November Recap

November was a warmer-than-usual month.  I continued going to the gym most week days.  It is such a nice break from entertaining my kids, and they really enjoy playing with the other kids there.  One morning on the way to the Y the entrance/exits to the post were closed off.  There were literally only 2 cars in front of me, so I just barely got stuck inside.  Apparently someone had run through one of the gates, and everything was on lockdown until they caught the person.  And unfortunately, that took about 20 minutes.  

We spent a warm Saturday hiking at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.  It was quick, because of the kids, but enjoyable.  And the weather/sunlight was beautiful.

Mila loves to hang on everything!

 I took the kids to the library one afternoon.  They like to look at this giant fish tank near the entrance.  Then we went to the kid area, which is full of fun toys.  Mila and Siena fought over a cash register for 15 minutes, then threw full tantrums and tried to stand on top of the computer desks.  The end of that adventure was quite abrupt as I dragged 3 kids out of the library with them kicking and screaming.  Sometimes I hate leaving the house.

On Veterans Day we took advantage of a few deals.  We got free breakfast at Village Inn (because Dennys was really crowded.)  It was delicious.  I'd highly recommend their breakfast, particularly because we got strawberry crepes with our meal.

After breakfast we went to the YMCA and worked out, then took the kids swimming in the pool.  I honestly think it was the first time the girls have been swimming.  (Yikes!)  It's usually just too hard to take that many little kids swimming.  I'm afraid with Hyrum gone most of next year, they won't get much better at swimming.  No way I'd take all three in the water by myself.

Instead of fighting the crowds to go out to dinner, instead we went to Old Colorado City to look around.  We've driven by it several times, but never explored.  It's mostly shops and restaurants, and quite touristy.  We enjoyed walking up and down main street.  At the end we stopped at a french bakery for hot chocolate and a baguette.

Because we'll be out of town the week of Thanksgiving, we started getting out some Christmas decorations a bit early.  Last year, my mom bought Tiago this bear that repeats everything you say, only in a high-pitched voice.  It scared him to death!  Every time we got it out, Tiago would run and hide.  But this year, it is Tiago's best friend!  The first day we had the bear out Tiago took it everywhere, including into the bathroom when he took a bath.  He brought it in his room and closed the door, and I heard him talking and laughing for about 30 minutes.  They even had a little piano lesson.  I think Tiago likes having someone listen, then talk back, regardless of what he's saying.

My sister gave us a pancake mixer and we eat pancakes way more often now.  The first picture is of a failed octopus, and the second is a slightly-more-successful snowman.  But of course since Tiago doesn't hardly eat, most of it went untouched.

Hyrum signed us up for a 5K Turkey Trot.  It sounded better than it was.  After all, I've been getting in better shape, and I knew I could run for 30 minutes without dying.  But then, the morning of the run, it was cold, and the strollers felt super heavy, and there were hills.  Plus, we got stuck at the back of the crowd, so we were trying to maneuver strollers around slow walkers.  We ran/walked it, and at the end I felt about like Mila is feeling in the picture below.

I found Siena playing in the cupboards, and it reminded me of when we first moved into our house.  They're so much bigger now!

Here's Mila playing with Tiago's Colombian hat.  She really enjoyed wearing it, but threw a huge fit when it fell off her head.  (The 3rd picture is the beginning of her fit.)

Another day that Hyrum wasn't working we went to Garden of the Gods.  We love that it's not far from us, and it's free.  We didn't hike, but mostly just played around, happy to be out of the house.  (At home, the girls are SO clingy to me, it drives me crazy.)

On the 16th, it hit 75 degrees.  We spent some time at the park enjoying the warm weather.  It was strange to have the sun going down at 4:30, and then be completely dark by 5.  We were used to staying at the park until 5:30 or 6 over the summer.

And then we got a random hail storm, which produced so much snow on our chairs that we brought some inside to build a mini snowman.

Tiago made this headband at the gym child care.

I love nap time.  (This is Siena.)  They're starting to be hit-or-miss on actually falling asleep, these days.  :(

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Utah.  We aren't planning on going for Christmas, so Hyrum was able to take a week of vacation in November.  In the middle of the drive we stopped at McDonalds for the kids to play.  We blinked, and Mila had crawled all the way into the play place.  She was in there for about 15 minutes, and made it to the 3rd level by herself.  Finally, a little girl offered to go help her down the slide.  Otherwise we might have gone in there ourselves to rescue her.  Siena stayed right there by the entrance the entire time.

