Wild Turkey Day

So, I looked at my boys whose picky palates prefer only pizza, corn dogs or chicken nuggets, and wondered why I would go to all the work of a big Thanksgiving dinner when they wouldn't eat it anyway. We decided to do a very non-traditional Thanksgiving and we went to San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park with our friends the Johnsons. It was a great day! The park wasn't that crowded and it wasn't too hot. We ate our "ghetto" Thanksgiving dinner at Hoff's Hut. I didn't even get up at 5:00 am to go shopping on Black Friday. Very non-traditional, but we loved it!

True Jungle Boys

James on our Journey to Africa Tour

Spencer vs. the Gorilla

Flamingos may be cute, but they sure stunk!

James and Spencer at the Petting Zoo in the park.

Broadway, Here We Come

If you think road shows are a thing of the past then you aren't in the Long Beach East Stake. Each ward put on a melodrama from an assigned decade last Saturday night. Hopefully, you can tell from the picture that we had the 1920's. Our road show was called "Can't Pay the Rent" about a school of dance that can't pay the rent and the hero pays the rent. Sounds very simple, but I must admit we had the best road show. Lots of fun and dancing and of course we had to throw in the flashlight dance. Both Doug and I were in it and I'm the one on the very far right of the picture in the red dress.

The Ellen Show Must Go On

Striking writers could not stop us from sitting in the audience of the Ellen Show and dancing until we thought we'd pass out. (The second picture is of the people striking, but it's a little hard to tell). Some women from my ward had a great day out thanks to our husbands who had the kids all day. I got to sit in the audience of two shows thanks to Kendall who was potentially going to be in the second show with her story of donating hair to Locks of Love. The guests were Tom Brokaw and Joey Fatone, and it was a great time, although it would have been better if we were there for an audience give away. Better luck next time.

Our Week with the Donnellys

We just spent a fun week with the Donnelly crew when they came for their annual trip to Disneyland. We got to take in a few new sites with them and spent a lot more time in LA traffic. Thanks for a fun week!
Parker, James, Spencer, Reese, Keely and Blakelee at the Getty Museum.
Spencer "Picaso" Field creating a masterpiece.
James "Monet" Field in the sketching room of the Getty Museum.
Grahman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood with their hands in the actors of Harry Potter.

The homeboys James, Parker and Spencer waiting to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.

Trick or Treat

I took the boys trick or treating to a street with lots of businesses that give out candy. You get the biggest bang for your buck doing this because I just push them from shop to shop (conscious or unconscious). I don't have to hear them whine that they can't walk any more, and the businesses are so close together that you really get a good haul. My favorite thing about yesterday was getting candy from a store called "The Rubbertree: an exotic, romantic experience." I didn't love the store, but I loved that sitting outside passing out candy was a little old grandma and grandpa. So Long Beach.



I feel like we have had non-stop trick or treating and parties for the entire month of October starting with the Mickey's Halloween Treat at Disneyland on Oct. 5th. Since then, I really can't tell you if my kids have had anything but candy to eat. I guess one good thing about all the candy is I know they can always feed themselves and there's plenty to eat! I'm glad all the candy days are done, though. The day before Halloween, James had a trick or treat parade at his preschool.

Pumpkin Night

For Family Home Evening tonight we carved our pumpkins. We're quite proud of them! From left to right: Spencer, James, Natalie and Doug's.

Luxurious Long Beach!

Natalie likes to say that we live on the corner of "nice" and "gross" in the LBC. Obviously, this is a shot looking toward the "nice" side. We love living near the water and being close to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Disneyland and the beach, just to name a few. We had a great day at Shoreline Village, Rainbow Harbor and the "Scarium" of the Pacific, where the kids made Halloween crafts while watching the fish.

May the Force (and the best Chili Recipe) be with You

Tonight was our ward's annual trunk-or-treat Halloween party. It was a night of contests with the chili cook off, best desserts, costumes and trunk. I didn't win the best chili, but if you want to see my winning dessert go to my recipe blog. For those of you who can't tell, I am Princess Leia, Doug is Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi, James is a Jedi Knight and Spencer is Jango Fett.

Boys Night Out (plus Mom)

I was alone with the boys tonight since Doug wanted to work late, so what did we do? Went to Disneyland. That seems to be the answer for all of my mothering woes. We love the decorations at California Adventure. We also went to the Discovery Science Center. They love the plastic pins they can push their bodies through and all the little experiments. A fun night!

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight we took the kids to Pa's Pumpkin Patch. It is really just an empty parking lot that they covered with straw, hay bales, cheap carnival rides that cost a fortune, and of course pumpkins. It is the closest thing we could find to Cox Farms, though. We really miss Virginia in the fall and especially Cox Farms. I guess Pa's will have to do in a place where it's pretty hard to find the real thing.