Visit to Ashley's

We made it to and from Ashley's safe and sound, I was a little nervous about the trip but by now my kids are champion travelers. We have the DVD player in the back for them so that helped a lot and every time a movie was over Izaac would say, It's finished... Time for another movie!

We did cut the trip into two days 13 h drive on paper didn't quite work out that way because all through Pennsylvania there was a ton of traffic and slowed us down considerably plus other construction on the highway made the drive a go 14-15h. Not fun. It may not sound like that big a deal but as I am traveling and the GPS arrival time keeps getting longer it got to be a bit depressing so We stopped for the night.

It was so fun to see Ash and the kids. I have met all of her kids and as of this summer when she brought Madacyn up for Magrath days Izaac and Cora had met Madacyn but had never gotten to meet their other cousins. Weird. but finally they have been introduced. They all had fun playing and getting to know one another. My kids were super shy at first but by the end of the 2 weeks It was like they were at home with siblings, including fighting like siblings:) Most of the time they got along really well so that was nice. The rest of the story is told through pictures that I'll comment on as we go so come along and I'll show them to you... (haha nerdy)

Cora in the carseat... still happy!

Here is the before and after of Izaac, as we traveled he found my purse and painted his face with my lipstick, he had a pink face for a day or two after we got there, it was a pleasant surprise as I looked in my rear view mirror.



Playing at the park with cousins. It was a beautiful day and the kids loved getting out. It rained about 1/2 the time and when it did the kids protested being locked in the house using a verity of methods, screaming, fighting, being creative with things around the house and so forth.

These were all taken as the kids played on Ash's front lawn she has a great lawn and lives in a caul-d-sac so the kids had a bit of freedom

Getting ready for church it was stake conference and didn't stare until 2 so the kids were ready and waiting for awhile before we got to go.

The day before Drayden was born We got to do Ash's pumpkin belly Madacyn was still awake so she got a heart on her belly but didn't wait to let it dry and it ended up all over her. silly girl.



Yea the one we have been waiting for!!

Drayden Paul Burch Clifton

9lbs 81/2 oz

21 in long

He is a really sweet baby and put up with a lot of the "loving" from his older siblings and cousins really well.

Izaac loved to hold baby Drayden, Cora liked to poke him

Mercedes and Mgean holding the babe.

First family picture and ash helping Madacyn holding Drayden. I never got a picture of Bryson holding him unfortunatly, but he WAS there and loved his baby "fruther"

Pictures!!

So I was looking at my pictures and saw a bunch of cure ones that I hadn't posted, Try not to get too overwhelmed with the adorableness that is my children!

Oh and these are mainly in opposite order from newest to oldest just in case you were wondering!

Few random pics of the house (living and dining rooms and kitchen, and Kids room)

Cutie Cora




Cora not impressed with the tutu I made her
Izaac painting

Ikea shopping trip
Finger painting for FHE

Bubbles at the park





Cora's huge goose egg that she got when I fell rushing for the bus with her in the front pack holding Izaac and a big diaper bag, I tripped and we all went down. Needless to say we are all thankful for the new double stroller that we just got!


Morning at the Pilgrims!




At the Staten Island Zoo

Cora bundled up for a nice walk to get out of the house while she had been sick but the walk ended abruptly when when threw up all over herself and me carrying her in the front pack. oh the memories!

Halloween Costumes and Stuff

Well What have we been up to lately, you may be asking yourself. Well wonder no more I am about to tell you all the exciting things that are happening with the Pilgrims.

Hmmm... Well I made the kids Halloween costumes and they are super cute if I do say so myself, and I do. Cora is a Bumblebee and Izaac is a Spider. I like to stick to a theme, somewhat. Last year Izaac was a carrot and Cora was a pea pod. Good times!

I tried to take pictures of them but my camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger but hopefully will soon cuz we are heading down to Ashley's soon and need to take pictures of the cousins meeting for the first time EVER! I did take the Kids to Wal-Mart to have their pictures taken there and they are super cute, Well I'm just saying that considering what I had to work with. Izaac hates getting his picture taken especially if it involves getting up on a table and having strangers try and make him smile. for awhile there not even the candy that I brought worked as a bribe but eventually all calmed momentarily and she got a few cute ones. The one I ended up getting the kids are both looking down at the candy packages I brought as a bribe but considering it was Halloween I thought it was appropriate since the Holiday is all about candy!

