Winter break was a whirlwind of fun and excitement this year! The main reason for this was that David took the whole week between Christmas and New Year off, so we partied like nobody's business! But even before he had time off, we had some fun. For instance:
Nicole's Jr. Jazz team won their championship game! They were undefeated all season long! Nicki had a great game - it was a real nail biter! It sure is fun to watch her play. She loves basketball.
The boys' school got out a few days before the girls. I tried to do at least one fun thing with them each day. So on Monday, December 19th, I took them to the Seaquest Aquarium. It's a new aquarium that just opened up in the Layton Hills Mall. It's pretty fun, as mall attractions go! We bought an unlimited year pass so I'm sure we'll be back soon.
I even paid a few extra bucks to let them hand feed some stingrays. It was pretty awesome! I was so busy chasing the kids and helping them feed the stingrays,etc, that I didn't take many pictures. I'll have to get more next time.
On Tuesday, our daily adventure took us to Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was cold, but sunny and beautiful. The day before had been miserably cold, but this was kind of pleasant. We were literally the only people there for the first hour or so! We had a blast! Not only did we see lots of dinosaur statues, but we saw wild animal tracks throughout the park (probably just ferrel cats, but still pretty exciting for the boys).
We bought a cool giant floor sticker for a gag gift for the Smith Family Bingo Party, but with all the craziness of 2016, they cancelled Bingo. Lucky us!! We got to have this bridge to cross in the middle of our kitchen floor for a while. It's pretty fun to play with action figures and dinosaurs!
Alison has some pretty cute friends. They get together a lot to hang out, but they also support each other in their extra curricular activities, and sometimes just like to share writing prompts and read each others stories, etc. A few days before Thanksgiving, they had a full Thanksgiving feast - each girl was assigned a dish to bring and they had a full turkey dinner together. Ali brought mashed potatoes. How cute is that?!? Well, for Christmas they were planning on having a little get together. A day or two before the party, they learned about a single friend of one of their mothers who was struggling to find money for Christmas. Her kids told her, "Don't worry, Mom. You don't need to get us anything. Santa will get us some stuff and that will be enough." So Alison and her friends decided that instead of buying each other Christmas gifts, they would go ice skating, have a white elephant gift exchange with each other, and donate money to this mother. I thought that was very sweet.
David and his family came from Chicago for Christmas! We tried to see them as often as their schedules would permit. The first time we saw them was the day they arrived (after a HUGE day-long delay at the Chicago airport). The whole family met at Crown Burger in Layton. My parents paid for everyone. (Can you imagine that bill?!?! Thanks Mom and Dad!) While we were there, we took a few pictures. Sure, we were at a burger joint, but you've got to take advantage of the opportunity, right?
The whole Smith crew (plus Quin). We don't all get together like this very often!
Kristin, Kelley, Katie, Scott, David - love these people more than I can say!
Grandma and Grandpa with ALL of their grand kids.
Then, we all headed to Salt Lake City to go to temple square. It was very fun to be there with all of the cousins. So lovely!
Ashley and Megan. Aren't they adorable?
Best picture ever, Megan! Way to capture Uncle David at his creepiest!
Bronson took this picture from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. He, along with all the other kids, was duly impressed with the view.
On Christmas Eve Eve (Friday night) I took the kids to Surf n' Swim. It was the first time for my two littlest. Surf n' Swim is a wave pool just a few blocks from our house. I was a little stressed about taking all five kids without David's help, but he was still at work so I didn't have a choice. As it turned out, there were no problems with the swimming at all! It wasn't busy (go figure - two days before Christmas during a large snow storm). I could keep pretty good tabs on the non swimmers and the older kiddos were happy on their own. The problems all arose AFTER we were out of the water.
