Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was absolutely grand. Having two siblings come from across the country (Delaware and Indiana) definitely set the stage for an extra special occasion. In preparation for the holiday Tom and I did an obnoxious amount of cleaning and rearranging in order to maximize the space of our home and to make it comfortable and nice. Our cleaning list: sort and dejunk the kids' room, (we took 7 boxes of toys to the storage unit), move Samantha's bed to boys room, move a queen bed in to Samantha's room, clear out the formal dinning room, set up the adult table for Thanksgiving, wash bedding, clean bathrooms, dust fans in living room (hasn't been done since the house was built. the ceilings are like 18 feet high), vacuum, new scentcy stuff, develop new family pix, hang them (didn't happen), shop for every type of food a person could possibly want, get more dishes from storage, laundry, put away the 72 hour kit stuff I've had by my bed for over a month, and mop floor. As you can tell I was exhausted before our company even showed up. Everyone arrived and it was well worth the preparation.

Here I am with siblings: Sariah, Starla and Marcus. Can you see why when I was 7 years old I thought I was adopted. I don't have red hair. Love these guys! Missed the other 3 that couldn't make it and my mom.

This was the first Thanksgiving I've ever hosted. Team work made the dinner perfect. My sis-in-law Chelsea also helped and her sis Lindsay. We had smoked Turkey. It was already cooked just needed to reheat it. Loved the turkey, so did everyone else.

Football ruled the living room

The kids coming to the adult table to be dished up

Marcus and Chelsea - cutest couple

Lindsay, Chelsea, Marcus and Starla

Dad, Sariah and Neum

The dinner: Smoked turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, sweet potatoes, marshmallow salad, veggies and dip, pickled veggies, olives, bacon wrapped green beans, green bean casserole, stuffing and rolls and cranberry jelly. It was the perfect dinner

Later the kids made gingerbread houses. Such a hit!

Samantha has lost two more teeth and one more is about to fall out.

Saturday we had our longtime friends Janet and Mitch from San Francisco visit. So fun to see them. love them! See if you can spot them in the crowd

The exhausted hosts.

It was so fun! We played lots of games, mostly card games. Black Friday was a bust for me. Didn't see anything in the ads worth getting up for. I ate for 3 days straight. I am a compulsive eater when there is that much around. Plus I was so tired I ate to stay awake. Happy. Healthy. Tom went to the USU football game on Saturday. All the girls hit the beauty school for cheap haircuts, eye brow waxing and tinting. Then more games.

Then to top it off Sunday we went to a missionary farewell in our old ward for a young man that Tom helped mentor as a YMs leader. It was so nice to see the old gang. It felt like home. Everyone was so kind and loving to us. Thanks Barlows!

It was a weekend to remember.

Joy

JOY is teaching your children one of your favorite childhood games and then watching them play it with sheer joy and delight. Tonight I introduced our children to the classic card game of slap jack. They loved it and I loved watching them play it. I played one game til I lost then they took it from there.

11-11-11

Seth turned 6 on 11-11-11

And what a party it was!

ghostly

This is how crafty and sweet my Ma & Pa-in-laws are. They sent the kids a Halloween package with these black plaques, with each child's name in vinyl, and instructions on how to make these hand print ghosts. So cute! What a fun decoration to pull out each year from now. Seth and Trey's are the most hand-print looking.

These boots fit me and I'll be wearing them Saturday night. I'll let you know why soon!

Halloween

It's either post these pictures or trim my toe nails. I need to do both really badly but I can feel Halloween slipping away so I better post these pictures of our adorable children. I really liked our kid's costumes this year. For me there is something about coordinating them, matching them up that adds that special touch. Presenting the two bunnies and two Beybladers: Gingka and Ryuga. Costumes all personally chosen by each child, except Sadie, she just went along for the ride.

Cute face painting compliments of cousin Leah