Thanksgiving at our house

We started our Thanksgiving by getting the turkey ready to go into the oven at 7:30am.  After Nathan woke up, Scott and he went out back to throw around a football.  It was a sunny day in the 50's which was wonderful.

The girls all enjoyed working on crafts while they watched the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade.  We record it with our DRV and then start watching it 30 minutes after the parade starts.  That way we are able to fast forward through all of the commercials.

 I ironed our tablecloth (I mention this because I never iron things) and then set the table for our Thanksgiving lunch.  I thought it looked pretty cute.

We had Scott's sister's family join us for Thanksgiving and those that didn't fit at the table sat up to the island.  The younger kids each got a personalized Thanksgiving cup.

 These two were not interested in eating much, they just wanted to get back to playing legos together.

 After we enjoyed the meal we all went to a park nearby to run around and enjoy the sunshine.

 The adults had some interesting discussions while the big girls listened in. Being a teenager at the park is pretty boring.

 The little kids made some forts in the trees.

The little boys enjoyed spying on the girls.  All was fine until the boys started stealing the girls branches and then when fighting broke out we knew it was time to leave.

We returned home and enjoyed some delicious homemade pie and eggnog courtesy of Uncle Steve.

 

Today I am thankful that:

*I got to attend a parade in Seattle with Scott.  We went so we could see Holly marching with her band.  Here is a link to their song "Let it snow". 

 The school dance team is in the front and the band is behind them.  You can see Holly march by near the end of the video, you can't miss her because Scott is yelling. :)

*We bought a new artificial Christmas tree last weekend.  I would have been too tired to buy one this weekend.  Scott has already put it up and the kids put on their special ornaments.  Boxes of all the other Christmas decorations all scattered throughout the house.  I am waiting for an energy boost to unload them.

*Our turkey turned out tasting yummy.  We are always worried that we might cook it too long and have it turn out like that turkey on the movie Christmas vacation which looked like turkey jerky when they cut it open. 

Craft Fair

I have always enjoyed going to craft fairs because it is fun to look at cute things and I usually go to them with special people.  When I was young I would go to them with my mom, at college I went to them in Utah with my Grandma (how I which I had some pictures from those adventures), and now that I live near my mom I have been going to them with her again.  But this year my mom is on a mission in Kentucky. 

                                      

So when a sweet lady from church invited me to her and her daughters craft fair I wished my mom could attend it with me.  I mentioned my wish when I visited with my mom on the phone and she said "you should ask Sharon to go with you".  Sharon is a lady from my church that I have known for 25 years.  She is close to our family and took me and some of my friends on week long hikes when we were teenagers.  I contacted Sharon and she was excited to attend the craft fair with me.  So I picked her up on Saturday and we had a perfectly wonderful time there.  This is Sharon posing with the fun items.

Sharon and I each chose to buy some sweet Christmas cupcake ornaments made from glass balls.  They were a great deal too, only $3 each.

Here are some more of the sweet items.  The craft fair was at a beautiful house so that made it even more fun. 

Saturday evening I received a call informing me that I had won the raffle for the day.  Everyone who came to the craft fair was entered into it.  So now I am the proud owner of this cute Christmas wreath.

Today I am thankful that:
*Nathan emptied the silverware in the morning and without complaining.   It was a small victory for him.

*Emily and Holly loved the little Christmas trees, ornaments, and tree skirts that I bought for them at Target.   Teenagers are a bit tricky to figure out so I was happy they liked these so much.

*We have been having a very dry and sunny November.  I love being able to take walks outside, rake leaves, and see my kids ride their bikes.  November is usually overcast and rainy.

Stripes

Last night while we were eating our Spaghetti dinner after church we realized that all our kids were wearing striped shirts.  I thought that was so cool that I pulled out the camera for some fun photos.

 These two are best friends. 

I love Nathan's cute smile in this one

 piggy back rides

Any idea how I can get Melissa to let me cut her bangs?  She doesn't want to pin them back or get them cut.

 Four cute kids, Holly opted to not be in the photos.

 And here is a picture of Scott and I not in stripes.

One last big picture of the family at dinner.  It's always a good dinner when we have spaghetti, one of the few meals everybody likes.

Today I am thankful that:
*Nathan's ear is better. After having a cold he couldn't hear out of his left ear for about a week.
*Holly had a great time playing in the band at the football game in the rain.  The opposing team had brought their huge 200 member band and they had a battle of the bands going on during the game.  And our football team won!
*We got to talk to both my parents and Scott's parents on the phone last night.  We have great parents!

7 years ago and Halloween

Seven years ago we packed up our house in Arizona and boarded a plane to Seattle.  We had four daughters at the time ages 8,6,2, and 7months.  We moved into my parents house in Sammamish and Scott began a new job at Microsoft.  Seven months later (after our house sold in Arizona) we moved into our home.  I can't believe we have been here so long and that Scott has been with the same company for seven years. His longest stay with another company was 3 years. It definitely hasn't been easy for any of us but we made it. To celebrate the occasion I made Scott this sign and hung streamers for him to go through as he came home from work.

Here is a picture of my handsome husband Scott.  I keep this picture hanging in the kitchen so that even when Scott is at work I can see his smiling face.   I put that sticker on his picture once and now it won't come off without leaving a sticker mess so it stays.

 Here is what our kids looked like in 2006 right before we moved to Washington. 

 And Scott and baby Melissa in 2006

Here is a photo of the girls in 2007 (our first Halloween in Washington)

 And these are the pictures from this Halloween 2013. Our girls sure have grown a lot these past 7 years! Megan and Melissa are on the right.  Nathan doesn't like Halloween so he didn't dress up or go trick or treating.

 Here is Holly on the left.

 And Emily on the right.  Next year I am going to make sure I take a picture of all the kids together.