"My Two Greatest Enemies: Rachel Green and Complex Carbohydrates"

So for Thanksgiving this year we had wanted to invite a bunch of friends and make it a big party.  But then with me headed to Utah for my dad the week before Thanksgiving, we gave up that idea so we wouldn't have added stress.  So we thought, while we're so far away from family, we should try doing Thanksgiving with just us four while we had the opportunity.  
Of course, I'm also not crazy, so I ordered the turkey and a few sides I didn't feel like making from Whole Foods.  For us Thanksgiving food is really all about the rolls, sweet potatoes, pies, and stuffing and making sure there is plenty of it so we can have leftovers for days.  And boy, did we ever have leftovers of everything.

They were obsessed with making hand turkeys and writing what they were thankful for all weekend.

Some of the things Jonny was thankful for: scissors and hand turkeys.

Atticus loved using Dan's VR Goggles to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It was really pretty cool.  He could look all around as though he were really at the parade.

"More turkey Mr. Chandler?"

Rolls were very important to the pilgrims.

Our best fancy faces for how Norman Rockwell we were.

Atticus was in charge of the chocolate pudding pie.

This is a weird tradition.

Jonny's food baby.

A Thanksgiving story.

Bronsons and a Quick Trip Home

Dan's dad, Jon, is the president of public finance for Zion's Bank and he was recently assigned to direct their office in Boston as well.  (Yeah.  Zions Bank has an office in Newton, Massachusetts.  From my understanding it's two ladies and that's about it.)  Which means that he will be flown out here for work periodically.  Bonus for us!  So the second week of November Jon had to come out to work for a few days and he was able to bring my mother-in-law with him.  
Dan's mom was here last Spring and Jon has been to Boston before as well, so we got to mostly just hang out and have fun together.  (Plus it was cold.  No one wants to wander around Boston too much in November.)  

We took Jon by to see Dan's office in Watertown.

Jon took this adorable picture of Jonny at Dan's office.

Drove up to see the temple and tried not to freeze.

Jon treated us to a trip to the Science Museum downtown.  That place is amazing and we had so much fun.

View from the museum.

Tornado!

Brushing teeth.

Jon and Atticus worked together on a science "Mick-speerient"  I kept Renee busy the whole time helping me make Jonny's quilt for her upcoming big girl bed.

We lucked out that it was also the primary program that weekend.  The kids in our ward are given a prompt and then they write their own part.  Ugh, it was like pulling teeth.  His prompt was something like "I can be like Jesus by..." and everything I tried to get out of him was basically "be nice"  We were finally able to talk through what kinds of things Jesus wants us to do to be nice and why, and he was able to come up with something pretty great.  (At least I think it was.)

"I saw a person that said she was homeless and hungry.  I felt sad and and wanted to help because Jesus wants us to be nice.  We gave her some money and I felt peace in my heart."

I had to sit on the stand with my sunbeams.  (One of whom refused to say her part and then wouldn't do anything but sit on my lap, where she fell asleep and drooled down my dress.)  My seat was directly in front of Atticus so I didn't get to watch him, but I could see Jonny watching him some of the time and I heard her yell "Hi Yeah-Yeah!"

Primary Program day!

We got to go to lunch with Nana-Nae and Dan while Jon was working and Atticus was at school.  She thought she was such a big girl.

Reading about the silly turkeys with Nana-Nae

The timing of Jon being sent out here for work really was a miracle and my mother-in-law is a saint.  I had a trip planned home because my dad was having major surgery and I was leaving the day after Jon was set to fly home.  Because of this, Renee was able to stay for an extra few days to take care of my kids so I could go and Dan wouldn't miss work.

I was flying home because my dad was having brain surgery.  The doctors had found a 24mm acoustic neuroma.  It was a benign tumor and one that is often found and removed, from my understanding.  My dad had not had any of the usual symptoms, (it was discovered kind of as a fluke on the hunch of my mom's audiologist) so his was a lot bigger than they usually are when removed.  They estimated he had had it for about a decade.

I flew out as a surprise to him the day after his surgery.  (I didn't want to be stuck on an airplane the day of and not be able to get updates.  He was super out of it still when I got there and his first response to me was, "Well, what are you doing here?"  Which makes me laugh.

The next several days were spent at the University Hospital with my parents, older sister, Stefanie, and older brother, Jonathan (who had also flown out to surprise both my parents as well).  My younger siblings who have small kids and school were up as much as possible as well.  I was so grateful I was able to be there with my family and support my parents.  It was such a relief to be there instead of just hearing updates and wishing I could do something.

His wicked scar!

As part of the procedure they had to cut out one of his balance centers (I may have my lingo and what that is actually called and how that all works completely wrong, but you get the gist.)  So we helped him practice walking the halls several times a day.  Two to help support him, one to make sure "the back door" of his hospital gown stayed shut, and one walking backward in front of him reminding him to look up instead of at the floor.  My arm was killing me the first two days, but he improved pretty quickly so that he was supporting himself a lot more.  

Oh, and that is Jonathan's mustache.

Dean got lots of attention and it wore him right out.

