Thanksgiving

We got to go down to Idaho for the week of Thanksgiving. Here's a brief report of the week:

The Car Ride Down

I had quite a list of things to pack for the girls to do on the car ride down. Books, color pages/mess-free markers, cd's (West Boone Favorites, Primary Songs, and Fairy Tale stories), snacks, and a few home-made workbooks to practice writing letters, etc. These items were on as-needed basis, and we looked out the window and talked about what we saw for quite a while. About an hour and a half into the drive Summer threw up. She hadn't been acting sick at all, though she had snacked on a few starbursts. The roads had been windy, so we just thought she was car sick. She didn't throw up any more times after that, though we had to drive about 2 more hours to a car wash to clean the car seat off. The rest of the way, the girls sat quietly and looked out the windows. I think Claire looked at a total of two books, and we listened to the "Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Chewy, Bubble Gum" song about a thousand times. About an hour or two away from Shelley, Summer started asking if "we were there yet." All in all, I think it was a good drive down.

Grandma and Grandpa Searle's

We first spent a few days with Gma and Gpa Searle. We played, read books, watched movies, and got to make Gingerbread houses with Grandma. 

Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner's

Before we left for Gma and Gpa K's house, I started feeling sick. I was throwing up. And as Rhett says, "What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom." So I won't say anymore about how sick I was. But I WAS SICK! Wow. It was pretty bad. The whole time we were at the Kartchner's, I was trying to recover. After not eating anything on Wednesday, I was able to eat a small Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. Everyone was so great about taking care of me as well as the girls.
Rhett's cousin Tate and Christa joined in the Thanksgiving meal, and Summer and Mason played really well together. It was fun to see them initiate a card game of Toy Story.

  I love this picture--not that it's super clear or cute of anyone, but I love the moment it captures of Grandpa on the ground with all the kids.

Though this one might depict more of what was actually going on.

 

Grandpa Barney's

Because I was still feeling a little sick, we stayed at my parent's during our visit with Grandpa Barney. My parents were at the cabin, so we got to have some good one-on-one time with Gpa B. We looked at Christmas lights, played, read, and had a nice visit.

The Car Ride Home 

The car ride home was a little more rocky than the drive there, though the girls did entertain themselves for a bit by tying the extra seatbelts together.

We also got to stop at Aunt Marie's house to gather some family history information on the Barney side. It was great getting to see her and the cousins. They played so well with the girls.

Pyper was pretty upset by the time we buckled her into her carseat again. I think she knew we had a long drive ahead, plus it had been a busy week and she was exhausted, as was everyone else. At about 6pm, the girl's heads started nodding to sleep (mine included!). Rhett did great though, and drove the whole way. We got home at about 11pm Liberty Lake time.

The best part was that even though I was sick, we have no complaints about the trip. The girls were great, the visits were fun, and we made some great memories. Thanks everyone for your great hospitality and care!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

With a backyard looking like this in the summer . . .

you can imagine what the Fall looks like! 

 I have never seen so many leaves in my life! And these are just the ones that had fallen onto the trampoline!

Before we raked them up, we tried getting a few pictures of the girls in them. I think these picture sequences tell so much. I'm not sure why Summer was feeling a little grouchy, but Claire was sure having a good time!

 After Summer cheered up and Pippy joined them:

It's like Where's Waldo, but it's Where's Pippy???

 Jumping on the trampoline:

  Swinging into the pile dad made:

My favorite:

What a fun time of year! And a great place to spend it!

Halloween

This year for Halloween the girls were bumblebees. I guess I was kind of in charge of costumes this year. I found a killer deal on striped material for 60% off at Joann's. I cut two rectangles for each girl, cut strips along the side, then tied the front and backs together. I sewed a black ribbon to go over the shoulders, then we stuck them in black tights and black shoes with a headband and pipe cleaner antennaes. I also made their wings with some wire and black tulle.  Rhett added the bumblebee bum to them. They turned out quite cute. 

I wanted Pippy to be a flower garden, but we ran out of time, so she just wore orange and black striped tights over her onesie.
The girls wore the bumblebee costumes for our ward party, but the night of Halloween, they actually chose to be sister witches, which worked out better because the witch costumes we got were a bit big and could fit over the girls' coats.

It's gotten quite cold here, so we've been building fires. 

Of course, the first two nights we had a fire, the girls begged for s'mores. And how can you say no to all that gooey goodness???

Picture by Claire

Bringing Spokanites to Liberty lake

A few weekends ago, our law school friends, Josh and Rachel, attended a wedding a few hours away from us. After the wedding, they were able to come by and stay for a few days. We were lucky enough to have Daren and Heather come too. It was like the good old days--except we all slept under one roof! 

The girls were so excited to see everyone. The day before anyone arrived, Summer worked on drawing pictures for everyone. (Didn't quite finish, but they turned out cute.) While everyone was here, and if ever I wondered where Claire was, I would just have to find Daren. She was usually curled up under his arm next to him. It was so cute.

These are some of the pictures taken of the weekend. Thanks Heather for your great photography skills!

Claire, Daren, and Summer

Claire lounging

Not too great of Rhett and I, but we don't get many of us together these days. (Am I looking at a bill???)

Rachel and Summer

It was soooo fun for Summer and Claire to have playmates living with us for a few days! Summer and Lyla played together very well. It was fun to see how much she had grown and to watch the kids interact together. It was also fun to watch Mac and Pippy interact. So cute!

Love these pics of the girls playing in the leaves.

Rachel and Me

Claire's Best Bud

All of us again. 

It was sad not to have Andy and Jen with us, but we were so thankful that the Greens and Harris' could come visit. It was as if time had never passed. We appreciate their friendship and are grateful for their sacrifices to come. We miss them already!