November started off with Joshua earning his bobcat award and his first belt loop.
Nathan and I had a beautiful day outside at Lynn Meadows. He loves music!
Veteran's Day was free food and football.
We broke the rules and decorated for Christmas before we left for SC! :-)
Silly Nathan!
Matt had a weekday off and we took off for Mobile and Homegoods! I splurged on a thick new rug and Nathan scored these helmets.
There was some playdates, church meetings, feeding missionaries, presidency meetings, and other miscellaneous to-do items that aren't important at this point to relive. Then it was road trip time! The boys and I drove to SC and Matt flew in on Tuesday. I love that I can do the trip so quickly and efficiently. If we had another kid or grown-up in the mix it would be slower. My two buddies and I can do the trip in 8 hours and 20 minutes!
Julia got this awesome fire truck bed and paw patrol bedding for Nathan to use in SC. He loved it and was surprisingly good at staying in bed once put in it.
Lizzy didn't want Joshua to feel left out so she found a zipper bed/blanket for Joshua to use while he was there. Both boys can't wait to go back to sleep in their special beds.
Of course, the queen of deals had clearance costumes for dress-up time and warm pajamas for the cold temps!
She introduced the boys to Animaniacs.
Nathan talked to Benny.
Celebrated our very first nephew/cousin's first birthday!
All of girls made these together. This isn't a final picture but I forgot to take one of the finished product. They turned out pretty cute.
Uncle Jimmy taught the boys how to enjoy shopping at Wal-Mart
The boys did some exploring.
I got to meet up with Kristi one day and wander the outlet mall. Another day, all of us sisters tried on Lula Roe clothes to see what all the fuss is about. We snuck away one afternoon/evening to watch a movie just as kids. It was great and my Dad managed the boys just fine every time. He better be careful. I'll be hiring him full time soon. :-) All of my siblings took their time playing with the kids. As usual the boys enjoyed the freedom of the country life!
Nathan and Aunt Kiki tried their hand at Checkers after breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
Then we wandered the outlets. The boys were not very happy shopping companions. Nathan was sick and Joshua didn't see any toy stores around. We went home and Nathan slept for four hours. Then we met up with Nathan's birth family. This is always a treat and we enjoyed catching up with them. Thursday arrived and it was time for turkey no it was time for the turkey bowl! Matt loves playing ultimate Frisbee with my home church family. Nani, PopPop, and Kiki picked up the boys to go to Georgia and Matt and I played ultimate. We had a blast and then we quickly showered and took off for Georgia. We showed up right after the prayer to start the feast! It was wonderful to see everyone. I love living closer. We celebrated Bambudder's birthday too.
These are "the cousins" as my boys call them. Now, they have Collin but before that these extended cousins that they saw maybe annually are it. So they are lovingly called "the cousins" and boy do they love getting together with other kiddos! The crew kept the party rolling by heading to the movies to see Moana. It was really cute!
Friday, PopPop did the honors of babysitting and Nani, Kiki, Matt, and I went black Friday shopping. It was nice to shop sans kids and we waited until the crowds were gone since we weren't after anything major. Friday afternoon boys played at the park for a bit and then we went back shopping this time to take Bambudder hunting for a Christmas tree. When we returned, Joshua was running a fever and crying. It was apparent pretty quickly that we wouldn't be able to hang out with everyone that evening. We took both boys to Aunt Kacky's to sleep. Both boys were asleep by 6:30.
Saturday morning we got up early and arrived at the Georgia Aquarium.
Everyone really enjoyed their time here. Nathan had a moment of desperation because he was hungry and thirsty. I told him we weren't supposed to eat in the place for the show. He said he would be really sneaky and eat in my purse! This kid keeps me laughing.
We stopped for burgers right next to the aquarium and then it was time to drive home. It was only 5.5 hours from downtown Atlanta. That made the trip home feel short and easy!
Sunday we enjoyed church and doing some countdown to Christmas activities.
Nathan got to go to primary instead of nursery. He will be officially there in January. I can't believe how well he did and how grown up he is getting everyday!
We have already made a gingerbread house.
The boys went to see the movie Trolls with Rachel and had a blast. We tried to embrace Monday after vacation but decided it was too hard. Movies and quiet time for Matt and I to talk made it better.
Disclaimer: I'm missing good pics of lots of people that we spent November with but we had a blast with everyone even if they didn't make it on the phone. :-)
