The day after Halloween is Jonny's birthday, so he skipped school and we went to FatCats to win him as many prizes as he wanted. It was so much fun. The Hungry Hungry Hippos game was messed up so as long as multiple people played, the yellow would win TONS of points. But the Wizard of Oz game was the best for points. We won SO many playing that one.
Then out to eat at Chick-fil-a, yea please.
Back up to Snowbird for a few more days! The kids had a great time with their cousins. Unfortunately, not many girl cousins were there this time. But Lullaby played lots with Annie's girls and Cora, so she still had fun.
We played SO many games. Steph, Grandma and I were the main players and others came and went.
All the adults went out for a meal at the Snowbird restaurant one of the nights, which was really fun. Paul heard about people adding cheese to brownies and so he ordered that, but no one was impressed. It was actually pretty gross. The rest of the food was great and on the way out, Steph scared me so bad!
More card games, as usual.
We got to see lots of Aidan, which is always a treat. He's so sweet to the kids.
Some time with cutie Cora. She never remembers us until we've been there a couple days, and then we're best friends.
More games in the game room. Always fun.
I love these two cutie cousins. They have so much fun together.
We brought Happy Salmon, a new game, and everyone loved it. So silly. You can play out loud, or silently. The games takes about 1 minute or less to play, and then it's over. So it's a fun game to jump into, or just do while you're waiting for something else.
Steph and I snuck away to sit in the hot tub and gossip. It was so fun. We were covered in our own mascara at the end.
We got the kids fitted for ski season later in the year. They've all grown SO much!
Fun statue on tracks that are no longer used.
We went to The Hive, which is a jump park. The kids had the best time and then we did the go-carts! The adults all made the weight limit, but we all barely fit!
Then out to eat and a quick stop to see Heidi and her girls before leaving that area.
We went to the outlet mall and Hawk's friendship with Jonny is still rock solid. I love it.
Ethan likes to try to beat me at this card game, but I usually win.
The Hunts' backyard is so fun. The hot tub, the sauna, the cold plunge, the view!
More game playing, Hawken and Ethan teamed up on me and beat me!
Back to Grandma's house for some fun in the snow with cousins, dinner, and games. It was a fun way to end our trip. We had a great time and always enjoy our Utah visits. Thank you to Great Grandma Berg for letting us stay at her house!
We had such a great Utah trip. Here are the highlights from it:
Last Chick-fil-a before we left to be back in the land of no Chick-fil-a.
Lullaby made a bribe for me to take her to the library. Silly girl.
Solace has activities with the boys from our church every other week, usually, and loves it.
We had a Relief Society activity and I helped set up some of it. So fun. One of the things we did was to each add a flower and our names in a wreath around the picture of Christ. It turned out really good.
I have really loved being in the Relief Society Presidency. Left to right is Annie, Kathy, me and then Stella. The last picture we were trying from shortest to tallest, and made each other laugh.
Mousey has gotten more and more snuggley since she got pregnant. I don't remember exactly when we figured it out, but at some point we did. Extra snuggles, extra bites and lots of extra sleep.
Paul had been working on building his own cold plunge out of a freezer, but cut the wrong thing and broke it beyond repair. Just then, someone listed their already made cold plunge for sale, all we needed to do was go and pick it up. Woohoo! It was super heavy, but we got it loaded!
We went for a hike up Sleeping Giant. Solace and I stayed in the forest while everyone else went to the top. Such a beautiful hike.
We found a few trees that looked like they were struck by lightening maybe.
Lullaby was the last standing member of our family in the Design Squad and we did a brainstorming session at a pavilion near the beach. It was so nice. Then the kids shared their ideas and we decided what would be best to go on to the next phase for the Humane Society.
I didn't get a stills, but in the early morning of November 11th, Mousey gave birth under my bed. Just the night before, we watched videos on the signs and symptoms of cats about to give birth. Then I woke up and heard the sounds of little kitten mews under me. We moved three babies, 1 placenta, and Mousey into the little box we made for her. Then she had one more baby and we woke up the kids to see. It was amazing and I'm so glad we got to witness it. The kids loved (and were grossed out) watching Mousey know just what to do, despite her being a baby herself.
Sweet Mousey needs lots of breaks from the kittens. They sleep in a little pile, and she sleeps on the floor right outside their nest.
We went to a Pokemon event at the mall and the kids all brought their binders for trading. It was so fun to see them in their element. There was also a raffle and Hawk won a new box of Pokemon cards. Woohoo!
All 4 kittens are doing well. Mousey is really tired.
