Happy Thanksgiving!

We are incredibly THANKFUL this year to be back in California! John worked this morning and then we spent the afternoon and evening with my Aunt Jenifer, Uncle Laure, cousins Phillip, Kelly and Bryan! I also made Kaylee's Thanksgiving dress this morning when I realized that nothing in her closet was very "festive". Oddly enough, "Turkey" is Kaylee's nickname so I thought this fabric would be fitting for both her and the holiday!

Kaylee spent the afternoon chasing Kylie, Bryan & Kelly's chocolate lab. Getting Kaylee to look at the camera with Kylie running around was impossible! Any guesses as to how many times one of us said "Kay...I mean, Kylie" or "Ky...I mean Kaylee"

new pajamas

I have been trying to stay away from the flame-resistant pajamas for Kaylee since they are laden with crazy chemicals. I thought I had been buying the right ones, but it turns out there is no such thing thanks to the feds...I'll spare you my PSA on this topic though (unless you want to hear it). You can buy organic pj's online but they run $50+....um, no thank you. So this week I decided to start making Kaylee's pajamas. I didn't have a pattern handy so I ripped the seams out of an older pair of pants and used them to draw a bigger pattern. I impressed myself! Last time I tried to make pants (USING a pattern) they weren't even wearable! I attribute my increased sewing skills to my sewing teacher Nancy back in Sanford. She's one of the few people I'll miss in NC.

Incase you can't see it, that is the John Deere logos on pink plaid. :)

I'll use long sleeve shirts for the next pairs though since we're headed into colder weather. These pj's are flannel but I think I'll try fleece next. Off to Joann's to find flame-retardant free fabrics!

Kings Canyon National Park

We now live 1 hour from the Kings Canyon National Park! I've grown up seeing the redwoods but they are still an awe-inspiring piece of nature. John had today off so after lunch we headed up...and up and up and up through the smog layer, then the fog layer and out we popped at 6,000ft elevation.

Kaylee had a great time picking up sticks and pinecones.

We asked some German tourists to take our picture but I should have just used the timer function...not sure how you take a blurry picture on the auto setting, but here it is.

John should've worn his camo pants too, I wouldn't have been able to find him!

Coming back down the mountain we hit the fog line again and had to pull over for this shot.

We are enjoying being back in California for sure!

Whirlwind!

After 2,688 miles and approximately 40 hrs of driving we made it to CALIFORNIA!!

We stopped in Barstow, CA for lunch on our last day of traveling. They have a nice little monument area that we walked around.

Kaylee was the most awesome traveling 2 year old in the history of traveling 2 year olds! She watched Tangled 17 times. I tried changing the movie, but we all agreed that we just loved Tangled the best. Kaylee's carseat was and is still rear-facing. We had no issues keeping her entertained. (Just throwing my PSA in) :)

We arrived to my cousin Heidi's house and stayed with her and her husband for 2 days. Jason treated us to donuts....oh how we've missed real donuts! This is was Kaylee's first donut EVER! Think she liked it? ;)

On Monday, October 31 we got the keys to our rental house and the Mayflower truck arrived! What perfect timing, God is good!

Kaylee was so excited to unpack her toys that she hadn't seen in 3 weeks. She was very busy while we unpacked and we soon found her sound asleep on the floor. This is the first time she's ever fallen asleep on the floor anywhere. :) Too cute!

We moved in on Halloween and had plans to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood with our cousins that night, but Kaylee threw up before they were supposed to arrive so we canceled the plans. She didn't get sick again so I think it was just the stress of everything and the fact that we had eaten fast food for over a week straight! But we dressed her up and trick-or-treated at our own door. Then she helped me pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters!

We're slowly getting settled in and enjoying having family so close! John's Starbucks is 10 minutes from our house! And there is one within walking distance from the house! Dangerous! Kaylee and I have walked to that one already. :)