Of course, trying to remember everything we did a year ago, is a lot. So I will just see what I can get through, and we will pick up and do more after that. The first thing I remember us doing is celebrating Alliyah's birthday with her family at Chuck E Cheese. We had actually never taken the boys there before, and they had a blast! They kinda poked at the pizza...silly picky boys! They sure did enjoy the car like racing games and the music. We played with the boys, danced with the boys, and just had fun. I do think the Chuck E Cheese costumed guy kinda freaked Jacob out, but he wasn't even a year yet, so who can blame him? Check out the pictures below of all our fun:
The next fun thing that I can remember that happened in November was Russ and Diane's birthdays. At this point, I had only been diagnosed with IC for a few months. I decided I wanted to learn how to make a cake from scratch. I can't remember if I had made one before this time or not, but since Russ and Diane's birthdays are a week a part, I thought it would be fun to make them a cake completely from scratch and let Xander help. Well, something you have to know about the Richins family is that there are enough birthdays in November and December that most of them prefer pies over cake; specifically Diane's apple pie. I have to admit, being an avid cake lover, I have always thought this was a little weird. Who doesn't like cake on their birthday?!?! Of course, my birthday falls in June. Anyway, we made them this yummy cake and Xander helped decorate it. It was at this moment that I became a real wife and homemaker. Because during this dessert Russ had seconds on the cake and Scott requested a cake INSTEAD of apple pie for his birthday, which has never ever happened. Score one for Virginia! Here are some pictures of our fun:
So according to my picture log (the order of the pictures from my camera), we actually put up our Christmas tree in November before Thanksgiving. What can I say? We have a fake tree and love Christmas. So we took some fun pictures of that. There are also some cute pictures of us at the park too! So here are a few more for you to enjoy:
Okay so until I looked at the pictures, I had totally forgotten that a very crucial life moment happened to me last year. I. Got. My. Wisdom. Teeth. Taken. Out. I know. Insane! What you have to know about me is that dentists freak me out. As a child, we didn't go to the dentist that often, and I got blessed with bad dental genes. So most of the time, when I went to the dentist, they were filling cavities. To tell you how bad it was, right after Xander was born, I went to the dentist and they had to fill 8 cavities! Who has that many cavities? I mean seriously! I guess it didn't help that I threw up multiple times a day for six months and brushing my teeth triggered throwing up, but still! Anyway, our current dentist is awesome. He is so awesome, that after we bought the house, we decided to still drive to Draper to see him. I finally felt like I could trust a dentist, and took the plunge! So I only got two out, because luckily I only had two. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Even the recovery wasn't too bad. Now I am a lot less wise, and have two less teeth! Here are some photos of that moment:
Another first that happened for us in November was that Scott did his first home improvement project! The banister leading to the stairs in our house had railings that were so wide, Jacob could fit his whole head through, and he would do it often. One day, we decided to see if he could fit all the way through and Scott handed him through the bars to Russ. That is when we knew something needed to be done! So until we had the materials, we put lots of boxes in front of the railing to protect him. Scott and his Dad worked and added metal railings in between each wood railing. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how it would look, but we love it! I just realized I neglected one last thing! We did yet another project in November. Scott transformed our broom closet into a pantry, with the help of Russ of course. This is quite possibly one of the best gifts he has ever given me. I can't seem to find those pictures at the moment, but for now, you can at least enjoy the pictures of the railing project. Below are some pictures of them taking on the project:
Okay guys, I know this post is getting long, but bear with me. I think we are almost to the end of November. If I can get through a whole month tonight I will have done great things! So below, I just decided you needed to enjoy a few more pictures. There is everything from Jacob discovering the Christmas tree, to Xander biting Jacob...oh the joys of brothers! We had quite the battle getting Xander to stop biting Jacob. There are also some fun pictures of us painting sun catchers for the boys to hang on the Christmas tree. Jacob was pulling all the ornaments off the tree, so we had them make a couple ornaments and then hung a ton of Christmas bells as ornaments. We also walked to Stake Conference around this time too. It was fun getting all bundled up. The boys had a really hard time sitting, so we just ended up listening to most of it in the Nursery. Jacob even fell asleep on the way home. Oh and there is a picture of me visiting with a couple of my old mission companions, Sister Van Pelt and Sister Cook. It was fun times! Enjoy the photos:
Okay, if you have made it this far, you are a true friend, or just love photos! The last big thing that happened in November was Thanksgiving! I can't really remember much of it. I know we got a few new cute decorations including kissing pilgrim salt and pepper shakers. I also remember thinking that Jacob would absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving because he loves food. At this point in time, he would eat anything we put in front of him and tons of it. Well, he surprised us on Thanksgiving because he wouldn't touch anything, except maybe the rolls. Silly boy! Here are some pictures of our fun:
Well, I hope you enjoyed those! There may have been stuff I missed, but at least you have a good picture, or lots of pictures of what November looked like for us! Tune in next time for Delightful December!
