Julia came home

Back in October Julia started telling us that she wanted to come home for Thanksgiving. She had a week off, where as Hillary only had 2 days. Hillary will be coming home early December and Julia doesn't get off until December 19th. So we understood why she wanted to come, and were happy that she wanted to come, but we discouraged her from doing so. We were purchasing her Christmas break plane ticket but could not afford to buy another one for Thanksgiving, and we certainly did not want her driving with other college students across 4 states. We have heard too many stories of accidents and fatalities of college students driving over Donner pass, coming home for the holidays. So a few days later Julia said that she found a great deal on plane tickets, that she had been saving up and could buy them herself, and that she was coming home. We were thrilled. It was wonderful having her here. She helped out with picking up kids from school, driving Rocio and the kids around, and cooking on the big day. She was her usual lively self for most of the time; on Thanksgiving day she would come into the living room and ask "Who wants to fight me?!". Most of the little boys yelled out "me!" and piled on top of her. For a few days of the visit she was feeling sick. She went to the doctor and he said it was a virus. After her plane ride back to Salt Lake City on Sunday she was in alot of pain. Hillary and Natalie found her a clinic. That doctor looked at her throat and said right off she had a bad case of strep. We felt really bad for her, but she got the antibiotics and was feeling better by that night. She still says that the trip was worth it, in spite of her being sick, and we are so glad she came.

Table for 25

This Thanksgiving we had 25 people at our home, and believe it or not we were all able to have a sit down dinner. We used 3 tables and had them set up in a sort of T/L combination.

The guests of honor, of course, were my parents.


Luke was up bright and early, ready to help.

After dinner 17 of us slept at the house and hung out together most of the next day. I know I keep saying this, but the Wii is a wonderful thing! We put names in a hat and pulled them out randomly, 2 at a time, to see whose turn it was to play next. Cousins that usually don't interact were having a great time together competing with each other. My favorite combination was Luke and Grandpa Mel (my sister-in-law's dad). Luke showed him how to do bowling and then Grandpa Mel got 3 strikes in a row, right off. Watching is almost as fun as playing, and the neighbors probably thought we were watching a major football game on t.v. from all the cheering that was going on inside our house. It was a loud, fun, busy holiday.

black friday shopping is like having a baby

because when you're done you swear you'll never do that again, but you eventually do. Today the black friday shopping was crazy! I've been doing this for years and it has NEVER been this crowded. Julia, ny niece Melissa and I arrived at Kohl's at 3:40 am; it opened at 4. The line wasn't too long and everything went very smoothly. They are very organized at Kohls. We were out of there by 4:20. Next was Target, which opened at 5. We could have gotten in line at 4:30 but the line was already around the store and down the alley behind the store. We didn't want to do that so we waited in the car. At 5, when we saw the line moving into the store we got out of the car. We looked for the end of the line, but even with people already having entered the store, it was even further down that alley. We got in line and it kept moving so we eventually got in the store. We were smart enough not to get a shopping car because there just wasn't room to maneuver it through the people. We took turns shopping and waiting in the check out line which was also very long. We got most of what we wanted, however, and were out of the store by about 6. My sister-in-law called to say that they had been to 2 other Targets where by 6 there was still a line just to get into the store. I told her that the Target where we were at least did not have a line to get into the store anymore, so she came there. We were home by 6:30 and I had a good 2 hour nap. As crazy as it was, I have to admit that as I was driving home I felt pretty excited about the deals we got. So I swear I will not do this again next year; then again, you never know.

leg surgery

Our Thanksgiving is saved! Thank you Uncle Matt! Reggie had to go out of town right after I broke the table leg, but he was able to talk to his brother about it before he left. His brother came over and "performed surgery" which worked. Hurray!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Check this out (click on this link) It's really good! In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

"mormon"

Last night I went to see Mariah in her school play. I will blog about this in detail, with pictures, later. She was amazing! I was so proud of her. There are times like this that remind you that all the blood, sweat and tears of being a parent is so worth it; I kept looking at all the kids, thinking with pride, "that ones mine".

As the play was about to start the actors went on stage and took their places. When Mariah walked out I was surprised to hear a few teenagers from the back of the theatre yell out "Mormon!" several times. At first I thought they were teasing Mariah, and I wanted to go do something about it, but then I remembered how proudly she wears that nick-name. She told me in the past that her friends call her that because they know about her beliefs and standards, and she was happy about it. She, or they collectively, had even written it in marker on her last pair of tennis shoes.

