Tyler's First Hair Cut

My sweet 16 month old Tyler waited to get his first haircut done by his Grandpa Larry while we were back home.  His big brother got his first haircut done by Grandpa, so we had to carry on the tradition.

 AND... his adorable curls were starting to take on the mullet look.

 As you can see, Tyler was less than thrilled with the idea, so it took a few hands to keep him still while Grandpa attempted to cut off his curls.

 There were lots of tears... (from Tyler as well... sniff sniff)

 For all the squirming and screaming, Grandpa did a pretty good job!  We still need to trim up a few spots, so you don't get an after photo just yet. But the little curls are all gone! (Kept safe in a little baggie!)

Horseback Riding

McKenzie and I stopped by Nick's brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Julie's, for a couple hours on our way to Des Moines Friday afternoon to ride their horses.

Julie had the horses ready to ride when we showed up! McKenzie was so excited to get to ride again.

McKenzie & Brandy

 Julie on Charmer as McKenzie got on Brandy

 My turn on Brandy! Since it was so cold outside, we rode in the barn... which was slightly less cold!

 McKenzie

Me being a dork as I got off the horse...

 Julie showing me how to get the horse to walk sideways... super fun!

 And I even got to jump

 that is... if I could get her to trot long enough!

 McKenzie helped take off the saddle when we were done.

Thank you so much Jim and Julie for letting us ride the horses for a little bit! We both had a BLAST! (Sore butts the next day and all!) Can't wait to do it again (when it's warmer!)

We cleaned up quick and headed on to Des Moines to meet my Mom, two Sisters and niece to see Mary Poppins.  It was a great night! (minus Mom's car getting broke into during the show...no worries, no damages or anything stolen. I think the thief was looking for cash or valuables, which neither were left in the car) But we made the most of it and laughed a lot that night.

Turner Mountain Thanksgiving

After a few short days in Colo, Iowa, we loaded up again and drove a little over 2 hours to Nick's parents on "Turner Mountain" in SW Iowa.  Preparing for a Turner Thanksgiving feast takes a lot of work.  Judy (Nick's mom) and I worked in the kitchen for what seemed like 2 days straight!  Nick's brother shared his tradition of tearing the bread for the stuffing with Trevor... I think he did a pretty good job.  They tore up 4 loaves of bread and filled 2 huge bowls.

 With cousins to play with, you can imagine all the running around the kids did while we were there.  Addison fell asleep in the chair one night, and the next night, she crawled up on Daddy's lap around 6pm and cashed out for the night.

 Tyler found out he could roll his tongue... a new talent none of us knew he had.

 How I missed the photo op with everyone around the table eating our meal, I don't know.... but afterwards, Nick and his brother Phil and the kids played some poker.

 And Tyler slid around on the kitchen floor.

Elfin Elfa is BACK!

We arrived home from our road trip to Iowa for Thanksgiving on Sunday night.  Guess who was waiting for us when we got home?

Elfin Elfa!

This elf came back from the North Pole to watch over the kids from a different hiding spot each day until Christmas. Daddy read The Elf on the Shelf book before bedtime.  This morning, where was Elfin Elfa?

Addison found him here:

Check the sidebar to see where Elfin Elfa hides each day!

Turner Mountain Parade

Nick helped his family move his dad's helicopters from his grandparent's farm, to the new building at his parents, up on Turner Mountain.  It took lots of planning, but on day one they successfully moved 2 small Bell 47 G5 helicopters from one hangar to another...

 Day 2's mission was to move the H-34

 With police escort in front and behind, the Turner parade began... it took them one hour to go 8 miles but they made it.

With such a large family, it takes a LOT of people to tear bread to make enough dressing to feed the Turner family! Uncle Philip was kind enough to share his knowledge and tradition of tearing the bread with Trevor (and Cousin Mark). 

By the time they were done, they tore up 4 loaves of bread and filled up two extra large Tupperware bowls.

Gingerbread Houses

I got a gingerbread house kit for the kids to do together. There was Santa's House and a Toy Shop. McKenzie and Hannah did the Toy Shop....

 Dylan and Trevor did Santa's House...

 With minimal assistance from me...

 And Addison... their taste tester.

 The boys showing off their completed project.

 and their muscles...

 Addison taking a bite out of the house...

 Dylan eating his half of the roof...

 Trevor and his rooftop....

 The girls showing off their completed project...

 and taking a bite out of it...

 Everyone eating their artwork.

 The aftermath... but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

The kits ALWAYS taste terrible, so next year I'll do my best to make our gingerbread houses from scratch.

Fun in Colo, Iowa

The kids had a ball at their grandparents house this trip... there were pony rides...

.

 Story time...

My parents got the kids a really cute book called "The Tickle Monster". It even came with tickle monster gloves.

 Halfway through the book the gloves switched to the kids' hands and they attacked grandma!!!

 

Drawing... 

Addison filled her paper full of drawings, but when I left her alone with her markers for a few seconds, this is what I came back to...

Lucky for her, they were washable markers.

Happy Thanksmas (as said by Danny)

We made it to Iowa Saturday afternoon to spend time with our families for Thanksgiving! We are starting our week off in Colo, Iowa at my folks. We celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas on Sunday.

We had a wonderful feast and then nibbled on leftovers the rest of the day until we opened our Christmas gifts in the evening.

I bought a small magnetic travel chess set for Trevor the other day. He enjoys puzzles and mazes, and things that make him think, so I thought he would really enjoy learning to play chess.

I had to refresh my memory of the game, but luckily, my brother knows how to play and he took the time to play with Trevor.

 It was amazing how well he was able to remember how each piece could move and how he analyzed not only his next move, but the moves of Danny's pieces.  In fact, Danny referred to one of the pieces "the horse" and Trevor corrected him by telling him it was called "a knight".

You'll be entertained to know that Trevor did better than I did at playing against Danny!

I didn't get much for pictures taken during the chaos of opening gifts, but you can catch a few of Tyler on my sister-in-law's blog.