I just adore holidays. But the holiday I look forward to the most is Christmas. I get very excited every year to put up the tree and decorate the house for Christmas. Living in Arizona has only intensified my need to make it feel more like Christmas. This year, we pulled out our tree as soon as we were home from SLC. It was fun to have Vivian help us this year.
After we hung up all the ornaments, we celebrated Advent and read Christmas stories in the light of the tree.
On the last day of November, Vivian and I met up with our friends Claudia and Greyson at the train park. We had a lovely morning catching up and going around on the merry-go-round, riding the small train and looking at the model trains.
Afterward Claudia and Greyson left, I had fun spending some time with my little girl. I can’t believe she won’t be the baby soon.
She is such a fun, sweet lively girl. Her name really does fit her.
That evening she was hanging out with her daddy so I had to capture the cuteness.
My cute friend Jenny runs a preschool and every year they have a field trip to a farm and she was sweet enough to invite little Vivian even though she is a little younger than all the other preschoolers.
She was super excited for the hay ride though her tininess was scaring me a bit.
A mama cow had just given birth to this little baby four hours before.
Waiting patiently to feed the animals.
Haha, I love her expression in this one.
She looks pretty pleased to hold that chicken…it looks like it weighs the same amount that she does.
Her head is a little small for this doggie peek-through…and I am so amazed that she even dares be up on the big tracker. She may be little but she’s fierce.
All the kids were really excited to go into the chicken cage.
I found it so sweet that she insisted on petting every single animal.
On our way home, we stopped in Nephi at JC Mickelson's for a little lunch. Christian and Vivian are always excited to color a picture to add to their wall display.
And of course, the best thing about Mickelson’s is the awesome train that circles around the whole store. My kids can’t get enough of watching the trains.
Later, we stopped at Cove Fort to use their bathrooms because even though it is a mile off of the freeway, they boast the best bathrooms in a twenty mile radius…and I am a sucker for a good bathroom. We also needed to stretch our legs a bit so we let the kids run (and climb) around a bit to get rid of the wiggles.
And I was having fun playing with my camera…
After watching me having fun with my camera, Christian wanted to have a chance at it and made Jared and I pose.
Good thing I “feel” cute when I’m pregnant because later on I always realize how huge I really did look.
After all that fun, it was time to get back in the car….which not everyone was happy about.
But personally, I was happy to be headed home.
Because it is seldom that we get to see my family, especially my brother Richard, we decided that we should take some photos before we left for back home.
I don’t know how to feel about this photo, but it was suggested by my brother Michael that I turn sideways to prove that I was in fact pregnant….I also am terribly pale compared to everyone else. Also, it looks like Christian is trying to give Vivian smile insurance.
This one is cute of the kids with their grandpa and grandma.
Haha. This one with uncle Mike always makes me laugh.
And here’s them with uncle Richard.
We had to stop by and visit with my fabulous friend Charisse and her cute kids.
This year, not only we came for Thanksgiving, my brother Richard flew up from Atlanta to have Thanksgiving in Salt Lake too. My aunt Annette’s mother-in-law passed away that week so she and her family joined my dad’s family for the meal. Here’s a photo of my dad with his youngest sibling. There is a family resemblance.
My brother Eric also came with his family. Here is a photo I go of his two darling bashful children as they played with my mom’s Thanksgiving Little People set.
Here is my niece Sandy waiting patiently for her dinner…the table was set a long time before dinner was served which made it a little harder to wait for some of us. ;) 
My brother Bill was helpful with his turkey carving expertise…
Here’s a cute photo of my youngest siblings, my cute younger (and single) brother Michael, and my sister Julie.
Vivian was very excited to drink her yummy cider (I think Jared was trying to keep her calm).
Christian was very excited to sit by his cousin Mikey from California who he sees very rarely.
After dinner, the kids (especially Vivian) were happy to color in grandma’s coloring books.
We also celebrated my brother Bill’s and my brother Eric’s birthday’s which were that month. I think it’s cute that they each have a daddy’s girl who wants to be right by them.
After dinner, we stopped by Jared’s parents’ home to visit for a bit. Jared’s sister Annalisa and her Husband Chris and their two kids were there. Sadly, I took a bunch of photos that were in the wrong mode (because my brother and Jared were playing with my camera before we came over) so this is the only one that turned out.
We had a really fun time playing with them especially this funny German game where you have to go across the room impersonating something. We stayed for such a long time that when we got back we had two very tired children. But it was a beautiful day to spend with family. We are so very thankful for the fabulous family and friends that we are so blessed to have. It also was a great blessing that we could come to be with family for Thanksgiving this year.
