I was born in a chicken coop

Well the last few months around here have been interesting to say the least. I will begin with the month of November which was Mr Noah's 6th birthday. We had a quiet sort of birthday, just had a little pizza party with the grandparents. Always a good time :) Noah is such a special kid, I always refer to him as sort of an "old soul" He is so sensitive and compassionate. He is also very much a boy. We started him in Tae Kwon Do in October and he is really enjoying it. He has advanced two belt levels already and is the only kid in his age group that has earned the Orange stripe belt. Needless to say we are pretty proud of our little guy ( who I guess really isn't so little anymore)
The girls were also dedicated at our church in the month of November. All the Grandparents and the Salter's came up and we had a great time :) Baba and Grandma Sandi got each girl a special engraved silver cup. (each cup had the name and the date engraved on it)
The other "big" thing in November was a trip to Great Grandma and Grandpa Noid's house in Utah. We drove there on the Wed. before Thanksgiving and Returned that Sunday, so it was a short trip but way worth it. The drive there and home was remarkably uneventful, thats saying alot considering we were traveling with three wee ones. Thursday I prepared the thanksgiving dinner for everyone and I am proud to say that things were done within 15 minutes of my "target" time. Cool. Here is a photo of the Turkey ( my prettiest yet) and the "spread"

Here are some other photos of the trip :)



Julia with Great Grandpa
Julia with Great GrandmaGeese ( I love this one)


It was a LONG ride home :)

While in Utah we were able to visit the Hill Aerospace museum at Hill AFB. My Grandfather was stationed there during the Korean war. It was really fun for the kids to see all the different types of airplanes and helicopters. They also were able to sit in an ejection seat. They thought that was pretty neat.
This is actually three photos "photoshopped" into one that we used for this years X mas card.

We were also able to visit Dinosaur Park. It is a park that has a ton of fossils and life size models of tons of different dinosaurs. The kids really liked it, although Reyna was a little unsure of all the dinosaur noises and was convinced that we were soon going to be eaten. She insisted that Daddy stay with her so that she would be safe ( so sweet!)
So I am sure you are wondering about the title of this blog. Well while we were in Utah, I took Eric and the kids by my old house, the one that we lived in until I was about 5. It is no longer there, it was actually condemned shortly after we moved, but in essence it was a huge warehouse of a chicken coop, with some living quarters attached. When I was very small things were rough for my parents. They were young with a tiny baby. My dad was in the nursery business and often only had work 6 months in a year. Anyway the whole point is that when passing by the lot where the house was ( there is now a new fancy one) All I could think of were all the good things about living there. Like the garden in the back, I remember going out with my dad and picking strawberries and eating them. I remember my little bedroom that my daddy built for me. I remember my rabbit, who I named rabbit, eating birthday cake. Millions of memories like this. So, this is a shout out to my parents, that even though when I was small and we didn't have much stuff, those memories are some of the best in my whole life. It makes me realize what really matters. When I look at my three kids I hope that we can give them those same kinds of memories ones that don't revolve around stuff, but moments together. Like camping every summer and working outside in the garden. Anyway kind of a weird ending to the "November" blog but the craziness of the last few months has really gotten Eric and I both longing for simplicity. I doubt that life will ever be "simple" but it sure could be less complicated :)