Thanksgiving in Moab!

Happy Thanksgiving from Moab! 

We ate a yummy breakfast at our hotel, then left as soon as we could to spend the day in Arches.

Snack break!

Pictures don't do it justice with how steep this hill is! I climbed up with the girls and you can see where each one shed her coat as we got higher. Coming down was no easy feat! Greg waited patiently at the bottom with Quincey.

While Claire was pouting ...

We were getting pictures with the local goats.

After our trip to Yellowstone, we learned that everyone is happiest when they aren't strapped to their seat.

The girls climbed things.

We found the famous arch!

I love the sun rays in this picture! And Claire's cute face, of course.

Climbing ever higher!

Snuggling a sleeping Quincey.

At the top!

Claire was being hilarious.

We found Balancing Rock!

I dare you to find a cute Rock Models!

After a fun day exploring Arches, we decided it was time to eat. 

We hit up the local Mexican joint for our Thanksgiving Feast, and it was absolutely delicious! We were surrounded by TV's and it was hilarious to watch Greg and the girls get sucked into the Mexican music video's while we waited for our food to cook. 

The girls tried Fried Ice Cream for the first time and LOVED it!

My fajita's were cooked in an entire pineapple. It was so yummy!

After our yummy dinner, we made it back to our hotel in time to bathe, and go to bed. Or at least everyone else did while I stayed up late to do some online shopping ... 'tis the season.

Best Thansgiving Ever!

Thanksgiving in Moab - the drive there

The world was our oyster this year, as far as Thanksgiving Dinner was concerned. It was our year with the Spjute's, but seeing that Mark and Kathy are on a mission in New York, and all of Greg's sister's had other plans, we made our own, and boy did we have fun!

We went to Moab!

And we have so much fun, that we are honestly considering doing it every year for the rest of forever!!! 

We have already invited my family to join us there in 2023, and I'm not sure that they know how serious we are ...

Their traveling outfits kill me. Yes they dressed themselves!

Funny Story: We got to Moab, checked into the hotel, and unpacked all while realizing that I had packed everyone's swimsuits but Sofia's. 

Whoops!

So, after much wailing, we found a store and bought the very last size 7 bikini in Moab, I'm pretty sure. Sof was thrilled to have a bikini, and Greg wasn't super thrilled, but a bikini is better than going naked, and we were on vacation and had limited options, so we make the best of it.

For dinner, we ate at a yummy diner, and the girls were thrilled! We don't go out to eat super often, so when we do it's a pretty exciting experience. And, with Claire's history, Greg and I never know how her digestive system is going to handle the food ... Luckily, we had no mishaps this time around.

Claire; "Look, I'm a walrus."

Salt ...

And pepper (minus Quincey).

Dinner was yummy! After, we headed back to the hotel where I commenced to putting Quincey to bed while Greg took the girls swimming. The temperature was in the low 40's, not ideal swimming weather, but the hotel heated the pools, so it worked out. We had a view of the pool from our window, so it was fun to watch Greg and the girls have the run of the pools. Afterwards, being the stellar vacation parent that I am, I left Quincey sleeping soundly in the room and went to swim with everyone. 

The air was cooooollllllddd, but the water was warm, so staying submerged was the key.

Our kids had been sick earlier on in the month and were still recovering, so Quincey was living the high life with her own personal humidifier and we brought our own personal pharmacy. No way were we going to get sick kids keep us home!

Next stop: Arches!!!

The Cutest Dance Recitals!

Claire joined the dance rank this year, meaning we had 2 dancers to divide and conquer. Worth it! The girls did so cute this year!

Illume has expanded so much that there were 4 showings this fall. The owners decided to do a Fall preview at 4 different Senior Living Centers. 

Grandma happened to be in town the weekend of Claire's performance, and she did such a beeautiful job! No one would believe it, but Claire is a really graceful dancer. It brings a smile to my face every.single.time. She loves dancing, she goes into her own world, and I think it's adorable.

Let it be known that I got one of my kids to something early (for once), and Claire had a blast running around the studio by herself. It was cute to watch.

Unfortunately, the video file size is too big to upload, so just know that the video of Claire is adorable, and it involves her running in a circle with this streamer.

Sofia's performance was the following weekend and she did so good! She has always chose her Dad to go watch her performances, because COVID has always limited the number of people attending, so I was so surprised when she asked me to go watch instead. 

Sof is getting to the age where she is so fun to hang out with! She can hold a good conversation, she loves to have fun, and she still thinks I'm cool. She's such a good little kid!

October Recap

I'm realizing now how busy October was for us. Busy with fun things, that is. The weather stayed pretty temperate, so we were able to enjoy the outdoors as often as we wanted.

More ticklish by the day!

A beautiful day at the park on Friday after dance.

We love that our Cherry Hill passes carry over into Scary Hill. We didn't use them near as much as we wanted to, but it was fun while it lasted! 

tractor Rides through the graveyward, Rockwall (which the girls learned was a lot harder not in their swimsuits), Astro Blasters, and a mini golf. 

Claire was on one while we were leaving, and I was dying watching her pose and dance in her own little world

I found this in the backyard and laughed when I did. I asked Sofia about it later, and she said that she had written that while Claire had made her mad. If that's as mad as Sofia gets, her teenage years might not be so bad after all.

We really need a horse.

Date night with Claire while Sof was at a birthday party! We had a lot of fun on the new deck with our firepit.

Claire woke up one morning and magically decided she knew how to say her C and K sounds. She figured it out all by herself, and I'm so proud of her! 

Claire in her own time, people. She beats to the tune of her own drum.

Cousins were in town one weekend and we crashed their hotel to swim in the pool

It was awesome!

I started to have a lot of fun having Quincey as my little model for Eclair + Co.

I needed a break from Claire one day, so I put her in her room and went outside for a few minutes to myself. I turned around and found this - it was slightly terrifying! Sometime I feel like she's everywhere!

Greg planned a Saturday to be shuttled up to one of the resorts (I'm sure he told me which one) and ride back down. He sure picked a good weekend, complete with bone-chilling termperatures and snow.

He came home a mess.

I found her in action! Her balance amazes me every time.

Claire is hilarious. She sure keeps us on our toes!

It was State XC one day and we did our best to watch Shelby run. It was in North Salt Lake, so it was super convenient for us to go! So many nerves hit me for her as I relived this day in my mind. It was at a different course for me, but the feelings were still there! Those girls are amazing. And, CHS took 1st in State. They haven't done that for 16 years - when I helped my team win my Sophomore year :).

Quincey turned 7 months old!

And she does not hold still!

We found Claire's Christmas dress in October. She came walking slowly out of her room one Sunday wearing it, and I had to let her. How beautiful is she?!