Update - Finally!

I've been putting off posting because I've had so much going on lately and I knew it would be a really long post, so here goes. Kudos if you make it all the way through!

First, I'll start off with our trip to Philly. We had a BLAST! We flew out on Oct 25 and lew back on Nov 1, so we were there for a full week. We stayed with our very dear friends, Richard and Shari Michaud. They have three kids, Brighten - 4, Kanyen - 2, and Carver - 7 months-ish. We all went to see the Statue of Liberty on Monday. On Tuesday we went to Hershey, PA and did the kiddie tour of the factory (with free chocolate samples at the end). It was a really slow day, so we did that like three times. We also saw a cute 3D movie. On Wednesday we saw the Liberty Bell. On Thursday we just hung out and on Friday we did all the fun Halloween stuff. Kaden was Mickey Mouse and Kate was Tinker Bell. We made a killing while we were trick-or-treating. I really loved PA. It was so beautiful, the leaves were changing colors. I've never seen anything like that in AZ. All the reds, oranges, yellows... so pretty! And all the houses are so cute. I love the brick houses with shutters. You don't see very much of that in AZ either. We are so thankful for our friends letting us crash at their house for a week. And so here are some pics from our trip:

An the airplane heading to PA... Kaden thought is was so cool. Kate hated it. It was 5 hours of torture. Which made it kind of misserable for me and Brent too.



Ellis Island outside and inside. The ceiling inside was so cool! It is a really pretty building. It was still used as an immigration port of entry until the 1950's which I never knew. I thought it was only used until the early 1900's.



We are at the base of the statue, but at the top of the pedestal, about halfway up. Look close, we're waving!



This is the view from way up there:



Lady Liberty in front of te NYC skyline. So cool! A few fun facts: the statue was built by the same guy that did another workd famous tower... Eiffel ring a bell? And the statue was originally used as a light house. The torch has bleen replaced several times and the original light-torch is in a museum at the base of the tower.


Our dear friends, the Michauds:


Little Kanyen lost a fight with a blue ink pen in the car on the way to Hershey. He's so darn cute.


On the tour ride at Hershey, us then my cute friend Shari with two of her boys:



Downtown Hershey... Notice the street lights. How fun! Doesn't it just look like a picture-perfect town?



All dressed up for Halloween in Philly... Tinker Bell, Mickey Mouse, a knight, a dog, and a pea pod. So cute!


Inspecting (and eating) the loot!



We had Thanksgiving at our hause this year. Brent's parent's, sister Jodi, brother Branden with his wife Shanna and three girls all came. We had so much fun! The only ones missing was his sister Danae who is on a mission in Oregon, and his aunt Becky and uncle Kris who live in Pine but couldn't come because of an illness. It was such a nice time, and I'm so thinkful to have married in to such a wonderful family. I don't think I could have better in-law's. I really missed being with my family too though. Brent was on call for his second job at the funeral home for the whole week, and he worked at UPS on Friday, so we couldn't go out of town. It was my first time cooking a turkey, and it wasn't too bad! I love Thanksgiving.

For Christmas this year, we will be staying here again. Brent only has Christmas Day off, which is on a Thursday this year. Oh, the joys of working for UPS. He doesn't get to take ANY time off in December, ever. We put up our tree on Monday for FHE. We actually had to buy a new tree this year. I forgot when I sent Brent out to the shed to bring in the tree, that we donated it last year. It was a really old tree that was a pain in the neck to put up. So we were forced to go out and buy a new tree. Which I'm glad, but I wish we didn't have to spend that money this year. We got a pre-lit tree. I love it! It's really pretty.

I've been super busy more recently with Chemistry homework (this is my last week of class and I'll hopefully regain some of my sanity!). I also started working at the hospital. I finished my training a few weeks ago (three 12 hour days in a row- I was exausted!). The day after I finished my training, I watched my friend's eight kids (yes, I said EIGHT!) for six days while they went to NY. They are all homeschooled. And I even took them to 9:00 AM church with me. I am in the Primary Presidency and that day was our primary program in sacrament meeting, so I had to be there. My kids had a ton of fun playing with all those kids, and she paid me enough to pay for our whole Christmas this year.

Here are some pictures of Kaden playing soccer a few months ago. He LOVED it!
Kade and Dad cheering Kaden on:

Kaden's the one on the far right:


A picture of me and my sweet Granny after Grumpa's funeral:


Kaden getting a haircut at "the haircutting store". He says the funniest things.
Before

After

Anyway, I hope you had a good Halloween and Thanksgiving and that you have an even better Christmas.