Tappana Times: Grateful for November

November always brings out the craft fairs, and I enjoy browsing the local ones with my mom and Lydia on the weekends.

These are a couple of cute crafts that caught our eye this year.

We also start preparing for Thanksgiving. This year we were trying to develop the Christ-like attribute of gratitude. To help us do so, I made a turkey and each day we had to write something we were grateful for on a feather and add it to our turkey. I cut out 122 feathers and our goal was to use every one of them to create a big, beautiful Thanksgiving turkey.

Well, we did. And I'd say we did a good job. Our turkey was big and colorful and full of all of our many blessings. Even Kendrick got into it with things he was grateful for like Elmo, nursery, snacks, and books. I rarely had to help at all since he was so full of ideas.

It does help that the small things make this kid extremely happy - like balloons, gloves, and hats.

We could all be a little more grateful for the simple things like Kendrick.

Ryan came into town with his girlfriend, Kelsie, for Thanksgiving. While they were here we played a lot of games and also did a taco taste test.

We gathered tacos from Taco Time, Taco Bell, Taco Del Mar, and a local Mexican place: La Fogata.

We then blindly tasted them and rated them for best meat, best tortilla, and best overall.

Taco Time won by a landslide - though, Ryan still stayed loyal to his beloved Taco Bell.

Brigham just enjoyed eating all the tacos.

Thanksgiving came and we had a wonderful day of food and lots of pie! So much pie. We played games and enjoyed laughing at each other's terrible drawings in the game Telestrations. We also played a game called Muse, and Kelsie showed us her dancing skills.

We try to make a craft on Thanksgiving that the kids can give out as Christmas gifts, and this year I came up the idea to make sock snowmen/snowwomen.

The kids got really into it and created some pretty cute little snow people.

Then everyone fought over who got to keep Kelsie's snow people because hers were the cutest of all. So basically, craft time was a success.

Brigham turned 34 this year and enjoyed a mint-chocolate-chip-brownie-ice-cream cake.

Once Brigham's birthday and Thanksgiving were over, we decorated the house for Christmas.

The kids were all very excited about decorating with ornaments and they did a great job placing them on the tree. Though, I did go back later and reorganize the clusters Kendrick had stacked on the bottom.

My favorite was catching Ammon holding Ivy next to the Christmas tree. Those magical, sweet moments are the ones I want to remember for forever.

Happy Half Birthday, Ivy!

In November, Ivy turned six months! Halfway to her first birthday.

At six months, Ivy was rolling over and grabbing stuff faster than lightning. She's always had great hand skills and as she became more mobile she snatched objects with glee.

She did great with her six month shots, hardly crying at all. She had no teeth yet at this point, but in the next couple weeks Ivy would get her two bottom teeth. And boy are those sharp! She is a biter and has even bitten completely through a carrot.

Ivy puts up with me dressing her in all sorts of adorable outfits - hats/rompers/shoes/bows/etc.

Ivy started saying "mama" a lot and loves to smack her lips. She doesn't say much, so we adore any sounds that come out of her mouth. (except the whining and fussing)

We'll all do pretty much anything to get her to laugh because it's so rare and cute. She hardly cries for real, so when she does we all know it's pretty serious and rush to her aid.

Ammon is THE cutest big brother. He's a lot like Ivy, not one to show much emotion or too much interest, but you can tell that he adores this baby girl. I can't wait to watch them grow up together. I hope he always dotes on her.

Lydia is an awesome help with Ivy. She will feed her, watch her, play with her, you name it. I know Lydia loves having a sister, though she complains about the age difference. These two girls are so lovely.

And what's better than a baby? A baby in a bear suit! Probably the cuddliest thing I've ever seen.

As you can tell, Ivy and I spend a lot of quality time in my rocking chair together. It about broke my heart when she turned six months. Already halfway there to turning one?! How did it go by so fast? I am truly enjoying her as a baby and the time is rushing by way, way too quickly. I adore this blue-eyed girl. I mean, she frustrates me at times. With her complete refusal of baby food, and her complaints, and grabbiness, I do get irritated. However, it can never last for long. The second those pudgy hands reach for my face, or a smile cracks those lips, or when those serious blue eyes look at me under her perfectly curled eyelashes over her pink chubby cheeks - I could go on, but you can tell I'm smitten - all is forgiven. I can't believe I get to call this sweet girl mine.

Happy half birthday, Ivy Sue. 

Tappana Times: Rounding Out October

October was a good month. We received fabulous school pictures back - probably the best ones yet - and we had multiple family birthdays to celebrate.

First, Grandma Busby's actual 90th birthday rolled around!

Ninety years old, can you believe it? She's pretty awesome. I go help her in the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday and it has brought me so much joy. She's been my second mom for so long, living with us until I was sixteen, and to be close to her again is something I'll always treasure. Kyle and I even got her to play cribbage with us and Dad.

Kayleen also had her birthday and entered her teen years, turning thirteen.

I made a quick weekend trip to Utah with my parents for Ryan's endowments in the temple. It was so good to see family, even if it was a lot of car riding for such a short trip.

We got to eat at Cubby's where they have the best sweet potato fries ever.

The only bad part of the trip was that I left behind Brigham and the kids with a very sick Ivy.

Rashes, constant throwing up, fussiness, mucus, etc. We drove all day home from Utah and I immediately went in, grabbed Ivy and took her to the Emergency Room where she was treated for dehydration. They weren't too helpful there, but thankfully her actual doctor treated her for an ear infection a couple days later and she was like a new baby. I was so worried about her the whole trip, but Brigham did a great job holding the down the fort.

Kendrick was up to his usual antics, accidentally coloring on his nose when he was trying to smell the markers. He also thinks that all flies are called "shoe flies" because I tell him to say "shew fly, don't bother me."

Kyle and Katrina came to Washington to visit and we went to a corn maze and farm for some fall fun while they were here.

Tractor rides and bubbles with Grandpa, Kendrick was in heaven.

He and Amelia especially loved the corn pit.

Though, all the kids did enjoy digging around in the corn kernels.

The adults had a blast with the apple slingshot. If you were able to hit the target, you got a box of donuts. We didn't end up hitting the target, but Dad got the closest.

Ivy watched from her stroller as we looked at the farm animals and the older kids went through the corn maze with Brigham.

We were lucky to have such good weather, and it was a beautiful day.

I had to take some pictures of myself with some things I am grateful for, for a church activity. I've already posted a few of them previously, so I'll just throw the last couple in. I'm grateful for reading - in bed specifically - and definitely for ice cream. Those things together also are pretty great.

All in all, a great October. Definitely lots to be grateful for with November approaching.