would!), played outside, and watched a movie.  William is lucky to have so many great kids his age.

Lucky 13

William has grown up so much in the last year.  We can not keep up on clothes with him!  It seems like I buy the next size up and 2 weeks later he is telling me that the clothes are too tight!  William has his particular style and generally likes to look nice.  He's improving at both the trumpet and piano and it's fun to hear him play.  He also really enjoys tennis and seems to have some natural ability there.  He looks so sharp every Sunday in his suit and other adults have told me that they appreciate him dressing nicely as he passes the sacrament.  I like being in Young Women's so that I can see his interaction with the other kids his age!  He seems to have a friend in whatever group he's hanging out with--we are so lucky to have so many great youth in our ward.  He is super excited to finally be a teenager!

What is your favorite...
color? red
food? cheeseburgers
toy? playstation
show? Teen Titans
animal?  
book(s)? What If
song? Thunder by Imagine Dragons
hymn? I Stand All Amazed
What do you like to do? play video games
Who is your best friend?  Laker, Joe, Eli, Luke and Luke
What do you want to be when you grow up? something that involves technology
Do you have a girlfriend? no

I am -  13

I am afraid of - scary movies

I like - video games

I like to eat - chocolate

I don't like - corn

I know - I'm getting at least $10 for my birthday

I want to be -  able to drive

I like to watch - shows

I like to go to - Disneyland

My hero is- Dad

I cry when - I'm in extreme pain

Mom gets mad when -  I don't put my laundry away

Mom is happy when - I do my laundry early

Dad gets mad when - I annoy people

Dad is happy when - I don't annoy people

I can't wait for - Friday and Saturday

Something Mom says to me - "hi William"

Something Dad says to me - "hey William"

My favorite place to go is - Oklahoma

My Mom and Dad make me laugh by - tickling me

I know my mom loves me because - she  tickles me

I know my dad loves me because - he tickles me

BYU Game

When I heard that BYU was coming to Las Vegas to play against UNLV I knew the older boys would love to go to the game.  We decided that since it was near William's birthday it would be an early birthday gift to him.  The Alumni Association threw a tailgate beforehand so we took all of the kids to that.  It took us a while to find exactly where the tailgate was since the location wasn't really clear but eventually we found it.  I think everyone had a great time.  It was fun to see so many ward members there as well.

Lydia loved the pom pom she got and was cheering "rah, rah, rah-rah-rah!" all night.  She also was saying "B-Y-me" all night... super cute.  I'm glad that we decided against buying tickets for the rest of the family because they were ready to go home after the tailgate.

Rich, William, and James said that the game was so much fun!  They ended up with pretty decent seats and loved watching the game live!  I told them that their job was to cheer BYU on to victory... and they did!  After such a dismal season it was nice to see them have a win.

A few days after the game I found that I had won a BYU football signed by Coach Sitake.  William was really happy that I won.

Halloween Fun

We always have so many opportunities to dress up for Halloween.  First was the school Fall Festival.  William wasn't too sure that he wanted to come but ended up finding a bunch of his friends and having a good time.

Next was our ward trunk-or-treat.  The kids always have a fun time at this and I love that they walk around with their friends.  Lydia loved passing out candy with me until Rich was done helping with the food and could take her around.

On Halloween Day William decided to dress up as "three-hole-punch Will" (like three-hole-punch Jim from The Office).

After school we had "witch's fingers" for snack.

Lydia couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating!  She has been waiting all month long!  Rich told me that after walking to the other side of the neighborhood for hotdogs Lydia was the only one that wanted to keep trick-or-treating!  The boys were worn out and she was still going strong!  William was off with his friends at a neighborhood party so he missed our pictures.

Lydia was in heaven looking at all her candy.  Plus she got to dress up in her new princess dress... what could be better!