Thanksgiving

It's just not the same when we're here all alone. I think the highlight of our day was wandering through Walmart. We had to get medicine for Natalie and took the long way around to the pharmaceuticals. When we returned home, we finished preparing our meal and attempted to sit down and enjoy our Thanksgiving feast. I don't think all seven of us were ever sitting down at the same time for more than a minute. We managed two drink spills and three meltdowns before Brent and I sat down together. By then, the kids were done picking at their plates and wanted to go play. In the midst of it all, Megan graced us with her keen observation, "Thanksgiving is such a weird holiday...I mean the whole day is all about eating a big meal. It's just dumb." Hmmm. Maybe we're going to have to rethink how we do this holiday in the future.

Perhaps dinner left a little to be desired....but pie time never leaves us wanting.

And it's just not Thanksgiving if Dad doesn't take his obligatory after-the-meal nap.

All in all, it really was a good day, especially when we have all of this to be thankful for:

It's Tradition Now...

The annual kindergarten classes' Native American feast. So it looks like the brown paper sack vests and froot loop necklaces are still a hit.

Matthew

November 2005

Jeremy

November 2008

Andrew's Happy Birthday

Poor little guy has to wait all year for everyone else to have his birthday before we get to his. He's got it down now. Whenever he sees a birthday cake or candles he calls it "happy birthday". We took him to Walmart the other day so he could pick out his own happy birthday-he chose yellow cake with chocolate frosting, he hugged it close and wouldn't put it down.

This morning he woke up to balloons and a big yellow dump truck in his room. He was so excited about the balloons, he ran right past the truck, kicking the balloons all around his room. And then....he discovered THE TRUCK!



After we got everyone off to school, Natalie and I took him to the Children's Museum at the Gateway.

It took me a while to get him past the first display....

And then he discovered the water, another word for heaven in Andrew's vocabularly....
Now here's somethng new...

It wasn't long before he sat down in the lift and pointed to the crank for me to lift him up. I told him he was too heavy....and then a moment of "Brentness" overcame me and I put Natalie in the lift. We lifted her about a foot off the ground. She thought it was funny.

In honor of Papa Joe....

Now he's definitely died and gone to heaven....

I could watch this look of fascination all day long. Love it! Love it!

A little treat to top off the day.....chocolate ice cream cone....mmmmm!

We invited Uncle Paul, Aunt Cami, and cousin Cali over for cake and ice cream , but he fell asleep before the party even started.

His brothers gave him a jump start and he was up and going again!

Make a wish bud...
we love you!

A Love Triangle

This is the lot we'd love to build a new home on:

This is the house we own that we would love to sell; the house that Family X would love to buy:

This is the house that Family X owns; the house they would love to sell so that they could buy our house:But we can't build because we haven't been able to sell, and our buyer can't buy because they haven't been able to sell. So....we found the solution. We our going to buy Family X's home that they'd love to sell so that they could buy our home, the home they'd love to own and we'd love to sell. By so doing, we will cash out the equity in our home, allowing us to own the lot that we would love to build a new home on.

Of course we will then have to sell Family X's home. However, we won't have to stress over how long it takes to sell because we will no longer be making interest payments on a HELOC. Payments that fluctuate somewhere between half to three quarters of our current mortgage. An amount that doesn't belong in the same sentence as love.
Yay for all of us. I am very excited!!!!! And the added bonuses are: My boys will be bussed to and from school which means a significant reduction in how many times I load kids in and out of carseats each day. I will have a fully fenced in backyard which means more freedom for Andrew (and me). Megan will stop bugging me about painting her room hot pink and orange because I just might let her. And the upper story has a loft where the kids could play, watch TV, scatter their toys from here to there, spill whatever food or drink that they are not allowed to bring up there, and argue over whose turn it is on the computer.

LOVE IT!!!

There's No Place Like Home

Megan had her "Young Women in Excellence" Program last night. The central theme was "There's no place like home" from The Wizard of Oz. There were talks on having a heart, or being of service to those around you, having courage to live your standards, and utilizing the intelligence the Lord has given you to reach your highest potential.

Each of the girls displayed one of their projects they've been working on. It's been over 20 years since I've been in Young Women's, so the program has changed a little bit. The girls are now required to complete a 10-hour project in each value category (Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, and Integrity) as a part of working toward their medallion. Megan's project falls under the Good Works category where she is preparing to be a good homemaker by collecting recipes, shopping for food, and at some point will prepare a meal for her family (besides mac 'n cheese or top ramen). She started a recipe book with the intent to also copy the family recipes of her grandmas and great grandmas from the recipe book that Grandma Ririe compiled last year.

At the end of the program, they were given a a ruby slipper to remind them that there is no place like home and a rock with the words "Be steadfast and immovable" to remind them to stand strong.

Crazy Eights

Who stole the month of October? It must have been that Halloween Goblin. It is absolutely crazy that another month has gone by and that Miss Natalie is now eight months old!

It snowed today on the east benches. Thanks to Aunt Sheree we have a winter coat that fits perfectly.

We took a little trip to Primary Children's Medical Center for Natalie's cardiology appointment today. Her pediatrician heard a heart murmur at her last check up and wanted to make sure it was "nothing". Sure enough, that's just what is was -a small "flutter", but nothing to be concerned about.

During the assessment, they did a twelve lead EKG on her. After they finished, they left us alone to pull all the stickies off. Andrew thought he heard the word "stickers", then saw Natalie's chest and his face lit up. He wanted one. Brent suggested I let Andrew help. Okay, so I let him pull off just one, with assistance, of course. Ouch.

Thankful to know that our little flutterby is healthy and growing well, even though she still only weighs 13 lbs. 5 oz.

Trick or Treat

A Pirate looking for some loot, or maybe even Jack Sparrow...

A Ninja looking for a fight (or some candy)

Is it Woody, or a candy train robber?

Where's inbahdee-bahdee-bahdee and beyond anyway?

Someday my prince will come...

And then we came downstairs this morning and saw this on the table. LOL Angela! LOL!