Thankful

Today I am thankful for

- good friends and sisters who come over to my house to play.

- free dinner tonight at Wingers.

- a cute little boy who makes me laugh. The other day he sneezed and told me it was "that bless you thing." I love him.

- friends having babies- especially after waiting so long for their little miracle to come.

- an amazing husband who goes to work everyday and doesn't complain about the long hours. He's my rock and I'm so lucky to have him.

- phone calls from my mom.

- comfy yoga pants- because that's what I like to wear on days like today.

Gardner's Village

We took a trip with Janelle's family and Grandma Petersen to the Wee Witch's Weekend at Gardner's Village. There were some pretty scary witches roaming about.

As you've read in other posts- Nate loves riding horses! He was so excited and well worth the extra $3!

Nate, Coby, and Tay in the hay maze.
Steve was chosen to take the kids to the petting zoo since only one adult could go in.
The kids thought it was great- you could walk right up to some of the animals.
Nate played on these rocks by this pond for quite awhile. Steve was a sport and watched him while the girls shopped!
I loved the Christmas store up there- I want to go back and buy some new Christmas ornaments.

Tay got his dancing groove on with this scary witch!
(they were supposed to be dancing although I'm not sure why it just looks like they're having a conversation!)

Aquarium

Steve had Thursday and Friday off the week before my birthday. We opted to stay home and do some fun things around here instead of going on vacation somewhere. We called it our "stay-cation!" On Thursday we went to the Aquarium in Sandy and lunch at Cafe Rio.
I love going to stuff like this- it's so neat! The best part is- a year pass was only $16! I'm looking forward to going again- especially when the weather gets colder.

Driving the boat- Nate loved it!
(and let's not kid ourselves, Steve looks like he's having a great time too!)

The best part of the whole aquarium was touching the Sting Rays.
(and YES- I touched them too. I might have screamed just a little when I did though.)

On Friday we went to see the Movie "Where The Wild Things Are."
Nate loves the book and was actually pretty entertained by the movie (especially the movie treats we snuck in in my big MOM bag.)
On Saturday we watched the BYU game at my grandma's house- which is a tradition I missed when we lived in Missouri. We had dinner, more treats than you could eat, and good company!
It was a fun "stay-cation!" I wish we could do it more often!

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

We met a bunch of friends from Kirksville at Cornbelly's.
We spent a good part of the day there- it was really fun to see everyone who came!
Nate really liked this jumping pillow as long as no one else was on it.

Nate and L were too afraid to come down the big big slide by themselves. They sat up there for quite awhile just looking down it.

Riding the cow train!

Racing rubber ducks

Climbing through the train.

Down the slide.

Giant Rocking Chair.
Nate, L, and Taegan

We'll have to play again soon girls! It was fun!

Happy Halloween!

Temple Square

(click on the link below- button doesn't work)

We LOVE Temple Square in Salt Lake City! We're thinking about taking a trip up there in the near future so Nate can see the Salt Lake Temple. I can't wait to show him this website tomorrow!

Check it out!

Click the link below

Temple Square in SLC!

(Thanks Helene for the link!)

Stuff

1. I put on my blog a few weeks ago that I'm going private... I really don't want to but want to do what's the best/safest for my family.

I need Advice from you--private or public? and WHY?

Some things I thought of doing if I stay public:

1. Change my blog name from "Hillam Family" to something that doesn't include our last name

2. I saw on someone's website there's a way to change your settings so people can't "right-click" on your pictures and save them as your own...

Does anyone else have any recommendations for staying safe but also staying public?

2. Steve has Thursday and Friday off this week! Since my b-day is next week (only a few more days until I turn the big 29-gasp!) we're going to have a fun-filled birthday weekend. We were going to go out of town- but opted to stay home for a "stay-cation" instead! We're going to play, eat, shop, and visit the Provo Bakery for some smiley face sugar cookies. (I've been craving them for weeks and because it's my b-day, I might just get more than one!) It's going to be awesome--posts to follow I'm sure!

We went to the bean museum for FHE on Monday- check out how brave Nate was!

3. People keep asking me if Nate if 4--he's only 2 1/2!! I guess it's because he's so tall and he does talk really well-- but FOUR!? He's growing up too fast as it is.

He is at a really fun age right now and says the funniest things. I have a notebook by my bed that I write all the funny stuff down so we can laugh about it later. For the life of me can't think of a single one to share with you right now. Well, that was anticlimactic! Just take my word for it- I laugh all day! lol

The other day when he couldn't find his Lightning McQueen he used my toothpaste and was totally fine with it. Whatever works right?