Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful weekend, very deserving of its name. My sister Ruth Ann and her family came from New Jersey and another sister, Mary and her family, including her mother and father - in-law came from Kansas, and of course my brother John and Sara here in town all came to our house for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. Mary's family stayed at John's house but we made sure to spend as much time all together as possible. Ruth Ann got here Wednesday evening. We stayed up talking and laughing till way too late. The next morning I got up early to put the turkey in the oven. We had 30 people here for Thanksgiving, and a very large turkey! I don't know how we fit everyone, but we did. It worked out great. I was just happy all day long, having my family here.

Jake and Ruth Ann and darling Spencer

Mary and David and their sweet Rebecca

John and Sara

The girls having so much fun with their cousins

I LOVE this picture. They were having so much fun together.

After our Thanksgiving Lunch the games began. What would be a game day without Risk??

It got so intense everyone ended up standing for the majority of the game.

Hayden had fun playing board games with cousins too.

It was nice enough outside the the kids went out and played for a while.

That night we stayed up late again talking and laughing. Then at almost midnight Ruth Ann and I decided to try out the Black Friday sales. Ruth Ann had never done the Black Friday shopping, and wanted to get a taste of it. We had so much fun at 1:00 am in Wal-mart.

Friday was a relatively warm day so we met up with everyone at a park that is about halfway between our and John's house. It was a great plan. The kids had fun getting out of the house, playing. We had a picnic and played. Then we went on a great walk on the walking trails.

My handsome nephews, John, Keaton, and Stephen

Isn't that an adorable little guy!!??

That night we were able to have a little siblings date night. We all went without our kids to Friday's. Ahh, I love these people. We had such a great night visiting. Then we all went to Target for a couple little last minute Black Friday sales.


Once again, stayed up too late talking Friday night - but so worth it. Early Saturday morning I got a call from a friend in our ward. Her water had just broken and she was having her baby. So we added 4 more kids to the mix. They were actually very good kids and just fit in with the crowd. We hung out at our house and played games, talked, and ate all day. That night we celebrated the 1st advent all together. The first advent (One of our family's German Christmas traditions) wasn't actually until Sunday but we wanted to celebrate while we were all together, before everyone went home on Sunday. We made gingerbread houses. Each family had their own house to decorate.

It was getting a little late when we started the houses, so David had gone back to John's with a couple of their kids and his mom and step dad. (That's why there are a few missing from the pics)

This was such a wonderful weekend. It was the perfect medicine. Spending time with family just helps me feel like myself again after all these huge changes. It was a much needed vacation weekend for everyone. I'm so glad I have wonderful sisters that are willing to drive 12 hours just to keep their little sister happy. And an amazing brother and sis-in-law that live here. It's been great getting to know John and Sara more and more and spend so much time with them. They, unfortunately, are moving to Wisconsin this summer.:( I will miss them - but it isn't here yet, so I'll enjoy the time I have with them!

My Beautiful Birthday Girl

This beautiful girl had a birthday

On November 16th

She had a very fun, very busy birthday. Her preschool Thanksgiving program was on her B-day. We went to see her sing. I need to download the movie, but considering I'm already 2 months behind I won't wait to add the movie. She was singing her heart out though.
After preschool we came home, got lunch, and got ready for her birthday party. Honestly, I didn't really want to do a party but she really wanted one, and we did Hayden's first friend party when he turned 5 so I wrapped my brain around the idea and embraced it:) I'm so glad we did it. It was a lot of fun. Lots of work, but lots of fun.

We had a stuffed animal party. (Thanks Aunt Rebecca for the idea) Each of the kids brought their own stuffed animal. When they got here we made a name tag for the animal and introduced the animal to everyone.

Here are most of the kids. Just missing Riya and Emma who came only a few minutes after the picture:( Wish I could photoshop them in.


Next, sticking with the "animal" theme we played Duck, Duck, Goose. Then we played pin the tail on the donkey.




After that we did a game similar to the cake walk. They walked on paper plates in a circle with an animal pic on it. When the music stopped I called a name of an animal. If it was the one they were standing on they got a piece of candy.

The last activity was making a fleece blanket for their animal. Y'know, after all that dancing the animals are tired and ready for naps. I had fleece squares cut out, with the sides cut into strips. The kids tied them in knots.

Rebecca is not a fan of cake, she prefers vanilla ice cream, But you can't have a birthday without cake! It actually made it much easier for me. We just had cupcakes with frosted animal crackers on top.









That night Jerry was able to get home a little early, so we had a little cake and ice cream before bed and she opened the family gifts. It was a great day.
Here's a little about my girl at 5 years old. She is really growing up. She loves Squinkies, make up, and coloring. Her best friend in Indiana is her friend Hannah. They are 2 peas in a pod.

Rebecca's new thing is blasting her "Victorious" cd and dancing, jumping, or coloring. Basically she's happy, so long as the music is playing loudly. (Does it make me a cool mom, or an embarrassing mom when I sing and dance with her?? I actually like the music) :)

She is my health nut! Not out of trying to be healthy, but naturally she loves cucumbers. If given a choice between cucumbers and chocolate - she chooses the cucumber. Her favorites are fruits and vegetables of any variety. She loves them all. Oatmeal, spaghetti (cooked and raw) water - she's not a juice fan, yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and hot dogs.

She LOVES Luke, and Luke LOVES her. She can get him to laugh more than anyone else. She loves to hold him and talk to him. As soon as he wakes up in the morning, it's as if his cry is her alarm clock, and she comes running.

She is in preschool and learning so much. In fact tonight she read a book to me. I was so shocked to see that she really could read most of the words. I'm so proud of her.

She still loves her skirts. She's found one pair of jeans that she likes and she'll wear maybe once a week. But the cold weather in Indiana hasn't stopped her from wearing skirts. She likes living in Indiana, but at least a couple times a week she talks about something she'll do when we go back to our house in Indiana. We explain that we've moved, but I don't know if it's really sunk in yet. I guess she'll figure it out eventually. One of the reasons she wants to go back to Las Vegas is because they have 7-11 there where she can get a slurpee. haha.

She loves her "Giraffey". That is her stuffed animal, that she can't sleep without. Sometimes I think she truly believes Giraffey lives. It's very cute.

I know, I've gone on and on about her, but I LOVE THIS GIRL. She is so fun. Yes, we butt heads occasionally. I think it's because we are so much alike. She's my mini-me. I'm so lucky to have this sweet, fun, spunky girl as my daughter.

Luke's Baby Blessing

Look at this cutie!

Just precious!

On Nov. 6 we blessed Luke. It was a beautiful day. John and Sara came to our ward and John stood in the circle. Jerry gave Luke a beautiful blessing. We are very blessed to have Luke in our family.