Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year. That's right-- OUR house! It was great to get to have family from Nevada and California come and stay with us and to be able to open up our house (and pantry) as the hosts this year! We were thrilled to see Casey's parents as well as his sister and brother-in-law and their three cute kids. It would have been nice to have had more of Casey's siblings come, but we understand that it just isn't always possible to make the trip. Emmett was so excited to have so many people to play with and we got to do so many fun things.

We played lots of games, including Twister, Skip-bo, and Uno. Playing Twister with Uncle John is a little scary, since if he falls on you, there's a chance you might not get back up. ;)

Bethany loved all the cuddles and attention she got! There was never a shortage of people available to fight over who got to snuggle with the baby.

Emmett loved helping "Aunt Lala" make cookies. It was quite a struggle for her to prevent him from eating entire chunks of cookie dough, but most of the cookies made it safely onto the cookie sheet.

Bethany with her Uncle John and cousin Penny.

Lauren took over the turkey for us this year and I was relieved that I didn't have to do it. This year's turkey was especially good, I thought, because a very large fat man (who strongly resembled Santa Claus, though he claimed to be a toilet paper salesman) approached us in the grocery store and gave us tips for injecting the white meat with a marinade and brining the turkey. Moral of the story: When it comes to holiday cooking, advice from jolly fat strangers should be taken seriously.

I'm especially proud of the baked cheese dip that I made for the veggie tray.

My first attempt ever at Thanksgiving rolls. Some of them were larger than your face while others were much, MUCH smaller than that. They looked interesting, but they tasted good, and that's what counts, right?

The whole Thanksgiving crew, including two of Casey's cousins.

I thought Emmett enjoyed taking baths, but Miles just might have him beat!

Emmett had a great time building towers with Papa.

Papa also brought his Wii and Emmett thought this was also a fabulous activity.

We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point on Saturday and the kids had a blast! Here's Emmett eating lunch with Miles and Gavin before going into the museum.

They have a very fun interactive listening center at the start of the museum that Emmett loved!

Naps didn't really happen. Can you tell? Poor Penny!

Emmett didn't really understand the game here, but he did enjoy looking at all the dinosaur puzzle pieces and making them roar.

The kids enjoyed creating their own dinosaur, until some other kids came and ripped it apart.

Playing in sand and water was one of Emmett's favorite parts.

This fossil of a giant sea turtle was, "A little bit scary" for Emmett.

But this model of a giant shark was MUCH worse than the turtle. He was a pretty brave kid though, and didn't ever cry.  I was impressed. We were worried that the museum would be too scary, but Emmett was pretty brave overall. In fact, it was his 4-year-old cousin, Miles, who ran from this room crying. Can you blame him, though?

Bethany was laid back and enjoyed the whole visit as just a nice long stroller ride.

Digging for bones in the sand pit. Try telling a two year old not to throw sand sometime and see how it works out.

Little tyrants behind bars-- just where they belong! :)

We went to "Farm Country" after the museum and got to go on a wagon ride! Bethany got tired of the stroller and got to cuddle with Hara for the rest of the day. What a lucky girl!

At some point, you realize that it's futile to tell a toddler not to pick his nose. He has boogies. They are uncomfortable. They must come out and he doesn't yet understand how to effectively "blow" his nose. The pony rides were great fun, but I'm afraid this little horse will be having boogers combed from his mane for a few days still. Also, immediately before this ride, Emmett approached two nice elderly women and tried to give them each a booger, saying, "You want it? You want the boogie?" They walked away red in the face laughing. I was red faced too, but for a different reason I think!

Hara soaking up her little grand baby.

Bethany can't stay awake long when she's cuddling with her grandma! It's magic!

We all went to dinner at Cracker Barrel Saturday night.

Emmett was getting fussy waiting for everyone else to finish, so Papa took him outside to distract him. This is what we found them doing when we left the restaurant. Adorable!