Thanksgiving Photo 2013

Annual Dudley Thanksgiving Photo!  Best picture taking weather we've had in years for the Thanksgiving picture.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Johnsons!

Thankful Half

 A few months back, Camille asked for me to run a Thanksgiving Day half marathon with her.  Unfortunately, my pain levels have been so intense that running down the driveway brought tears, running 13.1 miles was out of the question.  However, I didn't want to miss out on the fun!  Thankfully Annette could join Camille in running the race, and they both put up with my loud cheers while they ran.  The race was at Thanksgiving point and on a gorgeous morning for late November.  The Johnson ladies ran wonderfully!  Camille even PRed!  The surprise of the day was Kelly driving down to meet his girls at the finish line. 

 Half a mile from the finish! 

Keeping strong!  I watched as Annette and Camille passed several runners in the final stretch.  It's so exciting just to be at a race, even if I can't be in the race.  

Kelly and his girls!  The refreshment table for the runners included the usual bananas, Gatorade, and water but also included some Turkey Day treats including Pumpkin Pie and frozen turkeys for the runners to take home!  So much fun.  Way to go, Annette and Camille!  Hopefully I can join in the fun next time.

Little Cuties

 After a year of being consumed with cake decorating, I remembered how much I liked taking pictures!  We took Faye and Miss P to Wheeler Farm for a friend photoshoot.  Unfortunately, I'm rusty, but hopefully the pictures turn out fantastic next time.

So much personality in such a tiny body.

Luckily the girls didn't mind if the pictures turned out fantastically or not, they were more interested in the farm animals.

Trick-or-Treat Practice

 Faye is still not talking much, and I'm hoping we can teach her to say "Trick or Treat" by Halloween.  Miss P and Holli joined us for a practice round of Trick-or-Treating today up at the District.  Luckily we had Miss P's cute voice to win over all the store employees.

Holli made Miss P the cutest pumpkin dress!  I still can't get over how adorable the whole getup is.

I have yet to dig out Faye's costume for this year.  So, as an improvisation, Faye was a scarecrow today.

Break time to check out their loot!

We ended our Trick-or-Treating spree at Marble Slab to find our sweet Tilly ready to play!  The girls had a blast chasing each other around in circles and eating some tasty ice cream.

After ice cream and a bit of candy, the girls were on a bit of a sugar high.  We took them to a park to work off their extra energy.  Miss P enjoyed pushing sticks through the holes of the playground stairs.

Faye loves to climb up to the biggest slide at any playground, but then is content to sit up high instead of enjoying the slide.  

Luckily we still have a week to work on saying "Trick-or-Treat."  Hopefully Faye will get it down by the big day.

Birthday Get-Away

 Alan's request for his birthday was to spend time at the Stratford Family Cabin.  Luckily his birthday was the same week as fall break, so we happily trekked northward for some down time.

We stopped at the local market for supplies.  Logically, as we saw the giant pile of pumpkins, we suck out baby in the middle of them.  

It's always a good day at the cabin.  We are grateful to have had the chance to stay. The weather was perfectly crisp and plenty of leaves were on the ground to crunch.  Even better, we were joined by Samm, Amy, and their wee lass.

Faye and Kaylee happily coloring together while the grown ups played games.

 The girls loved playing in all the leaves.

After Samm and Amy's clan left we enjoyed some family time together.  We went for a walk to check out the neighboring cabins/houses.  Faye did so well running up all the hills! 

Of course, after a good walk what's better than some ice cream.  Alan taught Faye the proper way to dish out dessert.

Even though we only spent two nights at the cabin, we had a blast!  Faye was worn out from all the fun.  Luckily Woody was willing to snuggle her on the car ride home.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Oh pumpkins, how do I love thee?  When my mom and Heidi suggested a trip to the local pumpkin patch to take pictures of the girls I was ecstatic.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to run home and grab Faye a dashing outfit to wear, but there's a certain charm to Faye's excitement about the pumpkins while wearing some basic play clothes.

