Thanksgiving break and cousin FUN!

Gordon had the whole week of Thanksgiving off.  

It was AWESOME!  

Work has been really busy (a good thing, but we have been missing him!) so it was really nice to just relax and do fun things as a family and enjoy each other. 

We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant that I have been eyeing since we moved here and it did NOT disappoint us.  SO yummy. 

Above is the placemat next to Spencer.  Gordon was writing words for him to sound out, and Spencer started writing words and asking us to read them.  If you look up there, he wrote cat and a few other words that he sounded out.  Our favorite is in blue.  "F O T"  We guessed "fought" like you fight a battle.  No, no, no - he replied.  

It's "FOT!  Like, hey, I just fot of something to tell you!" 

HA!  It was hilarious.  And very cute. 

I don't remember what this picture is from.  But, it looks like we were out at the park or for a walk and he found something on his hand.  He does not like being dirty, so he was probably figuring out how to get it off.  

That's our boy. :)

We went mini golfing for the first time as a family.  Spencer liked it, but wasn't the most patient of golfers.  If it didn't go in after a hit or two, he'd just say, "Okay.  I'll just put it in with my hand." And then put it in and go on to the next hole.  

The golf course also had an arcade attached and Gordon and Spencer had a blast on the car and motorcycle rides.  We earned about ... 3 tickets, but this nice lady came up to us while Spence was playing a game and handed us about 80 tickets!  She and her friend had been playing and were not going to use their tickets and asked Spence if he wanted them.  He was stoked.  He got to pick out a little toy behind the counter and a starburst.  The day was a success.  

Saturday, Spence and I hit up the farmers market while Daddy worked on painting the living/dining room.  They look awesome!  I need to get some good pictures of it with our camera to show on here.  He did a great job.  When we got to the market, Spence suggested we get a baked potato and corn on the cob - he is SO my son.  Those are my favorites there, so we chowed and enjoyed them - at about 10:30 am.  Delish.

He stopped before his bath to finish his chores.  lol.

The next weekend, my sister Becky and two of her little girls came to visit from Thursday to Tuesday.  We had SO much fun.  The kids all played great and Becky and I just got to chat and catch up.  Spencer's birthday party was over that weekend so she helped me get all of the super hero gear ready for all of the kids.  It was great!  

Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole time they were here.  But we still had one day where we made it out to the park, and on this day we took the kids to IKEA.  They all played in the play place while we shopped.  So fun for them.  So fun for us.  :) 

Spencer loved having them here.  He frequently mentions to me now that after baby Daniel is older we need to do a BIG trip and go and visit all of the states.  But we should go to Missouri first and visit Nora and Lucy's house and see if they want to come on our trip with us.  Sound good, Bec?

Spencer and I like to play Pictionary on his chalkboard.  It's a good game for preggo Momma's.  I sit on the couch while he draws and I try and guess what they are.  :) 

This time he drew a van and then spelled it out.  "V E N" 

Close.  :)

Spence is in a gym class again this season.  Did I mention that on here?  

He is loving it. 

I am ... liking it.  The teacher isn't as fantastic as his teacher in the Spring, but he is still having a ball and coming home nice and sweaty!  One of his good friends is in the class too, so her mom and I take turns driving the kids, which has been really nice.  

Our ward Christmas party this year was probably my favorite Christmas party yet. 

The theme was "Christmas around the world"

They had everyone bring dishes to share from different countries in the world and we got to try them all!  They were delicious and it was just fun to learn about the different foods.  At the dinner tables, each table was a different country and had artifacts from that country and a description about what Christmas is like in that region of the world.  Very interesting! 

They also had a little program with an authentic Indian dance by some girls in the ward, a couple did the Cha-Cha, some men sang some Christmas carols from Germany, and there were a few paino pieces.  It was a really fun night.  

Oh, and Santa was there too.  :)

Spencer told us on the way there that he would say hi to Santa, but he wouldn't go up to him by himself until he was 5.  But once we got there, he was all for it and hopped right up on his lap!  That's a first for us!

Spencer and his buddies entertaining themselves during the dinner portion.  

Preschool is still going great.  The kids are awesome and learning tons! 

This was during Centers on Monday last week - the kids are so smart and love these pattern blocks that Hazel gave Spence for his birthday.  We love them too!

Monday night for FHE we went to "Little Bethlehem" again.  It's put on by a Baptist church in the area.  They convert their whole property to look like Bethlehem.  It's amazing, they have their parking lot covered in dirt and hay to look like downtown Bethlehem and have little shop fronts that look like what it may have looked like when Jesus was born.  Then, they put on a whole live play of the Nativity story.  May rides in on a donkey, Ceasar's guards order us to pay our taxes (yelling! Spencer kept reassuring himself, "They're just pretending, they're just pretending" poor kid) and then we go on to watch them stop at each Inn and get turned away.  Finally, the whole crowd of people follow them into the manger scene and they sing a few songs and show the shepherds and wise men coming to worship Jesus (wise men on REAL camels!) It's a great way to start the season and to make the story more real for everyone, but especially for kids. 

This day during Pictionary, Spencer drew these three people.  I figured it was me, him and Gordon. 

Nope. 

It's his friend (girlfriend - seriously, they are SOO in love, holding hands everywhere they go! hilarious)  and him and Madi's mom.  

See ya soon!