November

Well the kids and I have been stuck in our house for pretty much the entire month of November. We have gone through a number of sicknesses each and are all going stir crazy with the impending cold weather getting ever so close I was hoping to get out a bunch this month but I guess it just wasn't to be. oh well.

The kids have become addicted to Barney which I was very grateful for a few weeks ago when they would just sit and watch it for a few hours while I was resting on the couch barely able to move. Thankfully those days are gone!

I was so excited for Thanksgiving this year we had planned to do it at our house with a few friends I had a certificate for a free 20 lb turkey from Path-mark We were going to watch the Macy's parade in the morning. Yep, it was all good... until Izaac got sick... again. He had weird sores on his lip and as the days went on they got worse and he got louder and louder screaming about his mouth hurting. He spent three nights in a row awake ever hour or two screaming about his mouth. It was rather intense. I took him to the Dr. and where Izaac refused to let them look at his mouth but they diagnosed him with strep throat any way... we are pretty sure that he doesn't have strep throat. His throat isn't even red... we think they are more like cold sores and read that in children during the first brake out it can be much like what Izaac has. Any way not being sure what Izaac has we cancelled our plans and were recluses for Thanksgiving. But I still had that 20lb'er so I cooked him up any way.

Actually we did go in to the parade but we didn't worry about being there super early to get the perfect spot or anything like that we hit the 9;30 ferry and got to the parade route about 10:30 of corse it was PACKED. We watched the balloons go by as we walked around the kids were mesmerized by all the billboards and people and bubbles everywhere so they had fun just being there. We did see Santa at the end of the Parade so that was kinda cool. We came home to napping children where I cooked our scaled down version of dinner. It was actually really nice just to be together as our little family.

Izaac's sores (the red drool is from a popsicle)

Izaac chasing Pigeons while waiting for the Ferry

On the train

All the leftovers! Cora thankfully did her part with the turkey and just kept eating! she would finish a piece and then sign "more" she was so funny

Halloween

We tried to go to a pumpkin patch but it was closed and rainy so we went to a pumpkin stand thingy and Izaac loved it just the same He was so excited to see the pumpkins and to get to choose one.

We went trick-or-treating on 69th street right by Central park, Apparantly THE place to trick-or-treat in Manhatten. They block off traffic for 2-3 blocks and every house is elaboratly decorated, they even had a star wars themed show off the one building above where they were repelling off the side of the house. The kids loved it, Especially the going around asking for candy part They really could have cared less about all the decorations really as long as the candy was there!
All ready to go except that I forgot to put Izaac's hood up for the picture so he just looks like he is in a black jumpsuit but Izaac was a spider and Cora a bee

Trick or treating

Cora would often get offended if people passed her by without giving her candy, The curse of not being able to walk. I keep trying to convince her to learn. Actually she did take a few steps twice but I guess it wasn't all it was cracked up to be because she hasn't been interested since

Fall pictures

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"