Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Less than a week after arriving home from Utah we found ourselves headed back. Andrew's only required class the week of Thanksgiving was canceled so after seeing that there was a storm warning lasting from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday, we decided to impose on my dad and Marie even more by heading over early for Thanksgiving.

We filled the week with as much fun as we could since there is a very good chance that we won't get to vacation as much next year when Andrew is doing his rotations.

 Hiking to Delicate Arch! Andrew and I have been married for six and a half years and this is the first time I have taken him to Delicate Arch.

 This little guy hiked the whole way to the arch by himself. I carried Mckenna so that Andrew could help him and he didn't need help at all! Sometimes I'm amazed at how grown up he is (sniff sniff).

 Yes Alex was as scared as he looks to be up on the ledge with his dad.

 I love this picture, and I sure love these two cuties!

 Alex, sporting his jammies and this very stylish wig, decided to join us for our Insanity work-out. That little guy jumped and bounced and stretched and probably burned way more calories than the rest of us.

Sisters! We missed you Tori and Tonya!

Gingerbread houses!!

 Andrew was very offended that Lindsay and I unashamedly ate the last piece of pecan pie.

 Hiking to False Kiva. The drive to get there was windy and gross and the hike was STEEP. With four babies and two little children it was quite a feat getting us all there and then back up. Plus the kiva was not very impressive. Good thing we like being with family and still had a good time.

 Notice the photo-bomber back there?

 We played games and snuggled babies and ate lots of food and I am so grateful that I have so many blessings in my life. Much of the week was spent going through my Mom's journals and working on a memory book for her. I'm thankful that she was so amazing and set a wonderful example for me and I'm thankful for Marie's efforts in making such a special book for us to cherish.

 This very active, very busy little girl turned ten months old! At ten months Mckenna has one tooth, now crawls on her knees instead of her feet, she pulls herself to standing all the time and often tries standing on her own for a few seconds.She loves attention and still gives smiles freely. She LOVES eating and is very offended if you walk away during meal times, or when her food runs out. She is much more vocal and yells or growls when things are not how she wants them to be. Alex and Mckenna still love each other so so much and get along pretty well. Mckenna doesn't sleep well when we are traveling so this last month has been a bit rough but she usually does well at night. Since the Day-light savings time change she wakes up at 6:30 to everyone's dismay but after I nurse her she usually goes back to sleep for a little while. She jabbers lots and lots sometimes saying mama and dada. My favorite is when she says "dug-a-dug-a-dug-a." We sure love this happy little girl!

Back in Cedar City

Yep I went to spend another week in Utah at the beginning of November. I hung out with Lindsay and her zillions of babies and got to see my fun aunts. I love being with family more than anything in the world. Some of the fun things we did during the week were: painting, cooking, eating, playing at the park, going to the library, shopping, running (just Lindsay and I), watching movies and blowing bubbles.

 After loading all the pictures I'm realizing this post is mainly my cute kids and their cute cousins. What can I say? They are cute!

 Goof ball

 Alex loves those babies still, after a week his desire to feed them their bottles only waned slightly.

 These two sure love to be together, it is so funny how even though they don't always get along, they still won't stay away from one another.

So glad these ladies came to snuggle the babies

 Yes there were a zillion kids in the house, at one point Alex came running into Lindsay and Carson's bedroom while we were all trying to get ready for church and said "Carson there are three babies crying!" The saddest part was that in reality Alex had also taken a toy away from Kynlee so really FOUR babies were crying at the time.

 I'm so glad that my wonderful hubby went along with this crazy plan of driving me to Moab, then him driving home while I continued on to Cedar. A week later he flew to Vegas and Carson picked him up so that he could play for one day then drive us all back home. He is amazing! Thanks so much Andrew!!

Fun Things in Life

Life with my kiddos is never boring, they keep life fun and are doing their very best to teach me skills in life such as patience and multi-tasking and how to laugh instead of cry in a crisis. 

 Mckenna crawled into the car all by herself, I thought it was adorable and started taking pictures, Alex was sitting at the table coloring, when he heard the camera he said "Mom I can't take a picture right now I'm busy." That kid makes me laugh.

 Cupcake batter mustache!

 This was a particularly difficult week with my little three year old. He wanted to help me with the dishes so I told Andrew to take a picture so I could remember the happy moments too.

 This little girl is getting to be not so little anymore.

 Playing play dough. While at the doctors office recently Alex told me when he is a doctor I can call him "Dad Doctor Alexander Joseph Alton."

 Baby Girl turned nine month old! She gained 2 1/2 pounds between her eight month weight check and her nine month appointment so the doctor is no longer upset with me. This little girl pulls herself up all the time and even tries to stand by herself. She has gotten very vocal and lets us know when it is not okay to walk away while feeding her or when dad comes home and tries to walk by without picking her up she lets us know that that will not be permitted. Mckenna has figured out how to crawl on her knees and she gets around very well. She has gotten more needy, and comes to find me to have me hold her all the time. She doesn't like to be put down. Mckenna gets into everything, Alex is constantly asking me to keep her from getting his cars, he is good at finding her cars she can play with when asked though. Mckenna thinks it is very funny to open the kitchen cupboards over and over while mom tries to close it over and over.

I love that these two love each other so much!

 Someone got into the fireplace and ate the charred wood while I was in the shower.

Ballerina pose when I went to take his picture with his cupcake. 

When talking with Alex one evening he said, "I love Braxton and Emery and Korbin, yeah I do. I'm so impressed that I said that."

Being a mom is so so hard but these kids are so great and I'm so glad that I get to spend my days with them. They make make me laugh and smile and cry and I love them more than I ever though possible.