November / Thanksgiving

Tyler and Kallie were dying about missing their wax museum while we went to Canada but their teacher ended up moving it to the next week so they got to participate after all. They didn't have to memorize anything like Mckinley did but it was the first time we were able to go in and see a whole classroom full of kids dressed up and it was really fun!

Tyler had a cool electronic recording of all his information.

I ordered him a wig from Amazon last minute and it was just so great!

He said he couldn't smile because of the sticky mustache but I made him attempt it. I have laughed out loud so many times looking at this picture.

Tyler is playing indoor soccer for the first time ever and it's really fun to watch!

Kallie's friend Addie hosts them for the funnest parties all the time. They did a friendsgiving together.

And while she was gone, we went swimming. Attempted the Provo Rec but the whole kids pool was under construction so we headed to Orem instead. They had a new playground we didn't even know about.

The diving board is always a fun time. Tyler has made friends with Merrick, a boy in our neighborhood, and still tries to hang out with Alex when he can.

This was so funny to me watching Brandon freak out when Jackson jumped into the 13 foot deep pool. Of course Jackson had no idea how deep it is, but it really doesn't matter too much if he can swim. :)

Jackon's little play group has been a real struggle for him but he's good with it when it's at our house. We hosted the boys the day before Thanksgiving break so had to make some cute turkeys with their names on them.

Kallie has quite the fun set up in her room. She's growing up too fast!

Thanksgiving break was so much fun. Ava and Jackson got to go play on a bounce house with Ava's friend from school. 

Then I dropped Kallie and Mckinley off at the mall on their own for a while and went back to get them. We did a little shopping and got to see all the fun gingerbread houses.

Love seeing this cute tractor in the neighborhood whenever we drive by.

Our mattress sleepovers don't happen every Friday night like they used to, but Brandon did get them out for Thanksgiving break and the kids were pretty excited about it.

Thanksgiving morning we had the whole day till 4:00 at home so the kids decorated for Christmas and Mckinley and I went out for a freezing walk by the lake. We were going to go with my family but because some people had just come down with Covid we decided to go with the Salmon's instead. Nice to have back up and to be able to change plans easily.

As soon as we got over there before we even started eating Jackson sat down on this couch and was looking really sleepy. I asked him if he was getting ready for a nap and he said no, but clearly he was.

We had a good time.

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up to snow!!! It was magical. The kids and I went out sledding on the golf course. Brandon totally would have come with us but he had hurt his back pretty bad somehow and really couldn't move much all weekend. Poor guy. But we had so much fun in the snow! It was such a fun day!

After playing in the snow we went to Classic and played on the bounce houses with some cousins. Ross and I played cards while the kids jumped.

And then we had bought tickets to go see Trolls that evening which was super cute and we had such a good time together! This is such an amazing stage of life with no babies and we can just have so much fun going on outings!

We headed over to the mall so Brandon and Tyler could see the gingerbread houses.

Cute Jackson spent quite a while figuring out the buttons on his white shirt.

 

Grandma Palmer's Funeral

Friday was the day of the funeral. Ava and Jackson were obsessed with mixing drinks at breakfast.

The funeral was at a church that was right by our hotel so that was really convenient. The funeral was great. Brandon and all his brothers were pallbearers. 

We headed over to the cemetery. I was so worried about us standing around at the cemetery for an hour in the cold Calgary weather so I made sure we all brought beanies and gloves and that the girls were wearing tights and boots or closed toed church shoes. I probably over prepared but we definitely were not cold. I even wore pants under my dress.

All the kids got to put a flower on the casket.

Karen and all her siblings.

Jackson and Tyler wouldn't eat any of the food at the funeral lunch. Those boys sure do make traveling a little tricky.

Back to the pool for more swimming in the afternoon.

Then we got to go to Blaine's house for a family dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs that evening. Brandon and I walked out in the dark to the river. We got up on to the dock and then we saw something gliding by us in the water. It seriously looked like it could be an alligator swimming by but Blaine told us it would have been a beaver. 

I took the kids out to the river later and right when we got there we heard this huge noise and I had no idea what it would be, and then we discovered it was a bunch of geese we had scared and they were flying off and landed in the river, making the loud noise. Anyway, really wish I could have seen that property and the water front behind Blaine's house during daylight hours.

Some of Brandon's cousins that we met showed us some pictures they had taken earlier in the week of the northern lights and they looked absolutely spectacular. It's one of my dreams to see the northern lights in person. I was so close, but it didn't quite happen.

Had to document Ross playing an arcade game, ha ha.

These kids had so much fun in Blaine's basement in the theater and playing arcade games and eating all the treats they could.

We saw three deer as we were driving away from Blaine's house. It was such a good day.

Snuggles on the coveted floor spot.

 

Ava had the time of her life with Maisie and Mavis. She sure loves being with her cousins.

These kids had so much fun swimming together. They made up lifeguard games, came down the slide in a big long train, and all sorts of other things.

They are all jumping out of the water in this picture.

Had to take a picture of the Costco menu. We stopped at Costco in Lethbridge again on the way home for lunch.

Mckinley's coat was so fitting for being in Canada.

Cute Kallie.

As we were driving towards the border we saw signs for a duty free souvenir shop. I assumed it would be really expensive but I wanted to stop and take a look anyway. Mckinley likes to collect key chains from different places she goes. Brandon hates it, ha ha. But anyway, they had super cute Canada key chains and they were a really good price so we got some, and a hat as well. It made me so happy.

Finally got to eat at Taco Bell in Great Falls.

Kallie got her turn to sleep on the floor.

These two are so stinking cute together.

Tara's family stayed with us again. We tried to stay at the same hotel since the water slide would be working but they were completely booked out so we had to just find a different hotel that didn't have a water slide. I was dying over these giant bowls they had for cereal at breakfast.

It doesn't take much for these kids to have fun. They just love being with each other. They ended up putting chairs and tables in the pool and were having so much fun with them. Until the assistant manager of the hotel came in and got us in trouble. The kids think it's funny that they got in trouble at 2 of the 3 hotels we stayed at.

Love driving through the mountains in Montana. The scenery is just so beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice.

Stopped in Butte for Little Caesars with Tara's family. We didn't think about where we would eat it so we just ended up parking our van by theirs and eating in our cars, ha ha.

Such an amazing trip. I'm so glad we were able to go. It was so great being with family and being able to support Karen.