The kids and I are headed out on our first lonely adventure to visit my sister Ashley next Monday the 19th of October, Ashley is having a baby on the 26th so we wanna get the first look and make everyone back home jealous since they can't see him and have to look instead at all of their babies that they are also having... Hmmm... any way Ashley has c-sections so that makes trip planning very convenient for me not having to worry about her going late or anything. As mentioned above this is the first time that my kids will get to meet their Clifton cousins, well except Madacyn who came to Canada with Ash last summer while we were there but the other three have never met my two so that will be fun. We have never been super close to any family (living distance) so any opportunity to strengthen those bonds is welcomed. I loved growing up with my cousins and I really want that opportunity for my children as well. you may be thinking that perhaps we should move closer then and you would be right although that won't be happening any time soon unfortunately so we have to enjoy the moments when we do get to visit family. It is a 13 h drive so wish me luck traveling with my two "angles" hopefully! They didn't do too bad on the trip here which lasted a week but then again I did have Justices support so we'll see how she goes.

Justice continues to be completely overwhelmed and busy keeping up with dental school. But even though he is insanely busy he kindly takes time for his family and we are ever so glad to see him. Last Sunday we took a random drive to Hartford CT. Yes random I know, It is where Yale is located and it is really cool. They have tonz of really old buildings that look like castles and such and the library is amazing! We didn't stay long because it was getting late and we didn't know Yale was there when we randomly choose that place on the map. We love to go for drives or at least we did in Idaho where you weren't in constant traffic and the roads were free to drive on. It cost us $23.75 in tole's Everything costs money out here so needless to say we won't be making many more drives in the near future, we can't afford it.

Well I suppose that is all that is happening in our neck of the woods not much I know but that is o.k. for us right now. We are just enjoying being here and trying to make new friends, something we have never been good at but practice makes progress right!

Love to all!!

I know these pictures are terrible I took them with my video camera cuz my camera battery is dead so sorry!

Cora

Cora is our doll, She loves to smile and preform. She loves to copy what other people do especially Izaac.

She loves fuzzy things, stuffed animals, blankets etc. Izaac could have cared less about such things so it is funny to me to have her get so excited about them if she sees something she will give it a big hug and a kiss.

She loves to give kisses and often crawls around making kissy sounds.

She isn't walking quite yet but is finally showing more interest in it she likes to stand alone and will willingly walk with help from a few fingers from mom or dad.

She has been sick pretty much since we got here, thankfully the flu like sickness has passed and she seems to have only a cold these days.

She has been working hard on popping out some teeth and has all four molars pretty much through but the way she is acting I have a feeling there are more to come, unfortunately.

After a week of her flu like sickness (where she couldn't keep anything down and slept all the time we took her to the hospital here and they gave her an IV, she wasn't dehydrated yet but it was close and I didn't want to come back so I had them give her one just in case. It was good because she really perked up after that and stopped throwing up within a day or so and has been recovering nicely ever since. with the exception of that cold and teeth previously talked about) She had lost a few pounds but seems determined to gain them back full swing, she eats like a horse, especially pickles!! (yep that's my baby) Izaac has been in a non eating stage so when Cora finishes her own food she will often go over to Izaac's dish and help him out, waste not want not!

Cora loves to sign, My mom worked a lot with her over the summer and she is really good at many signs.

It is funny she has certain triggers. If you say baby immediately she grabs her arms and rocks them back and forth, if you say "where are you" she goes right into peak-a-boo, weather I was talking to her or not, and If she hears good bye she starts blowing kisses and waving saying bye over and over again. She is so funny and fun to have around.

Izaac

Izaac is a funny boy. He is talking like crazy and loves to sing songs. He is goofy and loves to get into trouble, or he just does it a lot!

About a week after we got here I started Potty training Izaac and it has been going really well, most days, He was getting annoyed with his diapers and loves to "go on the big potty" My favourite thing is when he is trying to go #2 and gas comes out instead, I ask him, "Did you go poop?" "No, Just a toot" He must have picked up the word while in Canada, it cracks me up when ever he says it.

He loves to be helpful and often gets into everything.

Justice has been trying to teach him to play ball, so he took him out into the yard the other day and was trying to get him to catch the ball, Izaac however was uninterested and ran away unfortunatly he turned around and started running the other way after Justice had thrown the ball and ended up with a nice goose egg on his head. Lovely, now he'll never want to play catch.

He is not much of a "player" but he has started to pretend, usually practical things like going shopping for groceries, or making food, or eating things, He has also started being a cat, yep, he even hisses when he is mad. Weird child.

He does like bugs, we found some worms in the back yard a few days ago and he was so excited about them especially when I put one in his hand. He is a very hands on kinda kid.

He had a prayer/song voice that just makes me laugh. Whenever he says a prayer or sings a song he gets this high pitched goofy voice. I can hardly get through the song I'm singing cuz it makes me giggle so bad. Where did that come from??

