Thanksgiving Week

We took a trip down to Austin, TX for Thanksgiving this year to see Trent's sister and her family.  We left the Monday afternoon before Thanksgiving and drove halfway to Wichita, KS, where we stopped and stayed for the night.  We got up bright and early the next morning and drove the rest of the way.  I found I would much prefer to get all the driving done in one day.  Splitting it up into two days just seemed to prolong the agony.  We got there safe and sound Tuesday evening and went to Steph and Ryan's for a BBQ so the kids could see their cousins.  They were ecstatic to be able to see them!

On Wednesday, we had the wonderful opportunity to drive down to the San Antonio Temple and witness the sealing of Teague to Ryan and Stephanie.  It was such a special day!

Here's Teague getting all dressed in his whites.  He was so happy for the whole sealing.  He just kept looking at his parents, smiling and saying, "Hi.  Hi dad."  He is such a sweet, precious little boy.

What a beautiful family!  Steph, Ryan and their kiddos Tate, Trey, Taryn, Teague and Tristan.

All of the family.

I love Taryn's pose in this one.  That girl is such a ham!

Tristy and Ryan.

Tate, Steve, Trent, and Sean.

Sure love this cute girl!

Janet, Grandma Chapman, Steph, and Tristy.

After the temple and some lunch, we all headed over to a park over by Steph and Ryan's.  Taryn was so nice to push Jilly in the swing.  It is Lou's personal favorite.

Vivi, Peyton, and Taryn.  Vivi was in heaven being with her cousins.



Teague snuck in a few lollipops.  ;)

Jilly and Taryn.

Noelle and Teaguers.

While at the park, we got to see Jeremy take flight with his latest toy.

Watching him suspended in the air like that was enough to give me an anxiety attack!  I am not a fan of heights though.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to the park in the morning and let the kids play for a bit.

 Jilly, chillin' in the barks chips.

 Jilly and Mea.  Cute little friends!

Cousins Vivi, Taryn, Emily, and Ellie.  What a cute bunch of girls!

Vivi and Ellie holding hands while swinging.

After the park, we all went and got ready for Thanksgiving dinner.  Since there were over 50 of us, we ended up having dinner at the church.  It was perfect!  We had tables set up at one end of the gym, and the kids (well, everyone) could play basketball at the other end.  :)  After dinner, there was a gingerbread house decorating contest.





















There is some serious concentration going on here.

Here is each family's house, ready to be judged.

And here are the judges, deliberating.  :D


There were also some turkey crafts for the kids to do afterward.



Teague was totally happy with his box of Reeses Pieces.

On Friday we hung out with all the family some more.  We all went to see the movie "The Rise of the Guardians".  Such a cute movie.

 That night we went out to Ryan and Steph's new property and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs over a huge fire.

The next morning we got up super early and got ready for a 16 hour drive back home.  We had such a fun week visiting our family.  Especially since we don't get to visit them very often.

Day At The Zoo

During Vivi and Preston's Fall break, we spent one of the days at the zoo.  (They are so lucky to have two weeks of Fall break instead of just the one week the boys get.  But the boys get extra time off in the summer so I guess it's a fair trade.)  Anyway, we chose a really good day to go.  There was hardly anybody there that day.  It was at the end of October, and there was just a slight chill in the air.  We were plenty warm though with just a light jacket on.

I think it was the first time, in all of our years going to the zoo, that the kids didn't have to wait 10 minutes for a turn to get a picture with the bronze hippos, or have to wait in line forever to see how far they could jump.  We got to take our time with everything.  And there were tons of animals out and about that day.  The best part was getting to have a fun, wonderful day with my three littlest kiddos.  :)

Provo: Drive and Day 1

The first week of August, we took a little trip to Provo with all of Trent's family.  I can't tell you how many times, as a kid, my family and I made that same trip.  My parents got the drive down to a science after a while.  We would make one pit stop (the same place every time; a little gas station by the name of Gay Johnson's, just before Grand Junction) and that was it.  During the drive, we listened to a lot of music, played the ABC game and the license plate game, studied the scenery, and my brother and I would spend much of the time reading.  And we always got to our destination in no more than 7.5 hours, usually less.  Well, the drive Trent and I took with our five kids was much different than those of my youth.  I think we stopped at least four times, there was a movie playing constantly to keep the kids entertained, and it took at least 9.5 hours.  My dad would have croaked!  While the kids weren't into looking at the scenery, I sure enjoyed it.  It has been so long since I have taken that drive, I forgot how beautiful it is.  Here's a little snap shot from along the way.

Beautiful!

The first thing we did when we got to the hotel was run up to Steph and Ryan's room so we could meet our new nephew/cousin Teague.  They adopted him from Russia, and brought him home in June.  We had been waiting on pins and needles to meet him!  He's such an adorable, sweet little boy.

Our first full day in Provo was spent at Seven Peaks water park.

Vivi was so excited to be with her cousin Taryn again.  These two have the BEST time together!

Taryn, surfing on grandpa's back.

Jilly, looking a little ornery and ready for a nap.  :)

 Trent and the kids battling the waves.

 Two of the cutest girls in the world.

Trey and Colson, after a full day of water park fun!

Independence Day

We had a very fun and busy 4th of July.

 Trent and Trenton started their day super early and went to put American flags up in the yards of those who participated in the scout fundraiser.  They were up-and-at-em at 5:30 that morning.  After getting all the flags up, Trent headed over to the church to start flipping pancakes for our ward breakfast.  I got the kids up and ready, loaded their decorated bikes and selves into the car, then we went over to the church too, to scarf down a yummy pancake breakfast.  Afterward, all the kids hopped on their bikes and rode around in the parade.  There was also a fire engine there for the perusal of all.  The best though was at the end when they opened up the fire hose and everyone got to run and play in the water.  My kids were all drenched from head to toe!  They loved it!

 After the breakfast, we headed home to gear up for some fun at the pool.  I didn't get any photos while at the pool, but after about 4 hours there, Buds was exhausted.

Next up was the Rapids game.  Had to get a photo of Trenton next to Trenton St. :)  Jilly was in a kissy mood at the game.  Buds always loves to cuddle up to grandpa.

 We ended up getting to go down onto the field for the fireworks.  We've only ever gone to the Rockies games to see the fireworks on the 4th of July, but this year we decided to check out a soccer game instead.  The fireworks after the Rapids game were every bit as good as the ones at Coors Field.

 Jilly was fascinated for the first couple of minutes, then she decided she had seen enough.  She was a good sport though, especially with the long day we had.  After the game, we ended up sitting in the parking lot for close to an hour, just waiting to exit.  We got home around midnight.  I wish I had taken a picture of all the kids in the backseat.  They were out like lights.  It was wonderful being able to spend so much time with our family for the holiday.  And we never complain when Trent has a day off.  And boy are we ever thankful to all of those who fought, and still fight for our freedom.  We are so blessed to live in a country where we have so many freedoms.