Thanksgiving

 The Monday before Thanksgiving, I got to go with my sister, Suzette, to her 5th round of chemotherapy. It was a perfect thing to do for the week of Thanksgiving because it made me very thankful: for an amazing sister to share life with, for a healthy body, for access to good medical care, and for an amazing family.

 Our day ran long since she needed a transplant. A friend who was meeting us for dinner came to the hospital for take out instead....yes those are hospital cups that we are eating vietamese soup out of.

 I kind of forgot to take any pictures the actual day of Thanksgiving. But we enjoyed our first ever Harrison family turkey bowl. We had read a book about it and the kids wanted to try it. We had a lot of fun. The next day we, of course, went on a hike with Amy Beth. We did a different trail at Bald Pate Mountain. We made a new rule that if anyone complained during the hike, they had to do pushups. The kids thought is was pretty funny and it was just enough of a reminder to be thankful and enjoy our hike instead of complain.

NYC with Hathaway

Saturday Bryce and I went with Hathaway to NYC to attend a vascular birthmark foundation conference. In the morning we went to several talks about Klippel Trenaunay Syndrome. We met some other great families that deal with the same syndrome and it was nice to talk with them. Then Bryce went home and Hathaway and I waited to see some of the specialists there. We took advantage of the time and played in Central Park (luckily it was close by). Hathaway saw three teams of doctors and we received a lot of valuable information--we are thankful for good doctors and resources to help her. She of course had a great day charming everyone we met--she did an amazing job, and it is always fun to spend a day with one of your children individually.

The Last of Halloween

We can finally say that Halloween is officially over--the longest Halloween season ever.

Here we are before going out Trick or Treating with the Cox family.

The candy haul.

We had a snow storm the week of the Halloween celebrations. The kids had a delayed opening, so got to stay home in the morning and play in the snow

Hathaway had her school parade and program.

 

Tessa had her Halloween party and I was able to go in and help......and it's over!

Facelift for our stairs

Our stairs have needed a facelift for a long time--I saw this idea on Martha Stewart and think it turned out really well.

Halloween and the Frakenstorm

 The Saturday before Halloween, our ward had a trunk or treat. Tessa was a flying fox, Hathaway was Cinderella and Oakley was a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater. Oakley won the prize for the most original costume.

 Did you hear? We had a hurricane come through New Jersey! Bryce and the kids were home Mon and the wind started to blow. We carved pumpkins and continued our annual tradition of making homemade doughnuts (the only time each year we do it). About 9:00 that night our power went off.

 School and work were cancelled all week and we had no power for two days. We went to some family friends house for a Halloween party and were glad they had a wood burning stove. We were strating to get a little cold at home. Trick or treating was postponed until Mon.

 Bryce decided it was a good week to read the Hobbit to the kids and they almost finished the entire thing during the week. Halloween night Bryce set up a hobbit scavenger hunt to celebrate--they had to use jackets, flashlights and their wits.

 They did find the hidden candy!

Here is a typical night without electricity: popcorn made on the stove top, jackets, candles and flashlights, and dad reading a good book. We were happy to have the electricity back on. I dont think we will forget this Halloween for a long time.

Hiking and Exploring

Fall is a perfect time for hiking and exploring, so during September and October we took advantage to get outdoors and have fun with friends and animals.

 My boss from my very first job moved Princeton to start a second career and is attending the Princeton Theological Seminary. It has been so fun to reconnect with her. The kids and I invited her to go on one of our favorite hikes with us (Bald Pate Mountain).

 We decided to try a new hike to the Sourland Preserve. We went with some friends and found these great boulders to climb on.

 The kids founds some catepillars and catepillar eggs. We put them in jars in our basement and have been watching their progression to crysalis and the finally to beautiful swallow tailed butterflies. Bryce and the kids have done a lot of research on them and learned a lot. We hope they return next year to our parsley plants.

Oakley Soccer

Oakley has been having a great soccer season and it helps that he has two friends on the team.

September

 So, with the start of September comes a lot of firsts. Here is Oakley on the first day of 4th grade and Tessa on the first day of 1st grade.

 Hathaway started her first ballet class with two of her little friends--they really are about as cute as they can be.

 

 

 Hathaway also started her first day of full-day preschool. She goes all day (well 9-3) Tues and Thurs and absolutely loves it. She is really growing up!

 This isn't a first, but my parents were in NYC for one day, so they invited us up and took us to a nice dinner and a show. It was my dad's birthday a few days before so we celebrated that as well. The dinner was delicious and the show, Newsies, was lot so fun. It was a great "adult" trip. The kids, however, thought it wasnt fair that we got to go to grandpa's birthday party and they didn't.

End of Summer

The end of summer would not be complete without a final trip to Howell Living Farm. We caught a bucket-full of crayfish and caught up with the Coxes. We even saw a horse and wagon obstacle course. We have had a great summer--lots of being outside, playing with friends and cousins, swimming....now back to school.

Trip West, Part 2

 Bryce joined us in Salt Lake and we headed to Grand Tetons National Park. We hiked up to this little lake. It was gorgeous and we had the place to ourselves. We even played in the water and found a little water snake.

 The next day we drove around Yellowstone and here we are with some bison in the background. The weather was beautiful.

 Oakley and Dad went on a strenuous 6 mile hike. The girls and mom took their time, but still made it quite a ways. Here they are resting on a rock.

 The next morning we headed to the geysers--it was cold but fun.

 This is the infamous Old Faithful that blew 4 minutes early for us.

 The final stop, Craters of the Moon National Park--pretty cool and  very different.

On a final note, seeing animals was one of the highlights of the trip. Bryce and the kids made a list of animals (not including bugs) that we had seen--total 52.