A Fabulous Thanksgiving

One of the clear benefits of moving to Reno was the ability to hop in the car and drive to Utah to visit the fam.  It is a painless 8 hour drive. (You call that an easy distance?  With fine roads, yes I call that an easy distance....name that movie even though I am s100% sure I am misquoting). It was great to be able to be with everyone for Thanksgiving (but we missed the Youngs).  The food was delish, of course.

 We took in a couple of movies and I give both two thumbs way up, although I'm not sure Hugo is a kids movie.  We even bumped into some of the Boynton clan the night we saw Hugo.

 There was lots of hanging out with cousins of all ages:

 There were several early morning constitutionals.  They were lovely although we all look rather hagard in this photo.

 There were haircuts:

 Pop-pop, the boys, and Coaster the very ENERGETIC puppy hiked the Y while some of us toured the newly opened H&M in SLC:

 And then we packed up and headed back to Reno:

Thanks for having us and thanks Dad for letting me steal your photos.

For Katy Kathryn because she was whining

Birthday Celebrations

Lucy's birthday this year was tricky to plan around so we kind of stretched it out.  We kicked it off with an 80's friend party.  The girls dressed up and seemed to have a good time.  

 On Monday the YW came and decorated her room (not pictured).  On her actual birthday we drove to Elko where Rob worked last week (it is the exact halfway spot to Grammy and Pop-pop's) where we went out for Italian and Lucy got to open her big gift.  A monster sack.

 The next day we finished the journey to Utah and celebrated with the whole gang.  Emily, the cake master doing her magic with an audience:

 We finally got to celebrate when Rob arrived that night from Elko.

Lucy is 12!

I can't believe Lucy is 12!  It is like I have my own BFF living under the same roof.  To celebrate we are going to go see Breaking Dawn together. . .

Hah!  As if.  Lucy is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy cooler than that.  Seriously.  She is.  I can't believe what a great person Lucy is.  I can't believe she is a Beehive.  I can't believe she is reading and loving some of the same books I love (Anne of Green Gables series for starters).  I can't believe she has such an subtle sense of humor.  She really does.  She gets it when things are funny and she understands that knock knock jokes are not funny.  It is quite refreshing.  She has been torn away from a fantastic life and the cutest best friends a parent could hope her daughter would have.  It is going to take time for her to find her niche here, which is sad and hard to watch. But, the comforting thing is, Lucy is fun, cute, and frankly a really cool person and so in the long run, I know she will be okay.  We couldn't ask for a better daughter.  She is smart, fun, responsible, compassionate, and kind.  The best kind of person there is.  I'm so excited for her to start this next phase of her life.  Good things await!  Happy birthday Lu-bert.

Nerf Wars

Lately the boys have been really into Nerf battles.  They play for hours.  And usually they have background music courtesy of Clara, who has lately been into singing ALL THE TIME. Loud repetitious numbers she has created with lyrics such as, "I know it's true that the feathers are real.  I know it's true...." (she has been indoctrinated it would appear).

 Clara feeling the music in the depths of her soul and loving the stage the boulder provides:

 Anders on the run:

 Anders on the attack:

 Clara knowing it's true as the battle rages on behind her:

Tucker takes his revenge:

 But Anders strikes back:

 Resulting in a tragic death:

 And a conquering victor:

Fire

This morning at 5:30 Rob got me up (he was heading to work early to catch up...hmmm, hoping this job isn't going to be the nightmare it seems) to see this.  I think I'll be packing the 72 hour kits and the paintings into the car?!?!?!?  This is the Caughlin Ranch area of Reno.  About 5 miles away.  50-60 mile per hour winds expected until 4:00.  Earthquake, hurricane (not much of one), and now a wildfire?  Hmmm, maybe it's time to reevaluate.

Our First Reno Visitors

Last week my parents came for a visit.  It was great fun to have them.  We celebrated my Mom's birthday and they helped us hang pictures (or we helped them hang pictures), ran errands, and saw some of the sights:

 We enjoyed the fake food at the furniture stores:

 We ran errands.  Hooray for TJ's being only 10 minutes away:

 Walked along the Truckee in downtown:

Enjoyed Clara's mullet and cross eyes:

 Admired Grammy getting ready:

Collected giant pine cones and enjoyed the wintry weather at Tahoe (like I mentioned before, what a difference a week makes!):

 And did a quick drive by of the tiny Reno temple which is in the middle of a depressingly ugly neighborhood and is so tiny I find it rather blah:

Anyway, it was great to have them and we look forward to many more visits from them!