I'm Thankful for.... cheese and fries.

We had such a fun Thanksgiving weekend this year. The last few years Josh has played in a soccer tournament in St. George over the holiday weekend. This year, we stayed home and I'm glad we did.


Darrell and Kathy scheduled their church for our turkey dinner and it was great to have a place for the kids to run around and the adults to enjoy hanging out.

 We only used the kitchen to "warm" our feast, I promise. :) Everyone brought something and they all did a great job with everything from the food and table setting to the entertainment. Unfortunately, I had the worst headache (okay prolly not the worst, but a doozy) so I was all hopped up on percacet all day. It's a good thing I took my camera 'cause I may not have remembered anything without all the pictures. I have this habit of getting sinus infections .. continuously. I finish one antibiotic and end up on another one three days later. It's becoming quite a routine thing for me. I am caving and going to see an ENT and moving forward with the dreaded sinus surgery.

 Anyway, back to turkey and mashed potatoes. 

 Even though I was taking pictures from a mile away, Josh was still annoyed with me. Look at that face. If you can see his face behind all the hair that is. I'm loving his curls even if he does look shaggy and junior highish.

The kids had so much fun together. They always do and it never seems like enough time. I wish pictures in the gym turned out better, but oh well. They're still cute girls.

These are more boys that don't love getting pictures taken, but it was too fun watching them play Rock Band together.

The seven boys from Josh's soccer team that were still in town, got together for a little futsal tourney in Salt Lake. It was so much fun!! I don't normally love the indoor arenas (and especially with my raging headache), but they played so well and we had so much fun! It was great. The boys played up a year and beat two U14 premier teams! I love games like that! And they were on such a high after two wins in one day. Sadly, they didn't win Saturday, so they didn't win the tourney. But, second place isn't anything to complain about (unless your Ricky Bobby and in that case, if you're not first you're last). Jer did a great job coaching. He tries to say he doesn't miss it, but he loves the boys too much.

 Since I didn't go to my mom's on Thanksgiving because of my lame sinus infection, I had to do my craft by myself at home (days later). It's always been a tradition to do some kind of Christmas decoration on Thanksgiving with all the B girls. I was sad I missed it. But, at least I had all the stuff so it was just finding the time to sit down and do it. I love how it turned out. The picture doesn't do it justice (it was taken with my phone).

 

We had planned to go to Temple Square on Friday night with the kids, but we participated in the soccer tourney instead. So, by the time we were at the last game on Saturday, the girls were cheering for the other team so that we didn't have to go to the championship game. Josh didn't appreciate that but, it was fun to go see the lights that night instead of staying for one more game - especially with 45 degree weather. 

The kids have always loved taking Trax downtown to Temple Square. It was funny this time because Jer rides it every day to work. He got a kick out of the kids acting like they were on a ride at Disneyland. It was the first weekend for the lights and great weather so, of course, it was packed. We didn't mind the crowd and I got some great pictures.

 It's tradition to go eat somewhere downtown when we go see the lights. Last year we went to the Garden Cafe. This year we waited in line for the always delicious Lion House rolls. The kids love it there because it's cafeteria style and tastes homemade. Jer and I love it because we had our wedding reception there so we get to reminisce a little.

The grounds were lined with amazing hand crafted lanterns. It was gorgeous. I love that every year there is something different to see and it's always awesome!

 Another picture of Josh loving the moment. (Notice the hoodie? That kid loves to push my buttons)

Erin's cute teacher emailed me this picture last week. I had to share. This is Erin, Tally and Chloe. They are in first grade and I'm afraid this could be the beginning of this generations "Mean Girls." I really doubt any one of them have a mean streak in them, but they are already coordinating outfits and forming their own little clique. They don't even realize what they're doing. Black shirt, grey jeans (with pink stitching), hair in side pony with black ribbon. So funny.

Erin and Emma both have amazing teachers this year. I get emotional when I think about it because it's such a priceless thing to have your kids in a classroom with someone that loves them and makes your child love school and learning. Erin has broken out of her shell and I know it has a lot to do with her awesome teacher, Ms. Nielsen. Emma is being pushed in a way she never has before - and she is accepting it and working hard and wants to be at school and wants to work hard. If you know my girls, this is all big.

And that's it for the longest post ever. Sorry. Kind of annoying, I know. But since there's only like 3 people that read my blog, oh well. And you can always skip over all the reading. I'll never know.