Nov 14-20

Monday, November 14 - Since Thanksgiving is only just over a week away, I thought it was finally time to decorate for fall! :) Super happy about the giant Give Thanks pumpkin I won at Bunco last month!! 

Tuesday, November 15 - Marisa volunteered at the school today so I had her girls for a little while. Ricki had my camera so I found a few dozen cute little girl photos on my phone.

Wednesday, November 16 - As Simon was getting home then rushing back out to Young Men's, Ricki came to me saying her tummy hurt. Right after he left, she started throwing up. Poor girl threw up another 4 times before she finally crashed on the couch around 10:30. I feel so bad when the littles get sick. It's hard not being able to explain why they can't eat and why they feel so crummy!

Thursday, November 17 - We had a sick day at home today. That worked out great because I had to get my tags done for card exchange tonight. However, I did spend a lot of time on the couch with my girl just holding her and watching shows on Netflix. This is one of the tags I made...an ugly sweater tag! Haha! :)

Friday, November 18 - Tami Hansen's birthday was yesterday so Marisa and I took her to lunch at Kneader's today. We had fun visiting, laughing, and watching our cute kids interact. What a fun time!

Saturday, November 19 - Kendra and I went to Aunt Jean's 80th birthday celebration today. It was fun to see the whole family - including Wendy! She came in to surprise her mom for her birthday and she's staying until after Thanksgiving! Don't mind my goofy photo-bombing mom in the background.

Sunday, November 20 - Tonight was a fun night at Sunday dinner. We decided during our yummy Mexican feast that we would watch a family favorite after dinner: Christmas Vacation. Everyone stayed to watch it and it was a riot. I miss seeing it from year to year so it was a fun way to kick off the holidays. Mom and I were both giving Jenni kitchen stuff for her birthday but she's hosting Thanksgiving dinner this week so we thought she might want it early. Her birthday came in November this year! :) 

Nov 7-13

Monday, November 7 - With the presidential election fast approaching, Simon and I decided to mail in our votes. This is Simon's first election as a citizen and we voted by mail. Voter turnout is supposed to be super high this year with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton both running. For the record, we voted independent for Evan McMullin. I just can't imagine either Trump or Clinton in office. It will be interesting...

Tuesday, November 8 - We're still on a quest to find the perfect kitchen table. I LOVE the white one but oh boy, it's pricey! We both like the brown one here so we may go with it. Either way, shopping for a table is hard! I hope not to buy another one for a very long time!!

Wednesday, November 9 - I took a cooking class a week or so ago and make a Sam's run this morning to get everything I need to get started on it. While I was there, I came across this shirt and thought of Dave's birthday tomorrow. I didn't buy the pink one but we got him the yellow one above. It just looked like Dave from the moment I saw it!

Thursday, November 10 - As Herriman becomes more and more populated, I decided to take some pictures out of my car window driving home. This is on 13400 South looking South just before you get to Mountain View Corridor. I'm sure pretty soon this beautiful field will be full of homes, businesses, and/or high density housing. For now, I'm enjoying the rural feel of our little corner of the valley. P.S. Happy Birthday Dave!!!

Friday, November 11 - Have I ever mentioned Ricki's hair?!?! There are so many wonderful things about being a mother but I honestly think that doing little girl hair is in my top 3! I just love this sweet girl, her sweet face, and all her gorgeous locks!!

Saturday, November 12 - It has arrived...Super Saturday!! I think Super Saturday went really well. We had about 20 sisters come and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was a lot of work and pretty exhausting but when we were all there having fun, it was a great time! Tonight, we all went to Red Robin to celebrate Dave's birthday.This is the entire Pearson crew (minus Nick who took the picture). Fun family memories!

Sunday, November 13 - Simon and I have talked at length about staying home some Sundays and we finally decided that we'd do first Sunday with my family, third Sunday with his family and the two in between here at home. It's sad to admit that I'm 32 years old and I don't think I've ever made a roast or gravy! I quizzed my mom on all things roast/gravy and made this. It wasn't exactly like mom's (that will take some practice!) but it was good and my family ate it. Yay for trying new things!

Oct 31 - Nov 6

Monday, October 31 - Happy Halloween! We had an exciting day! As a joke, my mom told my grandma she had a costume for her to wear at bowling and then she brought her lingerie. Being the fun, spunky person she is, she actually put it on!!! Everyone was all in stitches over it! I wore my queen bee costume and Ricki was in her baby bee costume so we won the cutest costume award! Yay!

