For the first time in 17 Thanksgivings…Steve and I were not together on Thanksgiving. It had a lot to do with carving out a spot for a boys’ trip as well as letting it be a time when the crowds would not be there. This year, Steve and Jacob decided to go backpacking by themselves, while the girls and I made the trek over to Fallon, Nevada to see my parents. So while they headed west, we headed east.
The girls and I headed over to Fallon early Wednesday and beat all major traffic. We had a great dinner on Thursday with lots of family and friends. It was fun for the girls to have dinner with their great grandmother on my mom’s side. They also were able to visit a farm and see the animals, or should I say the little girls did. Kaitlyn visited the farm last time and had no interest in going this time.
Thanksgiving Day
My 81 year old grandmother
Sophie fell asleep in her chair after a long day
Here are some photos of the boys adventure in Henry Coe State Park. They had a great time and never saw another soul until they were on their way out.
Even though we went on a trip, this was still a big birthday year for Sophie. If you know Sophie, you know that because she is such an extrovert, nothing makes her happier than having lots of people around her. And if she is the center of attention at that event, only better.
*As a side note, this year we have asked some of her favorite people to digitally record stories for her. Starting on her birthday, every morning she has been read a story. I thought she would like this, but i had no idea how much. She loves it and has the biggest grin on her face. She usually asks to hear a the story several times and is so excited that she can keep listening to these stories. I believe she ended up with over 22 books read to her. It has been so fun and we love that her friends are willing record themselves, so reading some pretty silly stuff too.
The weather did not cooperate, so we moved the party indoors to our friends Darrell and Sandie’s home. I am still amazed we were able to switch the locale for 25 people so quickly.
Sophia: post pinata 
The pinata her dad picked out and she loved it!
Kait was the head of games and did a great job.
Maddy
I love this picture of Kyri and Sophia
Brownie Heart Cupcakes for her pink party
Sophie is wearing this adorable hat that Sarah Hornacek made for her.
Sophie with her Sienna and Isaiah
Sophie with her grandparents wearing her “Fancy Nancy” crown from Jill Loya
Rick, Grace and Sophie
Garrett and Sophie
Friday, we decided to enjoy some of the So Cal beaches. I took the girls to one of the beaches I used to go to when I lived down there. So we went over to Newport Beach and took the ferry over to Balboa Island. It seems like some places never change. I treated them to one of my favorite things from there, a chocolate dipped frozen banana. We then spent the rest of our time enjoying the beautiful ocean. As different as each personality is in our family, we all simply love just being at the ocean. I think it is our favorite place in the world.
My little water baby just celebrates at the ocean.
To me, this is a perfect day
For some years now,the girls and I have been talking about starting a new tradition of an annual girls’ trip. We said we would wait until our youngest member was six and so this year we launched our tradition on Sophie’s 6th birthday. We made a trip down to Southern California to visit Disneyland and California Adventure.
Thursday was the big day and we celebrated it with a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. The weather was a perfect 76 degrees with blue clear skies. When we got to the park, it was not crowded at all. We did every ride and attraction on our list, some twice. We really loved that we came right after they had transformed the parks for Christmas. It was amazing to see all the work and all the little touches. We really loved being able to see the holiday parade as well as the holiday fireworks show. They even ended the fireworks show with show machines all around the park. My little girls thought it was all pretty magical. It was simply a perfect visit to these parks.
November 19, 2009….Sophia Carmen Henning is 6!
Maddy and Sophie with Mr Incredible
My girls…what an amazing arrangement of personalities. I love it.
Sophie was not shy at all about meeting Sully
Ready for Bug’s Life
Sophie is fearless…. and silly
Kait…maybe some fear
Sophie and I with our birthday badges…we met a lot of people this way
The girls are ready for the Temple of Doom…Sophie barely squeaked by on the height requirement
Kait ready for It’s a Small World all done up for Christmas
Sophie loved this fiddler. He had the whole crowd sing happy birthday to her.
We loved our first annual girls’ trip.
Sophia has had a special one of these figurines for each of her first five years. Here she is on her last day being five.
I think as a mom it is my kids’ birthdays that I struggle with more than my own. This was certainly one of those years as my baby turned six. The first five years are such a special time in the lives of my kids and it was hard to swallow that this time period was ending in our family. The other day I was talking with a friend of mine whose children are all grown. It is hard to leave certain stages and even the idea that we no longer have babies at our house is really difficult for me. She assured me that when you have loved being pregnant or loved nursing or just simply cherished those times, it is hard to move on and it certainly is a time to allow yourself to mourn it a little bit. So while I am celebrating my healthy, growing children I do mourn the days that have passed far too quickly. I am also trying to hold on to the days of present and just where we are right now. Motherhood is a funny thing. I told this same friend with regards to Kaitlyn, our oldest that it almost seems ironic. I am doing all these extra things for Kaitlyn. I am trying to provide the very best opportunities so she can get into a great college; basically I am preparing her to leave me. It is almost counter intuitive to my heart, but it is what we do. I think it is one of those things my head understands, but my heart does not.
For today, I simply choose to look at my kids and appreciate them right now.
