Arizona Thanksgiving

After a month of counting down the days.... the time finally arrived...

...to celebrate THANKSGIVING in Arizona!
Each day Corbin tore off a paper link from his chain and we turned it into a feather for our "Tom" the thankful Turkey...after each of us wrote down what we were thankful for each day in November. It was fun and made the month pass quickly and with much gratitude.

We left on Saturday morning, November 20th IN THE SNOW! The boys were so excited for the long road trip... (that didn't last longer than 2 hours... :)

Once we finally arrived (thanks dad), we were so glad to get out of the car, stretch our legs, and see our family!

The cousins came over to grandma's house A LOT to visit.

Most of them couldn't believe how big Deagan was.

Scotland and Deagan are only 6 weeks apart and they were getting reacquainted... with much love.

Corbin and Samantha had to size each other up....

Grandma and Grandpa taught a great Family Home Evening Lesson, meanwhile Mandy was in the hospital delivering baby Megan Sabella. She made her debut in the nick of time early Tuesday morning.

The cousins enjoyed getting spoiled with loads of snacks at Grandma's house....

...the boys kept entertained in the castle....

...they were brave knights of course... and brave knights sword fight!

The day before Thanksgiving we enjoyed a trip to Grandma's "big kid school" for lunch.

Deagan took it upon himself to feed Scotland.

On Thanksgiving day Mandy and Megan made it to the feast (straight from the hospital) and therefore all my siblings and their families made it to the big dinner. It was a large table of food!

Deagan even caught on quick to the traditional cran-raspberry toast after the long prayer.

Quinton got a piece of the turkey leg... and loved it of course.

Corbin dug in as well.

Deagan LOVED sitting in his own seat, feeding himself a wide variety of food... with a little help from Aunt Katie and cousin Alyssa.

These two kept toasting and "cheering" until their drink was gone!

After the feast the men did dishes. I captured it from behind just to document that it really happened... ;)

Most of the cousins snuck off to watch Home Alone on Jeff's computer while the adults watched football.

It was a wonderful week of our favorite things.... family, food, sunshine, football, and fun!

Swimming @ Grandma's

A few days after Corbin's birthday we traveled to AZ for my brother's wedding (next post). While we were there we had lots of fun with family and Corbin was lucky enough to get more presents from his cousins, along with pizza and a swim. (look at that face...)
He's quite the pro at opening his own gifts now.

After pizza Corbin enjoyed his 3rd swim in less than 24 hours. He loved using his floaties, which helped him overcome his fear of jumping in and swimming to the stairs. Quinton, his little side- kick, ever trying the things Corbin does.

Corbin actually swam the entire length of the pool several times all by himself. He's come a long ways (no pun intended) this summer in terms of feeling confident in the water and swimming.

Quinton and daddy enjoyed floating around...

.... and teaching Q to jump into daddy.

Loved this photo.

Corbin tried all kinds of tricks with his new confidence of jumping in the water...

.... and I tried my best to capture it all in action. (Nice face in the background Jeff).

Summer nights in AZ just aren't complete without a dip in the pool... and a bath with cousins afterward. Landon and Corbin played Cowboys and Indians for quite a while in the tub and Corbin was upset I interrupted for a photo.... sorry bud!

Summer Vacation: OB 4th of July

Our last day in San Diego we spent ENTIRELY on the beach. It was also the 4th of July and OB has a great firework show from the pier so we set up "camp" for front row seats and stayed ALL DAY. As soon as Corbin hit the beach he headed for the water. Uncle Jesse helped him chase waves this time... with Kimball and Dusty right beside them. Don't think this ever got old for either boy.

Once the rest of us were tired taking turns in the water with them we set them up with buckets and shovels and they went to work building a sand... hole?

Who cares what you do on the beach as long as your best buddy (cousin) is with you, right?

A 2 year old can only take so much fun before they crash... with much coaxing from their moms of course. Two buddies napping under an umbrella on the beach.

Quinton enjoyed a morning of eating and playing in the sand, but had his nap before he even got to the beach.

