A Thanksgiving Like No Other

It's true. This was a Thanksgiving like we've never had before. And it was WONDERFUL! My grandma invited her sons and their families (grandchildren and great grandchildren) to St. George, UT for Thanksgiving. What a perfect day to be with your parents, brothers, sisters, grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. Loved it. 

We all arrived to St. George, where it was a beautiful 65 degrees, and spent the day at a working farm. Key is though that we didn't have to work. We did not cook anything, set a table or do any dishes. We just played on the farm and came running into the barn when the dinner bell rang. In the barn was a beautifully decorated table and all the Thanksgiving feast you could hope for. We ate and talked and then went back to playing and hanging out together. Like I said, simply wonderful.

Playing on the farm:

 

 

 

 

 

And the favorite of all . . . The Bouncing Bladder. Perfect for after you've stuffed yourself.

Grandkids

 

 

Brie dancing with Grandpa.

 Grandma and Grandpa protecting the young from the crazies.

 

Allred children gone wild.

 

 

Thanksgiving Feasting:

And the little old folks relaxing in their rockers after a good Thanksgiving supper that stuffed their bellies.

Certainly was a Happy Thanksgiving!

A Sad Good Bye

Yesterday (Sunday), I was released from my calling at church as Primary President. I've known this was coming, but I still can't seem to stop crying. And Scott can't seem to stop laughing at me because of it. I'm soooooooooo sad. Of course, I understand that it was time. I've been the Primary President for three years. I am at church and all day on Sunday by myself because Scott works Sundays right now. I have three small children that I get ready for 9am church, then wrestle during Sacrament Meeting and then go straight in to do Primary. Church has been kind of hard and stressful. I stand in front doing Sharing Time and always (at exactly 11:00am) have Zachary come running to me from the door (sent in by a Nursery Leader) yelling that he went poop. Twice a month I send the kids home from church with one of the Young Women to feed them lunch and put Zachary down for a nap while I stay 2 1/2 more hours for ward council and a Scout meeting. I could certainly do all of that and be perfectly happy and fine, but I am also pregnant and getting more and more pregnant. So how would I take care of my kids, Primary and a newborn at church on Sundays? At this point I don't even want to bend over and clean up the crayons on the floor after Sacrament Meeting is over. Sooooooooooooooo, it's time for someone else to take over and I guess I'll get to just go sit in Relief Society.

Even though I understand how it makes sense for a change, I am still so heart broken. Really, I'm surprised by how sad I am. Granted, I am pregnant, so I'm definitely more emotional. I've never been this upset over leaving a calling before though and I know why. I've had all kinds of callings, but I can say I have never loved anything I've been asked to do as a member of the church like I have absolutely LOVED this. I had no idea going in to serve in Primary that I would fall so in love with being there. I hadn't stepped foot through the doors (even to substitute) since I left when I was twelve. Now I wish I could serve there the rest of my life. I sincerely love the women I worked with in our presidency and they have become some of my closest friends (even though they are about 20 years older than me). I learned so much from them and from being in Primary each week. I was really happy to be in there every Sunday. I felt the spirit so strong there. I totally love the Primary songs. Mostly though, it is way too painful to think of leaving those kids. I know them, I know their birthdays, I know their personalities, I know what they like and I honestly, really, really love them. They know that I love them and there is not a better feeling to me than when they see me and are so excited to see me and tell me whatever news they have. There is also nothing that could make me happier than when we are together on Sundays and I get to teach them (including my own kids) the gospel, help them feel the spirit and listen to their incredibly profound answers and testimonies. And sometimes hilarious answers too.

Oh, I'll miss it so much. I've been crying every time I think of being released for the past month. I thought once it finally happened I would be ok. Hopefully that comes, because for now, I'm still crying. Good thing I went to church in St. George with my family yesterday instead of our ward or they would have had a real wreck on their hands. Let's hope I can pull it together to go into R.S. on Sunday and not have to be escorted out..

Happy Birthday Scott!

Happy, Happy Birthday Scooty Dear! Yesterday was Scott's big day. He wanted it to be a very simple and low key day and it was. For a special birthday surprise he came to church with us in the morning! Yahoo. It was sooooooooooooooo nice to have him in Sacrament meeting. Afterward, we said Happy Birthday and goodbye and he was off to work for the day. We continued on with Primary, Ward Council, Scout Meeting, afternoon naps and then finally it was time to get ready for the big party.

