Thankful November

Does life ever slow down?  Apparently not, because I feel like there are never enough hours in the day or days in the week. 

After a fun filled Halloween, I headed out to Game Stop.  Right at Midnight, 11-1-11, I purchased and brought home a very fun time drain..."Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception".  It's the 3rd game in a series, and I LOVE it!  I finished it by Wednesday morning, but that was just the 1st time through...I've spent most of my free time this month playing it. 

Indy and Lily have finally made friends. 

From November 2011

She really is a very sweet, personable lap cat, and we feel like she was meant to be ours!

From November 2011

I had the fun task of making a super yummy birthday cake for my Mom's birthday party...

From November 2011

I used our family chocolate cake and frosting recipe, and the "rose cake" decorating technique I was introduced to on I am Baker that is soooooo easy and pretty!  Plus, it uses a lot of frosting, which is always good in my book :)

Alec actually earned his Wolf in Cub Scouts back in June...but we were unable to make Pack meeting until this month, so he was finally able to get his award. 

Painting his face with the sign of the Wolf...

From November 2011

From November 2011

Then, this Holiday week, I dragged my family to the Christmas Tree Jubilee in Ogden.  My mother in law donated funds for a small tree, and my sister in law and her friend did a large tree to benefit the early intervention pre-school, which has been so amazing for my nephew. 

From November 2011

From November 2011

From November 2011

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From November 2011

I thought both trees were really pretty, in fact, I thought all the trees were amazing...

From November 2011

I had to take my kids picture in front of Bonneville High's tree...it is our Alma Mater, and our kids will go there as well!
After we were done, we decided to get pizza.  Not just any pizza, the AMAZING, YUMMY pizza at The Pie. 

From November 2011

Cole is thrilled that he finally has a child who will willingly eat salad...

From November 2011

The boys

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From November 2011

Heaven in a slice...

From November 2011

From November 2011

And then, of course, came Thanksgiving Day...

I went for my first run in 2 weeks to start off the morning.  I've been plagued with injuries the last month...I got a small tear in the ligament in my left quadriceps, then I fell down the stairs on the 30th and injured my left hampstrings and glute muscle.  I just got all that healed up, and I tripped and injured the lateral meniscus ligament in my left knee.  I've been wearing a brace during the day, wrapping it with an Ace type bandage at night to keep it stable, and it finally feels healed.  I was disappointed (but not surprised) that I had lost a lot of my endurance in the last month, so it was a run/walk effort, but I was glad to get back out there.  We spent the rest of the morning perusing the Black Friday ads while I baked cookies for our Thanksgiving dinner. 

We headed over to Cole's parents' house around 3 for dinner. 

From November 2011

The kids love to take any opportunity to play the Wii, since we don't have one...

From November 2011

Me and my sweetheart...

From November 2011

Mmmmmmm...dessert!

From November 2011

Alyssa and Heath enjoy their pie...

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(Erin and Hunter were in St. George at a soccer tournament)

Since my kids and my sister (in law, technically) Amanda don't like pie, I usually make cookies...

From November 2011

Talia enjoying one of a few cookies...

From November 2011

Dani loved the cookies!

From November 2011

We had a lovely evening sitting around and talking...

Grandpa loves playing with the kids...

From November 2011

From November 2011

Cole and his mom...

From November 2011

Me and Dani....

From November 2011

Then, of course, after the holiday, comes Black Friday....

We didn't have any specific, "big ticket" deal we were looking for, but we love the Black Friday thing, so we headed to our favorite Walmart around 8....we wandered the store looking at all the deals, and then we picked our spots...Cole by a $20 shop vac, and me by the $5 DVD's...

The crowds...

From November 2011

DVD's in the produce section...because that's the first place I always look for them! ;)

From November 2011

At 10 pm, we grabbed our selections, and met up at checkout....this was the line behind us. 

From November 2011

There were a couple more small deals there that didn't start until midnight, but I wanted the deal at Macy's more, so we headed over there to wait...and got a rice cooker for $19.99, but it has a $10 rebate....they also had these $40 amazingly soft fleece blankets on sale for $12, so we picked up a couple of those as well...We stopped off to get a snack, then headed home to bed!  All in all, it was a successful Black Friday, and a great month!

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Madness 2010

Thanksgiving was a wonderful, relaxing day.  We went over to my brother's house this year.  Our dinner was delicious as usual.  Brenda took on the primary dinner responsibilities of the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, and vegetable, and made a perfect meal!  It was sooooo yummy!  I made rolls and jello, and whipped a quart of cream for the jello and the pies.  My mom made her mini pie shells, with chocolate and lemon filling.  Yum! 

After dinner, we all sat around talking for awhile, reminiscing and laughing, and missing my sister and her family, who didn't join us this year. 