He loves to sing the other day we were on a bus for 45 minutes, wrong bus dang it, and to pass the time guess what we did... yep sang wheels on the bus over and over again!!! I'm sure the other passengers and driver enjoyed it as much as we did!

So those are just a few random tidbits that I could think of about Izaac, some how my mind goes blank when ever I finally sit down to up date this thing!

Love to all,,,

Life in NY

We have been here for about a month now and Justice started school last Monday, well it has really been orientation and not any real classes yet, he has a few next week but the real fun begins the week after! He is excited and is enjoying meeting all kinds of people. My first week home with the kids has been a bit eventful, I started Potty training Izaac last Tuesday and he is doing really well, he loves to wear his underwear and usually makes it on to the potty, the trouble with having a boy is that even if he is sitting on the potty he can still shoot pretty far and i still get to do the clean up, we are working on tucking it in!! I am really thankful that he is doing so well he really enjoys in, most of the time, I think he likes feeling like a big boy and being more like mommy and daddy.

Cora had been sick this week and throwing up for a few days now. She doesn't have a fever at all she just can't keep anything down. Poor thing is so droopy she just lays around and stares at things.

Justice and I gave talks in church this morning, but left right after sacrament meeting due to Cora still being sick. We are hoping that she bounces back soon.

Here are some random funny, or things that I think are funny, stories from our adventures around NY are

1) While driving down the street past the old folks home we noticed a line of 10-15 people standing by a white vehicle, I thought it was a Handi-bus or something picking them up but as we got closer we realized that it was an ice cream truck, apparently the food there isn't so great

2) People in NY love to tell you what to do, and us having a son like Izaac brings this upon us even more so. We went to Ikea in Brooklyn a few weeks ago and Izaac found a little baking dish toy that he loved and he was climbing onto the shelf pretending to go into a house and put into the oven, well after a minute of that I tried to get him to come out of the shelf and put the toy back he can be very stubborn so it took a few minutes of me pulling and struggling and bribing to get him to move on... well as this commotion was going on a kindly Ikea employee comes up to me and says that he really shouldn't be playing on the shelf as he could get hurt... oh, well thank you, ya the reason he was screaming was because I was forcing him onto the shelf it's a good thing you came along to lend your support... seriously drive me crazy.

3) o.k. so I can only think of two stories right now but I wanted it to look like more so I made another number... hehehe

View of Lady Liberty from the Ferry
Playing on the ferry coming back from Manhattan
I told Izaac that he couldn't have a cookie until he looked at the camera and smiled for me and this is what I got, silly boy!
(Yes this is Izaac's new car seat I convinced Justice that Cora needed a girly thing to grow into and Izaac would be out of it in a few months leaving Cora with a lovely girl car seat for many years to come!)

We looked at some beautiful Greek style buildings around the children's museum We will definitely be going back around there they have all kinds of gardens and beautiful old buildings to look at.
Cora drivin the boat

We went to the children's museum on Staten Island and Izaac was of course drawn to the water exhibit

Cora loves standing up these days, she won't take any steps unless we are holding her hands but she gets so excited to stand on her own

Not my baby, so when I put Cora's hair up in ponytails she looks sooo much like one of Ashley's babies, it is so crazy!

Izaac in his big boy underwear in the kitchen

Visit to the ocean that is a block from our house

Justices first day of school!!

Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to turn it, I forgot to put this on the last post but it cracks me up every time so I am putting it on now!

Cora has started to growl like a dinosaur whenever she sees one it is so funny to me whenever she does it!

On the way to New York

Well I have been a little lazy what with unpacking and painting our house and haven't updated my blog for awhile but here it is and it will be as long as Izaac lets it be Hopefully his cereal will be a distraction for long enough for me to write a few things. We didn't have a specific plan only highlights we wanted to see on the trip so I made headings just for the fun of it.

Montana

We left Vegas one Very hot day and made our way up to Montana where my parents met us with the kids. The went back home that same night but we stayed a few days with Justices parents. We had fun having Bonfires, swimming in Swan Lake, and just visiting. Izaac Loved the lake, we could barely get him out when he was shivering and blue. I was surprised that he liked it so much considering it was so cold but my by loves water.

Magrath

*We made the jont up to Magrath on a Tuesday or so and had fun visiting with my family. Grandma Harrison kindly let us take over her basement. There was a Harrison family Reunion going on so we got to see many people that we wouldn't have normally so that was really fun. My beloved sister Ashley was also there with Madacyn it has been years since we have actually seen each other, I had never met Madacyn and she hadn't met either of my kiddos so it was a fun get together!

