Thanksgiving in Utah!

 We flew to Salt Lake City, Utah this Thanksgiving to visit Dan's sister, Robin, and her family! Dan's parents joined us for the trip, which made it even more fun. Robin's husband, Rob, is the pastor of New City Salt Lake Church, and Robin is the music director. Their daughters, Naomi and Miriam, are close in age to Emma and Hallie, and the four of them were SO excited to spend time together again!

We arrived late on Saturday, so the first time we saw Rob and Robin and our nieces, Naomi, and Miriam, was on Sunday morning at church. Rob and Robin hadn't told their girls that we were coming, so they were shocked and thrilled when we walked into church that morning!

Rob preached about the story of Tamar and Judah.

Lovely music by Robin (at the piano) and other musicians

The four girls were like peas in a pod during our entire stay. From morning until night, they had so much fun together.

While the girls were busy playing one morning, Rob suggested a scenic drive through the mountains. Dan, his parents, and I hopped in the van for an hour drive and enjoyed breathtaking views.

Dan's mom and I kept making Dan pull the van over so we could take photos. Heh!

Later, we took the family on a short hike overlooking Salt Lake City.

After working up an appetite, we stopped at City Creek Center, a beautiful downtown shopping mall, to eat lunch and let the girls buy souvenirs. 

The following day, we went skiing at Brighton Ski Resort! Dan and I loved skiing when we lived in Colorado, and we were excited to hit the slopes again. Rob, Robin, and the girls have season passes at Brighton, so they get to go often.

Emma and Hallie had never skied before, and they had to get used to waddling around in ski boots on the snow. We decided that they should take a half day ski lesson to learn the basics.

Hallie was excited to learn to ski!

Emma, not so much.

Dan and I took turns watching the girls' lesson and cheering them on. We each skied a bit, too. I'm riding the chair lift with Naomi and Miriam.

Dan skied some more difficult slopes with Rob at the top of the mountain.

As expected, Emma and Hallie both did a fantastic job and learned how to navigate the bunny hill that day. 

One of the best features at Brighton is their "Magic Carpet", which you can ride up to the top of the beginner's hill. In the picture below, you can see the long, black conveyor belt on the left side. It's much less intimidating than a chair lift for first time skiers!

At the end of the lesson, Emma was able to ski down independently with her cousins!  While Hallie did an amazing job during her lesson, too, without her professional ski instructor to guide her, she ended up falling a lot when Dan and I tried to ski with her. We're still up the hill in the background behind Emma's head, trying our best to keep Hallie upright. 

Here's a zoomed in view of why we put the girls in lessons that day. Dan's holding Hallie upright and skiing backwards while I hold all the poles. Haha! 

New skills learned and fun memories made! We took some family photos before we let the girls take their ski gear off, because we knew they'd never put those uncomfortable boots on again willingly. 

Rob, Robin, Naomi, and Miriam

Dan's dad and mom

We took a break to eat lunch and warm up

Then the girls played in the snow outside the lodge while Dan, Rob, and I skied for a while longer. This huge hill was perfect for sliding down, and there was a hole in the side of it that they pretended was their burrow.

Emma and Naomi's snack of choice was nice, clean snow (hopefully).

Somehow, the kids still had energy the day after our big ski day. So we took them to an indoor trampoline park to play.  It was a huge place with rows and rows of trampolines, a playground, and other features.

There was a ninja obstacle course

A bouncing surfboard that you could balance on

Bungee swings

And a big slide that landed in a ball pit!

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and head back to Virginia.

We caught a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake as we flew over the area. It's at record low water levels because of drought and the growing population in Salt Lake City.

We also had a bird's-eye view of the gorgeous mountains. We loved our visit there!

Fall Happenings

When we arrived home from our Orlando vacation, we jumped right back into work, school, and fall festivities. Emma had a biography report and presentation due, and she chose to research Harriet Tubman. 

She also made a Harriet Tubman "bottle buddy" from a 2-liter soda bottle. It turned out really cute!

StoneBridge School invites students' grandparents to the campus each year on Grandparents' Day. The kids perform special music and the grandparents get to visit their classrooms. Dan's parents and my parents were able to attend. The girls are so blessed to have their amazing grandparents involved in their lives!

Hallie posed with Grandpa and Grandma in her classroom.

Since I don't have a photo of Emma or my parents from that day, here's a sweet photo of them all at Emma's very first Grandparents' Day when she was in preschool.

In other news, Hallie's dentist has discovered multiple cavities in her teeth, and we've been going in to get them filled one at a time. Unfortunately, one of her fillings didn't take well and got infected. Since it was a baby molar, the dentist opted to pull the tooth out instead of re-addressing the cavity. Just like that...Hallie lost her very first tooth in October! 

She was in lots of pain from the extraction, but still excited about a visit from the tooth fairy!