 Unfortunately, Hyrum's mom was leaving the next day for Colombia (fortunate for her) so we only got to see her for one day.  And Mila entertained everyone in these sunglasses for a long time- she wouldn't take them off.

Hyrum and Tiago playing on the back patio. Not sure who Hyrum is spying on... 

One morning Hyrum got up at took Tiago in the stroller for a run.  After going up and down some grueling hills, Tiago saw Lagoon's roller coasters off in the distance.  Hyrum is always eager to please his first born son, so he decided to run to Lagoon with Tiago.  Nevermind that it was way farther than it looked, and nevermind that they ended up running on semi-major roads with no side walks.  Tiago saw those roller coasters!

We visited Hyrum's sister's house.  They just moved in a few weeks ago so things were still shiny and new. And... our kids were really entertained by their cousins.

 My mom was out doing yard work and ended up pulling three granddaughters around in the wheel barrow.  Talia was unsure of it all, Siena (on bottom) was annoyed to be getting squished.  Mila, on the other hand, LOVED it.

Hyrum met up with his friends to play soccer.  He brought Tiago along for some male bonding.  (There was a lot of male bonding on this trip.)  They love their matching soccer clothes.

Hyrum and I made it to the Ogden temple--our first time there since they remodeled.

We spent Thanksgiving morning at the Suarez's house.  Since everyone was having a big meal that afternoon, we just picked up krispy kreme donuts and juice on the way, and it was wonderfully simple. Emma's birthday was the next day, so we sang her happy birthday while we were there.

We got back to my parents' house in time to put the girls down for a nap.  :)  It was perfectly timed so that they'd sleep through dinner.  Otherwise, I might not have been able to eat much.  My mom made a ton of food, people brought pies, and I managed to make two side dishes: pomegranate/apple salad, and creamed spinach gratin.  Both got good reviews!  We had over 20 people at dinner, and it went off without a hitch.  No credit to me, I was mostly along for the ride.

The next day Tiago went to see his first movie in the theater!  (Moana)  He loves all the attention from cousins.  (I also went to a movie with my parents.  It's been years since I've been to a movie theater... it was kind of a novelty.)

Tiago picked out a Christmas tree and helped set it up with Grandma.  (Pants-less, no less.)

And for more father-son bonding, Hyrum took Tiago to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.  Tiago loves the Salt Lake Temple, and always spots it in pictures.  Although it was late, and cold, I think they enjoyed themselves. 

This one is too good to not share.

 On Saturday we had family pictures taken.  I have high hopes that when they come back from the photographer there will be many lovely ones to share.  But for now, it's just out takes.  This is pretty much what life looks like right now.

This is a much cuter version of those kids! (Mila in pink)

I think Courtney and Peter need their own set of twins... it looks good on them.

I took some pictures of Talia, for Amie.  (The weather was surprisingly warm considering there was snow on the ground!)

During the group shots there was a fair amount of crying.  So much, in fact, that I thought my dad might quit early.  But we all survived.  This was an attempted "grandkids" picture.  That's tough, when there are 12 grand kids... most of them quite little.  But I think in the end it will be really cute.  

 Although we were originally going to drive home on Sunday, there were forecasts of a snowstorm coming, so we left Saturday afternoon and stopped half-way home at a hotel.  It definitely ended up being a good choice, because even the second half of Wyoming had some blowing snow on Sunday morning.  I was glad to not have more than an hour or two of slow driving.

When we got to the hotel, they'd given us a 1-bed room.  Fortunately they switched us pretty quick, but that meant the kids were running around the halls without pants, way past their bedtime.

Since we've been home it has been much colder.  My kids obviously hate it.  (Mostly the girls.)  I've tried going to the playground, which doesn't last long.  It might be a long winter!

While in Utah, my brother (who works at a chocolate factory) gave us a big bucket of chocolate.  Tiago is not sad about it.

And appropriately, November ends with some shopping.  We were desperate for groceries.  And maybe not as desperate for all the cyber Monday shopping I did, but it was fun, too.  I think we're 95% ready for Christmas.  And for the record, this is the first time I tried to squeeze all 3 kids in the front of the shopping cart.  It was somewhat successful for about 10 minutes until they realized it was very uncomfortable.  Too bad, because I loved having them all in there.