Family Visit for Thanksgiving

We had a really fun trip to Blanding for Thanksgiving.  We packed up our little family of 5 plus Grandma & Grandpa Christensen and drove down to Blanding. Once we were there we met up with a good chunk of my family: Danny, Aleena, Memphis, and Kayzee, Grandma & Grandpa Royer, Aunts Nita, Emily, and Mary.  The whole time that we were there the kids had a whole lot of fun together.  They spent hours playing outside and enjoyed every single minute of it.

We had the typical delicious Thanksgiving fare, plus lots of yummy pie, and even birthday cake for Nita's birthday on the 27th.

We even took some pictures of those that we got to spend this wonderful weekend with.

We were grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with family. After spending seven years in the Midwest, with only occasional visits home, we appreciate the holidays and visits that we get to spend with our family.  Thank you Mom and Dad for your hospitality.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Christensen for traveling down with us. And thank you, all of you, for helping us make memories that will last us a lifetime.

A Girl's Day Out

My girls and I had a fun outing today.  It started at Weber State University. We had gone to Bryce's work to help him with a couple of things, and then we took a walk to the pond to feed the ducks and geese. MayLynn had fun throwing bits of bread at the ducks, river had fun eating her bits of bread, and I managed to only get bit twice as the geese ate bread from my hand.

Next, we explored the Browning Center.  The girls really liked the giant Christmas Tree and the Nutcracker statue. MayLynn had to hold the "giant man's" hand to get her picture taken :).

Next we went shopping for parts for Bryce's birthday present (more about that later . . . ) and then we found a new park to play at until it was time to pick up Owen from school.

I had a lot of fun playing with my girls and I look forward to many more such days. They are both growing up so fast and I want to enjoy their time being little as long as I can.

Halloween Tricks & Treats

We had two days of Halloween this year.  On Friday Owen got to wear his costume to school and the girls and I got to go see him march in his costume parade.

Then that evening we all got dressed up, as Super Girl, an Army Man, and a Cute Little Butterfly, and went to a theater party at one of the other WSU Theatre faculty's house.

We even got a chance to pose for a picture as a whole family.

For Saturday, Halloween itself, we had the normal list of events on the schedule: reverse trick-or-treating to the university, visiting family and friends, our ward trunk-or-treat, and trick or treating in our neighborhood. But Saturday didn't happen as planned. Bryce had a weekend work call at the school, so we took him to work and then came home and got dressed up in our day costumes (a Ballerina, Jedi Knight, and Cinderella) to go hand out cookies and candy at Bryce's work at lunch time. Just as we were packed up and ready to go, I got a phone call to go meet Bryce at the the McKay Dee Hospital's Emergency Room because he had been hurt at work. So, instead of going to the University, we went to the hospital to meet Bryce.

Once we got there I found out that he had received an electric shock while unplugging his welder in the shop and had passed out for a couple of minutes.  They took him to the ER to make sure that he was okay since it was a work-related injury.  Once he was there they ran a few tests, and although everything seemed okay they were worried about some numbness in his right arm and the right side of his face, as well as having some concern about his passing out after the shock. So they transported him by ambulance (so they could monitor his heart and other vitals) down to the University of Utah Hospital to be checked out by burn specialists to make sure that he didn't have any internal injuries and that his heart was okay.

While Bryce was being transported down to Salt Lake, I packed up the kids and took them to Grandma Allen's for the evening, and headed down to meet up with Bryce at the hospital.  Once there, I found him resting in one of the trauma rooms. He said that he had quite the experience when he got to the hospital.  After an uneventful drive down from Ogden, he and the paramedic that transported him arrived at the hospital.  When they came into the emergency wing of the hospital they were surprised to find a whole trauma team waiting for him since McKay Dee had labeled him as needing burn treatment after an electric shock.  Although his injuries were minor, Bryce was checked out by the trauma team as they all joked about the lack of severity of his condition.  They made sure that he didn't have any internal injuries and monitored him for a couple of hours to make sure that the shock didn't disrupt any of his body's autonomous functions. Then he was released and we were able to go back to Kaysville to pick up the kids from Grandma Allen's house.

The kids had been having a good time with Grandma. They played out side a bit, watched a couple of movies, and then they all went trick-or-treating (back in their costumes from the previous evening). When we got there they were glad to have Daddy back (as was I!), and we made it back home late last night.  Now this morning we are all taking it easy and recovering from yesterday.  We're very glad to be back home together after a very scary and memorable Halloween.

Four Little Pumpkins

Because we wanted to make sure that our Jack-o-Lanterns looked good for Halloween, we waited until a couple of days before Halloween to carve our pumpkins this year.  We started by opening up our pumpkins and cleaning out the guts.

Next we planned our carvings and carved our pumpkins.  It was our first time using specially made pumpkin carving tools, and they worked really well.

And introducing our pumpkins: MayLynn had a booing ghost, Bryce had a standard Jack-o-Lantern face, River and I had a ghoulish face, and Owen had a pumpkin skull. 

Then we add the lights and here are the final results:

End of Soccer for the Fall

We had our last soccer game for the fall today.  The boys have played well, learned a few skills, and had a lot of fun this fall.  Good job boys and we'll see you again in the spring!