My sisters and I hiding behind a blanket so we wouldn't get a shot of "the back door" opening, or something like that.

Except for my mother, who was there day and night (I don't know how she survived), Stefanie was there the most doing all she could for my parents.

 Snuck away one night with my siblings (and Avery!) to Chanon Thai Cafe.  I would keep this kid, who is only 11 weeks younger than Jonny.  She is pretty great.

They actually sent my dad home a couple of days early because he was doing so well.  I was the one that drove him home, and pulling out of the pickup area at the hospital he got super nervous telling me to slow down.  I was going 17 MPH.  But all the balance issues (plus he had lost hearing in his right ear) was really messing with him.  In fact reading or even watching TV for more than a few minutes at a time was hard.  The poor man was sooo bored.

He lived on the couch for the next little while, and both my parents were exhausted.

Some fun to kill the boredom.

I clearly have no shame.

Trick-Or-Treat Yo' Self!

You guys.  I love Halloween so much.  And having kids makes it so much better.  I love spending the whole month talking about spooky things and checking out decorations at Halloween stores.  Trick-or-treating with them is one of the greatest things ever.  And creating costumes for them has added this whole new piece of fun for me.
Jonny's still young enough that I can plant in her mind what she is going to be and she will be super excited about it.  Atticus chose his own costume after much agonizing over the decision.  For a while he was thinking of being Zombie Michael Jackson from Thriller, but then went with a spooky ghost.  We got some ideas from Pinterest and it was a pretty easy and cheap costume to make.  Atticus and I both loved it.  It really was so spooky.

We took advantage of the creepy abandoned house next door.

A haunting in Massachusetts.

I asked Dan if he could make some red glowing eyes and he totally came through with some LEDs with a switch that Atticus could keep in his pocket.  We hooked them to some Harry Potter glasses Atticus could wear and they were awesome!

You would run if you saw him coming at you.

Jonny went as Mary Poppins.  Mostly because I've wanted a completely amazing Mary Poppins costume for myself for years (the Jolly Holiday dress) and I couldn't resist a tiny little Mary Poppins outfit.  I didn't make much of Jonny's costume this time.  I crocheted the scarf and I added things to the hat.  I also covered a cooler bag with fabric to make the carpet bag.  And then I bought/assembled the rest.  It turned out practically perfect in every way, and by the time Halloween rolled around, Jonny was obsessed with Mary Poppins.  (I maybe took way too many pictures of her.)

This was the first time she tried on the whole costume.  She was so pleased.

"That will be quite enough of that, Thank you."

It's upside down but she is clearly flying with her umbrella.

 Scary Mary

You maybe can't tell, but Atticus is smiling, too.

Their scary faces.

And their scared faces.

Jonny and I mother-boy(ed) it this year and I went as Bert.  Made myself a little chimney sweeper and the rest of the costume was easy enough.

Dan made himself an LED arc reactor so he could go as Tony Stark.

So I don't think any Halloween experience will ever compare to trick-or-treating on Beacon Hill.  I didn't want it to end and I'm already so excited to go back next year. I was just so charmed by everything.  Beacon Hill in Boston is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the country.  Beautiful brick buildings, tiny little streets, and wonderfully nice people.

The houses and streets were decorated to the nines and the people all sat out on their stoops with bowls full of candy.  Everyone (save one grumpy lady at an overly crowded house) was so gracious, kind, and so happy and interactive with each kid.  There were houses that offered water bottles for parents, a table set up at one corner handing out cider and donuts.  And at one house they even brought out a glass of wine for one dad who had commented on the home owner's glasses.  We asked one couple handing out candy how many trick-or-treaters they get each year, they said they usually spend a few thousand on candy each year.  A few thousand!  And that was at a house that just had regular fun-sized candy.  There were several houses giving out full size candy bars.
I read somewhere that there is something good to be said about the people living on Beacon Hill because they are some of the wealthiest people in the country and yet they choose to live in cramped houses with faulty plumbing and limited parking.  After what we experienced, I agree.  They were all wonderful people.  Sorry, I just really can't get over what a perfectly charming Halloween experience it was.  I need to convince my dad (who loves Halloween) to come out next year.  And I'm pretty sure it will have to be a priority to fly out each year after we've moved from Boston.

We met up with a big group from our ward at the Public Gardens in Boston at 4:30 (because that's the scheduled start time for trick-or-treating on Beacon Hill) and after even more pictures, we headed over.

P.S. Atticus could totally see.  The black fabric over his face was pretty sheer, it's just hard to tell from even a couple feet away.

Trying out his glowing red eyes for the first time.

Make Way For Mary Poppins

We of course had to stop every 16 feet to take more pictures because everything was so amazing.

Jonny's carpet bag quickly got too heavy with candy for her to carry herself.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the decorated houses.

A ghost on Acorn Street!

A ghost on Acorn Street again, I guess!

By the time we got to the beautiful and amazingly decorated Louisburg Square, it was getting pretty dark, it was packed, and Jonny was done.  We called it a night.  And made it home with plenty of time to eat dinner.  That's the best kind of trick-or-treat schedule if you ask me.