Who can say they've sen their grandparents (or even their parents) boogie board together in the ocean? Hang loose!

But... it does catch up with you at that age and even grandpa had to nap after too much fun... with a little help from Alyssa's (his 6-year-old granddaughter's) pink sunglasses.

Once the sunset we enjoyed hot dogs and cantaloupe, got all showered and cleaned up, and broke out all our patriotism (i.e.- flags, matching shirts, fires on the beach, etc.)

Not to be outdone, my mom brought a pinata for all the children to beat on while we waited for the 9pm firework show off the pier. Quinton loved hitting that thing.

And so did Corbin, of course.

Macy finally broke it open and the loot was enjoyed by all!

With candy and glow sticks in hand we were all sufficiently prepared for a great fireworks show off the pier. OB's 30th year anniversary fireworks actually. It was a great show... like always but there is something extra neat about watching fireworks launched over the ocean and reflecting in the waves.... seems so Patriotic.

As soon as the last boom blasted we gathered up as many children and as much beach stuff as we could and ran for it. We had a small warning beforehand that there would be a marshmallow fight after the show.... but we were not prepared to walk through HOARDS of people throwing marshmallows. IT WAS INSANE! So glad Jesse carried my sleeping Quinton back to the hotel in those big arms of his. This picture doesn't even do it justice... the place looked like Ghostbusters and mobs of people were in the streets and on the beach just chucking white gobs everywhere and anywhere... it was a sight to behold. Kind of funny actually. Crazy Americans. Just glad I wasn't assigned clean up on that job...

And in the morning... we all drove (and flew) away. Until next time. Thanks mom and dad and the gang for such a fun family vacation. We have such fun memories that will last us a lifetime!

Summer Vacation: Sun, Sand, & Surf

As you can guess after 3 days in a row without a nap Corbin crashed.... hard. Friday morning he slept in until almost 9am. That hasn't happened since he was a newborn! (If only his little brother had crashed just as hard...) Poor kid, family vacations are too much fun!

Lucky for all of us this was a low-key beach day. Quinton was excited to hit the beach. Pretty funny how much he loves getting lathered with lotion... even if it is greasy baby sun block. Here he is, ready for anything.

By the time we made it to the beach Corbin was so ready to play in the sand. He'd only been hearing about the beach and seeing it for almost a week and finally he got to play to his hearts content. It was another thumbs up! We enjoyed a nice beach fog for most of the morning too, that was a nice treat to help beat the heat.

Of course Corbin and Kimball wanted to be buried in the sand first thing (ensuring lots of sand to be lodged in all their crevices all day.) Oh well. It's part of the beach experience, I guess. Their two little heads sticking out of the sand was pretty cute.

But the funnest part of course is turning into a sand monster and breaking out of the sand slowly...

Then it was time to hit the surf in order to rinse away all the sand that inevitably sticks to your sun-screened skin. Uncle Dusty helped Corbin "catch a wave" or two.

Actually Corbin didn't want to get off the boogie board, or get out of the water at all.... and it was cold water! So Mandy and I hopped on with our boys and enjoyed a few waves.

Q enjoyed sun-bathing in the sand... as long as he had a shovel and a bucket of water to stir up, he was content!

Corbin sure turned into a water monkey. He loved the splash pad, the ocean, and the SHOWER. He and Kimball could only handle so much sand in their suits and sun on their faces before they were ready for a mid-day snooze. The hotel shower quickly became another Sea World show complete with all the splashing and cheering and animals... but, hey the sand all washed off!

Later that evening we took our traditional stroll on the sunset cliffs. High tide was coming in and that's the best time to go when you want some excitement because the waves splash up high onto the cliff rocks. It's also fun to find little crabs in the rocks. Uncle Dusty caught one for a close up look, and of course Quinton got in on that action.

We closed out the evening watching the sun-almost-set on the cliffs as Pelicans dove into the water for their dinner and seals swam not too far off the coast. THAT.... was my kind of day!