The Season of Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was spent in Bountiful at Grandma and Papa Bleak's house. Oh, I love being there! I love family, I love the holidays, I love the feeling of all being together and just spending time together. Now, I know our house is getting crazy with kids running around and some things have to change, but change is good and seeing our family grow is so fun.

We spent time cooking together and getting Thanksgiving dinner ready. Each of us had assignments, so hopefully it made it easier on Mom. She did still make I think 9 or 10 pies, so THAT'S not an easy job! We also played games, watched X-Factor, the girls sat down and made button earrings together, FINALLY got new family pictures together and just hung out together. I LOVE my family and am so grateful for them in my life!

I am also extremely grateful for these crazy girls in my life! Life would be boring without them :). They mean so much to me and even though there are days that are hard, I absolutely love being a mom and wouldn't change it for the world! They are my world now and I am grateful for all they are teaching me!

One of my favorite moments during the holiday was Friday night when we played the game "Things". It started getting late at night and we were having so much fun and cracking up at the dumbest things...those moments are priceless and when I feel we become closest as a family.

Reese and Jax are only two months apart but almost 10 pounds different. Haha...I love it! They are so cute following each other around. Well, mostly Reese following Jax around since he NEVER EVER stops moving. Now that we are back home, I called Sisten to tell her that Jaxon definitely taught Reese a thing or two. Reese never did this before, but now she climbs on everything and climbed on top of the table today! She is crazy and getting hurt all the time. She watched Jax all week and saw all the things he could do...now she thinks she can too!

My parents finally have their addition finished! It's beautiful and makes such a huge difference in that main room off of the kitchen. Before we were all so squished and a lot of people had to sit on the floor and wherever else. Now we all fit comfortably in the kitchen/family room and it makes it so much nicer!

We got our family pictures updated. I just took a few pictures with my iphone, but I will post later with the real pictures. It was pretty cold, so I was cuddling with Reese in her blanket. Emma kept warm by running around the whole time :).

Nathan, Steph and William and Henry...such a cute family.

One of my favorite pictures! I love seeing Grandma and Grandpa Bleak with all their grand babies. They are hoping for at least 27 more :)...it's fun to see how the family continues to grow.

A definite highlight of Emma's Thanksgiving week was when she got to meet "cinderella". We were in the middle of pictures, she was running around like crazy with her cousins when all of a sudden she stopped dead in her tracks and just stared as a beautiful bride came walking out of the Capitol Building. She just stood and then said, "Mom, it's Cinderella." She was mesmorized and in love ;). The bride talked to her and gave her a flower from her bouquet. Emma is still talking about it now.

This Thanksgiving season I am especially grateful for my amazing husband. Cade is so good to me and wonder sometimes if I deserve it. He always comes home from work and immediately puts work aside and gets to work at home. He asks what he can do to help me, always helps enteraining and playing with the girls, does dishes after dinner, gets the girls in the bath and helps put them to bed. And I never even have to ask! He is incredible and I love him with all my heart!

Close Cousin Pics!

  

When they were here visiting, we took the four cousins on the Close side to get pictures at the mall. Even though we had a rough time getting there and didn't know how they would turn out...they turned out great! They look so cute together. It's so fun that Emma and Ashur are less than two months apart and Reese and Taft are one month apart. We'll have to plan the next grand babies :). They are such cuties and it's fun to see them become so close.

 This is one of my favorites! Reese and Taft are so dang cute!

Emma's 3rd Birthday: Princesses galore

I cannot believe Emma is three years old already! It seemed not too long ago she came into our world and changed ours family forever. I am so grateful she is healthy and strong now!

Emma's birthday was kind of last minute this year. We had the Close side here up until two days before and I hadn't really thought through everything. But I'm glad everything worked out. Some of Emma's friends were able to come over last minute for ice cream, a piñata (thanks Grandma Close!), and Kangaroo zoo! That is by far Emma's favorite place to go so she was very happy that day! The next day was Sunday and that night some of the Bleak side came over for some cake and opening presents. On the following day, we went with Nathan, Steph and the boys to go mini golfing. So Emma just had three full days of birthday fun! (Now that she is starting to see Christmas gifts she keeps saying, "Mom, it's my birthday?!" No...it's not your birthday all year long :)).

Everything that Emma got from friends and family were princess things...exactly what Emma is in to! And I attempted to make a princess cake, but didn't have the right pan so it needed up looking like (as Cade said) "a princess in a hot tub". He's right :). But I just laughed and Emma didn't care- there was a princess stuck in the cake!!! She liked it and that's all that matters.

I LOVE how happy Emma looks in this picture. She loved having her friends all there to hang out with!

Reese having a good time at Emma's party :)...

Close Family visits for Halloween

We LOVE when the Close family visits! There are many good things about when they come, but Cade and I agree our favorite thing is seeing Emma and Ashur play together! Emma absolutely loves Ashur and talks about him all the time. They play SO well together and just love being with each other all the time! The morning they left, it wasn't even 2 minutes and Emma said, "Mom.........(pause)....I sure miss Ashur." It was so cute. She still says it often. We got to have Grandma and Grandpa Close here, as well as Tara and Ashur and Taft. It was a full house, but it was full of fun!

We got to ride a haunted train in Lindon and the kids had fun doing that! Emma wasn't even very scared. She liked the skeletons a lot :).

 

Grandpa only got to stay with us for a few days, but he was so much fun!

We got to celebrate 3 birthdays that are within one week: Taft (Oct. 28), Emma (Nov. 3), and Grandma (Nov. 4)! It was fun to celebrate a lot with everyone!

And since they were here over Halloween, there was a lot of trick or treating and dressing up! Fishbowl (where Cade works) has a party every Halloween during the day and so we all dressed up and went trick or treating around the offices. It's such a fun tradition! And the more times Emma got to be in her Cinderella Dress, the better for her :). Cade and I were the king and queen and we had two adorable princesses! Ashur and Taft were a knight and dragon and Tara and Grandma we fairies (from Sleeping Beauty)...we had a whole theme going on!

 

James made a very cute puppy!!

Then Wednesday was Halloween and we geared up again for some more trick or treating! We took all four around the neighborhood and had a blast! Cade stayed back at our house with Penny and passed out candy...and he LOVES doing that. 

Graham and Brock Robinson. We love them. 

Emma has music class every Tuesday morning and Ashur got to participate during Halloween week when they got to dress up. There were a lot of princesses, but only one knight!

This picture is hilarious because Emma loves doing crazy things and Ashur does not so she was looking at him like, "what's wrong buddy? It's just a slide." :).

 

We always have a great time with the Close family and can't wait to see them for Christmas! Emma definitely can't wait!