Thanksgiving parts I & II

    We had two Thanksgivings this week and both were good fun and good food. First we had an early Thanksgiving celebration with the Kmetzsch fam. Thanks to Justin and Cassity for hosting.

   It was an early Christmas miracle when cute, tiny Elsie let us cuddle her for a minute.

    Then on to our second Thanksgiving celebration. The only drawback is we had to drive all day to get started and we left behind a few of our 'finest' children. (Mainly Tanner, Kayli and Mark are side notes at this point. Ha Ha)

We all survived with only a few squabbles along the way. It was Isaac and his tablet that really caused the most annoyance. I'd post a video to show you what I'm talking about but I don't want to face the wrath of Isaac.

 We spent our fist day exploring the caves. We had a great time and all the kids were good sports! Talk about amazing weather for November!

I can't believe how happy Charlie was to explore with us, especially up and down some pretty steep stairs.

Thanksgiving day was great. Yummy food and good company. Thanks to Ann and David for hosting.

    I got a few people to play my 'wrapped' candy bar game. They may have been annoyed but they were all good sports and didn't cry or throw any tantrums, which was quite impressive considering the speed and pressure of the game.

Tad was the official turkey carver and he did a great job.

So much fun!

Believe it or not, the weather has been so pleasant these crazies actually went on a boat ride. And what's even crazier, David and Dyrin actually did some wake boarding! Fun and memorable!

    I stayed behind and did a fun craft with my sisters. I think they turned out pretty cute.

 We took the kids bowling but it was a little too busy, for us, so we played arcade games instead.

Isaac made his $7 bucks count.

Greg even got in on the action.

This little girl insisted on playing the big kid games, which was pretty silly!

McClane was determined to get as many tickets as possible and came out with a pretty good haul of prizes.

This kid is a gambler and loses every time and then is just bummed the rest of the time.

Carter also made his $7 go as far as possible.

   Not photographed are the many cousins, aunts and uncles we got to visit with up at the ranch. I never can stop visiting long enough to snap a few photos but it was a great time. Our fun time is nearly done and we've really had a great visit. We also have seen a movie, "Wonder" a must see! We hope to do a few more fun activities today and then of course we'll end our trip with a nice, delightful, Sabbath day.The only down side to this visit was the family that couldn't be here but they were thought of often and the kids I left behind were spied on regularly!

45!!!

     Greg is getting so OLD!! (Ha Ha) We have a great man in our lives who takes time to camp with his boys, is the best example of a hard worker, serves so many people and is just the best father, husband and friend.

Sand dunes camp outs are the best.

     Isaac helped one of his best friends celebrate her 16th birthday.

Bobbi and Isaac

    And we all helped Greg celebrate his big 45!

Battery tender, candy and some shorts to wear on the stationary bike.

 

Oh and the much appreciated card and money from the in-laws. He looks puzzled but really he's just annoyed that no ones looking at 'his fish'.

     So that's the excitement from our week. We're all looking forward to the coming week we get to spend with family, it's going to be GREAT!

    And P.S. Isaac passed his learners permit test so he's that much closer to being an independent, driving teenager. Heaven help us!!

A few things

     Not the busiest week but I did take a photo or two. Our cute Smalls finally got a much needed hair cut. You'll see his before photo at the end of this post. He's wearing sunglasses to hide his shame at being so 'disheveled' but in this photo he couldn't be cuter!

    We finally had a cub scout pack meeting after a 5 month break! I'm not sad about the break but it was good to get caught up with things. And check out the amazing talents of some of our new cub scout leaders, seriously amazing! And after a record 30 minute pack meeting the Bishop has given me permission to hold pack meetings quarterly!!! I've never been happier about my cub scout calling!

Look at the front of the Dot boxes carefully, they actually say "Cubs give thanks."

     These two are my most favorite four year olds!! Believe it or not, 'tiny' Sara is actually two months older than Charlie despite the huge height difference. (I grow mini-giants and our neighbors just grow mini's.)

I bought this cute outfit in a size 5, it was a bit small on Charlie so I bought it again in a size 7 and gave Sara the size 5. It's a little big on each of them but that just means they can be 'twins' for the whole winter. (And for $12 I didn't mind buying this outfit twice.)

Here's our scraggly 'monster'. He's fun!

     So that's our week of fun and photos. Greg's birthday is Sunday and he's currently on a scout camp out with Carter. We intend to celebrate with pizza, peach pie and ice cream, which should be good and easy. (And Greg did receive his birthday card, Mom but he won't open it until Sunday, but thank you in case we forget to tell you later.)

Happy Halloween

   This year we indulged the kids and let them do the Main St. trick or treating here in town a day before Halloween and it was actually pretty fun and who's going to say no to extra candy!?

I'm down to four candy collectors.

     Charlie enjoyed the elementary school costume parade with her best friend, Sarah.

Princess Charlie and Sarah. They high fived every elementary kid who noticed them.

    This is the first time in a few years I only had two kids participating in the Halloween parade.

Two years as Darth Vader, easy and cool!

     This Halloween we varied from tradition and let the kids spend most of their evening doing the traditional trick or treating instead of visiting family and friends for most the night. I think I prefer this new Halloween night schedule. (I got to stay home and hand out candy and mostly relax since we don't get a lot of trick or treaters at our house.)

The princess became Spiderman for a minute. (I should have sent her around the neighborhood twice but she has no 'staying' power!)

A beat up hobo.

    Kayli wasn't about to miss out on the fun and joined the kids trick or treating just as soon as she got home from work. I'm liking this married daughter situation a lot!

'Wendy' and Princess Charlie enjoying a little cotton candy. (Kayli insisted on the costume change from Spiderman back to a princess. It's a good thing Charlie had her princess dress on under the spiderman costume.)

    The night ended at a decent hour and everyone was happy! Halloween 2017 was a SUCCESS!!

I think everyone got just what they wanted. 

     Now let the holiday season begin. Soon we'll be celebrating Greg's birthday, Thanksgiving and then it will be Christmas before we know it! 

(Is it Spring yet!?)