Trip to Arkansas

We went to Arkansas for Thanksgiving this year and had so much fun! No, we don't know a single person in that state, but we met my family there and stayed in a condo for a few days. I think we got the better deal since it was only a 6 hour drive for us and about a 14 hour drive for them! I have a major overload of pictures on here so be prepared! I'll just let them do the talking...

We had beautiful weather while we were there so on Wednesday we went on a fun hike to this place. It was really cool and the boys had fun exploring!

Jason, Kyle, Brayden and Guy climbed up on a big rock

I refused to go in this little cave because of the massive cobwebs everywhere...Freaky!

Brayden and his sticks... He's always gotta have one or two on a hike!

Brayden and I

I'm sure my mom will love me for posting this pic but I thought it was funny! :)

Brayden and Kyle mixing up the mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving morning. We had a quite a yummy feast! I just wished this baby wasn't taking up so much room in my stomach so I could have eaten more! :)
Brayden right before dinner! I was so thankful that day to be spending time with my family! They are truly the greatest blessing in my life and I love them so much!

Brayden wearing Kyle's goggles in the huge jacuzzi tub at the condo. It was seriously like a swimming pool for him!

The day after Thanksgiving the boys all got up and went golfing. After that we went to this awesome cave called Blanchard Springs Cave. It was seriously amazing! Here's a pic of our tour guide who was so funny! Brayden thought he was Santa Claus at first!

Isn't this picture so cool?! I think it would have been so crazy to discover something like this!

A quick little family picture in the cave


We walked through this cute little town after dinner one night and Brayden was loving all the Christmas decorations they already had up.

Either this chair is really big or Brayden is really small!!


Brayden's first time bowling! It was so much fun. I have to say that my dad is amazing. He seriously doubled all of our scores and he even let Brayden bowl a few of his frames! But don't let that go to your head now dad! :)

In between all of the fun places we went to, we did a lot of eating, playing games, and watching movies. What more do you need, right? It was really a fun little trip and Brayden is already missing my brothers like crazy. We were so grateful to be able to spend the holiday with all of them this year... Thanks Dad! :) Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Saying Goodbye

My dog Riley was put to sleep tonight and I am SO sad! We had him for 12 years so I am grateful for all the memories, but it will sure be weird to go home and not have him there! My parents took him into the vet to have some tests and they found a cancer mass in his stomach. With his age, they weren't sure he would even survive a surgery so letting him go was the best option. He was such a good dog and I will miss him so much! I know its a lot harder for my parents and brothers at home since they are used to having him around every day! But I sure loved that pup :(
My brother Kyle and Riley

Brayden's Masterpiece

I knew it was too quiet downstairs!

Turkeys to Christmas trees

Well, I gave in and let Brayden use the paints again... it went much better than last time! We are getting so excited for Thanksgiving next week so we decided to make place mats for everybody to use at dinner. Brayden thought it was awesome that I was actually letting him get his hand all painty to make the turkey. He was truly in heaven!

Now I have to admit that I also gave in and got out all our Christmas stuff already! I just couldn't take it anymore!! We won't be around for some of December so we just decided to get it all out so we could at least enjoy it for a full month! As soon as we get back from Thanksgiving we are planning on getting our tree to put up... last year we waited awhile and were only able to have it up for a short time before we left for Christmas! So yes we are crazy, but I love it and can't wait for all the fun things we have planned for December! If only we got snow here.... :(

Mike and Mandy's Wedding

Guy's younger brother Mike got married over the weekend so we made a quick trip to Oregon. We were so glad that we were able to be there and it was really cool to be in the temple with the whole family! It was a beautiful wedding and we're so happy for them! Brayden had a blast with all of his cousins and had a hard time leaving! It's good we'll be back there for Christmas I think! Check Melissa's blog to see lots of great pics from the wedding!