Family pictures

 kickin' Monday's booty before Monday kicks mine*it's never too early for Christmas movies and hot chocolate, even if it is only the beginning of November*took these two cute girls out for a late night McDonald's run after baby-sitting*love seeing Jason doing the dad thing*baba, mr. tiger and his snuggles are a morning staple*some little people didn't get the memo that Saturdays are for sleeping in*got a run, garage sale-ing and the park all in before 8:00am*all bundled up*somebody thinks he's too big for the baby swings

 doing piourettes in the ladie's lingerie department*not sure about the carousel*channeling my inner candy cane at church*my partner in crime in sneaking the kids' halloween candy*jumping into the laundry pile is way more fun than doing laundry*so is doing laundry angels*he loves kissing himself in the mirror, sweet boy*baking cookies and listening to Christmas music with my favorite little elves*eating leftover turkey noodle soup and pumpkin pie shakes with the Andersons should be a new tradition

loved having Jessica visit, beautiful girl and such a fun aunt*little ornament thief*winter thinks he is fall*hitch hiker*he beat me at horse and I wasn't even going easy on him*discovering that ducks dig cheeze-its and I dig these boys*someone could use a lesson with chopsticks*beautiful night to feed the ducks*my beautiful girl

Identity crisis

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...I mean summer...I mean Christmas...I mean, shoot, isn't it a crime against Christmas to wear shorts while trimming the tree?  We did our part trying to deck the halls and bring some yule tide cheer to this 80+ degree weather.

We even got a head start on Christmas cards, and it's not even December.  Taking this Christmas by the horns, I tell you. I enlisted Maddox's help in the stamp department.  He works for cookies. And stickers.

and then the kids all wanted to sit on the roof and watch Jason put up the lights. Don't worry they were only allowed to move for this picture, the rest of the time they had to sit in one spot roasting in the sun and deciding that helping with the lights really wasn't that fun afterall.

And then we switched modes and went back to summer with a beautiful hike with Jessica and the Andersons.  Well, it wasn't necessarily a hike per say, more of a short stroll up to a hole in a rock. But a beautiful hole in a rock.

Then out for Pho, which was Pho-n. Get it? I stole that joke from Melinda. Kylie loved hanging out with Jessica and she was so sweet to let her hang out with her and her friends who met us there.  I had a moment there, seeing her sitting at the big kid table chatting it up with the college kids.

Keeping the kids entertained with chopsticks was a good idea. In theory.

We switched back to Christmas mode and ended the night with the temple lights.  It was a great way to invite to true spirit of Christmas and I loved coming home to our house all aglow, the only thing missing is chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Oh, and some snow would be nice.

Gobble. Gobble.

The stage was set...

the pies were baked...

the pie then upstaged the turkey and I started feeling all sorts of grown up with my homemade pie, name place holders and attempting and succeeding at my first ever stuffing and gravy (thanks, Margaret!).  Oh and I bought a table cloth. Yes, all sorts of grown up, and then some...

then we gathered and gave thanks in construction paper politically incorrect Indian headbands....

then ate until we all wished we were Joey from that episode of Friends where he showed up at Thanksgiving wearing maternity pants....

Covering the kid's table with Reynold's freezer paper was pure genious.

We were so grateful to have Jason's sister Jessica and our good friends the Andersons here to enjoy the holiday with us and everything seemed perfect, until the tragedy which will go down in Thanksgiving history as the day poor Squirmy met a most unfortunate death at the hands of a three year old and a Little People carnival toy.  It was so sad.  Maddox was devastated, the poor thing was still alive and writing in pain so we sent the dads out back to put the poor hamster out of his misery. RIP Squirmy. A replacement hamster was brought over the next day which was a thoughtful gesture but the new guy was a biter and a runner.  I thought we would have to take it back, but Maddox is some sort of hamster whisperer and after a matter of days he was totally tame.  Either that or else he mauled him into submission and Lightning finally came to accept his lot in life. Then just like that, we acted like Thanksgiving was yesterday's news and moved onto Christmas without skipping a beat.  Melinda was so nice to bring gingerbread house kits and gingerbread men and I think it was a great way to start the holidays and check off some to-do's on our Christmas list.

we ended the night with Polar Express on the projector and some midnight Black Friday madness.  So grateful for such a fun holiday, so grateful for wonderful family and friends to share it with, so grateful for my little people that I adore and to my knowledge seem to adore me too, so grateful for a husband who makes me feel like I am the center of his world and for everything else that makes this life of mine a pretty darn good one.  Happy Thanksgiving.