 |
| Then they sprouted legs. |
Definitely looking more like frogs!
When they start losing their tail we tipped the deli cups so they could climb out when they were ready.
 |
| Starting to come out of the water. |
 |
| Waiting for them to enter their new terrarium. |
 |
| Exploring their new surroundings. |
 |
| We decided to keep two for Sam (as his old Frogger died) and Eden (who named hers Dandy). |
Finding them in new places every time.
 |
| Some of our older frogs Archer and Sunny. |
Such a Noah thing: making a huge mess with a big smile, not to mention two binkies nearby just in case.
 |
| Noah's favorite place in the van. |
 |
| These two always fight for a position in my lap. |
 |
| I do love my sons. |
 |
| We had leftover frosting from Eden's 4th birthday cake frozen and finally found a use for it. Introducing our psychedelic cinnamon rolls! |
Pictures of Eden at preschool taken by her teachers!
 |
| With her friend Charlie. |
Eden's school had a special Thanksgiving program complete with songs and a yummy catered meal. It was hard to find things she could eat but we managed.
Her favorite song she sang was "I'll I really need is a song in my heart, food in my belly, and love in my family."
 |
| She got a helium balloon at the end. |
 |
| They managed to fit everyone in the classroom! |
 |
Eden cut her hair later on and I had to fix it (again).
Now it looks like she might run to be the first woman president! |
This dress used to be Devery's, therefore worn by me. It's still a cute dress years later.
Every month the cub scouts do a hike. We don't always attend due to distance and the day a lot of the time, but this time it was rather close to LMU. I went with Eli this time round! We walked on this path, then did a u-turn and walked back. Perhaps it wasn't the prettiest or most nature-y but we had fun nonetheless.
There was also the rain gutter regata Eli did. We made it last minute so it wasn't the most decorated or best put together, but it seemed Eli had fun. Sam took him to this event.
 |
| Lining up next to Christian. |
 |
| Here's his friend Gabe. |
As Sam was in charge of scheduling for the coming year he was able to make sure he wouldn't work on major holidays. With some string pulling we were able come to Albuquerque! Sam hasn't been in Albuquerque in over a year and a half at this point and it was last April when the kids and I last been there, so it was great that we could go together. I heard from others in LA that leaving and returning around Thanksgiving is crazy, so we left insanely early to beat the traffic the day before Thanksgiving. Good news is that we could see the beautiful sunrise driving the 12 hours to Albuquerque.
We went to visit my parents on the morning of Thanksgiving. The chicken coop is always a hit with my children. Last April my mom showed us her new chicks, mentioning some of them still didn't have names. Joseph suggested Josephine, and the name stuck. Here is Joseph with Josephine.
I wanted to take some nice photos of our family when we got back to Sam's parents house. Between it being somewhat cold, Sam coming down with a sickness, and Noah being asleep (that and our kids never are the best picture takers), they were a little silly, but that's okay. The pictures were still fun.
Celestine prepared an amazing Thanksgiving meal as always. This is one of the top things I miss about Albuquerque, not going to lie! Best restaurant in town.
Sadly because some of our family members were sick we didn't see Jacob and Shauna during this trip at all. I get it, they were going on a trip soon and didn't want to risk it. It was nice seeing Jess and Seb though!
 |
| Playing dolls with her cousins. |
 |
| Playing with the Switch. |
 |
| Playing Canasta. |
The next day we spent at the nearby elementary school to open presents for Eli and play some kickball. Honestly it's a blur who was sick when but it was all weekend sadly. Eden got hit particularly hard this day.
 |
| Thanks Jacob and Shauna! |
 |
| Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! |
 |
| Thanks Jess and Seb! |
 |
| One happy dude. |
 |
| Me with my poor sick girl. |
 |
Eating Grandma's chocolate cupcakes (I heard it was an ordeal to make them:
three separate batches to get them right!) |
 |
| Opening birthday gifts and Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner's house. |
 |
| Legos are always a good bet for Eli. |
 |
Poor girl was puking and not eating very much.
Grandma Hobbs was so nice in taking care of her while we visited my parents for the day. |
 |
| Poor girl! |
 |
| Building his gift from Grandma and Grandpa Hobbs. |
 |
| Harry Potter's astronomy tower. |
 |
| This kid is so patient (when it comes to Legos)! |
The last day of the trip my siblings and mom met us at the zoo. This was the only time I got to see my sisters Heidi and Kristy and my brother Darren so we made the most of it.
 |
| Hanging around the Lobo while wating for everyone. |
 |
| Eden felt a little better than the day before. |
 |
| Passed out before we even started! |
 |
| In the reptile portion of the zoo. |
 |
| One of the most fascinating animals to watch! The alligator snapping turtle. |
 |
| Couldn't decide on a picture of the caiman, so I picked all three! |
 |
| Not awake, but at least we spotted him! |
 |
| This tiger was not here the last time we came. He was loud! |
 |
| Here's a nice lady. |
 |
| The man wasn't too far away. |
 |
| In front of the amphibians. |
 |
| That face 😍 |
 |
| Zrebra, as I would have called it when I was young. |
 |
| Cousin time! Just missing Devery's kiddos (along with Tyler, Nicole, Alexis, and Zach). |
That evening we went to Jessica's house to check out her neighbor's house. There was a light show with music, food, a hot air balloon, and I think the governor was even there! Pretty fun!
 |
| We bought popcorn from Target and made the perfect snack. |
On the ride home we decided to leave late because of traffic patterns in LA. We'd get home late, but we would get home the same time if we left earlier, just spend a few hours more in the car. We also caravanned with Dillon Moss as he was staying with us for the month of December. I was pretty sick at this point too. I felt bad for coming when we all ended up sick, but it was a really hard call to make. Thank you so much to Mike and Celestine for taking us in regardless. It was so nice to be back in Albuquerque even if it was only for a few days.
Last photo of the post, we did a huge mail out to the ward from the ward mission and took this photo. It has our wonderful sets of missionaries and our assistant ward mission leader. Anywho, thanks for sticking through another long post. Now I'm only a few months behind instead of a few years. 😅
