Thanksgiving travels and Christmas preparation!

Happy December! We love this time of year at the Sampson house. Last month we went on a big airplane to visit the Buckley family (my family) in Utah. We had so much fun playing with our cousins. Kenzie was hoping to be able to have snow so she could build a winter man, but no luck. I was able to be there to see my brother Andrew and his wife Emily sealed in the Bountiful Temple - it was really great to be there. I'm so glad he is so happy.

This will be hard to believe, but in my younger days I would steal someone's camera if they left it out and take random pictures (okay - I still do this :) ). These are pictures of what happens when I leave my camera out at home. Farmboy (aka Nathan - my brother), his wife Kathy and my Mom are who are featured in the pictures. I was riding in another car.

When we got home Jaron had to be moved to a big boy carseat - I can't believe how big he is!! He is already over 20 lbs and 28 inches long, crazy to think he was four weeks early! He is also eating solids - nothing too exciting yet (beans, carrots, sweetpotatoes...)

We went and got our tree (we love IKEA) and got it decorated. Jack and Kenzie were tons of help - Jaron isn't sure what to think of all the colors. Jack is so excited for Christmas and is already asking if he can sleep on the couch so he can meet Santa. Kenzie is just excited about presents - she is a little confused. She keeps thinking that we are going to let her wear her Princess costume and go trick-or-treating. I'm not quite sure where that comes from, but I figure we could let her wear the costume if she wants :)

Halloween and other...

Here are some pictures of the kids. Jaron was a Dragon, Kenzie was a Princess, and Jack was Anakin Skywalker (sp?) Sorry they are all sideways - I didn't have time to edit them :)

And some other cute pictures :)

Potty Training Kenzie

Everyone needs to snuggle Mom!!

Sunday Afternoon Nap (taken yesterday)

Jaron is almost as big as Mickey

Twilight Trek to Forks...

Me - stopping the car :), Angie, Olivia & Jaron, Tabatha sopping wet in the rain!

Okay - so my teenage impulses took over and we took a trip to Forks to follow the Twilight trail. Our resident Forks Expert - Tabatha Atkins - was our tour guide. Angie Snedaker, Olivia Nichols, Tabatha, Jaron and I headed off on a Friday to Forks. When we got there, it was raining SO hard, it was like there were buckets of water falling on us. Our motel was right next to the High School, so we walked over to the football game after we got checked in. I stopped a car from crashing into me in the parking lot (refer to Twilight). We also got to see where Tabatha had her first kiss :) Then we went back to our room - which was a full apartment - and had Taco Pizza. It was really good, but it had chips on it, which was a little weird. We found weird shower caps and a sign that said not to use the rooms towels for fishing needs - definitely not in Seattle anymore :)

The next morning we got up and got some breakfast. The men in Forks are HUGE! There is a picture of 2 football players - they were Sophomores! We saw them at breakfast, and because I took their pictures they were teased about being famous - so funny. We went around town and looked at all the sites - the hospital, the police station, the one traffic light, the thriftway. There are stores dedicated to Twilight, where everything is really expensive. Crazy - they must be making so much money on crazy people like us.

Football players, Thriftway and traffic light (about 10am - yes, it was that dark!)

Then we went to First Beach and the meadow where they go play baseball and the battles happen. The meadow actually is land that Tabatha's Grandmother lives on, and still owns. We made a quick stop at the cemetary so Tabatha could visit her Grandfather's grave. After some bathroom adventures, and one very messy diaper (up to his armpits, awesome), we headed back to Renton. The drive back was SO beautiful. There is a lake in between Port Angeles and Forks called Lake Crescent - incredible. We also swung by all the sites in Port Angeles on our way through - the movie theater, the store they bought dresses, the book store, but we couldn't find the restaurant.

Jacob Black's house (not really - but doesn't it look like how you would picture it?), La Push, and First Beach

All in all - Super fun trip! Totally worth it :)

Carving Pumpkins

After our visit to the pumpkin patch, we planned a fun afternoon to carve pumpkins with the Sampsons and Boltons (Paul's family), and Olivia. We had a great time. Kenzie would still not touch the insides "Thems are yucky!" Jack helped out with his, and Olivia carved for Jaron. Addie, Eunice, Gail and Emily all did really creative things with their pumpkins. I thought Emily's got the prize for the most creative with what the pumpkin looked like. She had kind of a squished mishappen cute pumpkin, and she made it so the face matched - it looks Awesome! Gail's pumpkin was winking, and she had it say "wink" out the back. Eunice decided hers needed to be scary and left some of the goo so it was coming out it's mouth - gross. Addie's is adorable, and Kenzie decided her pumpkin needed to be a princess like her. Jack's pumpkin is happy - and has sharp hair - just like him :) They all turned out really great.

We took the finished products outside and lit them up! (in order - Eunice, Emily, Jack, Jaron, Gail, Mackenzie, and Addie)

Visit to the pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend with the Sorensens. It was so much fun. Zoe chose some LARGE pumpkins and Ben had to carry them to the wheelburrow. We call this one - Hernia #2 :) The kids had a really great time.

This video is from last night. Jack and Mackenzie were entertaining Jaron and he started laughing so hard it looks like his tummy was hurting. It is so cute!

Here are some other pictures I thought were cute :)