When Nana and Papa visit...

We love it when Nana and Papa come visit. They were able to come and stay for about 2 weeks through the holidays. The kids always have a blast with them and they love them to pieces. I was always really close to my grandparents growing up and it's nice to see my kids close to their grandparents as well. My parents come up here any chance they get because they can't stand to be away from their grandkids. I love it. Here are some fun pictures from their trip. 

General Conference Weekend

We thought it would be a great idea to go down to General Conference this fall. We wanted to visit Jason's parents and grandparents and take a break from school and Idaho. :) We also wanted to look for a van while we were in Utah. With our third baby on the way we felt it would be so much easier, especially since all 3 of my kids are in car seats. Grandpa Hileman was able to get us tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. We left the kids with a YW from their ward and had a great time. The session was amazing and I left uplifted and inspired.

We were also able to find a van for our family. We did lots of research and decided to get a Honda Odyssey. We knew what our price range was and had a list of vans to look at while we were there. We went to a ton of dealerships and couldn't find anything that we felt right about. We decided to go to one final dealership and the moment we saw this van we knew it was the one for us. It was in our price range, had everything we wanted and way more, had fewer miles than we were hoping for, and it was in great shape. We are super happy. I never thought I would be as happy about having a mini van as I am. :) It also gets great gas mileage and the kids love it. 

We had a great weekend and enjoyed spending time with family, listening to our inspired leaders, and getting away as a family. I've also loved going through the Conference talks in the Ensign. I ordered the Conference Notebook from the redheadedhostess.com and I love it! If you are looking for a great way to study General Conference I would recommend it.

New Mexico Trip

The beginning of July was a lot of fun for us. My parents came up to spend a few weeks with us and then I went home with them for a little over a week to visit family and friends in New Mexico. It had been a month shy of a year since I had been home, so it was nice to catch up with people. :)

Papa and Brooklyn playing Legos

While I was at home we had a family reunion for my Dad's side of the family. My grandma was 1 of 13 children, and every 2 years we have a Farnsworth Family Reunion. It has been a while since I have been able to attend one - before I left for college, in fact. It was the perfect chance to see my Grandma and Aunt Diana since they came up from Arizona for the reunion. Carson had a lot of fun hanging out my my dad. At the reunion they played a game where you throw sticks at blocks of wood and try and knock them over. Carson was actually pretty good at it!

Carson and Papa

Carson and Papa looking at the clouds. :) Nana was also able to get Brooklyn to sleep - for a whole 5 mintues.

My grandma and her sister, Geraldine. I just love my grandma.

The kids had fun playing with sponges in the water and running around outside. Brooklyn also LOVES otterpops! She ate a ton all by herself.

Picture with Grandma Bloomfield! Both kids were ready for bed at this point - as you can tell.

In my parent's backyard there is a tire swing that we would swing on when we were little. My grandpa used to push us so high that we could grab leaves from the tree. The swing broke last year so my dad made a new one. Carson had so much fun swinging in it while Papa would push him. It reminded me of my grandpa pushing us.

Unfortunately the new swing has a few issues. It kept wanting to twist and one of the ropes caught a branch while Carson was pretty high in the swing. It tipped the swing sideways and dumped Carson out through the hole on the side. He did a flip in the air (I can still see it all in slow motion) and landed with a thud. I thought for sure he broke his wrist or at least sprained it because of the way he landed. Luckily, he did not. He had a little bit of rope burn on his neck - poor kid. It knocked the wind out of him and scared me half to death. He snuggled with Papa and watched a movie after that.

Carson had his first taste of dippin dots while we were at the mall one day. He thought they were pretty cool!

While I was at home my mom and I did a 4th of July craft. I know- a little late. We went to the Wood Creations in Idaho Falls before we left and picked out a few things to do. I did a set with a hat, a star, and a firecracker. We both also did Uncle Sam. If you've never done something from the Wood Connection, you basically buy pieces of wood in shapes ready to sand and decorate. We sanded, painted, decorated, etc. I thought they turned out pretty cute!! It's hard to tell from the picture how cute they are. They all have a little glitter on them and they sparkle in the sun.