*We did skip a day and went to the Calgary Zoo, I had been wanting to go for years now but that was the day as there was a coupon on my cereal box that morning giving one free admission, Justice agreed and off we went to Calgary. It was really fun Izaac Loved seeing the animals especially the Elephants he just stared at them for awhile, it was really cool to watch them eat using their trunks to pick things up and move things around. Cora loved all the animals too signing "Puppy" for each of them

*Justin Harkers band Air Raid Anthem came up from Vegas to do a show in Magrath and it was amazing, It should have been for all the work Aunt DeNai put into it, We took the whole family mostly because everyone was going and we couldn't find a babysitter to watch them but it was o.k. Cora slept in the hall with my dad who was in charge of collecting the food bank donations that was the toll for the concert. Izaac had fun running around with Madacyn, eventually, letting Justice and I dance a bit. It has certainly been awhile since I have been to a dance like that Good times!

*Magrath days is always eventful with parades and petting zoos and family and fireworks. I skipped out on helping with the Lions breakfast this year, Sorry dad, we woke up late and hurried back to the babies. The parade is always fun Izaac doesn't quite have the candy getting thing yet but I do and i appreciate having a kid as an excuse to go out there and get some which all of the family sitting on the chairs behind appreciated (Your Welcome). Grandma Harrison had made a lovely meal after the parade which we all devoured in a matter of minutes before going to the petting zoo. Izaac loved all the animals again and insisted on feeding them, Unfortunately they were not wanting to be fed. It was hilarious as he tried to feed a tall Llama, he held up this piece of food for at least 5 minutes waiting for the Llama to take it, then the Llama finally sat down and realizing the Llama wasn't going for the food from his hand he brought the whole tray over and sat it in front of the Llama, unfortunately the Llama still wasn't going for it so he tried bringing another tray over but was intercepted and distracted by some goats. there were baby goats and huge goats, Izaac saw many people carrying around the baby goats and decided he wanted to carry a goat also, only he picks the biggest goat around awsomely enough I got it on tape! still funny!

The kids liked the fireworks well enough, at least they didn't cry.

We spent the rest of our time there visiting with the Davies side of the family We had fun at FHE at Bennetts and visiting with everyone including the Cooks who are now Magrathites again!!

Mt. Rushmore

The thought of a 13h trip to start off with sounded good in theory but definitely didn't turn out that way, me made it to Billings, MT the first night and thought of the Hildreths as we stayed in their lovely city. then another night somewhere in Iowa, before finally making it to Mt. Rushmore. We got there late but it was o.k. as we were just in time for the lighting ceremony where they turn the lights on the faces it was really cool even if my camera doesn't do it justice. Another stop we made in SD was to the Worlds only corn palace, we saw roadside adds and decided we couldn't live without seeing it so we stopped and looked at all the building and murals decorated completely out of corn it was pretty cool and a nice stop on the way.

Nauvoo

We got to Nauvoo and met up with Uncle Gregg and family who were there as part of the Pagent, Uncle Gregg was Brother Merryweather and they both are in charge of the preshow activities. They kindly let us stay in their house for a few nights and graciously showed us around Nauvoo. We went to the Pagent twice so we could get to see the parts we missed through wiggling children. It was really amazing and fun to see.

Carthage/Kirtland

We saw Carthage jail on our way away from Nauvoo and although we had loud fussy children we were glad we got to see it. Kirtland was our next stop and we got out own tour due again to said loud and fussy children. It was a nice quiet little town that amazing things happened in. really cool.

Palmyra

We Went through the Smith farm and Sacred grove and it was beautiful, The grove is huge and there are trails that you can follow, we took the shortest one but it was lovely.

Niagara Falls

We got to Niagara Falls a little late which was good for us as we got to skip the $10 parking fee and walk around for free. Niagara Falls was not a disappointment. It was AMAZING we saw it from a few different angles and it was beautiful and awe inspiring,

New Home in Staten Island

Our home is Beautiful. Justice did a great job picking it out for us. Only problem is is that it is HUGE and our stuff barely fills it up It is three levels the three bedrooms are on the top floor, the kitchen, living room and dining room are in the middle and the garage, playroom and laundry closet are on the bottom, there is a bathroom on each level as well. It is fairly new and there is a bit of a back yard for the kids to play in.

We painted the middle floor, after living in places with white walls for so long we went for colour!! They said we could paint so we went for it, pictures of that are to come. We have gotten a few things for our house including a futon for the playroom that anyone is welcome to use as they visit us!! So... Come and Visit US!! Seriously, Any time!

Love to all!

-Pilgrims

There are more pictures on my Facebook page