Thanksgiving, etc.

We had a great Thanksgiving! The holiday was really hectic and there was a lot going on, but it turned out nice anyway. We weren't sure what we were going to do. We had lots of family and friend plans change before something worked out. We ended up in St. George spending the holiday with my grandparents' home. My parents met us there and we got together with Cody and Michele and Bryce. Tyler got a little mountain biking in and Cole really enjoyed the dirt in Grandpa's garden, all the attention, exploring all Grandma's stuff, his squeaky shoes, playing with Bryce, and the "tookey" - it's great to be a kid! I enjoyed the break from my apartment and the "cold" weather. Yes, it's sad to say, but i thought St. George was cold. :) I guess I'm truly acclamating to CA...

The sad part of it all though is that I left our diaper bag and camera in my Grandma's living room. Yep - all the pictures will have to wait 'till we drive up that way again. Thankfully Christmas is rapidly approaching and we're headed up to Salt Lake to see some real cool weather :) - we're all praying for snow.

Tyler is finishing up his 1st semester of medical school and has been going a mile a minute. School keeps him busy, but it's all the extra things he does that really keep him hopping! He's so good at coming home to be with Cole before he has to go to bed. Cole has been cutting teeth and isn't always the happiest camper by the end of the day. But he always has a big smile for Dad when he comes home!! He loves to say "Dad". He repeats it over and over and smiles. Who needs Christmas, we've got Dad!

I'm still trying to get on the stick with some photography stuff. (Obviously I'm not doing a whole lot right now since my camera is still on vacation.) I keep busy playing with Cole and trying to find things he'll eat. I guess he was spoiled by really good cooking over Thanksgiving because now he hardly wants to eat anything (except oranges, which he calls "appos" (apples)). I guess that's better than some things he could be hooked on eating...

Cole has discovered the playground at our apartment complex. We've played there before but it wasn't a big hit. Now he stands by the door several times a day repeating "walk, walk, walk." He loves to put his shoes on and walk over to the playground. On the way he tells me all about everything we pass - "leaf," "bricks," "rock," "diut" (dirt). He likes to pick pieces of stuff up to give to me. He's especially fond of acorns and seeds from the trees. :) This little guy keeps me on my toes! He loves to go down the slide and crawl through the tunnels. He loves to hide and then pop out laughing. He likes to dig in, throw and eat the wood chips (yuck!) He's hilarous! I'm so thankful for him and his great sense of humor!

Today I took him to the craft store on an errand. He named lots of things as we passed them on the aisles. When we got to the Christmas displays down the middle of the store, he was at a loss for words. He yelled "0ooooooh" at everything we passed. Women were staring and chuckling as we paraded through to the back of the store. He loved the lights and the trees and the sparkly decorations. Every new thing brought another "Oooooh!" I wish I had all our Christmas stuff out at home for him to enjoy, but I haven't gotten to it all yet. We do have our little 2 ft tree up in the living room. It's decorated with lights and a string of cheerios. He's pretty proud of it and if I forget to plug it in, he lets me know. The ornaments that should go on the tree are scattered all over the house. He carries them around all day and loves to throw them (thanks Mom for the plastic decorations!). We may have a future baseball pitcher on our hands. He's got quite an arm.

I love this time of year! Even when life gets crazy, it seems like there's always time at Christmas to remember the wonderful blessings I've been given. I'm so thankful for my family. I'm so blessed to have wonderful parents and parent-in-laws, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... the list goes on and on. Living in California has made me even more aware of how blessed I am to have Tyler and Cole. They make my life wondeful! I love them so much!! I'm thankful for great friends - even from far away - who always seem to make things seem like they're going to work out! I'm especially thankful at this time of year for a loving Heavenly Father and our Savior. I'm thankful for the restoration of the Gospel and for the Book of Mormon. When I remember these great blessings, it's easy to feel joy, even when life seems to throw lots of curve balls (or curve ornaments :) ). I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season!