Thanksgiving 2013….

I love the Thanksgiving time of year.  I love that it's fall, the kids get a break from school, we spend a lot of time together, we make lots of yummy food that we can't eat, and it's prep time for the Christmas holiday.  This year I started to make a lot of the food the day before, and of course, I had some great kitchen helpers.  Carlee and her friend Natalie "helped" by watching and being silly.  The thing that takes the most prep and time is the rainbow jello.  I don't even like jello, but it was a tradition in Andy's family, so I make it for him, and it looks so pretty.  Marin and Tessa helped Andy make the pies which was a huge mess, but oh so cute.

Thanksgiving day was great.  We had Nana and Gramps over, the missionaries, and our new friends Brett and Shay over.  It was a great group and so much fun.  I love after everyone is done eating and the kids run off screaming happily and playing and the adults just sit and relax waiting until the last possible minute to start the clean up.  Really everything about the day was just so fabulous and fun, I am so grateful for those we could share it with.

Young Women In Excellence, The Treasure Within….

We finally had our Young Women in Excellence program to end the year.  We went with the theme of The Treasure Within, going with the idea that the girls have a treasure within them.  We had a wonderful program reviewing the Personal Progress Program and seeing all of the amazing projects the girls worked on.  I was so proud of the girls and proud of them for following through on their commitments.  It was a great night and I am so lucky to work with these Young Women, other leaders, and especially the Beehives.

Boo for Halloween and Boo it happened again….

It is easy to say that Halloween this year was NOTHING like we had planned.  The day started off great, the kids all went to school so excited for all of their class parties and had their costumes in tow, ready to change into at the end of the day.  Porter was Willie from Duck Dynasty, Carlee was Dorothy, Tessa was Glenda, and Marin was an Angry Bird (again)  I took Marin in town during the day for the trick-or-treating at the shops which was so fun.  It was a good way for her to get a lot of good loot and fast.  We met Nichole and Anna there making it extra fun for Marin.  Then later Marin and I went to the Warren for the school parties.  When we got there, Carlee's class was just coming from gym and starting to change into their costumes.  I noticed Carlee was limping around and trying not to cry.  She said that she has twisted her ankle and fallen in gym when she stepped on a hula hoop and slipped and fell.  I kept asking her if she was okay, but she was trying to be tough and didn't want to leave her class party.  Meanwhile, Tessa's class was doing their Kindergarten costume parade and walked through Carlee's class.  Tessa looked so pretty in her Glenda the Good Witch costume.  I think she was so proud of her awesome costume and wand that we had made the night before.

After school we went home and had dinner and Carlee just rested, her ankle was really bothering her.  Finally it was time to head to the church for the trunk-or-treat.  Carlee was still in pain, so Andy took her to the ER to check her out and splint her leg, he was pretty sure it was broken.  So I was at the church with Porter, Tessa, and Marin getting some candy, but it was soooo cold and windy.  Marin did not want to walk around.  Finally Andy and Carlee returned to the church with a wagon for her to ride in.  I was so sad for her and just wanted to go home, but Andy was not about to let that happen.  He pulled her around the parking lot, then insisted that we go and do some real trick or treating.  We headed over to the East Gate neighborhoods and again, Andy was pulling Carlee around in the wagon and carrying her to the doors.  Finally the temps beat us and the kids were tired, it was time to call it a day.  I typically love Halloween, but this year threw me off a bit.  Hoping for a better, accident free Halloween next year!

I have to give a huge shout out to my amazing mother-in-law for making the girls costumes.  We just could not find good Dorothy or Glenda costumes for the girls, so I finally asked KayLee if she would make them, and of course they turned out amazing, I know the girls felt so special in them.  Thank you so much for your time, talent, and effort KayLee, it means so much to the girls and I.  Love you!