I was invited to a Relief Society stake activity for all the leadership on the island and they asked me to make a simmer pot. It smelled SO good! But I had to find some little pine branches to add, and so when we were at Costco, they were selling live wreathes, and several small branches had fallen on the ground. I asked to have them, and they said I could. Lullaby was embarrassed. The actual event was great too, and I loved the centerpieces!
We went for a paddle up the Wailua River. It was such a nice day. We stopped at the Fern Grotto and then went to the jumping spot before heading home. We got some wind both ways, but we had a great time.
Paul and Solace made it back first, and Solace was showing off his palm tree climbing skills. Several tourists took his picture. Wow!
More kitten pictures, because we just can't get enough of them!
Sully sang them a song. Sweet thing. And then he sang to me.
Beautiful bright beach day at Kealia. We love living so close to this beach!
We got a wax-sealed invitation for Kent Christmas from Jolie, so fun!
More yard work cutting away junk trees.
Night time fun. Paul has been learning more guitar stuff with the help of his new friend, our neighbor Chris. Paul goes over once a week for a lesson. Some in music history, and some just jamming out. It's been really cool.
We got his new cold plunge in the right spot under the house, and all hooked up! Woohoo!
A beautiful spider web in the sunlight. I am always amazed at the hard work spiders put into their webs.
Our mango tree flowered! So exciting! Plus the usual jabong, starfruit, and clementine! Yum!
Lullaby went to her friend Alana's birthday party and had a great time.
Our day at the beach was mostly for sand castle building this time, for everyone except Matix, who stayed in the water.
I love having a kid strong enough to offer to carry heavy stuff from the car, like 2 large bags of ice. Yes please!
Solace was one of the narrators in the Primary Program and did such a nice job.
Sweet Mousey is doing her best to be a momma, even though she's a kitten herself.
Paul found one of the things from my grandpa's Masonic stuff, this light bulb with the mason symbol and it glows red. Makes the room look very moody.
Sometimes I get little notes asking for extra electronic time. So cute.
Pumpkin jumped from our car onto the house at the one low point and went running around up there. Silly thing.
Paul turned 41 and we celebrated in the morning with gifts, and then to the beach, because it was also Thanksgiving!
Paul pruned back the mango tree some and saw a peek of starfruit behind it, and another pretty plant just growing in the jungle.
After a fun birthday morning, we headed to the beach for Thanksgiving. The Kaui's ended up getting sick, so it was just us and the Wilde's. The kids played games and swam and boogie boarded. It was so fun. We even brought a piñata for Paul to open for his birthday. We stayed until dark and the moon came out. Then came home for brownies instead of cake.
One of the kittens, Fe, stopped eating. We bought milk replacer, and tried every 2 hours to feed her, but she wouldn't eat. She was as small as Taquito, and smaller than the other two kittens.
She passed away and we had a little funeral for her. It was so sad. Poor thing. The other three kittens were doing pretty well, but Mousey looked for the missing kitten for a few days. The kids took it the worst.
We're grateful for Mousey and her hard work. She is SO tired after nursing, and only wants to sleep or be cuddled.
We went to go see Uncle Ron and get a Christmas tree. This year we picked out a mountain apple tree.
I love the way the lights and little trees look in the house. We still have Paul's Happy birthday sign up too.
Solace made his own song and wrote the music for it.
Every night around dusk, all the parrots congregate in these coconut trees. It gets SO noisy. I love it. We see them flying in huge flocks over the house into our jungle too.
Sully ran into some friends at Target and they all stayed and talked about Pokemon cards.
Our homeschool group has a kids entrepreneurship market every December, and the kids started making their things to sell early. They made the most adorable little gnome ornaments. It took a lot of work, but they turned out so cute.
The kids buy presents for each other with their own money, and I love seeing what they've chosen. So sweet.
Pumpkin back in her favorite spot again.
Bright rainbow in the parking lot. Beautiful.
Matix takes an early morning church seminary class and his teacher sends us little notes about him sometimes which makes me so proud.
Sweet little Taquito wasn't doing well, so we brought him tot he vet. He was about 1/2 the size of the other kittens and the vet explained that cats can get pregnant more than once, and likely he was from a newer litter, but because he was born at the same time as the other kittens, he was smaller and probably premature when he was born. Fe was likely from that same litter which could have been why she passed away. Taquito got some fluids and she taught us how to syringe feed him, since he doesn't like bottles. Solace took his job very seriously and kept him super safe and warm.
Time for bed, and all the cats have to go outside. Pumpkin would rather stay with Matix, she loves him so much.
The Nutcracker was playing and Lullaby's friend Aubrey invited her to go with. So fun!
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