Thanksgiving 2011

Again, I am behind on blogging, so lets see if I can do this. The week before Thanksgiving, David got hit with the stomach flu. It was a long 3 days of vomiting, a slightly ridiculous amount of laundry and lots of snuggling. Poor David would go over to the pantry and say "coookie...craacker" with the most pitiful face.

Next up on the agenda, Maryland for Thanksgiving. I haven't been home for this holiday in 7 years, so it was extra special. One of my favorite childhood memories is going to the Turkey Farm with my mom to pick up our Thanksgiving dinner :-) David loved the Turkeys.

Nothing like picking out just the right turkey :-) He also enjoyed the cows.

We metroed to DC to have lunch with my Dad one day. David wasn't happy when we made him sit on the chair or in our laps.

But, he's just so darn cute. grumpy or happy...Although, I prefer the happy David :-)

We had such nice weather while in Maryland. It was in the 60s. We brought our winter clothes, I mean, it was the end of Novemeber. No, this weather is not normal, but I was so glad for a break from our freezing temperatures in Idaho.

It was so nice to be able to go on walks, play at the park...outside in general actually.

Thanksgiving dinner itself was great! It is so wonderful to have Mark home this year for all the holidays, and just to have him home safe. It breaks my heart to hear of soldiers being killed, especially around the holidays.

We were able to meet up with some friends. One day we went to Chick-fil-A. Neither of us had met each others kids (sad!). It was fun to catch up and see the kids play together.

We were at the mall waiting for something, I dont know if we were waiting for something to open or what, so we let Dave run some energy off.

Mark also helped my Dad put the Christmas lights up. Sadly, I didnt get a "finished product" pictures. Oops.

We took David to see Santa right before we left. It wasn't as easy as it was last year.

After, we saw a train that took you around the lower level of the mall. David loves trains...actually, he has an obsession with them, so it was the perfect distraction to make him smile again.

And, I think that catches us up, mostly. Next up, nursery and the beginning of Christmas!

Just Because

David is quite the cheezer and can work it! So, here are some pictures to show off his cute self.

The next two pictures are of him last week after breakfast.

He likes to put a variety of toys in the bucket, dump it out and begin again. This particular time, he decide to put it on his head.

He also loves to mix things and play pretend. We keep the third drawer with the things that are easiest to wash and the most fun to play with.

This next picture is of David right before church. He wouldn't look up at the camera for very long and I had told him that we were going to go see Kai. Maybe thats why he has mischievious smile :-)

We just got back from a weekend in Pocatello for a family reintegration event. As we walked through the hotel (well, more like I ran after David), people kept commenting on how cute he is.

David loves the phone. The room had not one, but two. So, I unplugged one of them and let him do with it as he please.

This was also the first time David went to child care. It was an experience. The people were great, however, there were about 25 kids to only 4 adults. So, one day after the meetings, we went over to the mall and let David run and play. He loves going on the little rides.

And last, but certainly not least. David loves books. He will sit and read for a very long time, whether it be on the floor, chair, or bed.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and that this holds you over for a little bit :-)

Marks birthday

Mark turned 27 this year and I wanted to make it special, especially since last year he was in Mississippi getting ready to deploy. We started the day off with homemade donuts. Yum! Then Mark opened some presents (he had already opened the one from my family because it was a new Cardinals shirt and they were playing to win the world series).

David loved the presents and was very helpful in bringing them over to Mark:

And even more eager to help Mark open the presents:

Then we headed off to church, home for naps, a delicious dinner and a party with some friends.

Halloween 2011

Once again I am playing catch up on this thing. Oh well. Halloween 2011 was a blast. I was down to the wire on getting David a costume. Nothing caught my eye, and I wasn't willing to pay mega bucks for a costume I didn't love. However, my fabulous neighbor Michelle offered her sons costume from last year. It is the cutest monkey costume with a padded tummy!

Our ward had a Halloween Party as well. It was so well put together. It is nice to be back in a family ward where they go all out. The Tataipus were there: Kai was also dressed as a monkey.

I love watching these two play and laugh together. Kai was a good sport as we tried to take a picture of the two of them sitting next to each other-David tried to hit him off the little bench.

Our stake had a Trunk or Treat on Halloween as well. They certainly know how to do it right out here. There was plenty of candy as well as hot chocolate/cider, a variety of soups, as well as chips and salsa. People had this in the back of their cars, it was slightly amazing.

David was loving that people were just giving out the candy to him. It was a slow trip because after each piece of candy, he would stare at them and then to his bucket.

Earlier in the day, we went to a little spook fair. David again loved the candy and playing with the football.

As for our candy giving out, we only had a handful of trick or treaters. All in all, our Halloween was great and it was great that Mark was able to participate fully in all the activities.