From November 2010

Cole left about 4:30 to head to Michael's for a gift we wanted that was a killer deal...and then home to get a nap in before heading out for "Midnight Madness"

The kids played...

From November 2010

This was the only pic I got of my boys, they refused to hold still (I'm glad they love playing with their cousins though)

My princess was a bit more cooperative...

From November 2010

From November 2010

From November 2010

My niece Gracie wanted to be in the pictures too...

From November 2010

Beautiful Girls...

From November 2010

Watching football..

From November 2010

My nephew Parker thinks he's hilarious!

From November 2010

Mom, Brenda, Kyle and I had a blast playing Nertz...
After awhile, my brother and dad joined us "girls" and Kyle (it's so nice that he's old enough now to play games with the adults!) for some Scattergories...which was fun despite the fact that I am way out of practice...

I left my brother's with the kids around 7:30.  When we got home, Cole was still asleep, so I tried to keep the kids as quiet as possible so he could finish his nap.  I knew that we had a long night ahead of us. 
Cole woke about 8:30, we discussed our shopping strategy, put the kids to bed, and I tried to take a nap...
Cole went to Walmart to wait for the deal we wanted that was starting at midnight.  I dozed a little, but finally gave up around 12:15.  I got ready and waited for Cole to get home so we could go to Target. 

We got to Target around 1:40.  We both dressed in layers, the warmest stuff we own, and I had handwarmers and toe warmers, but it was 11 degrees...It was cold.  Bitterly cold.  We did meet some really nice people in line, and had a good time chatting and strategizing (some of them were first timers!) Once again, I have to compliment Target on the way that they organize their Black Friday event....best place to shop.  By the time 3:30 came around, I was so, so cold...it was all I could do to see the end in sight.  4 am came, and we headed in...we got exactly what we wanted, and got checked out in time to head to Kmart. 
Kmart had something I wanted for Kyle's birthday.  We got to Kmart right as the doors were opening, found what we were looking for, then had to wait to get checked out.  We got home around 6:30, and I crashed into bed, and Cole crashed on the couch.  I was still cold to the core...so I heated a rice bag to take to bed with me...after awhile, I finally got fully warm again. 

After recovering (somewhat), I put away our Thanksgiving decorations and cleaned the house in anticipation of putting up our Christmas decorations.  Cole got the tree out, and we plan to decorate it either tonight or tomorrow.  Tomorrow is 2nd Thanksgiving at my Mom's, so that will be another fun day, and maybe my boys will let me get some pictures of them. 

What I've been up to...and Happy Thanksgiving!

So, I realize I've been slacking in the blogging world.  It's been "downtime" here at my house...the calm before the holiday storm arrives.  It's been slow at work, so I've had time to accomplish a few crafts...

These bracelets for my cousin Andrea's little Payton

From crafts

These bracelets for my sweet niece Dani...

From crafts

Plus a bunch of bracelets for a baby shower gift...

I also stretched my jewelry making creativity to make this...

From crafts

I found the pendant at a craft fair a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love on site...I had a vision of what the completed necklace would look like, and I came pretty close to my vision.  My husband also really liked it, so that's a bonus!

Then, I've been working in stages on these pretty bows...

From crafts

Ever since Morgan taught us how to make these, I've been wanting to make more.  I made them a little smaller this time, because I discovered that the larger ones look GREAT on headbands, but I have trouble getting them to sit right in Talia's long, thick hair.  The slightly smaller size is more versatile for us.  I actually made 3 sets of these (18 in all)...a set for my princess, a set for the previously mentioned baby shower, and a set for my daughter's good friend Kimmy...

I really had a good time making them, despite the fact that I'm not the most talented crafter. 

On this Thanksgiving morning, I find myself feeling very blessed and thankful.  I am thankful for the most wonderful husband, who is my very best friend, partner, and soul mate.  I am thankful for the 3 beautiful, sometimes frustrating, and healthy children that the Lord has entrusted me to raise.  I am thankful for parents who have always loved and supported me, even when they were unsure of the choices I was making.  I am thankful for all my Grandparents, both living and not, who have taught me so many things through out the course of my life.  I am thankful for my second mom and dad, (Cole's parents), who are the best "in laws" I could ever hope for.  I'm so blessed to have amazing brothers and sisters both by birth and by marriage, who love and support us.  Not to mention all my nieces and nephews, who are the cutest around!  I am thankful for good friends who I can trust...who I can count on through thick and thin, who I can depend on to have my back.  I am so very thankful for our warm house, the ability to put plentiful food on the table, and for being able to afford some wants as well as all our needs.  I am thankful for the Gospel, and the light and clarity it brings. 

Oh, and this morning, I'm especially thankful for a dentist who's willing to take a few minutes out of his holiday to meet me in his office to fix my broken crown...so that I can enjoy my holiday dinner.  I'm off to meet him now. 

Happy Thanksgiving!