She is really an amazing teenager and I am just so proud of her.

well, my blog is driving me crazy

I started messing with templates because for some reason I can't get my posts to write in paragraphs! (It won't indent, make list ,etc. It will only write in one big block). Now somehow I've got the whole thing re-arranged, can't get the bloglist on the side anymore, (its at the bottom now) etc. So this is our new blog-look whether I like it or not. And, of course, it still won't write in paragraphs. But, I do like the new wintery background. Those snowmen are so cute! Funny how I love the look of snow but would never want to live in it. But that is a post for another day.

don't know my own stregnth

So of course we are starting to think about what we need for our Thanksgiving dinner: a turkey, rolls, sparkling cider (at least one bottle per person!) gravy, etc. etc. But as of today we are missing one very important item: a table. I was vacuuming the dining room and decided to move the table so I could get around the corners, etc. My sewing machine was on the end of the table. I pushed, heard a horrible crack, and saw one of the table legs on the floor. In closer inspection I realized that it had not just broken off, but the wood of the leg split apart. I'm sure we would be fine eating buffet style, but we now don't have a place to put the food when it is ready to be served. I called Reggie to tell him about it. I felt guilty because if I had moved the heavy sewing machine off the corner of the table it probably wouldn't have broken. He very kindly said "its just a table. Its just a shattered table leg, not a shattered life". He has looked at it and thinks he and his brother might be able to fix it. If they do, then we will be sure to add a table to our list of Thanksgiving blessings.

blogging fun

Last week my sister visited from Texas for a few days. The highlight of the visit was me trying to teach her how to blog. I confessed to her that at first I had a hard time figuring out how to do everything. For example, I tried commenting on someone else's blog and didn't know why it wasn't working. Then I realized that it had worked and I had posted the same comment 3 times. To cover my embarassment I "through my husband under the bus". I put a 4th comment up apologizing for my husband not knowing how to post a comment. HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!. Now you might not be laughing, but my sister and I were cracking up. And now it looks like it is to my advantage that my sister either still does not know how to blog or is just too busy to do another post. The title of her post, praising me, will probably be up for the next year. HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

marriage

Last Saturday one of our favorite people in this world passed away: Brother Morrison. His funeral was today, and I can't help but think about his wife who is now carrying on without him. Both of them are/were in their 90s and they were married for more than 70 years! That is absolutely amazing. They were always such a happy, friendly couple, and you could just see how much they loved each other. It is hard to imagine one without the other. The only consolation is that he is in heaven now, getting their new home ready for when she joins him. It is such a blessing to see and know people who are so happy and content and perfect for each other and who have had such a long and successful marriage. But I bet we would have an even bigger appreciation for marriage if we knew all of the joys and struggles, heartaches and triumphs that went into their 70-something years together. By the way they lived their lives we don't have to know the details to understand how precious and worthwhile a marriage can be.

"thankful for loud boys"

On Tuesday, as I started my shift supervising the kids in the detention room, I pulled out the newest Ensign magazine. I was intrigued with the title of one of the articles: "I Am Thankful For Loud Boys" (or something like that). I am usually able to get alot of reading done in the detention room, but on Tuesday there were 6 boys in there, 4 of whom were very difficult. I ended up having to send two to the vice principal and wrote up "refferals" for 2 more. Maybe if they had just let me read that article I might have been able to be more patient! Ha! Ha! Secondly, I thought of that magazine article again today. Luke had one of his church friends over. About an hour before he came over Luke told me that they were just going to laugh and laugh and laugh while he was here. Luke said that they don't really get to laugh and be silly at church, but today they were going to. True to his word, they did laugh and laugh and laugh. So, I am thankful for loud boys and I am even almost ready to go face the detention room again tomorrow.

here's to friends that can be family and family that can be friends

We had a great weekend. Two of my nieces and their children came for a visit, and my sister hopped on a plane last minute to come see her grandbabies and daughter-in-law. We had lots of fun and lots of laughs. For a couple of hours on Saturday we met the Porters at the park. The weekend reminded me of the above saying, about friends and family.






This weekend also reminded me of how fun it was raising our four little girls. Celeste's girls were wearing Disney Princess clothes, wanted to watch princess movies, and played with Samantha's toys that have been sitting under the bed for a long time now. This house is more than 50 years old, and one of the things my parents (and I) love best is that it has always been full of children.

nothing like cousins

3 cheers for Hillary!

Hillary played the hostess again Halloween weekend. She had many visitors, including Julia, staying at her apartment. Hillary dressed as THE CUTEST CHEERLEADER EVER! along with one of her friends; Julia was an 80s girl; another friend was very creative with a Twister costume, and cousin Natalie was a crazy elf.

Julia's Halloween

Julia and her roomates won a costume contest for Halloween. They dressed up as Christmas characters, Julia being an elf. She has a stage make-up class and so got to put her knowledge to good use. They were up against some fierce competition; note the KISS rock group, but Julia's group won!

Halloween 2009

Evani as a very serious Mickey Mouse


Batman on his bat-cycle. Look at that smile!


Luke's costume almost covered him from head to toe. But thats him in there.


Samantha looks like a vampire, but what she was really calling her costume was "Nesarose", a character from Wicked.


I love this picture!


And finally, Halloween isn't over until the candy is sorted, counted, and bartered with.


Marina carved pumpkins with us and created this masterpiece. Can you tell who it is?

It was a great Halloween. Mariah dressed as "Robin" from Batman but we didn't get a picture! That is girl is so busy, we barely saw her this weekend. Oh well. We missed Julia and Hillary, but they are going to send us pictures of their Halloween which I look forward to blogging about. And now, HAPPY NOVEMBER!