Our Thanksgivings

This year we ended up having three Thanksgiving dinners.  I was a total slacker on taking pictures throughout the whole holiday weekend.

On Wednesday, Shin and Heather came over and we had pizza and games.  They were spending Thanksgiving day running a 5k and having dinner with their neighbors.  We hadn't seen them for several weeks (our normal Sunday dinner routine had been shaken up a bit) and we had fun catching up.

Thursday, we went to J's parents and had an early dinner with his siblings and parents.  We perused the Black Friday ads, watched the game, and relaxed.  More family came over later and spent some time with us and Kai, who had a special place set up for him in the formal living room so he could be a part of everything.

Kai did really well.  He fell asleep not long after we got there, and slept until we woke him several hours later when the other family members came over.  He was very content--I think he enjoyed being out and somewhere new. 


Friday, I dropped Zuri off with my mom, so Kai and I could brave the crowds for Black Friday.  Emily had something she wanted me to get for her (since she cannot go herself being out of the country), and it took me four different stores before I found the item for her.  Whew!  That is a lot of work with Kai--hauling him and all his stuff in and out of the car.  I went to Costco first, they didn't have the item (but it wasn't a total waste because I found my Christmas present!), so I went to Best Buy next.  They had already brought the price back up (I guess it was just a doorbuster item good for the short time window only), so I went to Shopko, but they were all out.  Finally, I went to Target, and if they didn't have it, I was just going to get it online.  Target did have it--lots of the item!  Hooray!

Since I was there, I decided not to brave another store with Kai, so I picked up some grocery items that I needed for dinner with my mom and aunt that night.  I started out with a basket; pushing Kai's stroller and the basket handle resting in the crook of my arm.  It soon became apparent that I needed too much stuff for the basket, so I got a cart.  I pushed Kai's stroller with one hand and pulled the cart along behind me with the other.  It was awkward, but I did it.  I went grocery shopping by myself with Kai!  I am proud of myself.  It may seem like such a simple thing, but it is one more step toward independence and not being locked away in the house.  Last year it was unthinkable to drag him around as I did Friday because of his condition.  Amazing what a difference a year makes; Kai loved getting out.  He was cooing and blowing raspberries the whole time.

Friday evening we had dinner with my mom, stepdad, sister, aunt, and my cousin.  We celebrated my sister's birthday--she is turning eight, and just enjoyed spending time together.  Even though we all live within the same neighborhood, we really don't see each other very often.


On Saturday, we got a call from J's "Uncle" Lucy, who was in town from Las Vegas, and she wanted to stop by to visit.  It was her first time meeting Kai and she took to him right away.  We spent a couple hours catching up and trading stories, and before we knew it, they had to leave. 


Saturday afternoon we had respite hours, so J and I went out shopping for Christmas gifts.  We really didn't get very much because we are in the final stages of closing on our house and we don't want to upset the status quo, but we did get a start on it.  :-)

Snowy Day

Early in November we got a big snowstorm.  It dumped a decent couple of feet in a relatively short amount of time.  Zuri was so excited to go out and play in the snow, and she kept saying "Mom look!  Snowy day! Snowy day!"  Since I cannot bring Kai outside to play (the cold goes straight to his lungs, so it is dangerous to have him out in colder weather), I told Zuri that she had to wait for J to get home to play in the snow.  She eagerly waited and was rewarded with some fun in the snow!

Since then, the snow has melted and we have had relatively mild weather.  Zuri keeps asking when winter is coming so she can play in the snow again! :-)

Trick-or-Treat 2012

Zuri got a large candy haul this year for Halloween.  She filled her bucket!  We started out in our neighborhood, only intending to be out for about 45 minutes or so, but as we got started, we noticed no kids, and only a few homes had anyone actually there.  So, we decided to canvas our *new* neighborhood.

--That's right, we are "under contract!"  Our soon-to-be new home is in a really great neighborhood.  In fact, the house next door has a little girl close to Zuri's age.  It is located really close to major access roads and is very centrally placed.  It is in an established neighborhood and has been really well taken care of--so much so that it is move-in ready!  It is a little bit older and smaller than the homes that we have been looking at, but it is in an area where the value of homes is pretty high.  We have almost a third of an acre of land (that has been our biggest issue with some of the newer homes--no land!) and apple, plum and cherry trees.  Our backyard borders a neighborhood "park" and the current owners tell us that they see deer and elk all the time near the little creek that runs through the park.  It has a walk-out basement so Jeremy has easy access to all areas of the house.  Everything has fallen into place with this home, and it will be a great little starter place for us!  If all continues to go well, we should be able to move in before Christmas--so exciting!

We ended up trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood for a couple of hours.  Zuri kept saying that she wanted to go to more houses, but I think by the end, even she was tired.  Until we got home, then she wanted to go back out and didn't want to take her costume off.  Kai was a trooper through the whole thing and just enjoyed getting out.  He stared wide-eyed as we went from house to house, just sucking on his fingers.  He didn't get fussy at all, but he fell right asleep when we got into the car.  He stayed asleep even when we brought him into the house!

First Snow

We had our first bit of snow on October 25th.  Since then it has melted and we have returned to almost 70 degree weather.  That is Utah in the fall for you.  Zuri was so excited to see the snow.  She ran outside in her pajamas and socks wanting to make snowmen, and snow angels and throw snowballs.  It was all she talked about all morning before school.