Thanksgiving Day

The celebrations began early at Doug and Mary Ann's. Mary Ann always makes the best scones! She is so sweet to make them for us all... it is definitely a highlight to the day. This year the temperatures Thanksgiving morning were bitter cold, but the boys couldn't be kept from playing their traditional "Turkey Bowl." However, the game didn't last long this year. Not because it was FREEZING, but because poor Brian tore his hamstring! Ouch! We are hoping that he is healing well and back on his feet soon.

But a little injury never gets this family down. Soon the masses were back inside, enjoying scones and a family playoff of ping-pong! There is never a dull moment with the Wirthlins.... there is fun everywhere!

Busy making scones... Mary Ann and Allison with baby Elle

Best of Friends, Roommates, and practically Sisters - Alexa and Lizzy

Go Mark!

As close to a group shot as I was going to get....

Yummy Scones

Abigail and Christine

Christine, Alexa, Isabella, and Ashley

Mark and Bella

After a great morning at Mary Ann's ... we headed home to get cleaned up and ready for the "Feast" at Brian and Carolyn's. And a feast it was. The food was amazing! Of course, at this point I don't have many pictures, because I was busy in the kitchen :). Or at least trying to be helpful.

Here are the littlest ones in their party hats.

Abigail, Dallin, Aubrey, Connor, Isabella, and Ashley (we were missing a few... Andrew and Christian)

After a meal that was to die for.... it was so good... I was cramming pie down my throat. I was SO full. There were just so many wonderful things to try. Anyway... after the meal... came the program. I love this Thanksgiving Program. It is actually one of my favorite parts to the day. :) The kids get dressed up and we retell the story of the First Thanksgiving. John was a sport and even got in on the dress-up this year. Here are my little indians... and a pilgrim :).

All the actors after having played their parts.

It was a wonderful day surrounded by people we love (the best part of all).

We are truly thankful.

Slumber Party Fun

Wednesday the Moms gathered for cooking and the Dads gathered the children for a fun filled afternoon. After everyone enjoyed themselves (cooking and playing), the kids once again were playing together at Carolyn's. Auntie Carolyn was so sweet to offer to let all the kids have a sleepover at her house. Boy were they excited. Dress-ups, hot tubbing, warm up baths, and just being together were some of the highlights for the kids. But I think one of their favorite parts was waking up on Thanksgiving to celebrate Bella's (cousin) birthday! Everyone was so excited to see her new tortoise. Yes, you read that correctly.. Bella got a turtle for her birthday! What a fun morning... pancakes and a turtle!

These two little rascals (Aubrey and Connor) had to come home with their Mommies. They are still a bit too young for sleepovers. But they still had a great time together and they slept great in their own beds :).

Herriman Adventures

Monday we headed down to visit to Auntie Becca, Uncle Justin and more cousins!! We couldn't wait to get back out in the snow with friends! Abigail and Dallin have been talking about Auntie's "cocomotion" and her special hot chocolate with a candy cane inside for weeks leading up to our trip... so I was thrilled when she offered them some of her "special drink." Thanks Auntie!

John with the "Littles" - those two weren't too excited about the amount of snow.. maybe next year. :)

Not to happy being pulled in a sled... I still think they are cute even though they aren't all happy :).

Abby LOVES sledding

And Dallin too...

Auntie Becca and her Luke ... adorable.

Cute Mylie

Two Little Buddies (Connor and Luke)

After tons of fun in the snow ...

we headed indoors for some yummy warm lunch and more playing time!

Luke was having a blast at lunch.. I think he definitely wins - "Happiest Boy at the Table"

All the munchkins enjoying lunch together

After the kids had naps - John proposed that we all head down to our old campus (BYU) and see the new buildings, explore how things have changed, and eat some my most favorite ice cream - Earnestly Chocolate! It was a bit chilly, but it was fun to see our old stomping grounds and reminisce. I think the kids loved the ice cream part the most... (at least I did) :).

