November 2017

Ah, November.

The month where we earnestly

seek out ways to play indoors.

And so, we discovered the mall.

That's right, the mall.

Here is the Cy statue inside the mall:

And here is the play area in the mall

that Ellory wanted to go to

every single day:

I'm so glad my friend told me about it.

I am a firm believer that kids need to 

run and climb and jump and just

go wild.

Ellory wanted me to take a picture

of her brushing her teeth:

On our way to Nana's house!

So on my parents' computer,

their screensaver is just to 

go through all their pictures.

And suddenly, this little gem popped up:

Isn't it the best??

It just screams 90's.

Also, who is Jake even talking to?

And look at how cute little Kyle is in his earmuffs!!

And my bangs couldn't make me laugh any harder.

My parents were nice enough

to offer to keep the kids overnight so that

I could go to the temple.

It was quite the couple of days!

I drove the 2 hours to their house,

and then later drove the 2 hours back.

Then, the next day I drove the 2 1/2 hours to 

the temple,

spent about 4 hours inside,

and then drove the 2 1/2 hours back.

And it was all worth it.

I really needed the temple that day.

I had recently found out that

my reproductive system was malfunctioning,

and there was a chance it would stay that way.

This trip to the temple brought me a lot

of comfort and peace that I needed.

And now, I'm not super sure,

but I think I possibly drove back

to Nana's house the next day to get the kids?

Anyway, Pop-Pop and Ellory

napped together:

And Nana taught Kale the joys

of Harry Potter Uno:

And Kale fell asleep like this

on the way home:

One day, Ellory asked me to make 

her a treasure map

that she could follow to buried treasure.

So I did:

Her treasure was chocolate,

the best kind of treasure.

And she was so tired from her hunt

she had to lay down to eat it:

Those mornings just kept on 

getting chillier!

Back to the mall we went:

Always with snacks:

Waiting for Kale to get out of school:

So, Tyler is also an integral part of this family,

and we care about the things he is doing, too!

Well, for his first year at Iowa State,

he got to take part in the hosting of the 

Cross Country Regional Championship.

It was a lot of responsibility, and probably  not 

the easiest thing to do at a brand new

place where you don't know everyone.

But he did it!

And not only that, but both the men and women's 

teams won!

I was really excited for Tyler

because he had an injured athlete he had been

working with for a long time

who was able to not only run at the race,

but also place significantly to help the team

attain their big win.

I tell everyone this every chance I get:

Tyler is REALLY good at his job.

He works hard, he is invested, and he cares.

Thank goodness for the internet!

 

Kale was jealous when he 

heard that I had taken Ellory to the mall

and let her do one of the little ride things.

So we went back:

One time, I did Ellory's hair again:

And Kale was handsome as all get out:

Ellory and I went out to run some errands

and she wanted to bring Puppy with us.

But Puppy needed to be safe in the car,

so we strapped him into Kale's car seat:

Get those wiggles out girlie!

It must not have been horribly cold

this day,

so we walked to pick Kale up:

And Ellory fell asleep:

I brought Kale's scooter so he could

ride it home,

but I didn't bring him gloves

so he borrowed my mittens:

While Ellory napped,

we played Battleship and ate

Halloween candy:

She woke up!

Time for a visit to the library:

"Mom! Take a picture of us in our beds!"

"I miss daddy. Let's send him kisses."

"Vroom!"

Yee-Haw!

Water paints time:

Another trip to the library.

The librarian wanted Ellory to like her so badly.

she gave her crayons and a coloring page,

but then Ellory banished her back to her desk.

Mom gave me this candle,

and I love it:

Hi, I'm Ellory and I like bunnies.

On the eve of Thanksgiving,

I made our traditional roasted red pepper dip:

SO good.

And on Thanksgiving day I made a ham:

Grandma's rolls:

Oh I almost forgot!

The day before Thanksgiving 

we were playing around

and Kale accidentally headbutted me in the eye.

It hurt so bad.

I now understand what people mean

when they say they "saw stars."

And I also understand that I don't 

ever want Kale to play football.

But anyway,

I had a nice shiner for Thanksgiving day:

We went outside to play for a bit,

because wiggles.

And then waited for the food to be

done and for the missionaries to get here.

I made more things than just ham and rolls,

by the way.

I also made roasted veggies and

mashed potatoes and gravy.

After dinner we taught the missionaries

how to play 5 Crowns:

And then it was dessert time!!!!

Every year we make a pumpkin cobbler

that is the bomb.

Thanksgiving is the only day of the year

that we make it.

And this year,

one of the missionaries requested a 

banana cream pie,

so we had that too.

Delish.

The next day,

we put up our Christmas decorations:

Tyler and Kale strung up some lights

around the deck:

And the weather was so unusually warm,

we went to a park to play,

in T-shirts!

Kale and Ellory played a matching game together:

And then, Uncle Shane came to visit!!

We were so excited for him to be 

here with us.

Kale wanted to show him his school

playground:

And Ellory wanted to show him,

well,

everything:

He showed the kids how to play

chess on his phone:

And we took him to dinner

at Hickory Park.

He was here on Sunday, too,

so he got to come to our ward with us.

 Off to church we go!

Ellory really just loved Uncle Shane,

and it was sweet to see:

Then we relaxed and watched a movie.

Wish I could remember which one it was...

And then he had to go.

He had a training down in Kansas City he had to drive to.

We were so happy that he wanted

to extend his trip a little bit

to spend some time with us!

So one day it was super duper cold

and Ellory didn't want to get out of the car

to get Kale from school.

So I gave her my phone and told her she

could take pictures while I was grabbing him:

I told you.

She's already a selfie fiend.

Here are the kids' letters

to Santa:

And that was November!