Good Times at Rigg Ranch

This year we got to spend another Thanksgiving with Taber's family in Grand Junction, Colorado. We love his parent's property, even in November when the leaves are gone and winter's approaching it is still so beautiful. Here are some of the things we love to do at Rigg Ranch.

Horse back riding with Grandma Karen.

This year Brinley really got into it and looked so cute up in the saddle with Grandma.

Teya got to ride with her Aunt Sarah and enjoyed it so much she asked for a second turn.

The kids also love playing in the dirt pile that Papa Rigg made with his tractor.

Here's Teya with her cousins Landon and Parker.

They literally spent hours digging and playing there.

Fishing on the lake is Taber's favorite thing to do.

The day we flew in he hopped out of the car, grabbed a pole, and was on the lake within 10 minutes of our arrival. I saw him out there with the girls a couple of times. And one day he just went with Brinley. She was pretty excited to be out on the lake fishing with her Daddy.

She wasn't as excited about the fish they caught. You can tell by the way she's looking at it she's not too sure about that thing.

Teya on the other hand LOVED the fishies and was happy to carry them around and couldn't wait to eat them. She is her Daddy's daughter.

Many hours were also spent shooting guns. I'm not a huge gun person so it's not really my thing but Taber and his brothers and nephews went through their fair share of ammo. They did a lot of skeet shooting and also had some stationary targets to blow through. Now Taber thinks he wants a gun for Christmas. hahaha!

Nieces, Nephews, Grandpa, Uncles, Cousins and in-laws shooting 'em up at the Ranch.

Another highlight was catching up with all our relatives who live so far away. Here are the girls with their uncle Bob. We used to live 20 minutes away from him in California. Now we are on the complete opposite side of the country. It was so nice to be able to meet up again and spend time together.

Teya was also thrilled to meet her newest cousin, Rockwell Rigg, born just 7 weeks ago! I think it made her super excited for baby brother to get here!

Mom and Dad Rigg live down the road from a Dinosaur Museum so we always make it a point to visit while we're there. I love this picture of the kids staring at one of the dinosaur displays. Their faces are pretty concerned...

And this is why:

(I'd be concerned if I was a kid seeing that for the first time too!)

This year we also got a little dusting of snow. It was the girls first snow this season since we still haven't had any here in New England. It melted later that day but they were so so excited to go out and play in it.

What a wonderful week in a beautiful place. Every time we go there I think it would be so cool to build a house somewhere on their property and be able to enjoy those activities all the time. I'm sure these two wouldn't complain...maybe someday : )

Turkey Day

Besides all our fun adventures on the ranch here are a few highlights from the actual Thanksgiving festivities.

The day before we kicked things off by taking the kids to see Tangled in 3D. Seriously one of the best kids movies I've seen in a LONG time. It passed the 2 year old test AND the Taber test (meaning he actually stayed awake through the whole thing, and liked it!) Teya loved it and had a really cute moment at the end. There was an emotional scene and I saw her wiping big fat crocodile tears away from her eyes and 3D glasses. Finally she took off her glasses because they "stopped working." When I put them on to see what was wrong the lenses were covered in her buttery fingerprints from wiping at her tears. What a little sweetheart!

On Thanksgiving morning Taber and I got up bright an early so I could go cheer him on at his Turkey Trot. It was the same 5K we did last year but this year it was FREEZING!! 11 degrees at the starting line. That's colder than the Winter Frolic 5K we did in Minnesota in February!! I was glad I had my warm gear on!

Despite the cold Taber tore it up and finished strong in 23:17, beating his time from last year by over 2 minutes.

Papa Rigg was there to support him as well. What a good Dad to brave the cold!

After the race the boys went shooting while the girls finished the final prep for Thanksgiving dinner. All of Papa Rigg's kids were in town for his 80th birthday so we had over 30 people to feed! With so many people we had to split up into two rooms and Taber and I ended up at "kids table," which isn't too bad since most of the "kids" are grown up now : )

Our kids had t.v. trays on the couch. It was a tight fit but miraculously there was room for everyone and the food was yumm-a-licious!

Mmmm... Pie....

Like everyone else on Thanksgiving, we stuffed our faces till we could barely move and then chatted the evening away with all our fun relatives. So glad we got to be with everyone on such a great holiday.

Uda's in Grand Junction

To top off the awesomeness of our trip, my parents made the 4 hour drive down to Grand Junction to spend the last two days with us while we were in town. I was SO happy that I got to see them and they were able to spend time with the girls. I also feel grateful that they get along with my in-laws so well, they were welcomed with open arms to all of the Rigg festivities. It was just the perfect way to complete our vacation.

The day after they got in town I left the kids with Taber and went shopping with just my mom and dad. As one of 8 kids it always feels super cool to get one on one time with my parents, even if I am 30! I relished our time together and loved having them with me.

Then we met up with Taber and the girls at the Dinosaur Museum.

Dinosaurs are always a hit with these two.

Later than day Taber took me and my Dad out on the lake for some fishing. It was fun watching my Dad wrestle with the fish.

First catch, he's pretty proud of himself : )

Me and my Dadio on the Lake

Dad had a great time and brought in the biggest trout of the trip. Taber caught a few as well and I even managed to get one.