Group shot at the Hinckley Visitors Center (minus Becca - who was taking the photo)

GO COUGARS!

After our BYU adventure we met Justin for dinner and headed back to Becca's for little more play time ... and one last kid group shot.

It is always fun to get together with the Baughmans. The kids are all getting so big! And I was so surprised this time... everyone played SO well... even the little ones :). Hooray!!!

We can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

Thanks for the fun filled Monday Baughmans... we love you!

Vacation Fun Begins...

Our Holiday vacations have begun! Thanksgiving break was wonderful. We had a great time visiting family and spending time together.

Things started off pretty low key... but, as usual, accelerated with each passing day.

The kids had a great time playing with toys, painting, playing in the snow, and just being with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grammie and Papa the first couple of days....

We were thrilled to have snow the first night we were there. The kids couldn't wait to get on their snow clothes and build a snowman. Abigail and Ashley were out there forever! I thought their noses and fingers were going to fall off :).

Abigail, Ashley and Dallin (the last ones standing with their snowman - the other two little ones had to warm up sooner than these three).

Connor wasn't sure about the snow (of course... it is another element of weather... what was I thinking), but he definitely didn't want to be left out of the fun either.

Abigail and Ashley... Snow Buddies

More families joined us for dinner.... and the fun continued.

Christine was such a good sport. She definitely kept the children entertained. :)

And we can't visit SL without some high flying with Uncle Mark ... Connor was loving it.

Cousin Fun

Aubrey, Christine, and Dallin

More Fun to Come.....

More Camping Fun

We LOVE camping!!!

Lucky for us our Dad had a Friday off! So we packed up and headed to Guadalupe River State Park for an overnight adventure. After setting up camp we headed down to the river. We climbed trees, skipped rocks, and of course had to get a family picture. Yes, every time I take a family picture... balancing my camera on rocks, bags, balls... anything really to get the right height and angle ... I miss my tripod. Why did I have to leave it at a park? Not a smart girl. Oh well, someday I will get another... hopefully :).

I was so excited to see some fall colors.

Can you see the rock John is skipping?

The kids loved climbing all over this tree.

When we finally got back to our campsite, the daylight was just about gone... so we quickly got a fire going (which took a little longer than normal... I guess the wood was wetter than we thought) and had some dinner. And, of course, dinner was followed by treats - smores, warmed starburts, and popcorn. I finally was able to make the jiffy pop without burning some part of my body... yeah!

Dallin roasting...

Enjoying smores by the campfire.

Connor was the only one that was really excited about the popcorn - until he dumped the bowl on the ground... bummer.

That night was a bit chilly. We were prepared for the colder temps and brought more blankets. But we were not prepared for the actual temperature when we woke up. We had actually used all the firewood the night before... mistake... lesson learned. When John climbed out of the tent in the morning the car temp gauge read "29 degrees!" With it being that cold, we decided we definitely needed a fire. So we packed the kids in the warm car and headed off for another field trip... warm bread from Great Harvest which is actually right next to the temple. It was perfect! On the way back we picked up some more firewood.

We finally got a fire started by 8am... and the first thing we fixed was HOT CHOCOLATE. We had some happy campers :). We don't get to have this special treat very often in Texas :).

Abby and Dallin drinking their hot chocolate at the top of the playground. [We were so lucky to have the campsite right across the street from the playground...perfect for our family]

John showing Connor the ways of eating whip cream from a can...

He loved it!

After warming up ... we headed back down to the river to visit the kid's discovery center (very fun) and throw some more rocks in the river.

The kids couldn't resist the urge to take off their shoes and wade in the water.

That afternoon we packed up camp. But before heading home... we stopped to visit some friends in San Antonio. It is always fun to see familiar faces and catch up :). We were so glad it happened to be Nic's birthday party!!! Yeah for us! Thanks Nic for having a birthday :).

The kiddos at the party.

It was a late night getting home, but we made it!

What a great family weekend!