Thanksgiving Trip

We went to Destin, FL for our Thanksgiving trip this year with all the Mitchells.  As always, it was a fabulous time.

We went to "Gulfarium" where we saw the animal life in the Gulf.

There was a 5K that a few of the brave ran.  We even had some trophy winners for their age groups!  Hooray Ryan and Lorrie!

 I love this picture of Kirk jumping across the finish line.

Instead of having shirts made for this race, people donated old race shirts from other races.  They told the spectators we could all pick out a shirt, too.  Jana found this winner.  

All the Mitchell runners:

And, of course, some fun on the beach:

And don't forget a hearty Thanksgiving meal.

Plus some naps.

Before the trip we had a little fun, too.  We took some of the kids' friends with us to a local dairy farm for a "Homeschooler's Day" - 

And we had a sad day saying goodbye to Elder Mauer.  Our exchange student, Raya, has been taking the missionary discussions and we have all grown quite close with them.  We were sad to see him go, but are glad for the memories we'll always cherish of bringing someone to the gospel.  What an amazing experience.

WAY Overdue

A few months ago we did our family pictures and then my computer broke down.  It was awful.  I'm not exactly sure how it got fixed, but it works now and I'm finally catching up on some work.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from a few months ago:

 Cade had his own re-shoot later.  He wasn't being cooperative this day.  :)  Thanks, Cindy for helping us out!

Growing

It has been FOREVER since I've had a night (or any time at all for that matter) to sit down and blog.  A lot has happened with us lately.  First thing is that I was able to go back to Utah for a quick weekend trip for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.  It was AWESOME!  Sophia and I were the only ones to go back and can I just say how little stress I had?  I remember the day I worried about flying with a baby.  This time I was saying, "Wow - I am only flying with a baby!"  Thanks, Mom for making it happen.  I love you.  :)

First we got to go wedding dress shopping with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Jordyn.  She and my brother will be getting married in January.  We're so excited to welcome her into the family!

This is not the dress she chose.  I won't post that one, yet.  

My grandparents had no idea I was coming, so it was a pretty big surprise for them.  I'm so grateful for everything they've done for me and my family and the example they are to me of service and true conversion to the gospel.  

 Sophia with my dad

Sophia and I with my grandparents

Our next bit of excitement was a field trip we took to a peanut farm with a few families in our ward that also homeschool.  We learned so much!  And then at the end they let everyone climb on a mountain of peanuts.  The kids were still picking peanuts out of their shoes and clothes when we got home.  

  

Then it was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

And the carving of the pumpkin!  They all started out really excited, but then after a few scoops of goo they were done.  That's why we only do one.  Because when I say "we" I actually mean "I."

We had quite the Halloween this year.  First was our ward's trunk-or-treat, then we went to our old ward's trunk-or-treat, and finally out trick-or-treating on Halloween night.   

In our study of Greek mythology this year Ali decided she wanted to be Athena, goddess of war.

 It was all I could do to get Eliza to put on a pair of wings.  As you can see, she managed to escape the house without even wearing shoes.  Good thing we're in Georgia where it was still relatively warm.

 Cade also wanted to be a Greek god, choosing Dionysis - god of wine.  I'm not sure why he admired him so much, but he wasn't going to go as anything else.  

Sophia got to wear whatever costume we had for her, so she was a ghost.  The cutest ghost I ever saw.  Did I mention she can walk?  I always thought that when people said their baby could walk at 9 months old they really meant their baby could stumble around for a second at 9 months old.  Nope.  Turns out it can happen. So here is my 9 month old walking baby.  

 Tyler and I went as "American Gothic."

Did you know the man who modeled for this picture is actually the artists' dentist?  And the woman is his sister?  It's supposed to be a portrait of an old farmer and his spinster daughter.  I always thought it was supposed to be his wife.  

This was before actual trick-or-treating on Halloween.  I love all the facial expressions in this picture.  :)

Lastly, Tyler went hunting and got a deer!  What?!  So we should be set with meat this winter!

Oh, yeah.  One more thing.  I got a new calling in my ward as the new Young Women president.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, a whole lot of humility, and realizing yet again what it really means to rely on the Lord.  So far I'm really enjoying it and am excited about being there.  If anybody has any advice, I'd love to hear it!