Carson thought I did a really good job with Uncle Sam. He kept telling me that. :)

One of the days we were there I took the kids and we went to Pagosa Springs, CO to a cabin with some of my good friends. Carson took an instant liking to Jordan and asked to take a picture with him. Jordan hates pictures and wouldn't look at the camera - so Carson tried to make him. The second picture is the result. haha! It was a lot of fun to see the Mannings and catch up with them all. I really miss them a bunch and wish I could see them more often. We are crossing our fingers that Jordan gets to come up in September to visit us.

On our way out of Pagosa Springs the next morning there was a hot air balloon right over the road. Carson thought it was amazing!! I snapped a picture at a stop sign for him.

It's always so hard to say goodbye to my parents. My dad doesn't get to visit us as often as my mom because of work, so he doesn't get to see the kids as much. They sure do love him though! Brooklyn fell asleep in his lap while I was loading the car to head out.

I decided to break the trip home into 2 days since it takes about 14 hours with kids. We headed to Sandy to stay with Jason's grandparents and then we went the rest of the way the next day. I just mentally prepared to make lots of stops since I was by myself. We ended up stopping about every 2 hours or so to let the kids get their wiggles out, eat, change diapers, go potty, etc. It was a long trip, but the kids did great (all things considering). My car was a disaster by the time we got home from all of the snacks I would throw in the back to keep them entertained.

It was great to see Grandma and Grandpa Hileman - even though it was a short stay. We love them so much and they love the kids. Carson knows where the blocks are and he likes to play with Grandpa. This time he made Grandpa fly an imaginary airplane with him.

Brooklyn was being a stinker and wouldn't sit for a picture. We got a good one with Carson though!

Before we headed back we stopped at Kneaders and met my friends from College - Callie and Kiersten. It was so much fun to catch up with them and see their cute kiddos! I took a picture with Kiersten too, but she forbade me to publish it since she was 9 months pregnant (and beautiful). Next time we head to Utah we will have to go out to dinner with them.

All in all the trip was great! We got to see lots of people we love and we all survived the ride home. :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving we had originally planned to drive to Colorado Springs to spend the holiday with Jason's parents. Jason only had Wednesday-Sunday off from work and since it is at least a 12 hour drive, we decided to drive through the night on Tuesday so we would have plenty of time to spend with Jay and Leslie. Jason's parents, however, were a little leery of our plan and with Brooklyn being sick we all decided to meet in Utah for Thanksgiving! We had a great time.

Brooklyn and Grandpa Jay

Daddy and Carson talking to Aunt Emily on Skype

Great-Grandma Hileman and Brooklyn

Brooklyn and Grandma Leslie

We had a great Thanksgiving feast and did some shopping on Black Friday. We got to spend some much needed time with Jason's Grandparents and even played a game of Ticket to Ride (Grandma won - wink, wink). We ventured to downtown SLC and spent a little time at City Creek Mall and then went to Temple Square to look at the Christmas lights. Carson was in awe with the water fountains and the lights. He thought it was so cool! I love Temple Square, but when you add Christmas lights it becomes a new kind of amazing. The Nativity in the center of the reflection pool was beautiful and watching the kids take in the awe of the lights was so fun.

It was also Grandpa Hileman's birthday while we were there so we stopped and got him a cake and sang to him. Carson loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and Grandpa even let him help blow out the candles.

It was fun for the kids to get to spend time with their grandparents and great-grandparents. Carson went to the park with Jay and Leslie, and we spent lots of time playing with blocks.

On our way home, we stopped and spent some time with Zach and Haleigh. We went to see "Wreck it Ralph" with Haleigh and walked around the mall. We rode Trax down to the Gateway Mall, which Carson thought was AMAZING. He thought it was so cool that we got to ride the train, not just watch it. Haleigh had to go to work so we went to eat with Zach at Joe's Crab Shack. It's tradition!

 

We had a great Thanksgiving week and have so much to be grateful for.