Utah Trip: Wednesday

Bakery to get some donuts before heading to Salt Lake 

 Checking out the temple real quick before meeting everyone for lunch

 Caleb loved the nativity displays around the temple grounds.

Before heading to lunch we stopped by East High School so Kellan and I could relish in High School Musical awesomeness. 

 We were both so excited!  He said to me, "You're Gabriella and I'm Troy for real now!"

 We met up with everyone for lunch and Auntie Bray was there!  Crue met her for the first time.  He gave her lots of cuddles.

 When we got back to the house, Abby met us there and helped me make my turkey brine. She might have rebelliously added an ingredient or two.

 I made my ol' Turkey Lurkey dance before getting in the brine.

 In return he splashed brine all over me!

 That night we all went out to dinner at CPK!

 I tried to get a sissy picture but Chanelle was too busy feeing nauseas (dang pregnancy) and Abby was talking on the phone.

This last one would've been good but Crue had to grab a bite off someone else's plate.... Cute face though!

Briggs cousins

We were all so excited to see these awesome Briggs kids.  The boys barely remembered them and Crue had never met them but they all had fun together. 

 Caleb and Jake got along great!

 All the boys really liked Kasey! He was so good with them.

Utah Trip Post #1

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Utah.  We were there for a whole week which was great because it was a long drive and we got a break from driving.  We wanted to fly so badly but three boys come with a lot of stuff and it's expensive... blah blah blah but an 11 hour drive was very daunting.  It actually was not as bad as I thought.  Crue hates being in the car but he was okay!  He didn't fall asleep until we were almost at our destination so that was a little frustrating but he wasn't too grouchy.  On the way over we split our drive into two and spent the night in Kanab.  

 The next morning the boys explored Kanab a little outside our hotel and looked for animals and "bad guys".

 The second day of driving was worse than the first but still not very bad.  We got to Aunt Lorie's house around 3:30pm and the boys were so excited to run around.  They were amazed by all the leaves in their yard.  Everyone started raking so the boys could jump in the leaves...

 They LOVED it!  They spent a couple hours out there.

 Crue was not as fond of the leaves as his brothers.

 The boys got to play with their cousins!

 We didn't get to visit nearly as much as we wanted but we're glad we got to see our Wilkins fam.  We always have fun when we're together!

A little too comfortable in his own skin...

One day last month, Kellan didn't want to wear a long sleeve shirt but it was cooler outside so I made him.  He asked me probably a dozen times if he could change and I always replied that he could not.  After the final time of asking me, he walked straight into the bathroom and came out a minute later with his shirt soaking wet.  He said, "Oh man.  Now I have to change my shirt."   I didn't have an argument and he was pretty proud of himself.  He took his shirt off laughing and boasting.  I said, "Well you can't wear a short sleeve shirt."  His response was, "I'm okay not wearing any shirts."  

 A couple days later we went to the park and next thing I know he has his shirt off.  I only let him keep it off long enough to take a picture before I clothed my child again.  He attempted to take it off two more times during our park trip but listened when I said no.  He did however take it off as soon as we got home.

A year and a half!

Crue turned 18 months in October.  Caleb loves to tell people how his baby is a year and a half.  I found some cute pictures of Crue!

 These boys are buddies! Kellan and Crue spend a lot of time together, especially now that Caleb is at school.

 Crue LOVES stuffed animals.  It's just one more thing to cuddle!  I love this picture because this is my teddy bear from when I was his age.

 Crue is starting to wear 24 month and 2T clothes.  It's sad to me but so cute!  He looks like a little man!

 On Halloween Crue pooped on the toilet!  He was so proud.  He just wanted to sit there afterwards.  Now he tells me when it's a little too late but every once in awhile he goes potty!  I am not pushing it because he's so young but he knows what's going on and I think wants to be like his big bros!

This was taken before Crue's second Sunday in Nursery!  He has been doing so well in it.  It does help that Kellan is in his class.  Their teachers said Kellan and Crue are their favorites and most well behaved.  They said Kellan is the most polite and Crue is so sweet and patient. 

Last month Crue saw his first movie in the theaters.... Wreck It Ralph!  He only cared about the snacks!

FHE Fun

 So I'm still catching up... Anyway back in November we had some good Family Home Evenings.  One included putting our Christmas tree up in preparation for our Utah trip.  I wanted to come home to an already Christmased out home!

 Caleb has been super pumped about Family Home Evening lately.  One night he didn't want it to end.  He kept talking about how the lesson should have been longer.  To compensate, I told him he could do the lesson the next week.  He was ecstatic.  He talked about it every day... for seven days... He said he was so excited to do a lesson and teach us about church.  I kept asking how I could help him prepare and he said, "We're just going to learn about church!"  Finally I got him to focus his lesson on Thanksgiving and being grateful for our blessings.  He had a blast picking people to do the prayers and songs and then he read an article from the Friend and asked us questions about it.

 For our activity we made turkeys and wrote what we're thankful for on their feathers.  It took longer than expected and Caleb was the only one really into it.. .

The final product!  He was very proud.  I think it turned out really cute but what I loved most was what he wrote on the feathers.  Caleb is thankful for.... "candy, clothes, brothers, school, toys, friends, drinks, light, Jesus, teeth, family, Christmas trees."