Catching up on Nov./Oct.

Thanksgiving

We found out while Dave was at training that he could come home for Thanksgiving! We weighed the costs, but anytime together would just be SO AWESOME! He got in late Wed. night, and the next morning he made us breakfast! We had so much fun just being together as a family and enjoying each other’s company. Our couch missed him too, he got a sweet nap. We made Thanksgiving dinner together and ate a ton of course. Later we got to talk to Dave’s family with our web cam which was fun. We busted out the Christmas decorations too. It was so nice to be able to decorate our tree with Dave there!

On Friday we did Christmas shopping on line and ventured out to the stores in the afternoon. I got most of the Christmas shopping done before he got home so he could see what I got and so we could do inventory together on what else we wanted to do for Christmas presents. We watched a bunch of Christmas movies and talked a lot and played games. On Saturday we had planned a date. When I found I Dave was coming home I got a babysitter lined up so we could go see New Moon. Yes, we read the books! I had offers from some friends and my sister to go see it, but I wanted to try and see it with Dave. Especially since in the second book Edward leaves Bella and she is all depressed, I really didn’t want to see it with Dave being gone and be painfully reminded he is deploying. So I was so happy we got to go on a date and see it together! (We brought Makenna with us. She was okay, but was wide awake halfway through. Let me just say Dave really does have magic arms!) It turned into a group date actually. My sister (who was in town seeing her in-laws for Thanksgiving) and her husband, and my brother and his wife ended up coming to see it with us. It was a lot of fun. It was much better than the first movie. Afterward we all hung out for a bit and had lunch at our house as a little celebration for my brother-in-law’s birthday, which was the day before.

Dave did so much to help me while he was home. He took every opportunity to talk with me, play with Kayla and put her to bed, hold and rock Makenna and change diapers, help with cooking meals for us, and doing odd chores. He is so wonderful.I felt like we were somehow cheating to have Dave home to us. We were so lucky to have him. The time with Dave went by way too quickly. We had so much fun and it was so nice to have Dave home. There is a noticeable difference when he is home of course. Our family is complete, and he is that balance to our lives. When he is home all is right with the world, to me. It was hard to say goodbye again. I cried all the way home from dropping him off at the airport. I think it made Dave a little homesick too. But, we still think it was worth it! So, thank you Air Force for letting Dave come home for Thanksgiving! He also gets to come home for Christmas too!!! We have so much to be thankful for. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for and our family was at the top of everyone’s list. We have also been so blessed by so many wonderful and loving family and friends. Thank you!

My sister and my brother-in-law were in town!

Halloween Festivities
Kayla LOVES Halloween! She doesn’t like the scary parts of it. I think she loves that she gets to dress up and then get candy from door to door! She has been talking about going trick-or-treating with her daddy forever! We were both so glad Dave was here to do that with her. She had talked about dressing up as a ghost, which surprised us. But then she changed her mind and decided to be Cinderella. =)

Our ward had a chili cook-off, parade, and trick-or-treating from room to room. It was fun! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to venture out yet with Makenna. But we thought if we had her covered up really well, she would be okay. AND, I had just gotten flu shots. I’m glad I went. It was fun to be together as a family, and get to see Kayla! The missionaries did a “haunted room” and Kayla told me it was scary! Poor Kayla! The funny thing (kinda) is the smoke detector (with the flashing lights and loud beeping noise) went off because of the fog machine in there! What a fun night though!

On Halloween Dave went to Kayla’s school party. She proudly and excitedly announced her dad to all her friends. For dinner Dave and Kayla sported some tin foil accessories and got free burritos at Chipotle! Free yummy dinner? Absolutely! Aren’t they cute? (Don’t worry, Dave didn’t drive with these on!)

Dave took Kayla trick-or-treating and I stayed home with Makenna and handed out candy. We dressed Makenna in a little outfit. I didn’t get her a costume this year, but definitely will get one for her next year when I can properly show her off!

The parade in the cultural hall, and Kayla's friend Brennan. (He's a BYU fan!)

Pumpkin Carving
Dave and Kayla carved the pumpkin we had picked at the Happy Apple Farm. They looked on line for awhile for ideas, but decided on a funny Frankenstein pumpkin. Dave tried to get Kayla scoop out the guts, but bashful, and politely turned him down! Dave did a good job, and he helped Kayla make cuts to carve the pumpkin.

Fun with Daddy

Dave had leave when the baby was born and before he left for training. So, he and Kayla had a lot of fun together. We were all together at home, since Kayla’s school was on a 2 week break. Dave was wonderful at finding things for Kayla to do and playing with her. He is such a good daddy! He also took her on a daddy daughter date to Chuckie Cheese before he left.

I don’t know why, but one of their favorite things to do is get on the Home Star Runner website. I’m OK with it, as long as Dave is there to make sure things are okay for Kayla to watch. As you can see, Kayla is wearing her daddy’s Home Star T-shirt as a pj shirt! They are two crazies!

I call this fun in a box! Kayla LOVED playing with the box Makenna’s stroller travel system came in. Hours and hours of fun! She especially liked to grab her blankets and pillows and throw them in. Dave had a lot of fun playing with Kayla and the box too. Kayla loved hiding in her box and surprising us. Dave was out one day and due home in 30 minutes. Kayla told me she was going to stay in the box and hide in there until daddy got home and then jump out and surprise him. I tried to tell her Dave wouldn’t be home for awhile and she could come out and then jump back in when he pulled in the driveway. But she insisted on staying in the box. So……. I let her. =)

Dave made Kayla various tents in our living room. Kayla loved this! They would go in and read books together and play with her toys. It was so cute to watch.

Coming home with Makenna

Makenna was born on Oct. 6th. I wrote about her birth story in older posts. But here are a few pictures of coming home with her. Dave and Kayla cleaned up the house, made a banner, and brought flowers and a balloon to the hospital for me and Makenna.