Gingerbread spirit

Photo credit and gracious host: Emily Coonrod

Santa was here!

It's reading time

Stop pulling my leg Grandma!

I can't turn around - he might lick my head!

Decorating

Happy Hanukah!

Happy Thanksgiving

We hosted 21 people for Thanksgiving dinner and were lucky enough to have the whole Frank family in town. Overall, the dinner went well and the weekend was great fun. Unfortunately, I didn't take out my camera once...oops. So here's an assortment of pictures I received from others of a few random moments from the weekend. 

Thanksgiving continues to be one of my favorite holidays - family, food and gratitude. What more do you need? We're thankful to all of you for being part of our lives. I hope you continue enjoying the pictures and I promise to take my camera out a little more frequently in the coming year. 

Styling Advice

On our way to school this AM:

 

AKP: "Mama, your hair looks bad."

 

Me: "It does? I tried to brush it this morning to make it look presentable."

 

AKP: "Well, you didn't do a very good job. It's messy and it looks like flat poop."

 

Nothing like honesty :-)

It snowed here for 3 days straight!

Wheeee!

Elections

Setting: Election Day morning, hanging out in bed:

Mom: Today's a very special day.

AKP: Why?

Mom: Today everyone in the whole country is going to vote. And after they count all the votes, we'll know who is going to be the next President of the United States.

AKP: Is it going to be us?

V.I.P.

AKP gets to be the class VIP one day next week. She filled out this sheet in advance. Not sure if you can see it all but if you need some help translating what's there, let us know...for example, all those yellow squiggles in the bottom right by 'favorite food' are....yes, mac and cheese. 

 

It might be worth noting that in the 'My Family' section, from left to right (and also largest to smallest), that is AKP, Mommy, Daddy. All three have long curly hair and dresses but Daddy doesn't have earrings :-)

Bear Colorwash

Does this bear look a little different this morning? 

We're both in Pink

Lovely weekend here (despite the lack of photos). Sunny and in the 60s (for November!). A play, music class, the Aviary, Children's Discovery Museum and the Museum of Natural History with our new neighbors, among other things. A pretty good weekend for AKP we think. 

Trick or Treat!

Here's our little trick or treaters - Lila the ghost fairy, Oliver the car, and Amara the rainbow!

Halloween at School - Parade and Play

A Preview of Halloween at our House

A little blurry but thought I'd post my Halloween creations...what I couldn't capture was how amazing they look under a full moon. Gorgeous!

And this one was drawn for Great Grandma Terry (Gigi). It's coming your way in the mail, but I loved it so much I had to take a picture before it left. And so here it is for others to enjoy as well :-)

Finally, Beth and I went to a grown-up Halloween party this weekend and pulled out our go-to costumes, something to pass as dressed up but requiring little time and no money :-) Beth's is much more creative and I love the mummy!

Playgroup...a moment of calm

To Be or Not to Be...That is the Question

The best part about the Shakespeare Festival for AKP was the accompanying pumpkin festival in Cedar City. Lots of tables with games and prizes for the kiddos. Here she's seeking the perfect pumpkin from the pumpkin patch to paint! (and decorating a mean cookie)

Adults enjoyed Hamlet and Stones in His Pockets, both excellent. 

What're you looking at?

Mama giraffe giving us the stink-eye as we watched the new baby giraffe (12-days old) at the zoo today. A nice diversion during a stay-at-home 'sick' day with an ear infection...on the mend already though!

And just a little further up the road...

Our friend Beth went hiking with some friends on Satuday while AKP and I did the Farm Tour (and did I mention we saw a bear?! Right in the center of town...). Anyway, farther along you can see she ran into some beautiful Colorado aspen colors...gorgeous! Photo Credits: Beth Amiott

Weekend Getaways

Well,  great weekends here. We divvied up into a boys weekend and a girls weekend with JP and his friend Jeff heading to Zion to hike the Narrows after years of discussion. The girls with our friend Beth headed to Paonia, CO for their Harvest Festival (http://www.mountainharvestfestival.org/mhf/index.php). We did the Farm-to-Farm tour on Saturday (http://www.mountainharvestfestival.org/mhf/index.php?page=bike_farm_tour). This was 25 miles with  4 stops along the way at great local farms. Amara was on the tag-a-long and did great! I was on the front and found the beautiful rolling hills to be harder than they looked with 50 pounds behind me...good for me though!! We went to an 'integrated' farm, a couple goat and cheesemaking farms and a farm that focused on baking with an outdoor brick oven. We camped at Delicious Orchards for two nights and picked apples in the orchard on Sunday morning before we left.

Bad news is I have NO pictures of the girls weekend. Sorry!! (Yorry, as AKP used to say)

Zion National Park

Boys weekend in Zion National Park - these pictures are both from The Narrows and the West Rim. 

Recognize Angel's Landing?

Don't Jump

Photo credit: Mary-Anne Karren

Some Park City colors