Thanksgiving 2009
With all the craziness...I have finally found time to post Thanksgiving.
(I am actually doing this in place of vacuuming)

The weekend before Thanksgiving Ainsley's sickness declined. After calling the doctor and talking to the nurse they were able to fit me right in. After a check up and an x-ray Ainsley had Pneumonia. We are so thankful for our pediatrician who made it possible for us to bring Ainsley home instead of taking her to CMH. After a long weekend and long week her fever finally broke just in time for Thanksgiving! We were excited to travel down to Windsor for the Griner festivities!! It was the first time we had all been together in a while (minus Matt who was hard at work)!!

To our surprise Ainsley finally ate!!! After a week of no food she wasted no time chowing down!!
"More please...More please!"

Aubrey was excited for the Turkey and sweet potatoes!

Tate was having a bad hair day!

It was fun to have all the Griner Grandchildren together!
Caleb, Faith, Paul, Ainsley, Paris, Seth, Jack, Tate, Jane, Aubrey, and Olivia!
(Ainsley clearly still has anxiety issues)

After pie Marlene played Candy Land and put puzzles together with Aubrey, Paris, and Livvy!

Ainsley stayed close to the kitchen accepting food from anyone and everyone who would give her some!!

Caleb and Faith. They were together non-stop and busy playing.

The Friday after Thanksgiving Caleb waited patiently for his cousin (especially Faith) to arrive. Livvy, Paul, and Faith!! We have been talking about this sleepover for almost a year and waiting for them to finally arrive was the LONGEST WAIT of Caleb's life!!!

After craziness, air hockey, playing outside, food, tag, hide n' seek, and a cartoon the kids were "ready for bed!" This picture was taken at 10:30 pm. Paris, Faith, Caleb, and Paul in one room!!

Livvy, Ainsley, and Aubrey in one room (taken at 10:45pm). To my surprise Ainsley and Aubrey fell right asleep. Livvy and Paul ended up sleeping downstairs on the couch after Paul got sick, a long Horton Hears a Who, and some 7up.
Caleb, Paris, and Faith...after laughter, giggles, Why did you throw a cow at me?, and enough playing to last a month all three kids got scared and ended up sleeping on the floor in our room a little after 1:30am!!!
By 2am the house was silent...it was the calm before the storm of sickness because Ainsley started throwing up around 5.

Everyone was awake by 6! Ready for donuts, Saturday morning cartoons, and playing outside!! We pretty much didn't see them all morning!!! They played dragon-vampire house or something like that! It was a blast!!!! By 2pm everyone was loaded up in the van and ready to head back to Windsor for Midnight Madness!! Ainsley, Nate, and Andy were sick so Paris stayed behind with them and I headed down for the fun!!

After waiting in line to see an awesome looking Santa Aubrey asked for a Dora House.

With all of the excitement Caleb paused for a picture but forgot to ask Santa for "A dart Gun" or "A remote control that controls everything I need it to control"...he was devastated!! I reassured him that he could see Santa on a different day.

Tate was patient enough to sit on Santa...he had no requests but he really needs clothes that fit him. What a chub!!

After a fun and busy weekend Ainsley, Nate, and Andy were feeling better but Caleb started throwing up. Paris was nice enough to stay by his side and Caleb later proclaimed that Paris was his best friend. (note that I was sick the same day as Caleb..miserable)

Aubrey started throwing up on Wednesday...

Tate started throwing up on Thursday...and then after he didn't get better I called the doctor who fit us right in. Tate had a virus and mild Pneumonia. He was given an inhaler and medicine. I am so thankful for my wonderful pediatrician and the nursing staff. We were able to avoid CMH but with specific orders and instructions. So, for those thing about getting flu shots let me say....SICKNESS COMES WITH OR WITHOUT THEM!

Snow Snow. To say that I was unprepared for Tuesday nights snow storm...understatement. Late Tuesday night Aubrey and Caleb were outside playing in the dark! By Wednesday morning Caleb "really really really" wanted to play outside. It was freezing!!! I didn't have gloves or snow shoes for Caleb so I doubled up Andys socks and put them over Caleb's hands.Tate's hair is getting a bit out of control!

Tate loves to roll over. He rolls from front to back and back to front. I was in the middle of capturing it on camera when Caleb couldn't take the cold anymore!! By the time I let Caleb in Tate had already rolled over!!

Ainsley was tired of being left out so she put on her shoes, Caleb's socks, and her coat all by herself. She only lasted outside for 45 seconds or so. Burr...
*note that Ainsley is driving me crazy!! Her new favorite word is spilled. I think she keeps spilling things on purpose just so she can yell it around the house. Also, she loves to say Tater Tot...she will wake him up just so she can yell Tater Tot Awake. Uhg! Really!!