Surf n' Swim has a rule that boys go through the boys' locker room and girls go through the girls'. So after we were all dried off, I sent the boys off with Quinton, telling them to take of him. When we came out to the lobby, there was no Quin. Josh said, "He wouldn't go with us. he wanted to be with you so he went back to the pool!" Ahhh!!! I sent Nicki after him through the girls' locker room and the boys back into the boy's locker room to find him. A few seconds later, Nicki came back with Quin. He was a little frightened, but totally fine. I was glad that he hadn't tried to get back in the water. Then, we waited for the boys to return. Minutes passed and they still hadn't returned. I couldn't figure what was taking them so long. Then, I heard crying coming from the boys locker room. Sure enough, it was Josh and Bron - both in tears. I guess Joshua was going into the pool from the locker room. He was passing through the revolving door when Bronson suddenly decided that he wanted to go WITH Josh. He didn't make it, though and got his head stuck in the revolving door. The door wouldn't reverse, and going forward would literally decapitate Bronson, so they were stuck. Josh was screaming for help and pounding on the doors and imagining being there for the rest of his life. Bronson was screaming and crying in pain and fear. After a couple of minutes, which felt like years for the poor boys, a lady in the pool noticed them and ran over. She was able to put enough pressure on the door that Bronson could wiggle his head out, but I guess it was a very scary and sad thing. She came out to the lobby to make sure they were okay and SHE was also in tears. Yikes! We were all just very glad that Bronny was still with us and hopeful that he learned a lesson.
One afternoon during the holiday break, Nicki and I went out to play with Dave and Jenny's family. We had such a great time! We had a drink at FIIZ (where I bought a round of sour shots and made everyone try them!) visited Katie at her house for a while, went to Scott's apartment, and met Kristin's family at Cafe Rio. Later, Nicki commented on how fun it was to see every single one of her Smith family relatives in one day!
Mom's awesome reaction to a sour shot. They are just a small cup of pure sour flavoring. They taste like gasoline to me! Some people hardly react to it at all.
I almost killed Ashley with hers! It accidentally went down the wrong pipe, so she had a burning, sour, choking, tears-running-down-her cheeks reaction. I felt REALLY bad!
We also fit in a trip to Idaho to see our Gee family relatives during the Christmas break, but I'm going to write all about that in a separate post, so stay tuned!
David and I took the kids to the Clearfield Aquatic center one morning. It has two pools, a toddler splash-pad area, a lazy river, a hot tub, and a big slide - all indoors. What a fun time we had! I didn't take any pictures of us in our swim suits. You're welcome.
But I did take a few pictures when we took Dad to the Sea Quest Aquarium for the first time.
Alison and Josh fed the little Parakeets
David fed the Stingrays.
Josh fed the Iguanas
The others fed the Parrots
One of my best friends from 7th grade through high school and beyond is Kimberley Kenley. She's the single mother of two teenage daughters and a baby now, and her father passed away earlier this year. It's been rough on her. I was happy to hear that she had reunited with her high school sweetheart and that they were getting married. I was honored to be invited to their small, intimate wedding during the last week of the year.
Derek and Kim.
Kim's mom, Donna, and Kim's three daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. Morris.
Kim and I were part of a trio in high school. Our third compadre, Tanna, wasn't there because her invitation came back in the mail. So we took a picture of us missing her, wrote "Insert Tanna here" and texted it to her. She got a good laugh.
What a great last week of 2016! It was certainly one for the books. And this isn't even everything! I still have to write about our Idaho trip! I've decided that I could get used to having David around! I LOVE it when he's home. Some women go crazy with their husbands home all the time, but I love it. I wish we could suddenly get rich so he could retire.
I love this boy so much it's physically painful sometimes. Like when I am watching him in his kindergarten Christmas program. He worked on it for a month! He wanted to keep most of it secret so that I would be surprised, but sometimes he would slip and start singing a Spanish Christmas song at home or something. It was an evening performance and he was very VERY excited to have his whole family come watch him. The school specifically asked that we keep our guests to a minimum due to tight quarters, so we didn't invite the grandparents, but all seven of the immediate family attended. He was adorable!
A little quirk in Bronson's personality that I wasn't expecting has surfaced this year in kindergarten. He gets pretty anxious sometimes. One day, he accidentally left his backpack at home and he had a full-blown-melt-down-bordering-on-a-panic-attack. The school's counselor had to be called in to help him. When he arrives at school in the morning, all the kids run and play in the playground until the bell rings, but Bronson stands and waits by the door to his classroom. He doesn't want to leave his backpack unattended and he doesn't want to miss getting in line. He even does this at recess occasionally. If he feels like the carpool is running late, or they get stalled at a train crossing on the way to school, he gets very agitated. It's surprising to me to see this side of Bron because he is such a happy go lucky, mellow kid at home. But he takes school very seriously. You can see it in his face during this little program - the combination of intense stress over the songs and intense joy over having his whole family watching and cheering him on. It's incredibly lovable, isn't it?!?!
