Over the River & Through the Woods

This year for Thanksgiving we got to go to Southern Utah to spend it with my side of the family. It was so fun to see my parents and most of my sisters. Ellie had a lot of fun playing with her cousins, and there was so much good food.

The kiddos got to help Grandma make our traditional pilgrim hat cookies.

They also got to make some Thanksgiving crafts with the help of Aunt Rylee.

The weather was so beautiful that we even were able to go down to the park to play some family kickball. 

We loved being able to spend time with family and catch up on each other's lives. I love holidays for that very reason.

The day after Thanksgiving weekend went to Santa's Workshop (a gift idea expo). Ellie saw Santa and was determined to go talk to him. We took Ellie over to him, and as soon as we got close Ellie got a good look and decided she was not interested. Even while sitting on Mister's lap she didn't want anything to do with him. I have a feeling that once he drops off some presents for Christmas Ellie will be a much bigger fan.

Cutest Ghoul I Have Ever Seen

I love Halloween. I love seeing the little kiddos dressed up in costumes running from house to house saying the magic words to get their sugar fix. This year, being pregnant, I didn't have the energy to make Ellie a cute costume, so I borrowed a cute one from my sister instead. For our ward's trunk-or-treat Ellie dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. Kanye went as her Big, Bad Wolf.  She was adorable and had a blast going from car to car filling her basket.

The night before Halloween Ellie assembled her pumpkin and helped me make witch hat cookies. 

I found these wooden pumpkin decorating kits in Target's bargain bin section least year. I was bummed this year when I looked to see if they had anymore, and found that the kids were now just foam stickers. Talk about disappointing.

The witch hat cookies didn't look awesome. I couldn't find the chocolate Kisses anywhere, and the Hugs just didn't look right. Ellie had fun making them though, and they tasted great.

After the trunk-or-treating Ellie was determined to be a witch. I had nothing for a witch costume, but I felt bad nor letting her dress-up the way she wanted for Halloween. Halloween morning I raided her closet for anything that may resemble a witch outfit. We then ran to Target and lucked out and found their last witch hat. She was so excited!

When I told Ellie I wanted to get a picture she was more than happy to pose.

Ellie did a great job trick-or-treating. We walked around one cul-de-sac and down one street when Ellie said, "That's enough. Let's go home." Mister and I were surprised, but didn't complain (it was a little chilly). Once we got home Ellie immediately busted open her sack and downed it's contents. Her rush to get home finally made sense.

We Have Ourselves a Threenager

We have officially had a kid during our marriage longer than not having a kid. That's a really weird thought. Ellie is now three, and I can't believe it. We sure do love her. She's the perfect mix of sugar and spice, and keeps us on our toes. I asked Ellie what she wanted for her birthday and she said balloons, pink cake, and presents. We did our best to deliver.

On the first day of Ellie's birthday weekend we had some friends over to celebrate. We ate pizza and doughnuts and played bingo. It was so great to have everyone over and catch up. Ellie loved having her friends over and played hard.

On day two of Ellie's birthday weekend we had family over to celebrate. We ate hamburgers and French fries with pink cake on the side. Ellie's Uncle Jake and Aunt Zaira brought balloons, which Ellie was thrilled about. We love having family over and always decide that we should do it more often (we are not very good at following through though).

On Ellie's actual birthday she opened her presents first thing in the morning. When Jeremy got home from work we asked her what she wanted for dinner. She said she wanted beans, so off to Costa Vida we went. After dinner we asked Ellie what she wanted to do, and she responded with "the animal store." Off to Cabelas we went.

I've mentioned this before, but we love Cabelas. It is the best free entertainment. Ellie loves walking around looking at the fish and animals. The fudge samples upstairs don't hurt, and the store is usually pretty empty unless you go on Saturday. Needless to say, our girl has great taste. Happy birthday sweet Ellie!

Ugly Fish and Dead Animals are Basically Like a Free Disneyland

Today we needed to get out. If I go to Target I spend all my money. Nothing else really sounded great, but Ellie mentioned going to the "animal store." Cabela's is great free entertainment and there is no temptation for me to buy anything, so basically it is the best place to kill time.

The fish are ugly, but they are alive so that's fun. Ellie had a blast running from one side to the other yelling, "Look, Mama!" I always find it funny that one side of the aquarium contains active fish, and the other side contains all the lazy fish that barely move a fin. Is that on purpose? Will we ever know?

One of these days I swear I will remember to bring a quarter so that Ellie can feed the fish. The nice thing is I haven't remembered yet, so she has no idea that is an option. Ellie also loves to look at the dead stuffed animals, she finds the George Bush look-alike a little creepy though. I can't say I blame her.

Kanye's New Crib

Introducing the newest member of our family, Kanye. She is the sweetest Mini Schnauzer ever. We might be a little crazy getting a puppy so close to having a baby, but she really has been so great. We're working on potty training, and we rarely have accidents. The most annoying part to me is her nipping. We are working on it though, and she is getting much better.

Ellie and Kanye have been the best of friends. She's so good with the puppy, and Kanye is really good with her as well. They spend a lot of time chasing each other in the backyard. I'll be honest, the first week was a little tiring, but we survived. Kanye now mostly sleeps through the night, and she is eating dry kibble now which is really convenient. Jeremy and I have had a lot of fun with her as well. She's has so much spunk, and we love it.

of diaper corn, rubber horses, herding tractors, and duck races

Last night we had the opportunity to go to Thanksgiving Point's Corn Belly's with our friends. We had so much fun! Ellie had a blast in the corn pit. She filled so many buckets and helped bury many people. Corn was everywhere! There was a mom near us that commented on how her baby even had corn in his diaper. She then promptly dug out the corn from his diaper and tossed it back into the corn pit... no comment.

