A beautiful and warm November allowed for a lot of outdoor play. Carson and Bracken continued to love playing outside: swinging, digging, and chasing one another. They continue to enjoy one another more and more each day. Bracken is beginning to understand how to play with others and Carson is beginning to understand that Bracken is fun to be with.
Bracken had a big month. He turned one and was baptized. For his birthday, we celebrated with family and persimmon pudding. Mommia and Granddad came out to watch the baptism so we got to spend some time playing with them. The baptism was wonderful. Bracken seemed to understand what was going on as he rolled his head backwards and looked at Nate and seemed to say with his eyes, "Bring it on." As he gets older, Bracken continues to get better and better at feeding himself. Every meal is fun for him and not so much for mom. But the more he practices, the easier meal time will become.
Thanksgiving was different this year because Nonnie and Pop, Morgan's parents, were out of town for the holiday. We started the day by running in a 10K Run for the Hungry and then we came home and began preparing for the evening meal. We had friends over and celebrated with Tamales and Churros. Nothing turned out very good, but it was fun to attempt something different. We also had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal when Nonnie and Pop returned. We got to host and prepare most of the meal (with Evin's help). Celebrating twice allowed us to spend even more time thinking about all the things we are thankful for.
We went for the second year to get our own family Christmas tree. Last year we decided to start getting fruit trees instead of the traditional Christmas tree. Last year we got citrus, this year we got an apricot tree. With two crazy kids in the house the tree has to be on the counter!
We also continued to landscape. We are now working on our fire pit area. It is a family affair: Pop on the tractor, Nonnie watching the kids and giving us her advice, Nick digging holes, Morgan directing, Carson destroying and digging up everything, and Bracken following Carson's lead.