Thanksgiving weekend

This Thanksgiving holiday we traveled to Colorado Springs to spend a few days with Mark and April and Jared. It was so fun to see their new little guy. He is rather cuddly. Lisa said he was the cutest baby ever. Lisa's presence was definitely felt (and heard) in the Spencer home, but April and Mark were patient. She gets so restless and seems to need constant entertaining, but it usually just takes a little attention.She's taken a recent liking to coloring and will do it for quite awhile if someone just sits with her, which April did several times. Ryan also took her to the movie theater on Thanksgiving morning while the turkey was cooking. Although, she almost has to be bribed into going! As long as she gets a popcorn and soda, she might be willing to sit through a whole movie. I tried to do a lot of the prep cooking before going to April's so we mostly just had the turkey to take care of which left time for visiting and playing a game while Ryan and Lisa were at the movie. The day after Thanksgiving we went to a place called Garden of the Gods that has cool rock formations and to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Lisa loved feeding the giraffes--I was amazed at how brave she was. Lyra slept through the whole zoo trip. She loves her snuggly bed in the wrap. The drive was a little long to Colorado Springs, but the trip was well worth it. And we may finally be getting the hang of these long distance drives--which toys work best for Lisa, how to keep the car from becoming a disaster mess, bringing along healthier snack foods and lunches instead of just doing fast food, etc. Lyra did get a little tired of her car seat. When we stopped on the side of the road so I could nurse her, she fed for a only a few minutes and then stopped and looked up at me with the biggest smile, as if she was saying, "Ha ha--I'm out of my car seat!" I love her smiles.

Funny things she says, Part 2

Ryan has been reading books about dinosaurs and the earth and extinction and stuff and this morning Lisa was reading one of the books out loud to a pretend audience. Here's a sample of the story in her words: "Don't you wish you could live forever? Well, you can't always get what you want. There's ex-stinky and stuff." She also loves to play pretend preschool and made me smile the other morning when she called me "Miss mommy". (All her teachers go by Miss so-and-so)
Her new favorite role: loving, touchy, fun, big sister!

Californian Halloween

This year we used Halloween as an excuse to spend a week vacation in Ca. My mom hadn't seen Lyra yet and I really didn't want her to have to wait all the way until Christmas, so we planned a very fun trip. Ryan even went backpacking for a few days. Lisa loved playing with her cousins and spending so much time with family. We even got to take her to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm--I loved that place when I was a kid! She was terrified of the goats until she saw the other kids using a brush on them. Then she was all about getting those goats. Cade made sure we got out of the corn maze alive and then we went back to the Fieth home for carving pumpkins. On Halloween Night, Lisa was a garden fairy princess. I didn't get very many pictures that night...I was too busy trying to throw together last minute costumes for me and Ryan. We dressed up as a girl scout and boy scout. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of Ryan in Aunt Lisa's hot pink pants. They matched my cool hair. Lisa had fun trick-or-treating first with Grandpa Lee and then with Cade and Cameron. After trick-or-treating, Ryan and I went to a PETS show in Sacramento and had a lot of fun dancing and even singing along a bit. I don't get to see many of Derek and Alison's shows so I was glad we got to go. While we were in Ca we also got to visit with Grammie and have a nice dinner at Davin and Tara's. Grandma Marje and Grandpa Joe came over to mom and dad's and it was so sweet...Lisa just jumped up into Grandma Marje's lap and started playing with her. And Grandma Marje just played right along.
I included a few pictures of Ryan's backpacking trip in the Big Sur area. A lot of the trail went right along the coast with a great view of the ocean. I was so jealous! But it's still a little early to be leaving Lyra for more than one night. We are thinking about another trip to Ca. in the spring so that we can finally go backpacking together again.

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