Thanksgiving 2014

On this, Luke's very first Thanksgiving, we actually had two Thanksgivings. My parents were in Utah on company business and I begged them to come to Boise and so they did and we decided we'd have our own, small Thanksgiving. I don't get to see my parents often, though this year has most definitely been an above average count for visits with them. I'll take every minute I can get! It's always fun to have them in our home. I was very excited to cook my first turkey ever. Our pre-Thanksgiving actually landed on a Friday. On Thursday we went shopping for everything we'd need the next day. My mom put her part of the meal together that night. We were also able to take them to see The Village at Meridian, which has such a nice ambiance. The next day I slaved away in the kitchen making turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes and gravy. It sounded pretty simple beforehand but it was a lot of work. I will always appreciate the work that goes in to Thanksgiving from now on. My dad made all his pie crusts from scratch. He made a pie with pumpkin pie filling and another he made from real pumpkins so we could compare tastes. The homemade pie definitely won out but it was so, so much work I'm not sure he'll make the endeavor again.

Luke really enjoyed these sweet potatoes-- my mom's classic recipe.

He got a bath immediately following this picture.

On Friday we mostly relaxed before my parents had to get their flight back to Maryland. We gave them their Christmas presents and they gave Luke his birthday present early. It was a V Tech Sit to Stand Learning Walker. He loves it-- the way is lights up and makes noises and all the different things there are to do. It was so fun to see him playing with it for the first time.

He can also push it around from the back but mostly enjoys the front.

"Playing" with Callie.

Then it was time to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Luke was so smiley all weekend but when it came time for them to go he wouldn't smile for a picture. I'm guessing this is because he was very sad to see them go, as were we. We had such a good time with them!

The next week we packed up our car and drove down to Utah for actual Thanksgiving. This year we had it at Shelley's house rather than at Bryan's mom's house.

Whitney cousins enjoying some play time together before dinner.

Bryan heading up the turkey fryer with a little help from Grandpa Vern and Dustin.

Bryan fried the turkey and it was delectable-- as was the rest of the meal. Though, I do have to say that I'm ready for a break from turkey for a while after this. Bryan's mom asked me to be in charge of decorating the table this year and it was so fun to do. We had a simple centerpiece-- a wooden bowl with candles and fall berries. I even made a table runner from burlap and used my Silhouette Cameo to make leaf stencils and spray painted those on. I used my Cameo again to make place cards, though they can't really be seen. We also made place mats from art paper with the words "I am thankful for:" on them.

Here is the table setting all together.

Of course to finish the evening off we had some delicious pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

Dessert for Luke.

We had some other festivities as well but they will follow in a coming blog post. We had a fun Thanksgiving and now we are so excited to bust out all the Christmas decorations and music we want. This won't be Luke's first Christmas but he'll be able to be more a part of the traditions this time (and I won't be so out of it!). I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving as well!

Halloween 2014

This is the Halloween I've been waiting for for many years-- the first one I have with my own child. Of course, Luke is a little young for most of the festivities but we were still able to start some of our traditions-- going to a pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, getting excited about costumes and even a ward trunk or treat. I love Halloween-- I'd say it ranks second in my favorite holidays list (next to Christmas, of course). I love the excitement in the air and I, of course, love the season in which it falls (seriously, no pun intended). I love the decorations and the preparations. I've been planning this Halloween since before I was pregnant. I knew that if I had a boy that I would dress him up as Link, from Bryan's favorite and beloved childhood video game The Legend of Zelda. I like doing things that are special to Bryan-- Luke's dinosaur nursery was also in homage to Bryan's childhood. Now we're just hoping for our next to be a girl so we can dress them up as Luke and Leia. :)

First things first, we went to a pumpkin patch in the earlier part of the month. Apparently some of my pictures are automatically being made into GIFs, so I thought I'd post some of those. You can see from below that Luke and Dada were having a lot of fun!

Classic shot of baby at the pumpkin patch.

On the Saturday before Halloween, we were able to participate in our very first ward Trunk or Treat. We ate chili and all the little kids from our ward made the rounds getting their candy. We got to show off our costumes for the first time, though we had to explain it to most people.

Another family tradition we have is carving pumpkins on the Monday before Halloween-- it's one Family Home Evening each year that is a given. Luke only stayed for the beginning. All he wanted to do was push his little pumpkin off this tray. So we snapped a couple of pictures and put him to bed.

I took some pictures with finished pictures the next day. Luke is checking out this weird thing-- we carved his for him as a very classic Halloween Jack O'Lantern. Bryan, in keeping with the Zelda theme, carved a Hyrule crest and I tried to do an owl in honor of Hedwig.

Finally Halloween arrived! Honestly there isn't much to do with a baby but I took him downtown to Dada's work and we went out for lunch. Everyone is the restaurant, including the owner, were oohing and ahhing over my adorable baby. A couple older ladies kept calling him the Jolly Green Giant. I didn't have to heart to correct them. The owner insisted on giving Luke some free ice cream at the end, which was cute. Bryan's coworkers (also software developers and more likely to be aware of video game characters...) were mostly all able to appreciate Luke's costume right off the bat. It was so fun to take him there and show him off. If you want to make a mom feel happy, tell her how adorable her baby is. I live for that when we're out in public. Anyway, that evening we took a little photo shoot to get the full effect of the costumes and then Luke was in bed before most of the trick or treaters were out. We'll see about next year!

He didn't want to keep his hat on.

Bryan isn't really in to the whole dressing up thing and initially all he was going to do was wear his Zelda t-shirt but after playing Hyrule Warriors he really wanted me to make him Link's scarf.

Scarf detailing.

I knew I wanted to do something to go along with Luke but I wanted to be something simple so he'd get most of the attention. There is a very well known little fairy named Navi in one of the games that is a ball of blue light with white wings. She says, "Hey! Listen!" to Link all the time. As his mom, I thought that seemed very fitting.

Spooooky Halloween dinner.

Well, it's sad that Halloween has come and gone but there are plenty of exciting things to come this month and next. They can be very full and slightly stressful months but they are oh so fun! Coming up we have Bryan's birthday, a little pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving with my parents, actual Thanksgiving in Utah, Luke's first birthday (!!!) and of course Christmas. It's time to go blog crazy!