My parents also joined us for Taber's Dad's 80th birthday celebration. Again, having them there just made everything feel complete. I love them so much and am so grateful that my kids have 2 sets of amazing grandparents who love them so dearly.

Seasoned Travelers

Living far away from family isn't ideal but all our trips back and forth have turned our girls into seasoned travelers. I was reminded of how good they are on long plane rides when we were stuck in the "kid section" of the plane with a bunch of screaming babies and whiny toddlers. Teya and Brinley were the only ones not melting down. So glad we're past that stage of stressful flying.

Of course one of the things that made it so easy was that Taber (being the ever considerate husband he is) gave me the quiet seat by two sleeping adults while he sat between our girls. They weren't whiny or fussy but they kept him busy with their requests for snacks, crayons, games, movies, toys, drinks, stuffed animals, etc... He did a lot of maneuvering in that tiny space to meet all their demands.

And after a few hours of that he passed out. What a sweetheart : )

Other things that make flying easier, DVD players, new movies, sippy cups (we've had enough spilled airplane drinks to know now to bring our own cups) lots of snacks, color wonder markers and pads...

And car seats. On our last flight we skipped the car seat and Brinley was a squirmy little worm. This time we brought it and she was happily contained and able to take solid naps on the flight there and back.

Also we couldn't handle our vast amount of baggage without the trusty Sit and Stand stroller/smart cart. Seriously love that thing!

And that's the end of our travels for 2010! Now we're just going to hunker down and wait for "Big Baby" to get here. : )

Friday Foto: China dolls

A couple years ago my Dad went to China and brought back these darling little dresses for Teya. They were way too big for her at the time so they got shoved in the back of a closet and forgotten until a few days ago when I was digging around and found them. I was so excited that they fit the girls so I had to do a photo shoot complete with little buns in their hair and a pinch of eye make-up for the complete China doll effect.

Oh the cuteness.

Princess Brin Brin

Thanks for the great dresses Dad! The girls LOVE them!

Michigan Birthday Celebration

To celebrate the big 3-0 we went to Michigan to party with our super good friends the Hogges. We flew in on my actual birthday so when Laurel picked us up from the airport she had a birthday princess sash and flashing butterfly tiara ready and waiting for me. I felt pretty awesome in my birthday bling.

I was also a little biased in the way I dressed the girls that morning. : )

When we arrived at the Hogge palace the festivities began. We munched on supreme nachos made with all the fixings and homemade chips!

Then it was cake time! Laurel made me a GIANT cupcake with butter-pecan cake mix and cream cheese frosting. Hello taste bud fantasy land! (p.s. I think Brinley looks like a total mini-me in this picture!)

We decided that 30 candles might be kind of intense so we divided by 10 and settled on 3 ; ) The girls did a great job helping me blow them out.

After cake they busted out a pinata! Everyone got to take a whack at it and I was impressed with how solid Teya and Brinley's hits were.

Here's the Rigg Fam in action:

And the Hogge fam getting their pinata skills on.

After the pinata it was time for presents. Taber put together a day trip to Boston for me that involves going to this custom handbag store where you get to design your own bag and then they make it and ship it to you. He also got tickets to the Museum of Fine Arts which I've never been to so I'm excited for that. The best thing he got me though was a maid cleaning service to help me out in my last trimester!!! I am so excited for that since scrubbing toilets and mopping floors is getting harder and harder with my big belly.

I got thoroughly spoiled by everyone and was especially excited when I opened Laurel's gift, a free family photo session!!! Like I mentioned before, she is an amazing photographer and the thing I was looking forward to most was getting our pics taken by her.

We did our photo shoot the next day and all I can say is I am SOOOO excited about the pictures! Laurel really captured some sweet moments and I just can't wait to get them and put them up everywhere because I love them so much. Anyway, a huge thank you to the Hogges for hosting me on my b-day and making my day so special! It couldn't have been a more perfect day : )

Other Michigan highlights

On Friday night we made a bonfire in the backyard and roasted hot dogs and s'mores.

The campfire food was delish and the kids enjoyed roasting their own food. After we put wee ones to bed we stayed up ridiculously late playing games, eating and laughing. I think late night double date nights are one of the best parts of staying with good friends. : )

The next morning the boys got went out canoeing for a little "man adventure date." Taber and Nathan have been close friends since the 2nd grade so it's always fun when they can get together, catch up and good off.

When the boys came back the whole group headed down to Detroit for some sight seeing. I'll admit that most of the sights were a little depressing since a good part of Detroit is run down and abandoned. The river walk was beautiful though and it was fun to see Canada on the other side of the river.

Here are some of the pics we took on the river walk and in front of the GM headquarters.

After our day in Detroit we came back and left the kiddos with a babysitter so we could head out to Ann Arbor for a couple's night out. We found this fabulous Indian cuisine restaurant called Shalimar and ate like kings.

For dessert we stopped at Schakolad chocolate factory and loaded up on caramels, truffles, toffee and of course, chocolate!

I had to throw this picture in at the end because it made me laugh. Taber was taking a pic of me and Brinley on the plane ride home and the dude behind me did bunny ears! So random but funny!

Anyway, the whole trip was tons of fun. We ate A LOT, we played a lot, and had a great balance of family time, kid time, and couples time. I'm so glad we got to go, it will definitely go down in the books as one of the best weekends ever!