We hope you were able to make the day special in some way! You deserve it!

We had a great Thanksgiving here, my first time hosting Thanksgiving! Luckily I didn’t actually do it all myself. My mom, dad, grandma and sister all came so it felt really festive! I actually made two pumpkin pies and a triple berry pie for the first time, I felt so domestic! Danica loved helping me pour and stir. We had turkey, stuffing, yams, rolls, corn, cranberries, all the traditional stuff. It was great! My mom helped the kids make centerpieces and then they played turkey tic tac toe! During dinner Danica didn’t want to sit in her booster seat so she kept hopping from lap to lap. At one point she was sitting with my dad and when she climbed down she stepped right into a bowl of cranberry salad that had been placed on the floor because there was no table space! She was little in shock but we couldn’t stop laughing!

On Friday we went to the beach and then braved the crowds and got some shopping done. Friday night we did an early birthday celebration for Danica and Hayden, it was a lot of fun. Hayden loves the fact that he gets to celebrate his birthday over and over! Saturday we watched the BYU-Utah game, that was great!! My family left Sunday morning and Abbie Schickedanz actually came to town on business and spent Saturday night with us and then Sunday afternoon we went to walk along the coast at the beach and saw some starfish and dolphins, it was awesome!

The week before Thanksgiving we went to Knott’s Berry Farm because it was free for the military but unfornately we didn’t have much fun. It was REALLY crowded and the rides weren’t great. We didn’t stay long, but at least now we know! We’re hoping to get back to Disneyland sometime soon!

Danica has become Little Miss-chievous! I cannot take my eyes off of her for even a second! She is at that phase where she is into absolutely everything! Yesterday I was upstairs doing my hair and I thought she was playing with toys until she brought me a measuring cup full of Bisquick! I came down to find Bisquick all over the floor, but she was so proud of herself! She loves to get in the fridge and constantly stumbles around the house trying to bring me the big water picture instead of coming to ask me for a drink. Yesterday she brought me an egg... don’t ask me how she didn’t break them! I constantly find her with my make up on her face. This morning she took off her pants and smeared diaper rash cream all over her legs. Then later she tried to pour a cup of water into Alyssa’s mouth and then she actually put a marble in Alyssa’s mouth! Thank goodness I was right there and grabbed her....yikes!! But you know, she is still just as cute as ever and really talking a lot. My new favorite word is “pop-tart”. The other day I saw her take two little toys, a Curious George and plastic rabbit and made them kiss, very funny! However, I am having a real problem with her waking up before 6am, anyone have any advice on that one? She’s in a bed now and sometime right before 6 she wanders into my room all smiley and laughing. We’ve tried putting her to bed later, running a heater, we keep it dark and quiet... any other ideas? Our next plan is to put her in the pack n’ play in the guest room and just not get her until 6:30 or 7...

Hayden has said a few funny things lately. He wished on a shooting star and said "I wish my dad will come back from work really fast!" Last week in primary they called on him and asked what he is grateful for and he said he is grateful for Danica. He really does play with her a lot. When she is doing something wrong he yells “Alert! Alert!” (Like when she gets out her bed and tries to climb up on his!) He has nicknames for both of his sisters. He has always called Danica “Coconut” and “Gogos 1” (seemingly a spin off of coconut, he only recently added the number 1 part). He calls Alyssa “Pinata” and “Gogos 2”. When something goes wrong with one of them he’ll yell “Gogos 1 needs you!” Today Dancia got a bonk on the head so he went up to her and said “It’s okay Dani, show me wear it hurts!” Also, today we went to Walmart and he go to spend $5 that my grandma gave him. He picked out a Star Wars toy and all the way to the check out he kept saying “I can’t believe this, this just so great.” He’s such a fun kid...although yesterday at the grocery store he was a real pest! He kept touching Danica just to make her scream. You know the kind where he just pokes her for no reason and laughs when she yells... oh the joys... Well we’re off to the park!

For pictures of our fun check out our website via the link on the side of blog!