Thanksgiving

 We were at the Atkinson's for Thanksgiving. The Lehi Atkinson's were there too. It's so nice to be with family. The kids love seeing their cousins! Sydney kept inching closer and closer to Braxton until his feet were no longer on the couch, he wasn't sure he loved the close sitting situation.

 The kids played with the pool table like never before.

Taylor and Chickens

So... we didn't get to see Taylor the day she graduated but we needed to see her and let her know how proud we are of her! So, the next day we ran down to Utah. Kristi and her girls were in Evanston... which kept my youngest 3 in Evanston. They didn't want to leave their cousins, but Jeff, Tim and I made the trek down to Lehi for a super quick visit.

Chicken on a stick... new at Rip's. And YUM. ...and love Jeff's goof ball face in the background.

Brain and Jodi have 4 chickens. Jeff told us all about a Paraguayan trick to put a chicken to sleep... something about tucking your hand under their wing and then swinging them in circles. Then you set them down and their out. So, of course we made him show us. :) Here he is trying to catch a chicken... 

He super swung that chicken in circles. It was pretty hilarious. And... no, it didn't work... Maybe next time...

It was a fast trip, but I'm so glad we got to see Taylor and the rest of our Lehi Atkinson's.

Taylor's Graduation

Jodi was pregnant with Taylor the day Jeff and I got married and now she is a High School graduate. It doesn't quite seem real. She is such a beautiful sweet girl. Sydney graduation was the same day and since Taylor had close to 800 kids in her graduating class we actually weren't able to go to the graduation. Still, we were so sad to miss her party. Thank goodness for social media!

Vaca's First Stop

We needed to meet our new little niece Darbee and since Richfield is only a couple hours from St. George we decided to make a Vacation out of it. 

We wanted to see Brian and Jodi too. So our first stop was in Lehi! We went to Cabela's. The kids got to practice shooting and we walked through their huge fish tanks.

And then we went to see a movie before heading over to Brian and Jodi's.

Halle's flip!

My kids love their cousins so much! They had such a great time playing and having a slumber party with them.

Sydney loves cows. 

Silly, but she does.

And Uncle Brian has cows right in his back yard! 

Gifts @ Grandma's

Before we left for home we the kids opened their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

 Tim and Braxton became quick friends. 

I wish so much I'd gotten her jaw dropped happy face when she opened her Dora movie.

I can't remember exactly why, but she thought a brother was going to take them away. She hugged them tight and gave her "grumpy" face.

The boys all got a DS game and clothes!

Seth had said to me, "Why did we even pack clothes?? Grandma always gives us jammies and clothes!"

 Seth loved his shirt. In fact he wore it 2 days in a row... we couldn't talk him into changing day 2.

I love these boys!

All 3 of my boys are grateful people and love their grandparents so much. There were multiple "thank you" hugs! :)

Games @ Grandma's

I brought a couple of silly games for the kids to play at Grandma's. I put a cracker on each of their foreheads and they had to get it into their mouth without any hands.

I think Logan and Taylor have done this before! They both rocked it.

 

Then they had to draw a Christmas scene on a paper plate on top of their heads. I told them what to draw and they got points. Seth won this one... but I'm pretty sure Uncle Brian helped him add up his score and they cheated... a little. :)