Did you know that I come from a long line of Star Wars fans? Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch since Star Wars only dates back to 1977, but my point is we Smiths LOVE Star Wars! I grew up with Star Wars toys around the house and movies being played and trivia being spat out. I sat in line for hours to get movie tickets for Episode I back in 1999. Scott actually won several hundred bucks in a Star Wars trivia contest a few years ago. We like Star Wars.
Which is why it was so dang cool when my dad was able to snag tickets for a special pre-release screening of Rogue One for my parents and all of my local siblings (we really missed Dave a lot! He may be the biggest Star Wars fan of us all). The event was put on by PARC - a local charity that my dad sits on the board of. It helps find jobs for adults with special needs in the community. They really put on quite a spread! There were characters from the movies milling around and talking to people, bottles of water decorated like R2D2, goodie bags, decorations, and tons of fun!
The movie was fantastic! I kept thinking, "I can't wait to take David to see this!" He heroically stayed home with the kids and let me have this fun night with my family. When the movie ended, we all sat around for a while and discussed the finer points. That was super fun for me. I sure love my family! They are so much fun to be around.
Hey guys. This isn't Kelley. This is NICKI! So I was talking with my mom and I asked her where she was in the blog. She said she still had to write about my stitches! Which is late - it happened, I think 11-12-16 and it is 12-24-16 so we need to catch up. I asked her if she wanted me to write about it because I was the actual one who had the experience. So if the way I write is different, then you know why.
Okay, so the day I had to get my stitches: That day my friend and I were playing and we decided to be nice. We decided to play with a little girl in our neighborhood who hangs out with my brother, and used to hang out with me. We stopped hanging out, though, because I am just too old for her. She is still always asking to play with me, though, and sometimes I would say yes, but Bronson gets jealous. So this time Bronson had to go inside and I was in a nice mood. So my friend and I decided to play with her; we played one of those old games that you play as a kid. Like house or an adventure game. We played an adventure game. So in this, there was a monster that chased us, and we ran. So I was running, I jump onto a small wall, then jump off, lose my balance and fell straight down. I hit my chin hard. It didn't hurt because of the shock, but then my friend says, "Nicki you're bleeding," and right when she said that I knew something bad happened. I touched my chin and there was a pool of blood in my hand.
I tell my friends I will be right back, and go inside. When I walk in I say, "Mom, I am bleeding like crazy," then walk away into the bathroom. My Mom follows. In the bathroom. she says she wants to look at it. So she does, when she looks at my chin there is a hole in there! Like I could stick my finger up there. It was kind of gross. My mom says I probably am going to need stitches. So I freak!!! I have always been scared of stitches. So I kept saying to myself I probably don't need stitches I'm fine. Yah, sure you're fine. Mom called Dad in and he says, "Yah you definitely need stitches." So as I was freaking out - instead of my parents comforting me they were making me more scared than I was. They kept saying things like, "OH MY GOSH IT'S HUGE!!!", "Yah you really need stitches. Like REALLY bad," In front of my face so I can hear them.
Mom tells me to get in the car right away. Wait, we're leaving NOW!!! I got in, freaking out. Oh, and we put a big band-aid on it and then it stopped bleeding but we kept it on my chin. When we get to the Doctor's we look at the sign and it's closed for the night so we have to go to the E.R. which made me feel a little bit better because people have to be REALLY good to work in the E.R. but it also made me feel kind of bad because it is also more expensive - but we went. There wasn't too many people there, but it still took a long time because there were a few families or people who just came. Some people came and then just went into the rooms because they were worse than others. So when it was FINALLY my turn we went in and a girl asked me a few questions, put the little wrist band on me so they can know I am a person they are working on. Then they took me to my room.
When they took me to my room, I got shaky because of the shock and then, after, just get the chills and jittery. Mom kept asking to take a picture, but it looked gross and I didn't want a camera or phone pointed up on my chin. But I finally let her do it so here are some pictures of my chin but they are kind of gross.
UHHHHH...
*shiver*
So gross....
It was so gross. The nurse came in and took a look and she said we were going to have to clean it out with soap! I didn't want soap water in a huge cut/hole. But then she told me that I wouldn't feel it. Okay good. She was going to give me a shot so it wouldn't hurt ... INSIDE THE HOLE! She left to go get the shot. So I just talked, and talked, and talked, to my mom to let all the stress out. She finally came back. She kind of flicked the needle to see if the medicine came out. It did. She came over and stuck the needle in through both sides, up, and down. She poked my chin with the needle in a few places and asked me if I felt it. I knew that if I said yes she'd give me a shot. I didn't feel all of them until she poked one part I felt it. She gave another shot, but I didn't want to feel the soap.
