Thanksgiving In Albuquerue

We had a great time in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving this year. Here are a few of the highlights.

Of course we had some amazing food, but the biggest highlight was all of the time they spent with Grandma and Grandpa. Early (6am) on Thanksgiving morning Grandpa drove the boys down to see some hot air balloons going off. Hyrum took some awesome pictures with his camera of the balloons that I’ll have to add later. As soon as they got back Noah ran to me really sad and said, “The workers didn’t let us get on the balloons.” It was pretty cute. They loved it. . .someday maybe the ‘workers’ will let them ride on one too.

We had a movie night.

One of the biggest highlights was helping Grandpa put up all their luminaries for Christmas. They got to climb up the ladder and use the drill. It was like heaven. They also loved spending a lot of time in the backyard with a little shovel they both called ‘the digger’. They flung dirt everywhere and dug all kinds of holes. Hyrum loved to pull weeds out and be Grandpa’s helper.

Owen got a lot of attention and was the happiest baby in the world. He rarely ever fussed and mostly spent his time smiling and enjoying the world around him.

We caught a nasty bug on the last day their and sadly had a long car trip back home full of puke. Hyrum was such a trooper. He had a bucket in the back seat next to him for throwing up. He threw up more times than I can count. He never whined or cried. He would wipe his mouth off with a paper towel and sometimes ask for a new movie or some water to drink, but there was never a complaint. He really impressed us. Noah did pretty well behaviorally, but didn’t quite recognize his sick cue's. I’ve never seen so much vomit come out of such a little body before. It managed to soak all of his clothes, seat, and it seeped onto the floor. We did what we could to get things cleaned up on the road. We did get the car thoroughly shampooed right after getting back.

The Man

Hyrum has taken upon himself the role of second man of the house.  With Owens coming he seems to feel a greater responsibility to take care of things which is both wonderful and makes me so proud but also kinda scary at times.  A couple of days ago, without even asking or mentioning it to me, he made himself a peanut butter and jam sandwich because he was hungry.  He got everything out including a plate and just made it.  I noticed later that he must have put the jam on first because there was a good amount of jam in the peanut butter jar.  After making it he ripped off a piece and put it on a plate for Noah too. He's really been doing well with being the big brother.  I haven't been able to do as much with Hyrum and Noah as I used to so they spend more time playing together.  They still fight and have their moments of sibling rivalry, but overall I think gaining a brother has brought the two of them closer together.

Hyrum has really been loving his preschool.  He has learned the sound and name of the first ten letters that they require to earn his first preschool book.  He is so proud of it and we practice reading it every day.  We've been on a waiting list since July to get Hyrum in the Mon, Wed, Friday class and we just found out that he will be getting in after Christmas break! We're so excited to let him spend more time learning with his peers.  

Sunday was our Primary Program and Hyrum had a short speaking part.  He walked up to the podium and told the Primary leader that was there to help that he didn't need her help because he knew his part. Then he got right up into the microphone and confidently said, "The Lord created the earth. . . actually, the Lord created the earth for all of us.  Ok."  (His actual line: Jesus Christ created the earth for me.) Then with a big proud smile he went back to his seat.  I just love watching him get older, even though it scares me.  

He's really a great helper with baby Owen.  He sometimes insists on carrying him, so we had to set a strict rule of no holding Owen unless Mom and Dad are right there.  Well, sometimes he lives by the spirit of the law and it makes my life a little more chaotic.  Last week I put Owen in his crib and had the boys playing so I could take a shower.  When I got out I went to check on Owen and my heart skipped a beat when he wasn't in his crib.  I found his little self on the floor all wrapped up in his blanket with a binky in his mouth. I immediately asked Hyrum about it and he said that Owen was screaming so he helped him.  I liked to hear that my cute little preschooler wanted his 'Baby Bubbles' to be happy.  With that said:  AHHHHHHHH! I can only imagine how Hyrum, who's head doesn't even reach the top of the crib managed to carry him down to the ground! SO SCARY!!!!  Yes, we had a nice long talk about the rules again.