Unexpected Visitors

For Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. Abby was so excited!

Friday my sister-in-law Alix called and said that they were coming to visit us this weekend! We were surprised and excited. Abby had so much fun with Noah and Preston. They brought their choo choo trains with them, so Abby was in heaven! Kevin even cooked us some great food, including some great guacamole! Alix also made yummy homemade rolls which we ate very quickly. It was so nice to have them with us this weekend and we are excited to see them in 2 weeks!
Matt and PrestonKevin and AbbyEating breakfastPreston and Abby in the playroomTrainsGoing out for a walkOn SundayThe whole family
Kevin and JenNot long after my brother and his family left our friends stopped by on their way home from a couple days in Las Vegas. We like them so much and hope to spend more time with them!

Thanksgiving Pictures

We had a great Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's. We were able to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, great Granny Ruth, Matt's sister Heather, her husband Brandon and son Dexter. Abby and Dexter have more fun with each other each time we are together! Here are some great pictures of our fun filled time. We are so grateful to live closer to family!

Abby, Granny Ruth and even some pictures of Sugar Bear.Abby and "choo choo" Grandpa (notice the pajamas!)
Grandma Barbara's birthday!
Grandma and Grandpa took Abby to Knott's Berry Farm and to ride a steam engine train on Thanksgiving morning. This was taken before they left the house.Abby and Dexter!Thanksgiving DinnerMatt and Heather
Hot chocolate made by Grandma Barbara

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! We are visiting Matt's family in southern California and Abby is off at Knott's Berry Farm with Grandma and Grandpa to ride a steam engine. She was so excited when she left! Since she is gone I thought I would quickly post some pictures on the blog.

We've been quite busy since our last post. Abby and I went to Tempe for a quick visit, Matt's parents and my parents came for a Veteran's Day visit, I played for vocal juries at Cal State University Bakersfield, and we've been getting to know our new ward.
First for the Tempe visit:
Abby and I hit up our favorite mall with lots of good deals to buy some Christmas presents and Abby had to ride the carousel. This time she chose the zebra. We also grabbed a kids Subway sandwich to share.Abby tried out a scooter for the first time with her friend Lucy.We went to say hello to our friend Jennifer Addison and ask her a medical question. Abby apparently stuck some napkin up her nose on the drive to Tempe and sneezed our a large wad the next day. I was afraid there was more, so we went and asked nurse Jenny. Abby was okay and in the process acquired a very cute little rocking chair to take home. The Addison's are so kind to us!Natalie and Abby saying a sad farewell.In preparation for the grandparents visit Abby and I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I am not use to cleaning a big house! It took a long time. Abby loved the vacuum attachment, so she had fun with the stairs.We loved having both sets of grandparents with us for a few days. Abby was in heaven!
My Dad tuned my piano and we played duets on the two pianos. We also played an organ piano duet in church and everyone loved it. They all want him to move to Bakersfield too!
At one point Matt went outside to do some work on the backyard and my Dad said "Where's Matt?" When I told him he was outside he jumped right up and joined him. He cannot stand to see someone outside working unless he joins them!We had a yummy ham dinner at our home complete with china plates and the nice glasses. We had to push everything away from Abby because she get s little bit grabby.We also celebrated my Mom's birthday at a Mexican restaurant close to our home. They sang a very loud, fun rendition of happy birthday to her!We all went to Hart Park and fed the ducks (which ended up being "coots" not ducks), ate a picnic lunch and played on the toys.Grandma Karen with Abby.Grandpa Mark, Grandma Karen and Abby.

Many members of our ward have known each other for a long time--many grew up together. So we really appreciate them opening up their circle of friends to include us. Last weekend we went to a mystery dinner party on Friday set in the 1920's where Matt was a golfer named "Eddie" and I was a jazz singer named "Torchie." Neither of us was the murderer.
Saturday we ate another ward members house with a few families and Abby loved playing with the kids. At one point the hostess came to me and said, "Abby is naked in the bathroom and wants to take a bath." Apparently she had gone to the bathroom (a good thing), stripped naked, played in the toilet and then wanted to take a bath. I was a little embarrassed but grateful it was only urine! We laughed and cleaned up. Fortunately Abby did not get her clothes wet, so she was dressed the rest of the night! What a funny girl she is!
Sunday we invited over a family from our ward. I teach their boys piano lessons and we really enjoyed having them over for dinner.
I will post some pics from Thanksgiving later on. It took us almost 4 hours to get here last night due to traffic, but we are here! Time to help make dinner!