An Early Thanksgiving, Fun Projects and Some Sad News

On Thursday I rushed home from work, grabbed the boys from my mom and headed to Provo to try and catch Thanksgiving Dinner/Lunch with Craig's Grandpa. The home that Craig's Grandpa is living in had a Thanksgiving Dinner for the family members this week. We were about an hour late, but the employees were extremely nice, and set us up no problem. We enjoyed our little get together. I was glad we were able to make it, and that they were so accommodating. I wish Craig could have come with us, but he started clinicals this week and couldn't make it. But I had fun getting to know Grandpa Darrington. This was the first time we had officially met.




We enjoyed a good visit and a good meal-- the boys ate, mostly, pumpkin pie and Baby M helped me eat my yams. We need to go back and visit again when Craig can come.

The boys and I have been busy this week as well. We've been working on shapes, so we made these trains.



And today I, went a little crazy, and pulled out the paints to make these turkeys. Little H was way excited about his turkey. And they all enjoyed squishing the paint between their fingers. Surprisingly we escaped with very little paint on our clothes. I was also way impressed when Big H recognized his name when I wrote it on his Turkey.



In other news, I forgot to post that my Great Aunt Barbara passed away from pneumonia. She is my aunt on my Dad's side. My Grandma Andreason's younger sister. We were all pretty shocked by her passing. I feel really bad for my grandma because they were both widows, and had been keeping each other company. I'm also sad that I wasn't well informed about her viewing and funeral, so I couldn't pay my respects. I hope she knows I will miss her, and that I'm sorry I never got those pictures to her.

To end with, I'll post some pics of the boys that never made it to the blog.

Fall Happenings!

Everything lately kind of falls under fall happenings. But, now, I need to do some catching up, so here are the fall happenings that have happened lately.

We walked on the parkway trail up Hobble Creek Canyon.





We had to rig up a leash so both the boys could walk Ruby. They were fighting over the leash, and we didn't bring an extra-- silly us-- so we used the lanyard from our keys.



A not so fun happening, the other day I walked out to find this animal skin on our lawn. I still don't know where it came from. It could have just been a scout thing. I didn't look to closely, but the tissue beneath the fur still looked moist, so I kind of wasn't sure if it was just a piece of a scouting object.



Last Saturday, we went to a friends birthday party.



It was Baby M's nap time.



And, guess what? He got Thomas! I didn't know if the twins were going to be able to accept that the train didn't belong to them.



Last Wednesday, we went up to Gardener Village to see the Witches. I'm glad my cousin invited us to go because I love to see the witches, but I didn't know if I was going to ever get it in gear enough to get up there.



We enjoyed ourselves even though the twins ran everywhere, Baby M thought he should be able to run everywhere,-- and not be strapped in the stroller-- the twins both ended up with bloody lips and it was a little crowded.








I tried to point out to Big H that they were playing baseball-- he really likes baseball. He didn't seem to care, but later he looked at the photos with me and saw this picture and said, "Baseball!
"


We got suckers to see if that would stop the fits. That were mostly coming from Baby M.



I caught them holding hands!


After we took in all the witches we went to McDonalds where two boys got stuck in the play place-- one had to be talked down and the other was pulled out by another mother who was paying more attention then me. And Baby M had to insist on pulling everyone's shoes out of the shoe keep.

On Friday, we too the boys to see the temple. I realized we had never really taken them. We may pointed it out as we drove by, but we haven't walked around the temple with them. It was a fun family outing.





Tonight we enjoyed a trip to The Red Barn out in Santaquin. We took a hay ride to there pumpkin patch, bought the boys some gourds and enjoyed some of their famous ice cream.








We also met another couple with three girls-- twins and a baby. The baby was 19 months younger than the twin girls. Which is close to how far apart Baby M is from the twins. We enjoyed chatting with them.



To end the post, my first attempt at white chocolate covered candy corn marshmallows. I stole the idea from a friend. I think she called them candy corn dippers.

Three Little Spooks to Help Decorate the House

Here at the Stratton house we have a deep fondness for this time of year. If you haven't noticed already. We've been trying to make the most of our Halloween, and my three little spooks have done a nice job of helping me.



They each made a paper plate skeleton. Little H was afraid of his. Big H thought it was the coolest thing on the planet, and still stares at them with deep admiration-- while yelling out some excited toddler babble.

Though Little H may be afraid of that skeleton, he's more than happy to tell you what shapes, kind of, sort of, make up his face.



On the note of skeletons, one certain little spook-- Baby M-- will not allow this skeleton to rest in peace. If it weren't bad enough to have spiders and rats-- or kitty's, as the boys call them-- crawling all over you. Baby M insists that his ribcage must be constantly torn away from the rest of his bones. I guess at least Mr. Skeleton always has a smile!



The boys also helped me put up some fancy spider webbing. I'll admit I was turned away from spider webbing before. I think because I thought it seemed over done. But I spent a dollar on one bag, it covered the front of our house rather well and really does a lot to add to the ambiance of the season. That being said, it is still incredibly annoying to put up, especially with dry skin.



The boys and I also had fun painting these leaves to put on the tree in their room. This tree will one day be re-figured and repainted. Partly because I don't like it, partly because putting in the door kind of messed it up and partly because we have to redo the boys room anyway. Thanks to that nice little crack in our foundation.



We have also taken in some of our Seasonal favorites. We have watched Scabbers(a.k.a.Casper). We have watched The Kitty Movie(a.k.a Hocus Pocus). May I note, there are now three Kitty Movies, which are: Stuart Little, Milo and Otis and Hocus Pocus. Big H loves Hocus Pocus, but Little H always says, "It's Scary Mom," when the zombie comes on.

We also watched The Nightmare Before Christmas.



And I have tried to get the boys to watch Halloweentown with me. That one hasn't been met with much acclaim.

I must also mention, when I say watch I mean repeatedly watch. That is mostly thanks to Big H.



Baby M cracks us up because he is really so attentive when it comes to movies and TV. If I leave the TV on, and take him out of his crib, he won't come upstairs. His favorites so far seem to be Stuart Little and Thomas. . .-- Surprise! Surprise!



What fun we have had for Halloween this year. I've really enjoyed all the fun activities we have gotten to do together as a family.

Nebo Loop Painted With Fall!

It's true! We drove up Nebo Loop again.



Well sort of. We made it halfway before Craig remembered he had work.



We just couldn't resist the Loop's beauty with a fall makeover.



We stopped at a little turn off by the creek.



"Don't mess with me. . ."



". . .I'm Grouchy!"



The boys and I had fun traveling up stream to try and find a way across.



And guess who fell in the creek?



Of all the strange things, another family from our ward stopped at that exact same turn off. They took a family photo for us.




It was just absolutely perfect timing for a fall drive! The leaves were vibrant and beautiful. They were starting to fall, but hadn't left the trees all bare. I was so glad we went, and that we put it off until this weekend.







I was sad we couldn't see it all, but glad that we got to see what we could! I told Craig he owes me a trip up the Loop, though I doubt we'll make it again before all the leaves have fallen.