Tate...he loves to fall asleep at night on the floor spread out between Andy's speakers and subwoofer. He can sleep through anything!! Also, he is pretty awesome! He laughs all the time, loves Sesame Street, and is grabbing at things. He is a kicker and keeps kicking his socks off!! I thinks its only a matter of time until he says mom!

Well, what a week. Tate is finally feeling better, the washer/dryer are fixed and all signs of throw up have been cleaned. Andy paid $26 and took me to a packed theater to see New Moon on Thanksgiving night, we put up our first Real Christmas Tree, and the kids had fun at Chick-fil-a Family Fun night!! Now we move forward to Christmas.....boy oh boy!!!In the mist of it all I finished Tate's room. Sad, I know. It took me forever but there are other jungle animals hanging on the walls around the room.

Important News:
Sesame Street has new episodes. Wonderful!!
Congrats to Nate on the big engagement!
Num...you blame me for your phone bill and then call my blog lame. Crewl num...just crewl.

This is how we Roll!
Utah Trip 2009
The Tuesday before we left Caleb had a "Family Fun Night" at his school. Pizza and Bingo Provided! It was lots of fun.

It was fun to see Caleb with all of his friends and it was nice to get out and not have to clean up or pay for dinner!!!

The kids really liked playing Bingo!
*also note that Ainsley is smiling...she does do that on occasion!

After "Family Fun Night" the count down to Utah began! Wednesday was a busy day...full of cleaning, laundry, packing, organizing, list making, dropping/picking the kids up from school, and play group. With everything going on there is bound to be a problem right?!! My washer broke on the last load. LAST LOAD!!! I didn't realize it because I had gone to pick up the kids. Everyone showed up for play group and I went downstairs to turn on the air hockey table only to feel wet carpet!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! My washer had broken, leaking water down into the basement, out of a light from the ceiling, and onto the carpet. Why! I ran upstairs to look in the laundry room and the floor was thick with water! Uhgg! By the time play group was over, the laundry room cleaned up, the basement examined, and everything ready to go I was pretty much tired!By 6 am Wednesday morning we were on the road! The kids were still a bit sleep (Except Caleb). The van was loaded down and I could mentally breath the Mountain air!!!By 6:30am Ainsley and Caleb threw up! Nice. By the time we got to Ogallolla we thought we only had 5 hours left...come to find out we had 10 hours. And I realized that I forgot to pack "Pop 5" (only the best game know to man kind!!!)! The kids asked every 10 minutes...are we there yet?, we almost ran out of gas between Cheyenne and Laramie, and hit major snow from Rawlings to Park City. The kids were good until we got to Rocksprings and then crying began. At 7:50 pm I saw a Taco Time but Andy wouldn't stop...he said "We'll go to one later!"
(so sad because we never did stop at the best fast food place ever!!!) By 11:30pm we reached Taylorsville where we were greeted by Liz, a quiet basement, and hot showers. It was glorious! Thank you so much Hill Family!There was a double bed, a twin bed, and 3 sleeping bags...why did Ainsley, Elmo, and Aubrey all have to sleep with me in the single bed??
Friday morning we woke up excited! We were in Utah! What is Utah?
For Caleb I think Utah is more of a state of mind! He thought the Hill's fish was Utah, the Hill's house was Utah, Snow was Utah...a bit confused!
Friday morning our Van wouldn't start:( The battery had died. After a very late start we heading into SLC so Andy could go look at Garden Terrace (an Alzheimers and Dementia facility). Then we went to Chick-fil-a in Sandy. Awesome! The Chipmans, Nate, Ella with her kids, and Liz with her kids met us there. It was so fun to see the Chipmans and laugh about old times.After lunch we met my parents/sister and Grandpa and Grandma Grayson at the movies. My grandparents had never met Andy or the kids and it was so fun for them to finally meet!!! We went and saw A Christmas Carol in 3D. 3D is pretty Awesome! A Christmas Carol was stupid though! Sorry guys....I would much rather watch the Mickey Mouse one. The kids seems to like the 3D and Tate loved the movie!!! It gave Aubrey nightmares though.After the movie we headed to Chucky Cheese to meet up with my brothers/their wives, Aunt "Bon Bon", and Mike. I would like to add that Tate and Spencer DO look alike (Spencer...you are pretty much the only one who doesn't think so:)Aubrey and "Grandpa Clark" were buddies all weekend and as for Steffaney.....
With Calebs black eye still prominent on his left side Steffaney taught him the correct reply when people ask "What Happened to your eye Caleb?"
He us suppose to reply... "You should have seen the other guy!" Sydney was nice enough to play games with Aubrey/Ainsley and Seth played with Caleb. I think Seth really got into it because Caleb had a hand full of tickets!! After all the hugs, kisses, and different Aunts/Grandparents holding Tate he was tired!Saturday morning we got to go to the Jordan River Temple. It was neat to be there with all of my grandparents and see Steff go through for the first time!!! After the temple we had lunch with everyone and then headed to Syds. After hanging out at Syd's we headed to Uncle Gregs. The kids got to play with their cousin Berkeley (10 months old)! Karalee (Seth's cute pregnant wife) was really good with Tate!My parents took Aubrey/Caleb to run errands... I think chocolate was involved but I have no proof! Saturday night my parents watched Tate, we got a babysitter for Aubrey and Caleb, and headed out for a night on the town!! (We took Ainsley with us because she had had a rough day...she actually did really good) We met up with Shaun, Liz, Mike, Gerrilee, and Nate. It was lots of fun to be able to hang out...The Spaghetti Factory was as yummy as I remember!Sunday Morning we met at Oquirrh Mountain Temple to take family pictures!! I thought they turned out great considering it was freezing cold, Ainsley/Tate were sick the night before, and Caleb was hyper!This is our little family picture. Yah...it went that well!!! 3 Deltons! Great Grandpa Delton Clark, Grandpa Delton Clark, and Tate Delton Clark!!
It was really great to be able to have Tate's blessing in Utah at Steffaneys farewell. Thanks to Grandpa Clark, Grandpa Hyde, Grandpa Grayson, Grandpa Ras, Dad, Nate, Seth, my cousin Chase, and Shaun for being part of the blessing. We wish Andy's parents could have been there! After Steff's farewell (it was awesome to hear my dad and Steffaney speak!!! She is going to be an awesome missionary!!) we headed to Syds for a luncheon! The soups were delicious and it was awesome to be able to have cake in a bowl covered with milk!!! Gotta love Clark traditions! It was great to see my cousin Anna again and spend a little time with my cousin Chad and Clark.