I let the girls decorate the house with streamers and the Happy Birthday banners. It turned out to be mostly decorated in scotch tape. We wrapped the presents and made chicken cordon bleu, baked potatoes, spinach salad and root beer for dinner and apple crisp for dessert. We were all ready when a tired birthday man arrived home. To his surprise, Brielle had prepared a few "party games" for him to play as soon as he came through the door. Lucky. One was to follow the trail of raisins through the house to a hidden surprise. All "you know what" broke loose when she discovered Zachary had eaten all the raisins!

We ate and then had our good friends, the Winns, over for dessert and to sing with us. Scott opened some new running shoes and socks (that he had spent an hour choosing at the running store the day before) and surprise, surprise, was very happy with the presents we gave him.

Happy Birthday Scott!
Zachary doesn't usually wear ties yet, but saw Scott putting his on and ran to find his own. He begged to have it on just like Scott. Not matching, but so cute.

 

 Brielle thought she might be going to prom rather than church with Dad.

 

Disney On Ice

Disney On Ice came to town. I always want to go to this and this year we did it. It was totally worth it. We loved the show. The girls were absolutley giddy with excitement and Zachary was in a trance watching all the characters. They did scenes from Lion King, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Tangled, Little Mermaid, Princess and The Frog, Snow White and maybe more. Fantastic. It was so fun for me to watch Ava and Brie's faces as the princesses came out. They could not contain themselves.

To top it all off I found the cheapest way to do this: go on opening night for the discount, don't pay the online convenience fee and have a talk before arrival that we will not be buying anything from the vendors.

Turned into a really fun night out as a fam!

Mind the Gap

Guess who lost her very first tooth! Well, if you have been anywhere near Brielle in the past week you would, for sure, already know this. She is excited to tell the world all about it. She was trying her hardest to hold on to the wiggly little tooth until Halloween so that she could loose it in a peice of candy, but it came out two days before. Brie waited all day to go to bed saying, "I can't wait until bedtime!" (My feelings almost every day.) Finally, while she was sound asleep, the tooth fairy came and left her a whole dollar! So very exciting. Now, both she and Ava are trying to wiggle their teeth loose every day so they can get more money.

Kirkin o' the Tartan

Reformation Sunday is celebrated on the last Sunday of October, which means Kirkin o' the Tartan. Right in the middle of Halloween craziness. It was a nice change. We went Sunday morning to the First Presbyterian Church and actually recruited our good friends to come with us. I really like this tradition each year and it was cool to introduce our "Scottishness" to our friends. It is always amazing to hear the bag pipe and drum band in this beautiful church, hear the choir sing and listen to the pastor's message.

Scott represented Clan Buchanan in the procession of blessing the tartans. I could not contain Zachary in my arms, so he joined Scott. When the pastor was done blessing the Buchanan Clan, Zachary let out a big "Amen!".

 

Here we are afterward, miraculously all smiling and looking - must have been all that shortbread they served.

This Is Halloween - Six Days Straight!

I remember doing this post about Halloween last year and getting a lot of comments like, "Whew! That made me tired." Yes, I would agree. Halloween turns into a week long holiday with a party to dress up for every single day and A LOT of candy. I have to admit though, I like a party and I certainly really like candy. This year I did make it quite easy by buying all costumes at the consignment sale (cheap) and making sure all costumes were warm and required nothing but the kids stepping into them and zipping them up. I would just say, "Let's get our costumes on" and they could go get them on and be ready by themselves. Easy and they loved it.

BALLET CLASS

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARADE

KINDERMUSIK CLASS

Really shakin' it with his shakers. This cracked me up.

PRESCHOOL PARADE

 

PLAYGROUP AT GARDNER VILLAGE

 

FIDELITY HALLOWEEN PARTY

Trick or treating at the office doors.

LOVING the candy!! The kid is beyond obsessed. I'm a little worried.

WARD TRUNK OR TREAT

 

 

FINALLY . . . HALLOWEEN!! . . . TRICK OR TREATING!
Ava and Brie, of course, already knew what this was all about. It was hilarious watching Zachary catch on to it. He, as stated previously, really, really likes candy and wants to get his hands on it anyway he can. At the ward Trunk or Treat he went around to the cars getting candy, but then I caught him just randomly going up to poor unsuspecting children and reaching into their buckets to take handfuls of candy to dump into his own bucket. Clever. At his first neighborhood house, he was given his one piece of candy. We told him to say "Thank you." He just stood there staring down the man at the door saying "More. More. More." He definitely figured this whole "trick or treating" thing out and was quite pleased with his loot by the end of the night.

Is that all a blurr to you, like it is to me? Hope you had a good Halloween too. Now, I'll go relax and eat THREE pumpkin buckets full of candy! Yahoo!