Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! we are going to Grantsville to eat, as this is Dick and Kathy's last Thanksgiving before they go to New Zealand for their LDS mission on Jan 1st. I'm excited for the Mouritsen craziness- there will be about 40 people in one house and hardly any room to move your chair- but it will be exciting. I was tasked with making rolls. AND IT IS STRESSFUL. I bought 108 Rhodes rolls- which will all have to rise and then bake in my 1 oven. I will be using a lot of pans. I won't have time before the 1pm meal to raise and bake one set of rolls and reuse the pan for a 2nd set- so I'll just have to let them all raise together. Then, I'm anxious because I'm making them in Orem, and then they will have to survive the hour transit to Grantsville- so they won't be fresh  out of the oven which makes me bummed, they are always best then!

Ah, we will see if I should've just bought the bags of pre made rolls from Costco.

I can only imagine making the entire meal. Kathy is a goddess.

The above photo is when we went to Los Angeles for a friends wedding and took lil Ella! (but not baby Lucy) It was a really amazing trip. I love the palm trees. I love the west coast beach with its cliffs right by the water. Ella adored the plane ride and the sand and really was a pleasure to take with us. And, I used to hate Brent's mustache but I think I've come around.

It looks alright in the photo, and even a bit better in person.

Eleanor was asking me to take a picture of her- and then she struck several Michael Jackson- esque poses which of course was hilarious. You can see Ashley the bride and her bridesmaids in the background.

The wedding reception was held at a relative's home- the backyard was so beautiful and even had a pomegranate and lime tree with fruit literally hanging off the branches. It was like the freaking Garden of Eden.

Lucy is growing and growing. She is a stubborn little tease. She likes to hold a pen and try and write on things she knows she shouldn't. And I know she knows because she looks me in the eye with a grin and writes on her clothes and feet and then laughs and tries to run away. Also she puts up a real fight when I take away the pen. She'll lean in for a kiss when I ask and now will shake her head no if I ask her to do something she doesn't want to. She also mimics Ella- which of course Ella both loves and hates depending on the situation.

Parenting is hard. I question my decisions endlessly which is tiring. Eleanor was asking why she's a girl the other day- and I thought to myself, yikes. kinda deep, Ella. At first I said, "God made you a girl, and that's how you were born." But then I thought, shoot, what about people that struggle with gender identity- should Ella feel forced to be a girl? Ahh! But then I was like, calm down, she's 3. That is a good enough answer for now. Also, Ella is such a sensitive little bird. She gets upset when she has to share Grandma with Lucy. I'm not sure how to toughen her up and I'm not sure if I should? 

Halloween 2017

Hey.

For some reason, Lucy had just pushed Ella, hence the sad face...

We had two Minnie Mouses this Halloween. Eleanor had been wearing her Minnie dress almost nonstop for the last few months so it hardly felt like she was dressed up! Ella was telling a few people that her little sister was going to be a little Minnie Mouse. So.. I made it happen.

We went to our church Halloween party the saturday before. It was pretty good. All the kids "trick or treated" to all the rooms. You'll be proud to hear I decorated a door for the cause- not a normal thing for me, but I think my kids are helping me get into the spooky spirit. I spent at least $50 on the decor- for better or worse.

Unfortunately though, I had, like, a 2-day bug or something because I felt SICK. It was lucky that I even went to the party. I had thrown up in the check out line at Target just a few hours before. An awkward situation for all involved. The cashier girl was like, whoa.

Thankfully it went in Lucy's snack bag and not all over the floor. But, sorry Lucy, about your snacks...

Then on Halloween day Ella caught it. She threw up too! Poor thing. She handled it really well. She's never thrown up before- and it is scary! She didn't trick or treat. she said, "I don't want to. the candy will hurt my sore throat." it was so cute and pitiful. She did enjoy handing out candy though. So did Lucy- who tried to escape as fast as possible with every trick or treater out the door. (PS Lucy caught the bug that night too. Puking babies are NO JOKE. they cannot aim and it is a bummer)

We did a few other fall activities as well. There are an astonishing number of pumpkin patches around here. For some reason, I felt a lot of inner pressure to do a lot of Halloween activities. Why? Probably because all those damn Instagram photos of moms and their kids carving pumpkins! Ah well.

Ella was posing for pictures in front of this jack'o'lantern!! I love her and her diva ways. Also, Lucy was dutifully trying to climb up and copy her. It is so sweet how she tries to copy everything Ella does but it also makes a lot more work for me- forcing kids to share is like the bane of my existence. Pretty soon I'm just gonna have to tell them to fight it out because I can't do. it. anymore. kind of joking?

Lucy's toothy grin!

PS Ella has worn pants to school two times now and IT IS A MIRACLE. at her preschool they play outside every day and it is getting too cold for her to wear her beloved dresses! she cries when she puts them on before school but her teachers say she isn't bothered at all during class. As soon as I pick her up she's like, Can I eat Capn Crunch when we get home? And can I take off my pants?!?!?