Tuesday, November 1 - I looked out the window and what did I see? Several deer in my yard staring back at me! (It actually scared me to death when I looked out! The big one was right outside Zack's window and I wasn't expecting that when I opened the blinds for the day!) 

Wednesday, November 2 - I had a full day of nails! I did Ricki's little nails first thing this morning, then my toes, the Susan Staple's nails, then my fingernails, and finished the day with Kendra's! I think I'll start dreaming about nails in my sleep! :)

Thursday, November 3 - This crew went over and kidnapped Erin for her birthday. We took her to Nielsen's Frozen Custard and had lots of fun laughing and talking. Happy birthday Erin!

Friday, November 4 - The school's PTA did a fun activity this morning. It was called "Moms and Muffins". The kids and I went over before school and had muffins in the cafeteria. Bonus: the kids that came with their moms got a free book! Score!

Saturday, November 5 - Our family got up super early today and made the trip to Idaho Falls to attend Hayden's funeral. It was beautiful! Mark, Elaine, and Jamie spoke. Kami actually sang (I don't know how she made it through that). They all did an amazing job! It was a perfect day with beautiful weather to honor this sweet angel. In lieu of flowers, our family went in on a pillow with Hayden's pictures on it and a sweet poem that Jenni wrote on the back. We are blessed to know this family and so thankful that we could be there with them on this sad but special day. 

Sunday, November 6 - We got to go to an exciting event tonight. Aspen Clark opened her mission call surrounded by family, friends, and lots of ward members. She has been called to the Columbus, Ohio mission and reports to the MTC in just over a month on December 14! We are so excited and happy for Aspen! She's such a wonderful and beautiful person!

Oct 24-30

Monday, October 24 - My hubby has mad skills! We decided to do wood floor down the hallway to tie in with the entryway and front room. Suddenly, he was ripping up carpet and going on it! I am so excited to have this done! The carpet down the hall was pretty nasty! :) 

Tuesday, October 25 - Kami and Jason Chapa's baby, Hayden, has had some serious medical problems in the last week. They ended up life-flighting him from Idaho Falls to Primary Children's Hospital where they got devastating news. Hayden had suffered a massive stroke and he has almost no brain function at all. They put him on life support to sustain his life until Kami and Jason were ready to let him go. Mom, Jenni, and I got the incredible opportunity to go to the hospital and see them. It was hard and heartbreaking but I wouldn't trade this experience for the entire world! The Spirit was strong in that hospital room and Hayden was just so peaceful. It was hard not to imagine Ricki when I looked at Hayden. I can't imagine what they have gone through. I am so glad we went.

Wednesday, October 26 - Nick wanted to be "Jolly Old St. Nickolas" for Halloween this year. I was trying to find someone to borrow a costume from but never did find one so on Monday, I paid tons of money to order one online and have it shipped in two days. Well, the description online certainly did not match the actual costume so when we got it, it was several sizes too small! At this point, I had no choice but make him a costume to wear. I stayed up until 2:00 am trying to figure out how to sew pants and a shirt...this was my first time ever! Luckily, it worked out just fine. I got all my money back on the other costume (including shipping) and this one only cost me around $5! Of course, it took 5 hours to make it but it was worth it to make this boy happy. :)

Thursday, October 27 - Zack had his Halloween program at preschool today. Ricki and I went and watched and it was adorable! These kids are just so cute!! In more somber news, they decided to take Hayden off of life support and he passed away. So sad for the Schmidt/Chapa family. 

Friday, October 28 - One of the greatest joys of being a mother is going to the kids' classrooms and volunteering. I love being around their friends and seeing their interactions. I helped the kids make lollipop spiders and watched them play several Halloween games. Aside from losing Ricki and searching the school for 5 minutes, it was a really fun time!

Saturday, October 29 - I have enrolled Zacky in an online preschool called Upstart so he and I went to the orientation/training meeting this morning. When he completed all his "games" (assessment tests), they gave him a police badge. So fun! Tonight was our ward Halloween party. They had face painting and I thought Nick's was so cute! He is bright red and sweaty from running around with the boys!

Sunday, October 30 - Since we won't see my parents tomorrow on Halloween day, we had Santa, the cheerleader, Jake, and baby bee dress up at Sunday dinner. Aren't they such a cute crew??