A Quiet Thanksliving

We traveled south for Thanksgiving this year. We left SLC Thursday morning and stopped at Nan's in Cedar City for a visit with the Coates family on our way to Pete's house in Apple Valley. Pete and Gloria were a gracious host and hostess and Gloria's friend Joe joined us for the delicious main meal. On Friday we climbed around on the rocks in Pete's back yard and trekked around on top of Gooseberry Mesa, thoroughly enjoying a sunny fall day. On our way home on Saturday we stopped in Parowan Canyon to cut a Christmas tree (thanks to Nan for securing us a permit!). Gavin saved Christmas by alerting us to the fact that the tree was falling off the roof as we were leaving the canyon. We had to stop a few more times on I-15 to make adjustments, and then one more time to clean up Vivian and all the vomit she'd spewed into her car seat (Julie (driving): "Why do I smell yogurt?" Brandon (peeking into the back seat): "Uuuuuughhhh."). We managed to make it home, and as the sun was going down we unloaded the truck, disassembled the car seat, and threw a load of pukey stuff into the wash, all the while repeatedly explaining to Gavin why we needed to wait until Sunday to bring the Christmas tree inside for decorating. Sunday morning was bliss: tree trimming, family camaraderie, and the return of Scout, our Elf on the Shelf. Flash forward to Sunday evening... Brandon cooked a nice dinner for the family, but by the time it was ready, I was bent over the toilet puking my guts out. A few hours later, Gavin started puking, and a few hours after that, Brandon joined in the fun. I was just thinking this morning how glad I was that Viv had already gotten through her bout with this flu (or whatever it is/was)... when she threw up all over our new living room rug. 'Tis the season to be jolly! Ha.

Silly Silver Maple

We have a huge silver maple tree in our front yard. This tree has me and Brandon both feeling conflicted. In general, we are huggers of trees of all kinds. But trees whose roots grow into our sewer line, causing emergency weekend calls to Roto-Rooter? Trees whose roots grow partially above ground and wreak havoc with our lawnmower blade? Trees that block our amazing view of Mt. Olympus? Not so much. We have resolved that the tree must come down. But until we get around to carrying out its death sentence, we may as well enjoy what few spoils it affords...

 

 

 

That grungy guy in the background is our neighbor, Bill. Or maybe his name is Jim. When we first moved in he introduced himself to Brandon as 'Bill Clinton,' fervent Obama supporter; but a recent conversation with the daughter of a neighbor revealed that his name is, in fact, Jim, and the reason he's a little 'off' is that he is a Vietnam vet. We gave him some cookies today, wrapped in cellophane and tied with red & blue ribbon and a 'Thank You'. He didn't say, "thanks" (not that he has to). He said, "I'll eat these right now. I'm hungry." and proceeded to do so. We were outside raking leaves into a pile for Gavin to jump into.  JimBill insisted on interrupting the jumping fun in order to instruct us in the absolute best way to bag raked leaves (he is an expert, having raked and bagged leaves for numerous neighbors... using our rake), regardless of the fact that we were trying to make the biggest pile possible.  In the interest of neighborliness, and because loose cannons make us nervous, we let him show us. Incidentally, the keys to efficient leaf bagging include lining a 30-gallon trash can with a bag that has been 'lanced' (had holes poked in it) so that air pockets are not trapped between the bag and the can wall.  Pure genius.

 

 

 

 

Cutest kids on the planet!

Yeah, OK. So maybe I'm a little biased. These pictures were taken on 11/7 at Sears. This was our second try. Our first try was on 10/10. I'd never taken my kids in for "portraits" before, so wasn't sure what to expect. The first round of pictures was taken by a photographer-in-training, who straight-up admitted to me that she's a lot better at taking pictures of trees because "they don't move." I’m not one to complain, generally, but I was really hoping for greatness. Then once I found out how much they were going to cost… Let’s just say I ended up with buyer’s remorse. I stewed about it for a few weeks, then finally called Sears to say that I didn't want the pictures. They said they wanted me to be happy, but couldn't refund my $, so they invited me back to have the pictures re-taken with Marcy (the manager, who has 18 years' experience) as the photographer. Although the thought of dragging my kids back there for another 2-hour ordeal made me cringe, I agreed. Marcy did a GREAT job! I’m super pleased.

And in case you were wondering what was so wrong with the first round of pictures...

RIGHT?!

Halloween