It was finally time to wash it out. It wasn't the nurse I had before - it was some guy. I forgot his name. But he brought a cloth and dipped it into soapy water and started scrubbing it, but luckily there were no rocks or anything like that. I didn't feel it, that part was just peaceful. There was one part though when he pushed my chin too hard, but it didn't hurt too badly. He left and another nurse came in about 20 minutes later. She gave me a tetanus shot, which didn't hurt very bad. Then she left and I had to go to the bathroom so I went and came back and my mom said, "Dang it. The girl came and was ready to stitch you up, but she left because you took too long." Sorry! Don't worry - she did come back. She put a weird cloth thing over me so the blood wouldn't drip. My mom said afterwords that people walked by and stared at my chin like grossly. We went home at about 10:00 and finally ate dinner. That's all really.
Autism: Now What? Six Things I Wish I had Known When My Son was First Diagnosed with Autism
By Katie Wahlquist
“Probability of Autism Spectrum Disorder: extremely likely. Level: very severe.” Those were the words that jumped off the paper when I was handed the testing results of my then-two-year-old son Adam’s visit with the pediatric psychologist. Was I surprised? Not even a little bit. Adam was born almost three months early, so we were always operating on a different time schedule when it came to developmental milestones, but when his second birthday came and went without so much as an attempt at speech, not to mention his lack of eye contact, unusual behaviors that could not be written off as “the terrible twos,” and his extreme obsessive tendencies, it was pretty clear that we were dealing with something more than a developmental delay. So was I surprised? Of course not. But was I ready for that diagnosis? Of course not!
I didn’t realize it then, but that was my first in what was soon to be many lessons on parenting a special needs child: my life was now all about contrasts. Like Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of the times, it was the worst of times,” that reality was now my everyday life! It’s frustration and joy and fatigue and elation and heartache and love and annoyance and humility and despair and hope and guilt…all at the same time and all before 10:00 in the morning!
Adam’s twelve years old now, and this journey just keeps throwing new curve balls my way. Adam still hasn’t spoken a single word, he’s still not potty-trained, and his behaviors are overwhelming to deal with on a good day, but I have learned a few basic principles over the past ten years that have helped me to stay positive and move forward with joy. Please note that in no way do I consider myself to be a superior parent to any other parent. I cringe when people say things to me like, “Oh, you must be such a special person to have been blessed with such a special child.” I know that these comments are almost always given with love, but I don’t think there’s some special place in heaven reserved only for special needs parents. These truths apply to ALL parents, whether you have a special needs child in your life or not. Also, I want to stress that I am not a professional therapist or medical practitioner; I’m just a mom with a pretty amazing kid.
Which brings me to my first point…
1. You are the expert. Period. Now, don’t get me wrong: raising and caring for Adam is a team effort. We love the teachers, doctors, and therapists we work with. They have become part of our family, and I believe very strongly that becoming allies instead of enemies with the people who are treating and caring for your child is CRUCIAL to your child’s success. Adam’s teachers and therapists love him, and I know that their goals and my goals for Adam are the same, but at the end of the day, no one knows your child like you do. No one. And don’t doubt it. I remember walking into my first IEP meeting (to create a specialized education plan for his school), being surrounded by people who (I thought) knew everything there was to know about Autism (spoiler alert: no one does). I listened to their ideas and suggestions in awe, watched as they started writing down goals and the methods they would use to achieve them. I remember thinking that I really didn’t need to be there, it was just a formality. And then, one of those wonderful teachers looked right at me and said, “What do you think would work, Mom?” They wanted my opinion? Wow! All of a sudden, I realized that I had the power (and responsibility) to shape what Adam’s education was going to look like, and maybe I did know a thing or two that these experts didn’t. After all, they didn’t know that Adam needs help blocking out environmental stimulation before he can focus on a task, or that he will never, ever respond to a loud voice. They didn’t know that music is always the best way to calm him or that he will move heaven and earth for Nacho Cheese Doritos.
