G and G

I grew up with one set of grandparents nearby. Just over the river and through the woods. The nicest people you've ever met. 

I'm so glad we got to see them when we were in Washington. 

I love how a lot of things in their house are the same as when I was little. Like the clock in the kitchen, Grandpa's black chair by the bookshelf, or the cupboard in the dining room filled with cookies, nuts and licorice. 

Sybil's middle name is Mae, after this sweet Grandmother of mine. 

She took me and my sisters to feed the swans when we were little. I remember birthday presents wrapped in Sunday comics. Lots of days out on the river in Grandpa's yellow boat wearing an orange life vest and eating Grandma's muddy buddies. Family dinners. I remember playing with 70s barbies in the basement. Sour cream dessert rolls and homemade grape juice. Fetching ice cream from the extra freezer, they had every flavor. I remember Grandpa's stories about delivering classified documents about the Suez canal to the Pentagon. Grandpa's telescope in the backyard. Watching slides. Throwing toys down the laundry shoot. I remember Grandma reading me books and singing horsey songs to my baby sister, tree traw, tree traw. 

I sing that same song to Sybil. 

How lucky my kids are now to have Great Grandparents. I wonder what they will remember. 

WA

Noah and Gage have been around. They are lucky that way. 

To the mountains, the desert, the ocean, the jungle. 

Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere. 

To the East, to the West. 

But if you ask them where they want to go or where they want to live, 

They will tell you Washington. 

Gage always says, "in the big house in Washington." 

We drove up to Washington from Salt Lake to visit my family (making our favorite stop in Boise on the way). I love this road trip picture of Gage - neck pillow, puppy, blanket, Tacky the penguin, arm resting on baby sister. The boys did great on the drive. Audio books were a favorite this time. Thank you Millcreek library. And Noah was a life saver helping with Sybil.  

My sister Erin and her husband Tristan and baby Parker were there visiting also. Perfect timing. We spent two weeks there with my parents and my sisters Dana and Brinna. We relaxed, ate good food, visited with old friends and family and ate some more. And played games of course. What's a visit to WA without a lot of Settlers, Risk, and cards for dishes.  

Noah was in heaven. 

I was also so happy to see my grandparents. We had 4 generations of women in one room. How neat is that? Sybil her mother, her mother and her mother.

Thanksgiving

I hadn't spent a Thanksgiving at my parents' house since I was in college. 

It was good to be back. 

My sister and her family came from Georgia to be there too. 

We started the morning with a Turkey Trot. 5 kilometers along the river. 

Then some football. The Bares' turkey bowl.  

And then the feast. 

My Grandma's homemade grape juice lemonade made me swoon. Or was it my mom's apple crumb pie? 

Either way I know I'll have Tristan's turkey song stuck in my head for the next year. 

I heard Mr. Turkey say 

gobble gobble gobble.

Today it is Thanksgiving day

gobble gobble gobble.

People say it is so fun

but I think I'd rather run

and hide until the day is done

gobble gobble gobble. 

BOISE

How much do we love this family? We always have a blast when we visit Dave's brother, Ted and his family in Boise. The time always goes by way too fast and we always stay up too late laughing and I never take enough pictures. Emma is missing from this picture, but at least we got something!

sledding and family dinner

The other day it didn't stop snowing. 

Which was perfect. 

Because we spent the weekend in Santaquin with Dave's sister Liz and her family. And a pile of cousins joined us for sledding and family dinner. 

Does it get any better than this? 

Snow!

6 months

This month:
she started eating solid foods
she loves food!
spent time at grandma's house
fall clothes
socks won't stay on
hats won't stay on
loves to be outside
when boys bounce up and down she giggles and squeals

a weekend with the Crandalls

We feel so lucky that we were able to spend so much time with family while we were in the US. We spent a weekend in Kaysville with Dave's sister Rebecca and her family. 

A morning at the Air Force Museum and a gorgeous walk through the Great Salt Lake shorelands preserve. But you know how it goes, if you ask the kids what their favorite part was, they will tell you about the new electronic drink machine at Wendy's that has over 100 options or playing the Wii downstairs. 

We love this family and were so glad we got to visit.