Thanksgiving Day 2011

Thanks to my sister in laws and my mother in law for an amazingly yummy meals :)  I made the deviled eggs... I didn't want to crowd the kitchen and I did have two small kids running around keeping me busy.  But the food was awesome.  The Watkins had a tradition when they were little to go get candy at a certain candy store after Thanksgiving dinner.  It is a good long walk both ways so you can walk off a few calories.  So we took all the kids minus Livy (who was napping) and then went over to the park to let the kids burn some energy.  Pete comes from a family of 7 kids and we were lucky to have 4 kids including Pete there.  There was Stacey & Scott Hayes from Texas and thier three kids Chance, Noelle, & Hannah.  Josh & Nina Watkins from Illinois with thier two kids Taylor and Brock.  Then Sarah Watkins and Richard (her fiance) from Florida with thier son Caleb.  And then us from Utah.  We were just missing Adam & Angela who live in Japan, Steven who lives in Florida, and Jennifer & Thayne who live in Oregon.  But we were happy to get as many people there as we did.

Fun at Grandma & Grandpa Watkins

We had a good time over the holiday playing games, talking, telling stories, and making crafts with the kids.  The girls LOVED having a real baby in the house and would fight over whose turn it was to feed her a bottle or hold her.  I was in heaven because that gave me time to read a good book Sadie had lent me :)  It was a page turner called "A Bride in the Bargain."  Carter was of course the center of attention.  I think his older cousins got a huge kick out of his imagination and the random things that came out of his mouth :)

Calebs 9th Birthday Party

For Calebs (Sarah's son) birthday we had a pizza party and then went over to Pirate Joes for video games and unlimited lazer tag.  Let's just say Carter was in HEAVEN.  He loved the games so much that when he ran out of coins he went up to the cashier put his hands on his hips and said "I'm going to need some more money."  I was laughing my head off.  We had a good time besides the big bruise I got in lazer tag from falling over a barrell that was in a dark corner.  We had a fun time even Livy got to ride some rides.

St Louis Missouri

After flying with two kids all day the last thing we wanted to do was get in the car and drive two hours to Pete's parents home so we got a room at the Hyatt across from the Arch in St. Louis.  Pete was particularly excited that we could see the Bush Stadium from our room as he is a HUGE Cardinals fan and in case you live under a rock just won the World Series.  I just loved the view of the old buildings.

Random shots of the kids.

I love the picture of Livy in her blue Tinkerbell pajamas and the one where she fell asleep in the high chair.  But my favorites in this bunch are the one with Carter reading the library books.  Every time we get home from the library he helps me clean the books that I picked out and then he goes through each one to decide which ones we have to read that night.  I love that he loves books.  I also love the one with Madi & Carter on the table.  Those two will think of anything when they are together.