(By the way, this same principle applies to other areas of your child’s care as well. I could tell you a really sad story about how Adam broke his jaw last year because he was obsessively grinding his teeth together and we didn’t know about it for two weeks because I didn’t trust my gut feeling that something was wrong with his mouth, more than I trusted the multiple doctors who could not find anything wrong with Adam during those two weeks. I could tell you that story, but I won’t. *cough cough*)
So listen to your team of experts; love them, show your appreciation to them, be open to their suggestions, come up with a plan together. But understand that YOU get to have the final say when it comes to your child.
2. Educate yourself like crazy! Now that we’ve established that parents are the experts, go out of your way to become one. Understanding why Adam has certain difficult behaviors has made all the difference in the world as I try to cope with them. Adam does a kabillion things that drive me BONKERS (like smelling every person we meet, crawling into the tiniest spaces and refusing to come out, licking the walls of every single room in our house, freaking out when he sees people wearing socks, etc.), but when I started learning about the reasons why Adam might be acting in these ways and the science behind it, suddenly it was more fascinating to me than it was annoying. I’m also better able to make informed decisions when I understand what’s happening, especially if I combine my knowledge with my gut-feelings (see point number one). Do I screw up those decisions? Oh yeah, all the time. It’s going to happen, and happen a lot, but when I’m putting in the work and trying my best, I have much less guilt when it does.
A NOTE ABOUT EDUCATING YOURSELF: This may come as a shock to you, but not everything you read or hear is true. Misinformation is rampant in the special needs world, so make sure that you are looking to trusted resources and professionals and not letting yourself get caught up in promises, claims, or therapies that will accomplish nothing but feed you a lot of false hope. Do your homework and know what is legit and what is not.
3. Chill out. Guess what, super mom? You’re not “Supermom” (See what I did there?). Let’s just get over that right now. Being a parent is hard work, and when you throw in the stress of caring for a child with a disability, it’s downright overwhelming. You absolutely cannot do it all, and that’s OK. In my perfect world, I would sit in my spotless house on the freshly vacuumed carpet with Adam and spend 4 hours every day working on communication skills on his iPad. We would build an impressive core vocabulary, all while dinner (gluten-free, of course) cooked on the stove. In reality, I spend those four hours picking up the trail of Cheerios Adam leaves all over the house, while trying to figure out what I can get him to eat before giving up and handing him a bag of Cheetos. And that’s OK. I can’t try every new therapy and every new medication I read about. I can’t be twenty-two places at the same time. I can’t neglect myself and those I love to care for my son. Adam is not the only member of this family, and I have to remind myself often that we cannot let everything revolve around him all the time. That might mean that I’m not going to enroll him in the amazing charter school in the next county, because I have a daughter who needs her mom to be available to take her to piano lessons or discuss the drama of high school relationships, and I can’t do that if I’m in the car for two hours with Adam every day. That might mean that I need to accept the offers of help from family and friends and not feel bad when I tell the PTA President that I can’t be in charge of the Book Fair. Focus on the big picture, do what you can, ask for help, and let go of the guilt!
4. Flip your perspective. I think I’m a naturally selfish person, because most of the time, I tend to view Adam’s Autism in terms of how it affects me (how I have to adjust my schedule, how he dictates what I am able to do, how I have to adapt just about everything in my life for him) but I’ve really tried to consciously consider how it affects him. How terribly frustrating it must be to not have the ability to express your thoughts, to have little control over your day-to-day activities, and to be completely overwhelmed by and unable to process the sights, sounds, and emotions in your life. It breaks my heart for him! BUT, despite all of that, I can think of no one who is more full of life, love, and joy than Adam! Adam’s not stressed out by the projects on his to-do list, he’s focusing on how the wind feels when it blows through his hair. He doesn’t care if he has the latest iPhone, he’s just as happy with a couple of helium filled balloons. The world is new and different every day for me when I try to see it through Adam’s eyes; it’s brighter, more complex, and nothing is ever mundane or ordinary, and that perspective is one to be envied and celebrated! There are times when it feels like I’m viewing the world while standing on my head: everything is upside down, it’s dizzying and confusing, and I feel like I might throw up, but oh, how beautiful the world can be when I see things in a different way!
