Giving Thanks

I am a little behind on this post, but Thanksgiving this year meant so much to me! We had a full house full, amazing food, and so many things to be grateful for!  This past year has been one of the hardest years in my adult life with my eczema.  It has greatly affected not just my life but my families as well.  So to be able to say that I am eczema free without the use of topical steroids is pretty huge!  I feel so Thankful and can't wait to start this new year with new skin!  Add in my love of my life and these 2 kiddos of mine, and I truly feel that God has blessed me and our family beyond measure.  Plus showing our Australian friends how to stuff your self with food and pie was also pretty fantastic.  A big Thank you to my wonderful parents who brought most of the dishes for 10 people and who basically made all the food! 

// secretly the best part of Thanksgiving for me, is that Christmas decorations can finally happen!//

Halloween

 

Rhone: Hawkeye (Avengers)
Lachlyn: Mermaid
Me: Narwhal
KC: best daddy

The Pumpkin Patch

We've had a pretty busy October and so today we decided to skip church and head to the pumpkin patch.  Honestly, we are a few weeks late on this.  I can't tell you how many people have said "you haven't been to the pumpkin patch yet?!"  So today we checked that off the list.  The kids got kettle corn and I got my grey and pink pumpkins.  So it was a successful trip for all of us. 

Our getaway

 

Last week KC got a surprise email from his boss offering our family his vacation home for the weekend.  Without hesitation both of us looked at each other and said YES! We skipped out on soccer and headed to Vantage, WA that Friday night.  Neither of us have been to Eastern WA so we were especially excited to see this part of our state.  To my surprise it was more amazing than I had imagined.  For 3 days I truly felt like I was in Arizona.  And because I am desperately home sick this change of scenery was just what I needed.

The house "buffalo lodge" was huge and it was super fun to see my kiddos experience a large house with 3 bathrooms! Funny because when you live in a small house and share a bathroom you tend to be in each others business all the time.  I laughed so much when I realized that even though we had this big house all to our selves, the kids and I still used only 1 bathroom and never even touched 3/4 of the house.  The hot tube was the main attraction.  Both days consisted of eating and hot tub'ing.  We did venture out Sunday morning to explore.  We just set off on a drive and when we saw a place to pull over we did!

The wild horses monument was the kids favorite.  We hiked up and spent time 'horsing' around haha!  My favorite was when we were driving and I saw a picture perfect valley untouched and identical to a western movie.  I said to KC, "pull over! we have to get out" and then of course Rhone our little rule follower chimed in to point out that we weren't allowed and that we could get a ticket!  I mean as a mom it is my job to teach the laws and teach rules, but man, I am making a personal challenge to myself to teach my kids to seize the moment and to enjoy life! We pulled over, dragged Rhone out and went for a short walk.  The whole time Rhone saying "OK mom, you did it, now can we get back in the car and find the parking lot" LOL.

All in all it was a great weekend away filled with relaxation, family time, and exploring.  I can honestly say that I love that part of the state and I can see ourselves visiting it more often now.