It's been a busy couple of weeks. Getting back to reality and into the groove of things after a vacation is always a little rough. Also, we've had a couple of sick people with strep (Burke and Rob) which is never too fun.
Grandma and Grandpa Peterson got to our home a week ago today and we've had a fun time with them here. We were able to go to Hewitt's class play where he played the part of "Squanto." He had about 8 big lines that he memorized and did a really great job!
Much of the week was spent in Thanksgiving preparation. Patti (Grandma Pete) and I spent most of Wednesday (and much of Thursday of course) on our feet in the kitchen making all we could ahead of time. Between the two of us we prepared quite a feast of all my favorite Thanksgiving dishes: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, pretzel jello, pumpkin pies, chocolate mousse pie, rolls (Rob's Great grandma Bradshaw's famous recipe), brownie trifle, cranberry sauce, and a frozen cranberry sorbet, etc. I thought it all turned out quite delicious and we have a ton of leftovers.
Keeping Liv out of trouble while we were busy working was a bit of a trick. She is certainly a handful, but talking more and more which is really fun.
Liv managed to get into the pantry without anyone noticing, and opened a packet of raspberry jello that she ate much of and also dumped onto the family room carpet. When I first saw her I thought she had lipstick all over her face. I grabbed her and wiped off her face before taking this photo, but you can still see that she got jello all over her forehead and in her hair even. I was amazed at how well the red came out of her clothes, and luckily the powder on the carpet was mostly dry...there is a little bit of a pink hue. Aaargh Liv! She is one busy girl.
On Thanksgiving morning, I was able to run a 10k (6.2 mile) "Turkey Trot" with my friend Alecia. I wasn't sure how it would go honestly. I've never run more than 5 miles at one time, and Alecia's knee has been bothering her for weeks so we haven't been running together for a while. My goal was to run it in 60 minutes, but I didn't know how realistic that was (also, Liv woke up at 4AM on Thursday and kept me up for an hour or so, and I had woken up several other times that night because I was a bit nervous...). I ended up running it in 56:13 which I was really happy with (and I'm feeling it in my legs today!): 
Per family tradition, we took time to talk about gratitude both during family home evening on Monday and then shared things we are thankful for during dinner on Thanksgiving Day. The boys had each created something this month showing a few things they are thankful for.
Burke is thankful for:
("Food and Water, My House, My Friends and Family, Presents, and Candy")
Hewitt made this turkey at school:
(Hewitt is thankful for: "God, Jesus, People who died, My Family")
Tosh is thankful for:
("Grandma and Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy, leaves, house, and pineapple.")
Rob, Grandpa Pete and the kids picked Aunt Alisa up at the airport on Thursday afternoon, and then my cousin Bob joined us as well for thanksgiving dinner. Rob's cousin Kurt and his wife and kids came over for dessert that evening and it was fun to visit with everyone and have a full house.
All of the kids were excited when Bob brought Carmella (the dog) in for a little bit. Liv has been a little unsure of Carmella up to this point (she would keep her feet and toes up so Carmella wouldn't sniff her), but she LOVED Carmella yesterday and would throw the ball for her and would tell her "drop it" to get the back back and "good job" when she got the ball. It was so cute. Here is Bob and Carmella with the kids right before bedtime:
Today is Rob's 37th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Rob! Liv has been singing the "Happy Birthday" song all week and sounded so cute singing to Rob this morning. We are taking advantage of *free* babysitters and going out to dinner tonight. Here is a photo of Rob and me that a friend took of us a few weeks ago:
I am certainly grateful for my many blessings and this wonderful time of year.
We just got home from our vacation to Newport Coast. I took almost 500 photos this week! After some debate over what to do while in southern California, we decided to take it easy and relax on the beach as much as possible. We loaded up on Tuesday afternoon, picked the boys up from school and were on our way. We met Rob's folks there on Tuesday, and Aunt Alisa joined us on Thursday night.
Tosh told us that in this last one he was yelling at the ocean, "To not make big waves!"
Some Frisbee action:
A candid shot by Burke
Saw some dolphins swimming (looked like sharks at first!). I saw them jumping, but wasn't able to catch any photos of that...
At Laguna Beach on Friday:
Aunt Alisa, Grandma Pete, Rob, and Grandpa Pete
It was a gorgeous day and there was a wedding taking place about 200-300 feet from us (busy wedding day, 11/11/11).
We stopped for "famous" frozen bananas (yummy!). Burke shocked me by saying he preferred the chocolate dipped bananas to the ice cream bars! Late afternoon Saturday we were able to meet Rob's cousin Brian and his family and catch up with them over some hot chocolate.
Mindy went home early Monday and we got ready to leave for CA. We picked the kids up right after school on Tuesday and drove to the coast. We met Rob's folks here and his sister will be joining us tomorrow.