Happy Birthday Daddy!

Darran celebrated yet another year gone by the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Here he is with his girls that morning.

It started off with he and Eliza playing with their new Christmas geotrax.

Then they went out and played in the snow...pretty good snowman!
And did a little sledding around the backyard!

What could have been a fun afternoon kind of turned into a let down since BYU lost to Utah...but that's ok cause we're still loyal fans!

It was great to have Uncle Dallin and Aunt Cassie home for Thanksgiving. They joined us for the football game...you would have thought all our family spirit would have helped the Cougars in some way!

Aunt Elayna came home too! Eliza loooooves her Aunt "yayna." After the game we enjoyed some dinner, mud pie, and a couple rounds of Ticket to Ride! Quite the day...Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you so much!

Black Friday...

Instead of using our black Friday for early morning shopping we took it easy, enjoyed family, and did a little shopping. That night we all went to the American's hockey game. The whole gang...Grandpa and Grandma Great are avid hockey fans and this game didn't disappoint!
Eliza and Grandma enjoying the game.

Talia cheering on the Americans!

After some minutes of hesitation Eliza decided the hockey game was fun. And since cheering comes quite naturally to her (she's had to cheer during many football and basketball games with dad) she enjoyed encouraging the Americans.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We gathered for Thanksgiving dinner with the Hague family. We were so glad that everyone got home safely with the crazy amount of snow we received! Dinner was delicious as always! Unfortunately, Eliza is not in this picture because she was taking a well needed nap! But she had a very fun day too!
And what do we do best after dinner? Sleep...thanks to Uncle Dallin!

And more sleep...just cause they can!

We later joined the Moodys for dessert. Arabella, Eliza, and Emma...she loves her cousins! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families! We are so grateful for all that we have. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

First snow...

It's November 22nd and we officially have our first snow! We got about 5 inches last night...and now it's started up again!

Eliza and I ventured out and she had a really good time!

She loves tromping through the snow and making circles! A real surprise for all of you who know how much she loves her circles!

One Sunday morning...

Talia and Minnie hanging out.
The girls reading books before heading to church.

Trip to the library!

Since we make a trip to the library weekly I thought it was about time we included this on our blog...here's what happens in a typical library trip! We arrive at one of Eliza's favorite places on earth.
We return the 20-30 books that we've had the past week (I'm not exaggerating about the number)!

Eliza helps pick out books, plays on the computer or with the Lego blocks. What I love the most is when we're picking out the books she'll pull some off the shelf and then sit down and look at them to decide if they're worth bringing home. Rarely is there a book she puts back on the shelf!

Then we check out our new books. Eliza does the whole thing by herself. She's really good at scanning each book.

Then she gets excited to come back next week! On the ride home she's already reading through some of the books. This girl loves to read and loves the library! Happy reading!

Reading in bed...

Darran thought he would be sneaky the other night by bringing the camera into Eliza's room as we read stories before bedtime. As you can see all the girls fit snuggly in Eliza's bed!

Sleeping beauty...

I'm not sure that this picture really does justice but when we checked on Talia the other day she was sleeping with her arms raised in the air. Whatever makes you comfortable, right?

Two snuggly sisters...

Eliza and Talia being snuggly sisters!

Big girl bed...

Eliza graduated to her "big girl bed" this weekend! She's liking it so far and has slept just as she always did.
She isn't a big fan of using the pillow or the blankets at this point but if she can pile on the books and read in bed...she's a happy girl!

Eliza quotables...

Eliza is a little obsessed with reading a Snow White book that Grandma let her borrow. We both practically have it memorized. But what I love hearing each time she reads it is Snow White's full name...Snow White Moody. It really could be her name if you think about it...she goes off and marries the prince right? And we're never really told what the Prince's last name is. So why not Moody? Maybe a distant relative?

At the beginning of the week Eliza, Talia, and I were outside enjoying the very warm November weather. One day we went to the library and then the the park right next to it. Eliza had fun playing on the toys and then we decided to walk around the flower gardens. She went back and forth from being the leader to being the follower. Unfortunately for me when she was the follower she felt the need to say repeatedly "Mom, I follow your bum." Great...just keep your eye on the target Eliza!

We ran some errands the other night which included us stopping for some ice cream. Eliza kept saying she wanted "farmer ice cream." As I'm trying to figure out what that is and explain to her that I don't know where to find "farmer ice cream" it clicked with Darran. McDonalds...Old McDonald had a farm...there is ice cream at McDonalds...surely the farmer is the one making it!

Halloween Weekend...

Halloween seemed to last all weekend for us! Friday night, before heading out of town, Grandpa and Grandma came by to see their granddaughter pumpkins. Eliza was just beginning to understand what this whole "trick-or-treat" thing entailed.
Our big pumpkin...
...and our little pumpkin!

We went to our ward Halloween party Friday night. Eliza really enjoyed the games but she wasn't quite so sure about everyone in costume...although the princesses were alright.

Daddy and his pumpkin. They enjoyed the trunk-or-treat together. He said that Eliza would say trick-or-treat at every car and even said thank you!

Saturday night we went trick-or-treating at Nana and Papa's house. And then Sunday night Eliza helped Daddy pass out candy. Every time the doorbell rang Eliza ran for the door. Finally towards the end of the night she really was helping Darran by holding the bowl of candy, that wasn't too heavy anymore, as Daddy passed it out. Now she is enjoying her candy and mommy is trying not to eat it all! Happy Halloween!

Carving Pumpkins...

We carved pumpkins the other night to get ready for Halloween! It took Eliza awhile to finally decide she was a bit interested in this.
Talia and Grandma observed as Eliza got to work.

She was pretty excited about them when they were finished and lit up.

Daddy and his girls posing with the pumpkins.

The final product...I bet you can't imagine which one Eliza was a bit more excited about!?

Temple Sunday

Last Sunday we had the privilege of taking our girls to the temple (waiting room) to be part of the setting apart of the new temple presidency. We're so excited for Papa and Nana and their new responsibilities as Temple President and Matron of the Columbia River Temple. It will be wonderful to still have them close the next three years as they serve the Lord in the Temple.

Pumpkin Patch...

We took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch today. Eliza led Daddy through the straw maze.
Watched the piggy eat corn.

Crawled through the tunnel that was in the middle of the hay bale pyramid.

Looked at the "exotic animals." They had a zebra and a kangaroo!

Picked a pumpkin just her size.

And tried to hold it long enough for Daddy to take a picture!

We really enjoyed the fall weather and seeing all the pumpkins!

Our family outing was a success...

...everyone had a good time...

...even Talia!