Baby Baby Baby

I guess it's about time to make our little family a little bit bigger.... Baby #2 is on its way and, if everything goes well, will arrive sometime around the beginning of January! We've been trying to ask Peyton if its a boy or a girl. She's convinced its a fish... and its name is Captain America.

Rainy Day Pinterest Day

This weather is so weird... It was raining today so we decided to stay inside but only so much will keep my very busy, very active kid occupied (especially since I told my husband I would do better at not turning the TV into my free babysitter...). So I went on Pinterest and found some fun stuff for us to do today!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Art!!

You're supposed to use a little syringe but I couldn't find any... we used a spoon instead and I told Peyton to use little drops. Little. 

But honestly, how many 2 year olds will follow your directions?

Still listening to mommy!

I feel like this face says she has a great idea coming on...

And there goes all the yellow....

By the end of the hour, all we had was a gross mess of brown... Oh well, she had fun!!

Church is True, Go Be AWESOME!!

Seriously I could not be more proud of my brother. On Wednesday, January 9th, Elder Kalilimoku entered the MTC... running on Hawaiian time (aka. late) and covered in lei's made of candy. 

Our whole family together for the last time for 2 years!!

Peyton showing us some of the candy that Uncle Glenn gave her

Riena tried to take pictures of what we all looked like after dropping him off...

yes, there were tears.

 

She was mocking me... 

Although I didn't cry THIS hard.

Funny Story: Since missionaries can't listen to world-ly music, Ben came up with a playlist for us to listen to on our way to AND from the MTC. On the way there we listened to "The Point of No Return" from Phantom of the Opera. We all had a good laugh about that one with Glenn.  On the way back? "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables... and right after that, "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Boccelli.... Yeah, that just made things worse. Thanks a lot Ben!! haha

Festival of Trees

One of my friends at work has a young nephew who is a cancer survivor. The people at Primary Children's were so amazing with their family that the family has done everything they possibly could to give back to the hospital. One of those things was putting on the Festival of Trees. My friend is on the committee and had some discounted tickets to go so I bought a bunch of tickets! All for a good cause :)

With Ben's work schedule, the only time we could go was on a Friday night... the busiest time of the week! It was so packed and crazy but we had fun. We walked around and looked at all the trees (ALL OF THEM), some of the wreaths that they had up, and a couple of the gingerbread houses. Peyton did a couple of the crafts they had for kids and then we watched a dance show. Peyton went right up to the front of the stage and danced with the performers (along with all the other of kids...). After we were done, we went and bought a couple of caramel apples to finish the trip. So yummy!! And again, all for a good cause.

There were so many people that she needed to hold 2 hands...

And of course, the only picture we took together is blurry... 

Oh well. 

Next year, my friend and I (and a couple of other people) are going to enter a tree together. So excited!!

Thanksgiving!

My absolute FAVORITE holiday is Thanksgiving!! The first year Ben and I got married, we did our own Thanksgiving and it was amazing. We haven't changed the menu since then and probably won't for a long LONG while (except the rolls... I can't ever make rolls! But this year, I was successful! Yes!). Usually, we invite all of our friends who are unable to go home for the holiday over to our place but this year, everyone had a place to go to so it was just us! We had so much food and even more leftovers. It was awesome.

The Menu:

Mashed Potatoes 

Honey Ham

Maple-brined Turkey

Sausage, Cranberry, Apple Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Maple Pecan pie

Apple pie

Yams

Rolls

Creamed Corn

Cranberry Sauce - from the can AND the bag 

(because you need the one from the can for leftover turkey sandwiches, right?)

3 different choices of drinks.... and no, not water, milk, or juice... haha

Temple Square

She loves her Auntie "Anna"

Best Friends

Our whole group... Sorry its a little blurry!

YAY!!!!!!!

Just a few random facts:

• It's the 4th most populous city in the nation (trailing only New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago). 
• It hosts the biggest rodeo in the world. 
• More than 90 languages are spoken here. 
• It has one of the youngest populations in the nation. 
• Residents of this city eat out more than any other US city. 
• It is illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sundays. 
• With 634 square miles, this city could contain the US cities of New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, AND Miami. 
• In this state, when two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop and neither shall proceed until the other has gone. 
• It is illegal to take more than 3 sips of beer at a time while standing. 
• And finally, it is REQUIRED for criminals to give their victims 24 hour notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed. 

Yup, Glenn has been called to serve in the Texas Houston East mission and will enter the MTC January 9th. He is going to be such an amazing missionary. I am so proud of him and the example he has shown. I won't go into a ton of details about this incredible journey because its personal and private to my family but I will say that the thing that impresses me about my brother more than anything else is that he refused to serve a mission until he KNEW 100 percent that he was completely ready to be a full-time missionary. In the past, most 19 year old boys in our Church have gone on missions because that was what was expected of them at that time. And I'm not trying to diss or down on that at all. I'm glad those missionaries went out at that time.

For Glenn, however, it just wasn't the time for him. And for Glenn, that was perfect. There is no doubt in my mind that he was saved to be a missionary now. I'm so proud of him. He's an amazing person, inside and out. Glenn is so talented and so incredibly smart. He's such a great uncle and brother. I love him so much and will miss him! Can you believe that Peyton will be 4 years old by the time he comes back?!

The people of Houston Texas are lucky that such an amazing person will be serving them for 2 years.