Thanksgiving in DC (again!)

We went to DC again this year to spend Thanksgiving with Steve's Aunt Gwen, Uncle Brooks, and cousin Nikki. Sara, Bob, and Duncan came this year along with Steve's mom which made things even more fun!!

Here are just 27 of the reasons why we had so much fun...

#1 Toys!!

Aunt Gwen has the best toys according to Cody! And he got right to work playing with them as soon as we got there.

#2 Yummy food 24-7.

We caught Kylee in the pantry more than once!

#3 Hanging out with Uncle Wacko

#4 Using the leaf blower!!

#5 Making a fire in the backyard

#6 Hanging out by the fire

with Sara and Bob and Duncan

#7 S'mores!!

#8 Projects!

Cody's Gingerbread Village looked pretty awesome.

#9 Candy!!

I wonder if spilling the candy from the gingerbread houses was an accident or if it was her way of stuffing as much as she could in her mouth before anybody noticed. This girl has no shame when it comes to eating sugary treats off the floor--just look at that smile...it screams "sugar high!" What a funny little candy monster.

#10 Playing with the vacuum.

That is the nice way of saying Kylee and Cody made a big mess with the candy!

#11 Secret Ingredients!

Well, it's really no secret that there is sour cream in my Sour Cream Apple pie recipe.

See Kylee in the background? Yep, she's eating candy. I guess we didn't hide it well enough because now that I am looking back on all of our pictures I can see Kylee in the background eating candy in quite a few of them!!

#12 Cooking Lessons

Sara and I got a lesson on making Whipped Cream and I showed Gwen how to make our favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

#13 Sour Cream Apple Pie!!

#14 Going all out for a fancy Thanksgiving meal!

#15 watching a 3D movie in style

#16 More projects!

Cody liked making chocolate covered pretzels with Grandma Tammy too. The only thing missing in this picture is Kylee in the background licking the frosting.

#17 Backyard Zoo

Once again the kids loved watching all of the animals that come to visit and eat a treat: cardinals, blue jays, raccoons, squirrels, and cats.

#18 Touring the Pentagon

#19 Being Proud to be an American!

#20 Wearing Cheetah Girl aprons!

#21 Having fun with Nikki.

She told us our horoscopes and hosted dance parties (which Kylee is a big fan of now)

#22 Drinking fresh strawberry lemonade (thanks Steve!)

#23 Jumping in the leaves

#24 Sitting by the leaves, but not getting too close.

#25 Belly-flopping into the leaves.

#26 Hurdling the leaves (Wow Bob!)

#27 And taking family pictures in the leaves.

Thanks Reese's for a really fun weekend! You guys are always so fun to be with!

Cody Kicked His Habit!

We gave this giant roller coaster set to Cody on the condition that he had to stop sucking his thumb to be able to open the box and put it together. Well, he did it! We are so proud of Cody for being determined enough to kick his 5 year old habit. Steve and Cody had fun putting the roller coaster together (over a few days). It has over 1100 pieces!

Way to go Cody - we think you are so awesome!

Happy Halloween from Us! (2010)

Cody's friend had a Halloween Party last Thursday night. Cody was so excited to go! I have never seen him get his homework done so fast. This is right before we headed out the door.

On Friday his school put on a Halloween Costume Parade. It was pretty chilly, but Kylee and I had fun seeing all the cute costumes. Afterwards Cody had a little Halloween party in his classroom where he got lots of goodies.

On Saturday we had a Ward Trunk-or-Treat Party. Kylee had been waiting patiently for her chance to dress up all month. She talked about her owl costume all the time.

Harry Potter and Hedwig

Cody takes his magic very seriously.

Cody wanted to be sure that our giveaway candy was in a picture before we headed out the door.

We had a fun weekend! Hope you did too!

Happy Halloween from Harry and Hedwig!

Photo Fun at Ohiopyle

We had our first family outing since we moved back to PA. Steve has been insanely busy, but he finally had some time so we went to Ohiopyle. The fall is so beautiful here.

Cucumber Falls

Jumping on the rocks across the river. Cody must have done that 100 times.

Oops! Stepped in the water! :)

Don't worry he got over it pretty fast.

A lovely self-portrait.

Watching the kayaks.

For obvious reasons this one is our absolute favorite!

Eating Brownies in Style

Cody and Kylee got the bright idea to put every single hair flower Kylee owns in her hair. It probably made the brownies taste better. She looks like she is really enjoying them.

Spicy Drinks, Good Jobs, and Pretty Hiccups

1. When Cody drinks a carbonated drink his comment afterwards is always, "too spicy." I found myself waiting for it the other day when he asked to try some Ginger Ale and took the first sip. Sure enough, he said it.

2. Cody: "Mom do you know why I don't like missing any school?"

Mom: "No, why?"

Cody: "Because I want to get a job someday."

(Whenever the kids ask dad why he has to go to school when he's stepping out the door he always says it is because he needs to get a job someday.)

3. Ever since we got back in our house Kylee has been attached to her new-found purse filled with fake make-up. She takes it with her in the stroller when we pick-up/drop-off Cody at school, on errands with mom, and all around the house. The other day I noticed that she doesn't call her make-up "make-up." If you listen carefully she says, "hiccups."

A Sweet Surprise Note

Cody left a sweet note on Steve's pillow the other night without showing it to anyone first (which is totally not like Cody - he can't keep a secret!) It was a fun surprise for Steve to find it long after Cody was asleep.

The front side says:
"I love Dad."
"Love Cody"
"Harry Potter" (which is something both of them love - notice his two failed attempts to draw Harry Potter's head with the X over them. Then he finally got the third head the way he wanted it. See the scar on his forehead? Cracks me up.

Below Harry Potter is a picture of red rock formations (something else Cody and Steve love).

Then here is the back.

"Family"

And then he drew each member of our family with our ages.

P.S. We are finally moving back into our place tonight!! We are so excited! It has been a long 5 months away from our wonderful home.

Mustard Man

The other day Kylee put her fingers across the top of her mouth and said,

"Look! I have a mustard!" (mustache)

Sweet Things

A few weeks ago (on my sister Sara's birthday) we had a fun Relief Society activity we called Sweet Things. Sweet Things as in dessert and spending time with friends. We gave each sister a paper lunch sack that contained an ingredient and an index card with a step for making a dessert written on it along with a question.

Then the sisters had to figure out what dessert they were making and find their group. Then they were given a stack of tools (bowls, spoons, mixers) and got to work. Each step was numbered and before you could perform your step on the card you had to ask each person the question on your card. Each person in the group had to answer the question before moving on to the next step (What are 5 things you always have in your purse? Where do you call home? What is your natural hair color? You know, the important stuff).

It was a great activity to get to know each other and enjoy 5 different yummy desserts: oreo bon bons, peach pie, cookie dough ice cream, fruit trifle, and peanut butter rice krispie treats.

Here is my sister Sara at work making the finishing touches on the trifle.

Jolene Gearhart and I supervising the madness and waiting patiently to taste test everything.

And here is the yumminess! Boy was it good.