Ellie was in love with the horse tire swings. These guys are so cool! I want one for our backyard so bad. They also had giant magnetic Mr. Potato heads (and other various fruits and veggies) that Ellie loved changing the body parts on.

We then headed over to the tractor ride. Ellie was really excited, until it started. I was sitting right behind her, and she turned around and said, "Mommmmm..." She survived the ride, and promptly said, "okay, something else?" after she got out of her cow. As soon as we got home we got her ready for bed and she passed out quickly after. That is what we call a successful night!

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the duck races. It was hilarious watching Ellie and Briar try to get the ducks from one rain gutter to the other. I'll just let the video do the explaining.

5 + 6 + 2 + 10 + 4 + 1 + 3

I'm 31. I still think I'm 22, but in all actuality I am now officially 31. I'm not really sure how it happened. I also don't know how I almost have a three-year-old. Where does the time go? This year's birthday was so great. First, I was able to sleep in until 9:00, then Jeremy made me crepes for breakfast. After breakfast we went shopping (one of my favorite activities) and we got new pendant lights for our island. I am so excited! During Ellie's nap Jeremy and I watched the BYU football game. It was a little depressing, but nice to relax. When Ellie woke up we headed to dinner at Red Robin. We love Red Robin. After dinner we ran over to Target (one of my favorite stores) and we browsed. It was so much fun to spend the whole day with my little family. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Oh! Jeremy got me the best birthday present... a puppy! I am so excited. She's not ready to come home yet, but you better believe that I will be posting like crazy about our newest family member.

Hardy Party for Labor Day Weekend

We were so lucky to have my sister Whitnee and her cute family come visit us over Labor Day weekend. Ellie loved having some friends around, and we did too! They got here Friday night just in time for dinner. After we ate dinner we headed out to the park. The kiddos had a blast playing around on all the big toys. After bedtime Whit and I ran to The Baked Bear and grabbed delicious ice cream sandwiches. I got classic chocolate chip cookies with a cookies and cream ice cream that had fudge, brownie pieces, and cookie dough bites in it. It was so yummy!

On Saturday we started out at the "animal store" (Cabelas) and checked out the fish and the giant "stuffed" animals. After we headed to the outlet mall right across the parking lot. We had a lot of fun wandering around in the perfect weather. For lunch the kiddos had pizzas with the dads and Whit and I went to lunch to celebrate our birthdays. While Ellie napped the Hardys went to the park and drove around, then we went to Los Cucos for dinner.

On Sunday we went to visit our maternal grandparents, aunt, and cousins. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard while the rest of us chatted and caught up. After church the Hardys went to visit our paternal grandma while I had a class presidency meeting and Ellie took a nap. After dinner we played out back then went for a walk. We were sad to see them go Monday morning, but were so glad that they came to visit!

Litter and it will Hurt

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Washington and celebrate my father-in-law's sixtieth birthday. Since we now have to pay for a plane ticket for Ellie we decided to drive. We split the 13-14 hour drive into two days. Ellie was a gem. I thought we would have to depend on the iPad a lot, but we rarely had to pull it out.

On our second day drive to Washington we made a stop at Burger King to get some lunch. Ellie wanted to play on the big toy, so we let her play while we ate, and she ate her chicken nuggets in the car. While she was playing she noticed that a lot of kiddos had a crown on. Since we are cheapos, and didn't get her a kid's meal she didn't get a crown. She was a little sad about it, so while I was changing her diaper for the rest of the drive Jeremy pulled some strings and got a crown for her. She was so excited.

Jeremy's mom is so good at packing a ton of fun in a short amount of time, which worked to our benefit since we were only there for two and a half days. On Friday she arranged to have some girls from the neighborhood come babysit the grandkids while the adults went to Seattle for a Segway tour.

For those of you who have never been on a Segway, it's terrifying. Okay, it's not that bad, but I'm a ball of nerves anyway, so I was anxious during the entire tour. A Segway reads where your body weight is and speeds up and slows down accordingly. They are so much fun, but I couldn't help feel like I was going to fall off at any given minute.

I survived, and had so much fun! Aside from one angry cyclist, there were no casualties and I got to see a lot of really pretty sights. If you've never been to Seattle, you need to go. Seriously. After the Segway tour we went to Pike's Place Market and went on the Wings Over Washington ride. Basically it is like Soaring Over California, but Washington. It was a lot of fun, and I loved seeing all the sights.

On Saturday we went to the ocean beach. Ellie had so much fun. I was a little curious to see how she reacted to the sand and water. The last time we went to a sandy place she didn't like it, and didn't want to play in the "dirty water". It was a huge hit this time though. She wanted to be in the freezing cold water, and loved building knocking down sand castles.

Saturday night we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday. Jeremy's mom invited over a bunch of their friends and we had a huge barbecue. I failed at taking pictures, but it was a lot of fun and so delicious.

Ellie had so much fun spending time with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. On Sunday we were able to hear McKenzie and Mary sing in church then we started the drive home. We were so excited to pull into our driveway on Monday afternoon, but miss all of the fun. We were so lucky to be able to spend some time with everyone!

Also, I love how dramatic Washington is about being a "green" state.