Halloween, Mexico & Thanksgiving.

Halloween and November came and went quickly.  Usually the Holidays alone are enough to make life fly by, but throwing in a move, residency, and a vacation really added to the chaos FUN!!   

I've literally got about 5 minutes before Maddie wakes up and James realizes I'm doing something that doesn't involve paying direct attention to him so I will make this very brief...

Halloween was a lot of fun. I found a fish costume for practically nothing for Maddie and used things we already had for James so he could be a fisherman.  They looked adorable.  James loved trick-or-treating with his fishing net and Maddie really loved playing with the candy he brought home.  She somehow got into a peanut butter cup...oh boy!  It's amazing what that girl can do with just two bottom teeth.

We went to a Halloween party with a group of friends from our new ward.  I didn't get any pictures at the party but James and I made sugar cookies to bring and I got plenty of pictures then...

 A couple of weeks after Halloween Dave and I dropped the kids off with his parents so he and I could go on our long awaited trip to Mexico!!!

Last Christmas my parents gave my siblings and I this trip.  It was a little tricky finding a time when we could all go between work, school, pregnancies and kids, but I don't think we could have gone at a better time!  The weather was perfect!  The villa my parents rented was AMAZING!  It was on Solomon Bay near Tulum, Mexico.  We had our own private beach and pool.  There were kayaks and paddle boats.  We spent most of our time snorkeling and laying out on the beautiful beach.  It was an amazing trip!  Truly a trip of a lifetime...

Seeing Chichen Itza one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

This pretty much sums it all up!

 My brothers did manage to make the local news on our first day.  It is kind of a long story, but to sum it up they all ended up stranded in some very strong surf a mile or more out from shore.  My youngest brother and his girlfriend got stranded when their paddle boat flipped and they didn't have life vests.  My two older brothers went out to bring them life jackets and they got caught in the surf as well. In the end a local restaurant owner who happened to have a boat large enough to get through the waves saved them.  They were in the ocean for nearly 3 hours.  It was very scary...but didn't ruin the trip!  In the end everyone was safe and we had a great time together!!

A few days after we got home these little cuties came to stay for Thanksgiving...

My brother Dallin and his wife Cami came to stay at our new home.  We had so much fun with them and their sweet boys!

Dinner was yummy!

James and cousin Davey painting while Cami and I prepped our Thanksgiving feast

 We took the kids to the shark reef at Mandala bay.  

 Then came home and decorated the tree...

 Now we are back to real life...diapers, cleaning, cooking, 16-hour shifts....I wouldn't change it for the world!  We are truly blessed!  And we are so excited for this Christmas season!!!