Our trip home only took 15 hours!!! Sweet! We wanted to leave Sunday after church but because Ainsley/Tate were a little sick we waiting until early Monday morning. It was a nice ride home! We were a full load with the kids and the millions of things that were sent home with us.

Once we got home things started getting back to normal. Kind of...Caleb got a mini hair cut before he went back to school Wednesday! Speaking of back to school...
Caleb is like a mini tape recorder. His first day back to school I got everyone in the van. It was the first time they had ridden in the van since the big trip. All the way to school (out of no where) Caleb would repeat phrases that Andy and I had said while traveling like:
I know where we are Mom...Were in the middle of stinkin' no where!
What the heck!! Gas is $2.79!
We'll get there when we get there!
His memory is very good. I had no idea he was so observant! How much did he end up telling Miss Susan...hum...I guess we will find out at the next parent teacher conference!!!
Tate, Yummy Banana's!! Actually he hated them. I had to trick him into opening his mouth but once the food was inside he managed to eat it. Not happily:(

He ate half of a jar and then 30 minutes later spit it all up. In all honesty the banana baby food is one of the better smelling of all baby foods. I guess he would rather eat pumpkin pie!!

Too Pooped to Poop!

I went to put Tate's pants on him and they were not fitting. He was extremely easy going and content while I tried every which way to squeeze on his jeans.In the end Tate thought it was pretty funny that he is too chubbo to fit into his pants! From one turkey to the next...

Ainsley is finally over Pneumonia. Happy and smiling and wonderful!!! She lost a little bit of weight and is now back down to 20 pounds. 20 pounds is how much the turkey I was preparing weighed!! I got it on sale (the turkey not Ainsley:) for $8 at Walmart and plan to make turkey chili, soups, and hummy dinners with it for the next week or so!! Yum Yum!!
*note that behind Ainsley you can tell that the kitchen still needs caulked BUT I personally took care of the electric...maybe caulking will come soon. Maybe.

**I am not sure what I expected to gain from our Utah trip. I could say I learned that We will never drive in the van with our kids again OR I learned that the streets in Utah are confusing...come on!! Just follow the mountains??? There are mountains on all 4 sides of us!!! But I think what I brought back from this trip was how much I really miss my family. My brothers, sisters, cousins, sister-in-laws, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents. Being around them all again felt like HOME. With everything that has changed, the distance, and years we have been apart when we come together we're all just family and that never changes. Even if we are all just a bunch of nuts in a yummy piece of fudge!!!!