A Bigger Family Tree

Tyler was explaining to Allison that he was going to marry his cousin Keilana when they were older.  Upon hearing this statement, I jumped in on the conversation.  The rest of it went as follows:

Me:  No, you can't marry Lana, because you can't marry your cousin.
Tyler:  Why not?
Me:  Because she's part of your family, and we don't marry family members.
Tyler:  But she's Quan.
Me:  I know.  But that's still part of our family.
Tyler:  Ohhhh.  So is Grandma and Pawpaw?
Me:  Yep.
Tyler:  And Grandpa?
Me:  Yeah, and Kandee...
Tyler:  ...and the guy she lives with?  (This is another cute story for another day.) :)
**At this point Tyler goes on listing family members names, and I confirm each one.**
Tyler (in a very awe struck voice):  Wooooow!  That's like almost EVERYbody!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at our cabin in North Carolina again this year. This time Jon, Vanessa, Keilana, and Kayden were able to be there too (they were in Utah last year)! It was a full house, and with my mom being sick and a new baby in the mix, we didn't have our act together quite as well as we would have liked. We forgot to make gravy, and never even took our cranberry sauce and jello salad out of the fridge to eat! But we still had a great time, a delicious dinner, and were thankful to all be together!

Tyler is thankful for (in his words): toys, food, candy, being able to play outside and inside, his home, and his family.

Allison is thankful for (in her words): being with Mommy, the couch(?), her toys, her plates and cups, Daddy, and her brothers.

After dinner, we attempted to get a Thanksgiving family picture. It didn't quite go as planned...

Take 1: Too bad Allison closed her eyes.

Take 2: And now Tyler looks like he had a bit too much turkey to eat.

Take 3: Now it all just looks a bit forced.

Take 4: A GREAT shot...but um, where's Daddy?!

Take 5: Daddy's back, but now Ryan's fussy, the kids are obviously done, and I give up...

*Keep scrolling for another chatch-up post!*

How to Carve a Pumpkin

**Pumpkin carving directions courtesy of Tyler and Allison.**

First you have to cut the top part off.

Next you have to "scarf" (Allison's word for scrape) inside with the "Scoopiger" (Tyler's word for the scooper).

And take the seeds out.

And scarf some more!

Then you have to check your scooping and scarfing progress.

After the pumpkin is all cleaned out, you tape the pattern on the pumpkin and poke holes to make the outline.

Then it's time to carve it!

Remember to be careful with the knife.

And TA-DA....

Towel Buddies

If you've ever been on a cruise, you are familiar with the adorable towel creatures left on your bed each night. I've always tried to get pictures of all of them on past cruises, so this time was no exception. This time, I decided to have the kids pose with them each night. Sometimes, they weren't willing to cooperate together, so I would take them seperate. Either way, we managed to capture shots of all our towel buddies!

Sunday night: Seal Buddy

Monday night: Polar Bear Buddy (I think?)
These fun cookies were also left for them that night!

Tuesday night: Koala Bear Buddy (once again, I think?)
This little guy was up on Tyler's bunk bed posed with his favorite stuffed T-Rex.

Wednesday night: Rabbit Buddy
I just love the smudge on my camera lens that I didn't notice ahead of time. And just in case you're wondering, Allison is wearing butterfly wings that her Grandma Tholkes gave her before we got on the boat.

Thursday night: Sea Turtle Buddy
Imagine Tyler's excitement when he came into the room after dinner to find a turtle made out of towels! He just had to line up all his new turtle friends for this shot! And just so you know, all these turtles have a name too. From left to right there is Turtle Bank, Kandee Turtle, Tyler Turtle, Popsi Pickles, and the Turtle Buddy.

Allison decided to give the turtle a kiss.

Friday night: Eskimo Buddy
Tyler was in a silly mood, and Allison just finished scarfing down her chocolate mint left for her on her pillow!

Saturday night: Dog Buddy

Formal Nights

One of the fun things about a cruise is getting to dress up for formal nights. It was a bit more of a challenge this time for me since none of my formal clothes are maternity, but I made it work.
The first formal night was on the 2nd night of the cruise and started out with the Captain's Cocktail Party.

Mommy and her Little Man

Daddy and his Princess

After enjoying some music and dancing for a bit, we headed to take a quick family portrait before it was time for dinner. Here we are all shined up, looking our best...

If you happen to enlarge this picture, don't mind the food in Tyler's teeth. They literaly snapped this picture of him between bites!

We went on a cruise with Tyler when he was 18 months old, and had some portraits taken of him. So, to make it fair, we did the same for Allison on this cruise. This is one of my favorites.

The second formal night took place after our day in Vancouver, and the group picture we took captured proof of my poor swollen ankles I mentioned in my previous post. Why is it that I'm always asked to stand on the back row for photos until it truly matters??? And no, they couldn't even put me in the middle so my kids could hide them. Oh well, what do you do?

Pictured from left to right: Marc and Kandee Anderson (Billy's aunt and uncle), Bill and Betty Farish (Billy's grandparents), Mark and Mandee Farish (Billy's uncle and cousin), Charlie and Melanie Zite (long-time friends of Bill and Betty), and us. :)

This was our table for dinner in the Gold Pearl Dining Room. We got lucky enough to have the windows behind us with a nice shot of the ocean in the background!

I just couldn't resist posting this adorable picture of Allison. It was taken on the first formal night. Tyler ordered a hamburger that night and it came with a couple pickle slices. Allison loves pickles and Tyler gladly passed them her way. When they were gone she wanted more, so we asked the waiter if he could bring her a few more pickles (you can pretty much ask for and get anything you want!). He said "of course!," and came back with an entire bowl of pickle spears for her! She was in heaven!

Welcome to Vancouver, B.C. Canada

Isn't this classic?! I would say it's great blackmale to use in a few years, but he's a boy and he probably won't care. In fact, he'll probably think it's funny. What I think is so hilarious about it, is that he still managed to pose for the shot and give an adorable smile. Oh well, maybe one day I'll be successful in breaking that habit!
Our day in Vancouver was spent walking around downtown. There didn't prove to be too many things that were very picture worthy, so I don't have a whole lot to document for that day. Maybe it was because I was hot and swollen from being on my feet too long, and wasn't really in the mood to take many pictures. So here's what I have. There aren't any of Allison because she was...yep, you guessed it, asleep! By the time we would wake up and get ready each day, eat breakfast, and get off the ship, the poor little thing was ready for nap time. She really didn't miss much this day.
Here's Tyler posing with a cowboy outside a western attire and gun store.

This clock was pretty cool because it ran off of steam. (If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see some of the steam coming out of the top.) The best part was when it sounded off each hour. LOTS of steam came out with a sort of steam-train sounding whistle that played a melody.

Before heading back to the ship, Tyler posed with a moose and black bear in front of this gift shop.

After we got back on the ship, we decided to head over to the water slide since Tyler had been anticipating going down it for so long. (It was only open for a couple hours each day, so we hadn't been able to make it there on any previous day.) Once we got there and climbed to the top, we discovered that Tyler wasn't quite tall enough, and the guy in charge wasn't letting him pass on his tippy-toes. AND, it was one-person-at-a-time only, so they wouldn't even let me go down with him. Poor guy. He took it rather well though. So we decided to play at the spray park instead, and he ended up having a great time! (Please excuse Allison's falling, lop-sided pig tails. She hadn't been awake from her nap very long, and that's the result of laying on them in her stroller.)