the haystack: the best of times / Hays update

What a fabulous week. I have decided I LOVE having the kids out of school all week for Thanksgiving. Especially when the weather decides to be absolutely fabulous. This has been the sunniest, prettiest fall I can remember in Moab. But who cares about the weather?! Haha! Brian was off on Monday and he took the kids on a daddy-daughter outing to the dinosaur tracks + bones and on a little mountain bike ride. Hannah had been wanting to go see the dino tracks and bones for the past year because she went on a field trip with Leslie for mom- preschool last year. I took the chance to go mountain biking with a huge group of girlfriends on some new trails. It was so fun to talk with all of the ladies, cruise around on my bike down dirt and rock and just take in the views. Once we got back home at lunch, we took the kids out to go rock climbing for the afternoon at a new crag. Both Hannah and Liesel made it to the top of two climbs and Felicity gave it a good go but we didn't want her to go too high or it would be too hard to get her down! It was a great afternoon all together and we went for $1 tacos at a local restaurant and ate wayyyyy too many tacos (is that possible?)

For FHE we made a grateful tree and covered it with thankful leaves. The girls came up with so many great things they were thankful for.

Tuesday I had a shoot which consumed the day until 1:30pm. Then I took the kids biking and literally ran in front of Felicity holding a dum-dum while she chased me and tried to get it. Then I planted it in the dirt at the end of the trail and she got to pull it out again. Happiest I've ever seen her. I didn't see the other kids pretty much the whole ride because they are quite fast and I'm with F, but at the very end Liesel did come up to me in tears because Owen told her she wasn't following directions and would have a consequence but she was waiting at the correct "mushroom rock" that we designated for the meeting location. They got over it pretty quickly and moved on.

It had been almost a year since I had taken the kids to the Island in the Sky to see Brian at work. The drive always feels so long to me and the hikes are a bit stressful with kids because there are drop offs everywhere... but they were out of school and it made sense so we trekked up there on Wednesday to go see him. It was fun to see him in his office and the girls liked 1) the 3D dinosaur book 2)Seeing their photos on his desk calendar 3) pressing the raise and lower button on his electronic stand-up desk. Then I took them on two short hikes. I was cranky with Felicity who wasn't moving toward the end of the hikes. An hour later as we were driving home, I felt her forehead and she was burning with fever. Mom guilt. Allison and Mike arrived that night for the Thanksgiving holiday that evening. I was worried about Felicity having the flu. Brian's co-worker at ISKY (older gentleman on the interp staff) had died suddenly within three days of getting the flu. I woke up multiple times both because Felicity was so ill and needed medicine, water, blankets, pee etc and also because I was so anxious about her illness. Thanksgiving Day she woke up fairly normal and improved throughout the day until she seemed like her normal self.

Cooked a lot on Thursday and enjoyed the company of Allison and Mike and Sarah. Made the typical thanksgiving fare, but since we didn't have plans to eat until Brian got home from work, I snuck in a quick mtn bike ride and then we all went on a hike to some petragylphs. After Brian got home, we feasted and then talked. It was great.

Friday morning we woke up and got ready to go the mountains to cut down our christmas tree. This was the first year that the mountains really had almost no snow. We drove up higher than ever and the kids hiked around with us. Felicity was especially excited for the snow. Liesel was incredibly opinionated about the tree and Hannah was just enjoying life. We found the fullest tree we've had in years and Mike and Allison found their tree as well. We zoomed back down the mountain and changed gears from snow and cold to shorts and chacos and geared up the boat for our last float down the Colorado until next spring. The water was cold, green and somewhat clear... we stopped and played at a beach for a long time and Felicity carried around a stuffed rat that she found tied to the fence while mountain biking-- she's taken a serious liking to it and has named it Elizabeth despite Liesel trying to change her mind by suggesting names like "mousy" and things she thinks are more appropriate. It was only dropped into the river once. We played at the river beaches and got more wet than we anticipated on the small rapids. Luckily I had everyone's coats, which Liesel refused to wear until the last 5 minutes as we were heading home. I felt bad that Allison and Mike got super splashed on the last wave we hit! It was shady and cold at that point.

When we got home, I prepped for Liesel's family birthday party. She wanted to celebrate a week early since grandma and grandpa were here, so I printed off the Liesel Quiz, pulled out the wrapped presents and we had a wonderful family party. The kids have come to enjoy their videos so much that I have to make sure I prepare one every year. You can see Liesel's video trailer HERE and the 9 minute film HERE. It was very sweet to go around in a circle and share what we love about her. I'm so glad our family started this tradition because you vocalize important feelings and talents that you may not otherwise be inclined to share. The love in the room is strong. Hannah told everyone not to cry and then halfway through she was crying along side the rest of us as we told LIesel what we love about her. Then she ripped open her presents and was thrilled with what she received. Hannah gave her a fancy fan and owl. Hannah picked them out off of Amazon and I created a job list with 5 jobs Hannah had to check off to earn money for these gifts. She did them all dutifully and without complaining at all. I was so impressed. Liesel was always trying to ask for hints beforehand like, "what letter does it start with?" and Hannah would be like, "an 'O' and it's sparkly." She guessed the owl ahead of time, but not the fan.

I had photo shoots all day Saturday, our company left and Brian did a bunch of house projects. We set up the Christmas tree and got the Christmas decorations out. It feels so festive and peaceful. I love it. We had our usual friend-dinner tonight with the Allreds and Penrods. It was a good evening, a great day and wonderful week.