An ABC view of our week in review

The mother of all posts...this is a long one. :) Decided to do an ABC rundown of our week's events....

A is for APPLES---caramel ones to be exact. Every year we have a caramel apple bar around Halloween...with all the goodies. Toffee bits, oreos, Reeces, nuts, crushed Twix bars, sprinkles, etc. This year I decided to cut the kids apples into pieces and let them decorate each piece so they weren't so messy (and wasteful). It worked awesome!

B Is for BREAKFAST and BOB EVANS where Mindi, Jenny and I went to savor a meal without kids and husbands who don't appreciate or care for a REAL breakfast. Guess it's just part of the male Holloway genes. B is also for BRAVE--the husbands took all the kids swimming at the hotel pool... :)

C Is for COUSINS...cute ones at that. (I debated doing this picture for D...deer in the headlights look. Come on Jenna! Would it KILL YOU to give me ONE nice smile with normal eyes???)

D Is for DARLING!!! Jenna and Cailyn were fairy princesses for Halloween...ballet dancers....whatever works with a tutu and wings. :) Mindi and I made the cute tutus and the girls loved them! (well...Jenna DID until she realized she was getting a new leotard...she then just wanted to be an exercise girl. But with absolutely NO CHOICE, the tutu went on and she happily danced her way down the block collecting candy as she went! :) Jessica was a cute little princess. And the boys? They were monkeys. Cute monkeys. But unlike all of you, we were racing to get ready in time, and the sun was setting before we could get any pictures...I have some from Jenny's camera, but will have to post those later. They were cute though! Halloween just took a major backseat in my life this year, and I really didn't do as much as I normally do. I have to admit, it was a nice change of pace.

E is for ERIE, Lake Erie that is...we made a stop there after visiting the Westside Market on Friday morning. We had the PERFECT Halloween weather. SUNNY and almost 70. GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!

F is for FANCY MCdonalds. That was on Trav and Jenny's top list of things to do while they were visiting us. Strange request? Perhaps. :) But it was sure fun!

G is for GRANDIN printing press in Palmyra, where the Book of Mormon was first printed. What an amazing history and beautiful building to see.

H is for HARD ROCK CAFE, where we stopped and ate in Niagara Falls. I am sure our server thought we were totally cheap, and really we spent most of our "deciding" time figuring out how we were going to divide meals to feed everyone without getting completely ROBBED....did you KNOW a kids meal there is $7.50, and PUNY?? :)

I is for ICE CREAM, which we ate almost every night. Ben & Jerry..you are welcome in my home any time. :)

J is for JEWELRY that aunt Mindi bought for the both girls before they left. Jenna loves her new little necklace...and it's fun to think that Cailyn has the same one. Just somethin' special they can share. :)



K is for K, RELIANT....alright, that's a stretch, but you get he point. Brandon and his brothers went to a Reliant K concert at the House of Blues on Halloween night. I was SO glad they got to go and spend time together...even if they didn't really make plans (or tell us about them) ahead of time. :)

L is for LEAVES and beautiful fall colors, which we saw TONS of on our walk along the Erie canal with Jenny and Travis on Saturday evening. CHECK OUT THE SIZE OF THIS LEAF!

M is for Moroni, whose statue can be seen atop the Hill Cumorah.

N is for Niagara Falls--it was FREEZING. We really didn't even stay very long because it was so darn cold! This was a good and bad thing. Good in that we were able to hurry and be on our way. Bad in that I had been DYING to take some great shots (or at least try) while there...I just couldn't get it. WINDY, COLD, WET. Bad combo. But BEAUTIFUL nonetheless!

O is for Olivia, one of Jenna's little friends, who had a little playdate on Thursday. We got to go have lunch with the girls at her house and then help Cailyn and Jenna make a little Halloween craft. It was so fun and festive!

P is for PALMYRA, where we rented a house for 2 nights. It was so nice to be there so close to all the sites!

Q is for QUICK STOP, which we made while driving through Upstate New York. The air was chilly, the leaves abundant--it made the perfect place to stop and stretch our legs.

R is for ROCHESTER, NY--home of the Strong National Museum of Play...A.K.A. the most AMAZING children's museum I have EVER, EVER SEEN! We took Cailyn while Jason, Mindi, and Baby Jessica went to see some sites in Palmyra and the kids had SO much fun! We didn't even make it to HALF of the museum...it went on and on and on....and there was SO much to do. I am trying to talk Brandon into spending an entire weekend there sometime. It is only 4 1/2 hours from here and would be SO worth it!

S is for SACRED GROVE, where we went our first night in Palmyra. I tried to get some pictures of Jason and Mindi there but due to a quickly setting sun and uncooperative kids, we just didn't get much there...:) But it was beautiful--and peaceful--when the kids weren't running around or screaming.

T is for TEMPLE, where we got to go through a session on Tuesday morning. It was so nice to go. Jason and Mindi traded off with us, watching the kids while we went and visa versa. Funny story there: Mindi forgot her skirt and had to borrow mine last minute. So as I was walking out, she snagged me and we ran to the restroom and switched clothes. I am sure it looked VERY funny!

U is for UNBELIEVABLE VIEW we had from the house we rented. It was gorgeous!



V is for visitor's center at the Hill Cumorah, where we took pictures by the statue of Christ.

W is for WHINING--sorry Mindi, your face was perfect in this shot and I had to put it! Trust me, Mindi wasn't the whiner--the girls were. 2 four year old girls who shared a love-hate relationship with each other. When they were happy, they were really happy. But when they weren't WATCH OUT WORLD! Despite the arguments, bickering, and fights, Jenna is already praying Cailyn to come back. Let's hope her prayers reach heaven. We would love that!

X is to fill in how many pounds I probably gained this week eating all sorts of good food...yum.

Y is for yucky weather. We had rain/light snow in Palmyra--it was grey and dreary--but once we got back to Cleveland the sun came out and we had a great rest of the week.

Z is for zzzzzzz's which we lacked and are still lacking. We stayed up way too late, the kids got up WAY to early, and we were on the go, go, go. :)

Whew....there you have it. The condensed version. We really had a great time. Thank you Mindi and Jason for making the long drive--and Thank you Jenny and Travis for staying a couple days--we are so excited about your interviews for podiatry school and hope you end up moving out here to be close to us!!! But then again, you already KNOW we think this. :)

And for anyone else up for a visit, we LOVE visitors and anyone is WELCOME! We promise a good time... :)