Thankful

Thanksgiving was wonderful, simply wonderful, and all because of this special lady...

I love you Diane. You work so hard and yet so seemingly effortlessly to provide such wonderful occasions for us to all be together and enjoy one another and mostly eat really delicious food! You are amazing and the best mother-in-law ever and I love you so much!
Love your homemade orange rolls and cinnamon rolls...Mmmm...

and your decadent pies...

and all the other wonderful fixings you provided. (All I had to bring was the sweet potatoes, which turned out delish if I do say so myself. Thanks dad, for your famous recipe!)
Thank you to big John for the beautiful turkey!

I love this man!

Kim gives it a thumbs up!
And to all other helpers in the kitchen...

I love this picture of Lisa--the chef with finesse! (Her green beans with sundried tomatoes were to die for!)


Jason was put in charge of de-stemming the spinach which he was not so happy about--a bit tedious I think!

Grandpa made a shrimp cocktail confection that he was quite proud of. It was a hit (with the most daring!)...

Cheers!
While the adults finished cooking, the kids had movie time in the loft.


Cute cousins!

Dinner was wonderful and we all went around the table and said what we were most grateful for. Honestly, the first thing that came to my mind was John. I am so blessed to have chosen such a wonderful, kind, amazing man for a husband. He is my anchor, my rock, and I love him so much. I'm thankful for his parents that raised such an incredible man and who are so good to me and his great siblings who are among my best friends. I'm thankful for my family--my perfect parents and great brothers who are simply the best and I love them so much. I'm thankful for my beautiful and kind and happy children who remind me that I was born to be a mother and what a gift it is to connect with their little spirits and be filled with their enthusiasm and zest for life. I'm thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that gives me light and truth and peace and comfort and purpose and direction! I am thankful for incredible friends...did I say INCREDIBLE!? I am so blessed with wonderful people in my life that make me so happy and fill my soul to brimming! My home, my health, my bed, my gym membership ;) ...I could go on and on!
I am indeed thankful!

After dinner, we went for a family walk to shake us out of our food coma and burn off some extra calories!


Aggs and Uncle Scott

I had to overexpose this picture because it was way too dark. It's grainy but I love it!

We finished the day with some game-playing (Catchphrase) and pie-eating and toast-making!


(Girl's won, despite what the boys think!)
Happy Thanksgiving!

Soccer Daze Are Over!

Last Saturday we had our last game of the season! Phew! At least it's really exciting and fun to watch. John and I had to divide and conquer a lot this season with three games on different fields every Saturday (and practice for Jake and Hannah twice a week for 8 weeks or so!)
Exhausting.
I was quite proud of these stars!
JAKE



(his favorite part)

HANNAH


with some team mates--Sophia and Brooke

with her awesome coaches--Ted and Brian

ALEX




goofing off

OWEN
best cheerleader!


always cheering and somewhat cheery on the sidelines.

And of course, the end of season parties and trophy awards!

Jake with coach Andre, quite excited



Hannah got a lot of great kudos from her amazing coach Ted, he called her most improved!

He brought up tiny Sophia and joked about their combined weight being feather-like and pint-sized, but their spunk being strong!...(he liked to tease them all season)

the team

hugging her cool trophy!


Alex with his coach

He was so excited to get a trophy like his big sibs! Awesome Alex!

Fun season, glad it's over!

Conversations...

Scene Set-up:
I'm laying on the bed on my tummy talking on the phone with my little shadow Hannah right next to me. Chin in hands, she's listening to my conversation with my friend Britt.
Me: "Alright. Sounds good. I'll talk to you later then. Bye hun!" (I hang up the phone)
Hannah: "Why'd you call Britt hum?"
Me: "No, I called her Hun. It's short for Honey."
Hannah: (teasingly) "Well, you know you can't marry Britt or you would've voted No on Prop 8!"

Lots and lots of laughter (even Hannah was cracking up) then an explanation that terms of endearment can be used on spouses and friends, and then of course a phone call back to Britt to tell her the story! Too funny! She really gets it!

Edward

My girl Chelsea sent me these to persuade me and it worked!


Thanks Chels! You made my day!
Although, it wasn't his looks in the movie that didn't make him the Edward of my dreams (he was legitimately HOT)...it was the white make-up and somewhat awkward acting. Oh, and the overdone eyebrows. I actually think Edward and Bella were cast well. Jasper, however, is another story. Don't get me started...


Twilight Girl's Night!

Last night, we (14 of us die hards) went out to see the much anticipated "Twilight" movie based on a young adult novel of a teenage girl falling for a vampire--not just any vampire--Edward! Oh, Edward! Let's just say I was very excited to see this movie!
Rrrraar! I got my vampire on. I even kept my eyes red--no red-eye retouching for me!

Edward, this symbolic red scarf around my neck is all for you baby! You can suck my blood anytime...;)
(I need to perfect my trying-to-look-sexy-and-scary look. I'm working on it. John was giving me some pointers!)

First we all went to Macaroni Grill for dinner...

I have to include all these cute shots of the ladies...

Kristi and Heather

Kristi, Me, and Heather
Sidebar: On the way out of the theater this group of guys were congregated out by the parking lot. As we passed by this one looks straight at Heather and says, "You are so gorgeous" in this trying-to-be sexy voice. It was hilarious! She smiled so sweetly, squeezed my arm, and we picked up the pace and then burst out laughing when we were (somewhat) out of earshot. Who does that?? She probably gets that attention all the time actually! Love you Heather! You are so gorgeous!

Kristi decided my cheek was really soft and then started sniffing and nuzzling me! We were cracking up!

Crissie and Mel

Crissie joined in the cheek sniffing. Love this girl!

Me, Lauren, and Leisa
Then we walked over to the theater to line up for the movie...

Kristi, Heather, Me, Natalie, Lauren, Kristina, Whitney, Leisa, Laura, Lisa, and Leslie (we're missing some girls)
Here's Rachel who missed the group shot but bought a new shirt for the occasion! I love it! She got lots of compliments from all the teenage girls in our line!

It was a fun night but I have to say I was disappointed in the movie. In one word--Awkward. How could anything live up to my expectations, though, really?! That was not quite my Edward and that was certainly not my Jacob! Oh well, I guess they will have to live on in my dreams...

Oh and they will. On and on. In my dreams.