Thanksgiving

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year.  It was extra special because my parents had recently returned home from their mission to Texas and it was the first time in several months that we had all been together.

Cousin love (Megan, Olivia and Emily)



Megan and Olivia doing cheer/dance



Emily joining in with the watermelon costume



Alex and Carolyn were quite entertained with the older cousins.  Here is Carolyn "dancing" to the music.



And the older cousins were quite entertained copying the twins' mode of transportation.

Tyler trying his hand at ping pong.

Preparing for the yummy Thanksgiving Feast.







The feast.  Love all these people so much!









The kids went outside and went "sledding" behind the 4-wheelers.  They had a blast, but it was SO cold out.

Tyler



Megan and Emily



The kids were able to go swimming at the Y two times.  They loved it!



Megan, Tyler, Emily



Story time with Grandma and the traditional sleepover.

Intense games of ping pong.  Jonathan and Nathaniel practice at the school during their lunch hour and they are REALLY good.  Here they are taking on Derek and Greg.



Brooke, Darrell, Kimberly, Derek, Tansy and I made our traditional Black Friday (actually Thanksgiving afternoon) run.  We got some great deals, but I didn't get a picture.

The culminating activity for the weekend was my parents reporting their mission.  They had so many wonderful experiences and we loved hearing about them.  After they spoke in church, we had a family dinner in a rented reception/recreation hall.  It was so great to see so many of our extended family there.









We had such a great Thanksgiving holiday.  Family is definitely what it's all about.

November

The kids made signs/decorations for November/Thanksgiving.

Emily's



Tyler's



Megan's



One morning in early November we woke up to a little bit of snow.  The girls were so excited they "made" a Christmas tree.  They took a green jacket and put it on a green chair and then created a star lights with paper.



Emily all dressed up and ready for snow/Christmas.



The kids took advantage of a free skating day at the local hockey rink.  They didn't really get the skating part down, but I think they had a little bit of fun.  And they got a free jersey.

Emily




Megan



Tyler



We had some warm days (after the little snow) and enjoyed some time at the park.

Tyler and Darrell playing soccer





Megan and her bubble gun



Megan



Emily



Tyler started basketball at the fitness center.  He was very new to basketball, as were a lot of the kids, so it was fun to watch them learn.









The school had books 'n' buddies.  I helped with the PTA serving donuts, milk and juice while Darrell read to the kids.  He's so good to be involved with their school activities.



We were able to go visit my uncle Pete.  (He was married to my dad's sister Carol).  He was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic in late October or early November.  He passed away 5 days after we visited, so we were very grateful that we were able to visit him when we did.  He is/was such a character, but had such a big, generous heart and blessed so many people in his life.



We were able to attend his funeral.  This is when his grandchildren sang during the funeral.



After the funeral, my parents, Greg, Kimberly, Aubrey, Olivia, Kyle and I attended a BYU football game.





We decorated our Christmas for FHE on the last Monday of November.  The kids loved getting the decorations out and hearing about each ornament.  They did a MUCH better job at distributing the ornaments around the tree than last year, although the bottom 6 inches of the tree still seems to be a favorite spot.





The other news in November is that I was hired as an aide for a little kindergarten boy, so I am at the school the same time the girls are.  It is nice that I can be in the school and help out and also be home with the girls to help them with reading, homework and piano.