Last visitors of the month - Aunt Tammy's Family

When we go to Utah, we always stay with my Aunt Tammy and her family so we were excited to finally be able to return the favor and have them come stay with us!!!

Emmalyn immediately warmed up to Ethan - he's so slick with the ladies.  :)

Ethan and Nathan were going to be in Austin for most of the time so we enjoyed having them around the first night.

Going to swimming lessons to watch Maxwell

Maxwell was really happy to have his buddy Maryn around.

Maryn went to Kindermuisk class with Emmalyn and I.  :)  I just love this girl.

Creeping around like a cat

Story Time

Preston played with both my boys...

Lots of soccer and Wii with Maxwell and then Destiny with Peter

We then took a trip to the Arboretum (minus Peter) - - - all those pics will be in the next post

We took Tammy, Preston, and Maryn out for some good BBQ.

Soccer upstairs

Xbox Dancing with Maryn

Puzzles with Aunt Tammy

Our pumpkins finally made it onto the porch.

Pumpkin #1 - Max's pumpkin he painted at the pumpkin patch

#2 - Emmalyn's

#3 - Maxwell's

The boys

Everyone has to give goodnight hugs to Emmalyn...Preston...

...Maryn...

...Hayden...

...Dad...

...Aunt Tammy - whoops binky is still in

That's better - no binky

Balloons = cheap, easy fun!

We even got one late night of games

Also this weekend, I went to the annual Halloween party thrown by our neighbors Chris and Mary Ann.  Peter didn't go this year, it was just me.  I was a pirate - good luck finding me in this "where's waldo" type picture.

The morning that they departed for the airport, Maxwell and Maryn made the most of their last time together and Maryn climbed into bed with Max once he woke up.  Max is going to be so lonely without them!

We enjoyed our time with their family tremendously.  There was lots of fun,great conversations, and HAPPINESS.  Thanks for coming to visit us Tammy, Nathan, Ethan, Preston, and Maryn!!!

Thanksgiving trip to Utah - Day 1 Flying 1st Class!

Packing for 2 kids is so much work!  I laid out all the clothes I was bring for Emmalyn the night before and took a picture so I could remember what went with what... And girls...sheesh... it's not just a shirt and pants that need to match but also tights and bows.  Traveling is certainly not simple right now.

We had tons of time before our flight so we walked around the airport and got some lunch.  Emmalyn was so excited to be in the baby bjorn.  She was smiling and cooing as we walked which of course attracted some attention to her.  It was fun watching people's expressions as she caught their eye and they'd break into smiles at this cute little girl.  She certainly has a magnetic energy and spirit.

When we were booking tickets, the cost to upgrade to first class wasn't that much after you factored in the cost to check all our bags if we flew coach.  So, we booked it!  I was looking forward to having the extra space for Maxwell to wiggle just a little bit more and to also make it easier to nurse the baby.  It ended up being so nice and worth it.  The food helped entertain Maxwell and the extra space helped all of us be happier.

The seat next to me was empty so Emmalyn got her own seat too (for short bits anyway when the skies were calm and she wanted some space).

Enjoying the airplane food (which was yummy)

Wish she would have fallen asleep in "her" seat but it didn't happen.

She did fall asleep on Momma though

Max, however, did NOT fall asleep on the plane so when we made it into the rental car, he crashed.  We headed to Grandma Nelsons and Peter stayed in the car with Maxwell so he could sleep a little bit longer while I went inside with Emmalyn.

Emmalyn meeting her Great Grandma Nelson

Maxwell and Great Grandma

After Grandma's we went to visit Katherine and her girls.

My niece Ari was really excited about Emmalyn and Adi was really interested too.

After a full day, we crashed at my Aunt Tammy's house.  From the very first day, it was a busy schedule!

More Nelson Family Reunion

We continued to have a ton of fun...

I came across Kaitlyn reading to Maxwell.  I thought this was sooooo incredibly sweet.  What a great big cousin! (And I'm proud of her for reading when it wasn't mandatory!)

Heather made another yummy pudding treat (This pic is from yesterday though)

We were feeling a need to get out of the house and get the kids out of the pool so most of us headed to the strip to wander inside the Bellagio and then watch the Fountains.

Panoramic shot (I'm not good at these yet but you get the idea)

Funny face.  :)  

I was walking around with her in the baby carrier and she was STARVING but yet we were all ready to go and no one wanted to hang out for a half hour while I sat down and fed her, so I figured out how to feed her while she was still in the carrier.  Not comfortable but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.  Add it to the list of crazy places I've nursed - - walking through the Bellagio.

No photo's please

He's been working on his "thumbs up" - happy with his ice cream.

...Later... happily finishing off the bowl of potato chips.  Life on vacation is good!!!

Enjoying the pool.  Max swam a little with the life vest on but also swam without it and did great jumping in and swimming to either Peter or I.  He was getting pretty brave which was good for him but sometimes he was too brave so you had to watch him closely.

Our chef

Family pic with the whole group.  Wish that the rest of the family could be here!

Goof balls

It's firework time!!

Emmalyn talking to Nana and Grandpa

Maxwell wasn't happy that we made him come outside and watch

The fireworks were not, shall we say, an earth shattering display this year.  It was pretty funny.  I still enjoyed them!

Geoff, Brent, Jocelyn, Katherine, Marriann

The kids gathered round for sparklers.  I think we had only 3 wounds.  I'm grateful Max is still scared of them...

An intense game of father/son vs. father/son

The fans cheered on whoever was playing

After the matches, we playing Minute to Win It which is always good for laughs.

We were having a great night enjoying each other's company so we kept the fun going after it got too late for us to be making a ton of noise playing ping pong and games.

Who builds a fire and roasts marshmallows in the middle of summer in Vegas?  We do!

Heather, Kevin (Kimberly's boyfriend), Kimberly, Geoff, Peter, Katherine, AJ

Kimberly, Brittany, Jocelyn, Sharee

We stayed up SUPER LATE (I think 2 am!?) It was one of those nights that was so incredibly enjoyable on an adult level just to connect.  Great conversations, great people, lovely night.  (Peter and I set up one phone in the bedroom and one outside to "facetime" as a makeshift baby monitor so that we'd know when Emmalyn woke up.  Technology is great!)

As far as I know, none of the neighbors complained... :)