They put the pulled tooth in this cute pink case. I'll spare you the image of the extracted molar. It was terrifying and still had bloody gums attached to it. *Gag!* Needless to say, we're limiting chewy candy and taking a more active role in cleaning her teeth each day.

Dan was feeling fully recovered from his summer rib injury, until he fell and slid into the boards during a recent hockey game, hitting the same ribs! His injury wasn't nearly as serious as the first time, but he had pain again every day for weeks, which was frustrating.

 

His rib pain didn't stop him from finishing his hockey season or working on the deck. The girls helped him paint a few deck boards.

The girls have continued taking gymnastics classes every Saturday, and they often surprise us with how strong they are! Emma discovered how to climb up the walls in our hallway. She can make it all the way up and touch the ceiling!

Hallie can hold her weight off the ground in the doorway, but she's not quite tall enough to climb the hallway yet. 

We drove to Richmond to visit Kings Dominion while it was decorated for Halloween. We were treated to beautiful fall colors along the highway.

The trees at Kings Dominion were colorful, too.

We rode to the top of their Eiffel Tower to enjoy views of the rest of the park.

We rode a couple of rides and then we spotted this foam fountain play area. 

The girls dove right in - literally!

They were soaking wet by the time we dragged them away from the foam. Thankfully, it was a fairly warm and sunny day so they could dry off.

We only rode a few rides that day since the girls were more interested in the decorations and activities, including an area where they could trick-or-treat!

Kings Dominion also had a pumpkin decorating station, and the girls made Snoopy pumpkins to take home.

We even saw Snoopy in his superhero costume before we left the park!

The following day, we attended Believer's Church Trunk-or-Treat event. Hallie was invited by her friend at school, Celiah, and we all had a great time.

There were food trucks with lots of good food and treats! Hallie chose cotton candy to share with all her friends, and Celiah enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate.

Waiting in line to enter the trunk-or-treat area. There were also hay rides, train rides, and a pumpkin decorating area.

Emma's favorite decorated trunk was this jungle scene. She fit right in with her lion costume!

Princesses Hallie and Celiah posed at the Prince and Princess themed trunk

This was Dan's favorite trunk-or-treat theme of the day. Unfortunately, they weren't serving burgers and fries.

The girls had another costume opportunity at school on Halloween day. 

Hallie dressed as a kangaroo

Emma was a cat

On Halloween evening, we joined Dan's brother, Tim's, family for trick-or-treating in their neighborhood. Left to right: Nathan (Maui), Micah (orangutan), Josiah (superhero), Emma (lion), Hallie (kangaroo), and Aaron (archer)

For the first time, Emma and Hallie lasted for longer than an hour of trick-or-treating! 

We were able to go back to their cousins' house afterwards so they could compare and swap candy. Good memories! 

Emma had a 4th grade field trip to Colonial Williamsburg in early November. Their teacher gave them the assignment of visiting and taking notes at five craftsman locations. We visited the weaver, the shoemaker, the book binder, the cabinet maker, the tin smith, the blacksmith, and the cooper (barrel maker). 

Once we were finished with the assignment, Emma and her friend, Remy, had a blast exploring every alley and back yard that was open to the public.

It was a gorgeous fall day, which we were grateful for!

Dan also got to attend Emma's field trip since he drove the school van. He had to leave a little earlier than us to get the other kids back to school on time. Emma and I decided to stay a little longer to explore.

Grandpa and Grandma also joined us for a few hours! We're in front of the beautiful Colonial Williamsburg Palace. We walked around its grounds, which featured a large wine cellar, a hedge maze, a beautiful pond, and some gardens.

The girls and I were off for Veteran's Day, and that evening, Dan joined us to take my dad and mom out to dinner to celebrate my dad's service in the Army during the Vietnam War.

Our very favorite veteran

His wife is pretty wonderful, too.

The day before Thanksgiving break, StoneBridge School has Christian Heritage Day. The students dress as Pilgrims or Native Americans and spend the day visiting activity stations where they do crafts, learn trades, taste foods, and play games inspired by the first Thanksgiving time period.  At lunchtime, they go back to their classrooms to eat a Thanksgiving feast. 

My Native Americans, ready for Christian Heritage Day!

I wasn't with Emma all day, but I did get to watch her doing field activities, like a "chore relay". The kids were on teams and had to carry a bucket of water, carry firewood and prepare a fire (no flames), and plant seeds in the ground. Emma's running with her firewood!

Emma also got to practice her archery skills!

I'm the room mom for Hallie's class this year, so I spent the majority of the day with them. 

Hallie got to throw corn through a hoop

And roast apples over a fire pit. Some high schoolers helped the kids drizzle honey over their roasted apples - yum!

It's always a fantastic way to kick off the girls' Thanksgiving vacation week!