 

To the side of the pumpkin patch was a corn maze.  Faye was excited to explore, and this picture is one of my favorites from the day.

Comic Con

 I don't even know where to start with our Comic Con adventure! Attending a Comic Con has been on my bucket list for ages.  San Diego's Comic Con is one of the biggest (I would still LOVE to go), but it always lands on Faye's birthday, that's a whole expensive trip to Cali, and it's not in our budget at this point in life.  Oh Boy, was I ever excited when they announced Salt Lake's first ever Comic Con for this year!  Alan and I bought our tickets several months in advance, planned and made our costumes, and were even more thrilled to hear the rest of the family wanted to join us!

My favorite part of the day was Reed and Faye's matching outfits.  Reed requested he and Faye matched and was very particular about the style of Batsuit I picked out for Faye.  It melts my heart how much those two love each other.

Our cousin, Spencer, flew in from South Dakota to join us on our Comic Con adventure!  I'm so glad he could come, it was so fun to have him with us.  He decided to dress up as a man version of Misty from Pokemon.  He titled his character "Mister."  I can't believe how lucky we got at the thrift store to find a yellow jacket and red vest in his size that worked perfectly for the part.

Mom was very stylish and dressed up by aquiring pins from various booths.  Vivvy was on team Tibbitts sporting a Start Trek uniform.

After waiting in line for an hour or so just to get in the venue, we took a group shot.  Faye clearly had a long wait in line and was ready to explore.

There was so much to look at, she didn't know where to start.  So many people, so many booths, so many outfits, so many noises, so much fun!

Alan and I went as the 10th Doctor and his Tardis.  Luckily we heard on our Trax ride there was a Tardis set up for photo op.  Even luckier was Mom's brilliant suggestion to take a picture on the back of the Tardis so we didn't have to wait in another line.

I did my best to add a bit of Tennant's style to Alan's hair.  Some how we wound up with nearly the same hair-do!  As a side note, this is the first time I have ever seen product in my husband's hair.

There were so many great cosplayers!  I practically squealed with excitement each time somebody walked by.  This amazing Dalek costume was the hit of the day!  Poor fellow barely made it 10' before somebody new would ask to take a picture with him.

I jumped in to take a picture with this lovely lady sporting a Tardis fez.

Seeing this little weeping angle made my day!  Just looking at the picture makes me giddy all over again.

I had dreams of asking young children to autograph a book for me while wandering about that day.  Unfortunately children at Comic Con are less likely to sign a book than the children at Disneyland were.

There was so much to do!  There were QA sessions with actors...

Nerdy themed lunch areas to grab a meal.....

So many fun booths to check out (this particular booth sold Harry Potter themed soaps and lotions)....

I loved all the art work!  Next year I plan to save up and bring some cold hard cash to spend.

We thought it best to not visit Quark's Bar, but the name sure made us giggle...

Ghostbusters Vehicle!

Balloon-animal Hulk!

Demonstration for the Fear Factory.

 Some memorable moments from the day:

• There were SO many people.  We would hear snippets of conversations about exceeding the fire marshal capacity for the Salt Palace, AND THERE WAS STILL A HUGE LINE TO GET IN.
• Faye didn't handle the large crowd very well.   She had a bit of a melt-down every time we started looking around.  Luckily she fell asleep in the stroller after lunch and we were able to get some good adventuring in.
• Reed got separated from the group without a working cell phone.  After searching for him through the crowds for some time, we finally found the information booth and had his name read over the intercom.  After calling his name twice, Reed found us.  
• While waiting for Reed, William Shatner walked out and was surrounded by a wall of fans chanting, "Shatner! Shatner!"So great.
• Alan found his friend Scott's family- they were pretty decked out in their favorite character's costumes, too.

By mid afternoon, everybody was pooped.  There were so many people at that point it was hard to see anything, the babies were so very ready for some quiet time, and I had to head to work.  The Trax ride home was much less crowded.  Faye thoroughly enjoyed the open space.

 

So lucky that Faye smiled this time.

I'm so glad we got to go to Comic Con!  I can't wait until next year.