5. Expect your child to achieve. I get it. You have this fragile little person and you just want to take care of him and do everything for him because you love him so much, right? Wrong! I found myself in this trap early in Adam’s diagnosis (and still find myself in sometimes now), but luckily for me, I came across a remarkable special needs mom who taught me that even though you feel like you should do more for your special needs child, you actually need to do less. Learning does not come as easily for Adam, and my tendency is to swoop in and make things easier for him, but the only way Adam is ever going to master a skill is if I don’t keep doing it for him. Crazy, right? Do I want Adam to learn to buckle his own seat belt? Get himself dressed? Write his name? Then I better back off and let him do it. I can’t even count the times that Adam has surprised me by whipping out some skill that I was sure he couldn’t do without my help. With Adam, there has always been a gap between what he could do, and what he would do (I laugh every time I hear an adaptive physical education teacher tell me that Adam can’t throw a ball; he sure doesn’t have any trouble throwing other items like shoes, shampoo bottles, or bagels), but when someone comes in and actually expects Adam to achieve, he almost always rises to the occasion. I firmly believe that EVERY child is capable of learning and growth, but we’ve got to stop making excuses for them. Have realistic expectations, but make sure you have expectations.
6. Laugh. All of the time. I saved this one for last because I think it’s the most important. Humor has saved my life. Autism is hard, but Autism is funny! When my next door neighbor calls to tell me that she just found Adam lying in her bed, I have to laugh (and also apologize and install a high-tech security system). When I watch Adam eat a piece of licorice like it is an ear of corn, or pick up the piles of random household objects that he very artistically arranges on my kitchen floor, what else can I do? I laugh! When the principal calls me to say that Adam is lying in the sun and won’t come in from recess, I wish her luck and I laugh! When Adam’s teachers send me pictures of him wearing hairnets over his face, or I notice that Adam has unscrewed all of the lightbulbs from the living room lamps and laid them neatly by the fireplace, I laugh! When I discover bags of Cheerios stashed in our heating vents, or watch him calmly remove ice cubes from the freezer and put them inside my pillowcase, I laugh! When he wears snow boots to school every single day of the year, puts on a life jacket and lies down on the front lawn, removes all of the canned food labels in the pantry, what do you think I do? I could go on, but I think you see my point. Laughter changes everything when you find yourself in a high-stress environment, and it has been my saving grace. Cultivate the ability to find humor in the unexpected, and your life will be so much easier!
There are so many other lessons I’ve learned from this boy, and I’m sure I will continue to learn from him for the rest of my life. I will never sugarcoat it and tell you that it’s easy; I am overwhelmed every single day. I often think to myself, “I want off of this crazy roller coaster!” If I could take Autism away from Adam, I would do it in a second! But would I ever want to change who I’ve become because of Adam? No way! How else could I have learned what it means to love unconditionally so effectively? How else could I have taught that to my daughter? How else could I have seen my husband’s quiet strength so clearly? How else could I have learned to rely so heavily on my faith? How could I not be grateful for the tremendous growth and love that have come into my life because of Adam? So please, never feel sorry for me because of the demands of taking care of Adam; I think when it comes right down to it, I’m going to be just fine.
But I swear, if I have to clean up any more chocolate lick marks on my wall…
Katie Wahlquist is a wife, a mom and a lover of homemade cinnamon rolls. She lives with her husband and two children in Utah.
We stayed in town this Thanksgiving. David didn't have any extra time off work and an up-and-back trip to Idaho didn't sound too fun. We really enjoyed staying home and relaxing a bit. We had dinner at my parents' house. Mom and I did the whole spread. I LOVED it! Cooking is my favorite sport!
Kristin's family, Scott, and Grandma Chuch all joined us. Katie's family went to Chuck-A-Rama for dinner (Adam does really well there) but they came over for about an hour later that evening.
We had a really great time visiting and eating. After dinner, the kids watched "Finding Dorrie" in the basement while the adults relaxed upstairs. Later, they decorated oranges with toothpicks and candies. We didn't get any pictures because I forgot my camera. I'm lucky David took a few with his phone.
I made place cards out of paper bags filled with caramel popcorn and shaped like a turkey leg. I thought it was creative.
At some point, Quinton got a hold of Payton's tablet. He made himself right at home with it.
McKenna made really cool duct tape flowers.
We stayed until after dark. Then, on the way home, we drove through the Layton Christmas light display. It was so great! It was nearly empty. Only a few people were walking or driving through. It's usually PACKED!
The pics are blurry - Nicki took them with my camera while we were driving.
We weren't prepared with coats and gloves this time, but next year, I'd like to walk through the lights on Thanksgiving evening. It felt like the perfect segue from Thanksgiving to Christmas. We may have a new tradition on our hands.
