Thanksgiving 2013

We had another fun and yummy Thanksgiving. This is the first year our small family Thanksgiving has felt normal.  Tyson made the turkey, rolls, potatoes, stuffing and pies and I made everything else. He obviously made the more difficult dishes. Great job Tyson!

After dinner, naps and clean up we did a Thanksgiving craft.

Naps

 

We made these turkey doughnuts the day before Thanksgiving for Family Home Evening

 

 

We also got a newspaper to see all the sales and Tyson risks standing in line at Target to get an IPad. He was rewarded with a brand new IPad he doesn’t have to share with Karen or Lilly.

Another fun activity we did on our holiday weekend was going to the movie Frozen. I had to spend about 15 minutes walking in the entryway of the theater with Bennett but it was still a lot of fun. I thought the movie was cute. Lilly is always cute and excited to go watch movies on the big TV.

We also raked our leaves and made the largest leaf pile ever. Lilly was sad we had to pick them up at the end.

Lilly's 3rd Birthday

Lilly had a very exciting birthday this year. Turning 3 is a big deal. On her actually birthday we had a dinner of white noodles (alfredo), opened presents, and had birthday cake. It was the first year we used our special birthday plate for a birthday dinner. The special plate was a tradition I had growing up so that was exciting for me. Lilly’s gifts included a camera, umbrella, large Minnie Mouse, stuffed cat, and Daniel the Tiger figurines. Lilly was excited about her cake and blew out the candles before we finished singing happy birthday or could take a picture.

The day after her birthday we had Lilly’s first birthday party. I decided to do a birthday party because I had felt bad about doing Lilly’s first two birthdays with just the three of us. That is something you usually do with extended family and since we were far away we couldn’t. So, I invited all of her nursery friends and we played carnival games and had cupcakes. Of course it was a Mickey Mouse theme – not Minnie Mouse. Our games included a fishing pond, clothes pin drop, ring toss, beanbag toss, and sucker pull. I got the cupcakes from the store and they were yummy. I also bought some fruit but I forgot to put it out. All the kids had fun. I am glad I decided to do it.

 

Dear Lilly,

And now you are three! You have had a big year. You went from saying one word at a time to talking all the time (non- stop), from a crib to a big girl’s bed, diapers to panties, and a single child to a big sister. You have taken all of these changes in stride and with ease (mostly).

You have turned into quite a little talker and you crack us up. The things you think of and say are hilarious. You like to tell me to stop so we can ‘talk about it’. Your favorite questions are ‘why’ and ‘what are you doing’. I don’t think you really want the answers you just want to chat about anything. You are extremely friendly and want to talk to everyone – almost too friendly. You are not shy at all and welcome everyone into our home. It is a good thing you can’t open the front door without me.

Some of the things we have been busy with this year is music class, art class, swimming lessons, play dates, trips to Chicago, and visits from Grandma Harris, your aunt Angie and cousin Logan.

The biggest change has been the arrival of your little brother, Bennett. You loved to talk to mommy about the baby the whole time I was pregnant. When Bennett came you were so cute and sweet with him. You like to sit and look at him. You call him baby Bennett and always make sure he has something to play with. You can’t wait until he gets big enough to play with.

Lilly you have been a joy to have in our lives. You are very loving and up for anything. We enjoy doing activities with you and taking you places. You get so excited and happy about whatever we are doing. I am so glad you are in our family.

We love you!

Mommy 

*Favorite Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row your Boat, etc. You love to sing and will sing anything. You often make up your own songs.
*Favorite Books: Clifford the Big Red Dog and Pete the Cat. You like to read anything. *Does not like: Being told what to do and eating your food by yourself*Favorite Cartoon: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Cinderella, and Bubble Guppies*Things you are good at: Counting, shapes, colors, and sharing your toys with your friends

Grandma's Visit

In mid October we had the wonderful opportunity to have Tyson’s mom, Grandma Harris (AKA: Kathy), stay with us. We had so much fun and we always love company. Especially Lilly, she becomes fast friends with EVERYONE and will talk about you for months after you leave.

When Kathy was here we had a really fun time taking her around town. Tyson started the trip with taking her and Lilly to Chicago. At that time Bennett was only 6 weeks old and having a break from two kids was extremely helpful and enjoyable for me. It is funny how once you have 2 kids doing something with only 1 of them feels like a break.

While in Chicago the group visited Willis Tower, the ‘bean’, and went shopping on Michigan Ave.

It was such a perfect time for Kathy to come out. We were able to bless Bennett on the first Sunday she was here. It was so nice to have an extended family member be there since it was our first baby blessing away from home. The blessing went well. Tyson did a good job and there was no crying or squawking from Bennett during the prayer. Bennett was a little big for his blessing outfit though and his little legs hung out but he was still adorable.

We took Kathy to LeClaire to see the American Pickers store ‘Antique Archeology’. We also tried to take her to a restaurant in LeClaire but they ended up being closed on Mondays – way to go Iowa.  

Tyson took her on the exciting John Deere tour.

I took Kathy around downtown Davenport. The downtown area is interesting. It is an old town with cool old buildings and has old houses along the river that are beautiful. It was cold so the tour was really us driving around. I got lost a couple of times but Kathy was a good sport.

Davenport has a skybridge that goes over the riverfront road, with views of the Mississippi River. They call it the “bridge to nowhere” since it ends in a parking lot. I have wanted to go through the bridge since we moved here but haven’t found the time. So I was excited to finally go. We went through the bridge and then down to the river and walked along the path. It was cold so we didn’t last long outside. We were able to do all sorts of fun new things with Kathy.

We took Kathy to a little city in Illinois called, Galena.  Galena is an old lead mining town and was the home town of Ulysses S. Grant. It has become a large tourist town with a very attractive main street. It reminds me a lot of Park City, UT. We had lunch at a small café and then went shopping in all the cute stores. Tyson had class that night so we didn’t get to stay very long. There was a lot more I would have liked to have done but I am sure we will be back.

 

I am very lucky that Kathy was here when she was. I got very sick one day and could not function. Kathy jumped right in and watched the kids while I slept and went to the doctors. If Kathy wasn’t here I would have had to have Tyson come home from work to take care of the kids.  Thank you Kathy!!

Kathy was here for our wards trunk-or-treating and we visited our local museum, the Putnam Museum. The museum was actually pretty neat for being in such a small area. They had a travelling exhibit about Princess Diana, an interactive kids section, a Mississippi River local exhibit, a river animal exhibit, etc.

We really enjoyed Kathy coming. It was nice having another adult to talk to all day and she was so much help. The kids miss her like crazy!!