Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turned out really special. I missed my family but it was also nice to have a relaxing, quiet day without all the chaos too. Me and Toby started cooking the day before and I finished it all up that day and we were sitting down to eat by 2. Everything turned out really good and because we did it at home, we even had leftovers for over a week! That morning we watched the Macey's Day Parade which Toby really got into this year so that was fun. After dinner I took Tyce and went on a walk and the weather was beautiful! It was in the low 60's and cool and crisp and all the leaves were at their peak in color. I just LOVED the fact that I could go outside without freezing! I didn't even have a jacket on. For our first Thanksgiving away from my family, it couldn't have gone any better. I wasn't sad or down at all. If fact, just the opposite. I felt nothing but peace and joy that no doubt came straight from God!

Oreo Turkeys

These were fun to make and even funner to eat!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Today we made two fat little turkeys to help decorate our Thanksgiving table.

We painted the feathers

Stuffed the turkey

Made a little turkey head and then put it all together

Gobble Gobble Gobble Fat Turkey are We!!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

This will be the first year of my entire life that I haven't had Thanksgivng with a very large group. This year will just be me, Robb, Toby, Tyce and Robb's mom. Even though I will miss my family, I'm really looking forward to a more intimate, sit down, candle lit dinner.

Toby's at such a fun age right now and really likes to help me with things and do crafts so me and him are starting now and putting stuff together to set our Thanksgiving table with. We started with making the name card settings.

We went on a nature walk and gathered leafs and pinecones from around our subdivision.

After soaking the pinecones in vinegar and pressing the leafs, we painted the leafs and pressed them on our name cards

We then put our names on them and will secure them in the pinecones

Walla! Our all-natural name cards!

More fun to come!

A California Halloween

Our first Halloween in California was a great success! It was so nice doing something new and we didn't even need jackets. The weather was beautiful and in the 70's...

I put Tyce in the same costume Toby wore on his first Halloween. I just didn't want to spend money on a new one that I knew he would be in the less then an hour.

It totally ticked him off when I put it on him so it was less then 10 minutes! Just long enough to snap a couple pics

We carved Toby's pumpkin. He choose the design. A cat bat.

We went trunk or treating. It was a party complete with giant jump houses at the end!

Toby was BATMAN!

Me and Chrissy took him and Maddy to the fall carnival at the church where they played games, won prizes, got their faces painted and even got to ride a pony!

The night before Halloween Robb took Toby to the Kern County Museum where they had over 30 spots to trick or treat and lots of spooky and fun characters to see as well. They had a lot of fun and by then his bucket was almost filled to the top with candy.

All in all, it was pretty over the top and one he'll never forget.

The Fragrance of Fall

It's almost the first day of fall and I've been bracing myself since I moved out here for how I would feel not being in Utah this time of year. Fall has always been my favorite season and I usually start getting excited for it the first part of August. This year was no different except there is a part of me that's been sad too knowing that I'm not in Utah and I don't get to start seeing the leafs on the mountains changing or start feeling that cool crispness in the air. It has been sunny here almost the entire three months we've been here, which for the most part I have loved. Until now. We got an awesome rain storm last weekend finally and I LOVED it and it made me miss Utah even more! Now I am SO ready for the coolness and for the beauty of fall and although we will also get it here, it doesn't come for a while so I feel really off. Then, Jennie told me how she decorated her house already, which made me sad, because I'm usually the first person she calls to come over to see what she's done and I was so sad that I couldn't hop in my car and head over there. She was sad too.

For the most part I think I've hung on pretty well and I've really been trying to stay positive because there are so many things I love out here and I am still SO happy that I'm here, I just need to get through the fall and I think I will be okay. I'm actually headed back out to Utah to spend a week or so with Jennie so that should be just what I need to to keep going.

It has cooled off here a little bit and was only in the 80's this past week but it's expected to be back up to the 90's this week again. YUCK! I lit my pumpkin spice candle and am trying to get into the mood to decorate here soon but with how hot it is, it just doesn't seem right. So...overall, all is well, I'm just a little bit homesick right now.

I posted this picture above that I found of this beautiful little house in the PERFECT fall setting and decided that I am going to imagine myself sitting out there on the front porch early in the morning when it's nice and cool and sipping some hot coffee (with pumpkin spice cream of course) while watching the lake and savoring all of the beauty and smells of fall! Awe..... :)

MOPS

This is first time in my life that I am not living close to at least two or more of my sisters, not to mention all of my other family. I miss them but I realized a long time ago that I hadn't felt connected or like I belonged to anything and it's something that's been missing in my life for a long time. Being out here away from everyone is making me realize how much I need people (other than the ones that have to love me) in my life, so I am determined to meet some. I know God has big plans for us here and I really think He is going to bring people into our lives that we can connect with and make life long friendships with and I'm excited to see who we'll meet.

So... I joined this group called MOPS which stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and I am way excited about it! It's a Christian-based group and it's a bunch of mothers who have kids anywhere from birth through kindergarten who get together two times a month. At the meetings we will eat, do crafts, listen to great guest speakers but mostly just support one another as woman who are all moms going through a lot of the exact same things.

Our first meeting was today and I was surprised at how many women were there. There were probably at least 40 and the ones I met seemed so down to earth and real and I am really looking forward to getting to know them. We will have a ladies night out once a month and an "outing" once a month planned at different places around Bakersfield. It will be fun to be able to talk with other woman and get advice on parenting and support but more important- just be able to connect. I have no doubt that that is one of the reasons that God has brought me here and I look forward to what He has in store for me!