Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Since we were away from our family this was the first year that I had to plan and prepare it all! It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. We shared this year's Thanksgiving with our next-wall neighbors; Naomi, Josh, and their two children: Levi & Claire. It worked out great because the kids could play between the two houses and so could the men. We split the meal into four courses and had appetizers and dessert at Naomi's house and soup and salad as well as our entree portion of the meal over at our home. The kids made the turkey candle center pieces as well as the Lego name card holders. We had a book called "If" that just posted tons of scenarios, such as "if you could live the life of any fictional character in a movie who would it be?" It was a blast! The guys did the final clean-up and after we put the kids to bed we played a rousing game of Scrabble, I said it reminded me of being at my Grandma's, and that was nice. I am thankful for all that I have and am Thankful for yet another wonderful Thanksgiving.

I made the turkey for the first time ever! I was so stressed, but I shouldn't have been because it was pretty simple. I would like to thank my friends and family who gave me lots of encouragement and advice, Alton Brown and his "how to" video on the Food Network, and last but not least, Reynolds oven bags. Thank you.

For soup and salad we had a spicy sweet potato soup as well as a roasted pear and Gorgonzola salad. Yummy!

Look what my little turkeys made! I love the glowing background from the turkey candles as well. Years from now these pictures will remind me of the joys of being in this phase of life. I usually am just trying to push through to the future, I need to remember to stop, relish, enjoy, and show gratitude.

Our Thanksgiving Home

So here are some thanksgiving pictures of our home. I know that a lot of my family has been interested in knowing what it looks like, and since I am sure we won't live here long it will be good for us to have the memories as well. We love our house! We love our neighbors, I live next door to the Vegan version of Martha Stewart- it is wonderful!

Mac-n-cheese Please

So Hayden and Owen have both been making food. Owen loves to help pour the cheese powder into the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and then stir it up. Hayden had to make dinner as a Cub Scout requirement and of course he chose Mac n Cheese. I did have him make it from scratch though, he did a really good job and I was surprised at how responsible he was in the kitchen.

Happy Birthday Hayden

So Hayden is 8! He had a very happy birthday. I think his favorite part was spending his birhtday cash that he got sent from his Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas & Grandpas. Hayden is such an awesome boy and I am so glad he is a part of our family. He has such a sweet heart and loves all of his younger cousins. He is often thinking of others and people often comment to me on sweet compliments he gives them. Right now his favorite things to do are: building Legos (a very expensive hobbie), going to Scouts, and reading Harry Potter (for sure!). I can believe Hayden is eight, I have been fortunate to have spent lots of time with him and enjoy him at every age, and I am excited to enjoy him at this very exciting time in his life. Happy Birthday Bud! Have a great year.

Happy Halloween

So here is an update on what we did for Halloween. We had a lot of fun, I missed my nieces and nephews tremendously! I can't believe how hard it is to be away from them this time of year, I wanted to see their costumes and share in their Halloween fun as we have in years past. The boys liked the Halloween and the days leading up to it. It was fun to go trick-or-treating in Spokane there is a street here that has two one way streets heading in opposite directions with a large center srip running down the middle with trees. We were told that this was the place to go trick-or-treating, and it didn't dissappoint. It was hard to find a place to park along the road because there were so many people, it was like a huge block party. The neighborhood defenitely seemed preapred for the masses of children that came to their homes, and really got into it. It was interesting to spend our first Halloween outside of Utah, it was a little bit a culture shock, but funny!