On Thanksgiving morning, RJ ran his first 5k! Despite good intentions, he did this without any training, and he did a great job! He finished in about 35 minutes. With no training and never having run 3 miles in his entire life, we think that is awesome! He was 20th place in his age group. :o)
It was a very cold, but sunny morning...
RJ is on the very end. He just earned honor roll. Good job, RJ!
I'm so thankful for our school. I love our school. It is a baby, only opened 3 years ago, but we have been there since day one and it's like a little family. The first year was small, but now it is a full on big school. But I love the principal, I love the teachers, and I love that it is less than 1/2 a mile away and the kids walk to and from every day!
Remember how I was the lucky one who got the last pumpkin pie at Costco and saved Thanksgiving?? Well, I showed up at my in-laws and realized that I had left it in my refrigerator! Luckily my brother-in-law lives down the street, so he went to my house and retrieved it, thus saving Thanksgiving once again! On Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for family. We have so many and everyone is wonderful. I am also thankful for my mother-in-law, who made dinner this year. This was a weird year for me, I didn't even think about Thanksgiving dinner until the night before, we've just had so much going on. So thank you Nancy, for welcoming us in and planning the whole meal by yourself! I am also so thankful for where I live. I have a great neighborhood, great school, great friends.
Tonight I am thankful that I snagged the LAST pumpkin pie at Costco. Thanksgiving is saved!!
While we were in Vancouver, WA, it SNOWED!! Did you know that it snows in Vancouver and Portland??? I had no idea that this was ever a possibility. We went to the movies on Monday night, and came out of the theater to blizzard-like conditions! This is the next morning, the kids were very excited to see snow.
This is going over a mountain pass somewhere in Oregon. It was so incredibly, beautiful, and a little bit scary. I am thankful I was not on the OPPOSITE side of the freeway going the other direction. There was an accident and a MILES long traffic jam that took some people almost 4 hours to get through, and some never got the chance because the freeway was eventually closed. After all this driving, I have never been so thankful to NOT be stuck in a traffic jam! I don't think our family would have survived...
It was a 10-hour drive home, and it felt so good to be home to my freezing-cold house and my wonderful bed!
I am thankful for my dad and that I was able to visit him this weekend. He suffered a heart attack last month, freaked us all out, but now is doing really well. I am thankful that we were able to spend some time with him. After Robert's wedding, we drove up to Vancouver to see him, it was another perilous journey on curvy roads in the pouring rain, but it was worth it!
I am so thankful for family. I was able to spend several days in Oregon and Washington with some of my family. It was especially great to see my sister, Liz, who I haven't seen for the longest time. Here is a view from the cottage we stayed in while we were in Brookings, OR.
Here we are, in this cute chapel overlooking the Oregon coast, waiting for Robert's wedding to start. That is Bobbi & Liz in the front, Jonnae, Sienna, Pyper, and Theresa in the middle, and my mom is way back there!
At the wedding dinner, the kids were entertained with bowls of M&M's and bubbles.
Sienna & Jonnae in Vancouver, WA. Sienna was Jonnae's shadow this whole trip, she's obsessed with her!
Aaron & Bobbi
Conner was obsessed with Pyper and wanted to always be holding her. If he wasn't holding her, he was crying about it and saying, "I want my baby!"
Sienna loves Pyper, too.
Ryan, me, Bobbi & Aaron at the movies in Vancouver.
This was a great trip. I have a wonderful family, I am very blessed.
On November 20, my brother, Robert, married Kay Dee. I am so thankful that he found her, and that she wants to keep him! She is a wonderful girl, and I am so happy for them.
On Friday, me & the kids ventured to Brookings, OR. It was a beautiful drive along the coast, but it was also stressful, perilous, and harrowing! The roads were very curvy (How come no one told me how windy the roads were going to be??), we drove through rain and hail storms, and it got dark and that was even scarier. But, I am thankful we got to do this, it was amazingly beautiful, the kids were so excited every time they saw the crashing waves. I am so thankful for such a beautiful earth! And I'm very thankful that we arrived at our destination safe and happy.
I am thankful for a clean house. Nothing makes me feel more calm and relaxed. My shoulders aren't hunched and I can breathe.
I am thankful for portable DVD players! And not just because of all the road trips we're doing this month. Today I was a genius. I put this DVD player in Conner's lap while he sat in the shopping cart at Costco. It was the most stress-free trip to Costco I have had since Conner became a toddler. My life will never be the same.
Today I am thankful for Conner. There are days when I get overwhelmed with my life and feel just blah, but this little guy reminds me on a daily basis that it is all worth it. He makes me smile every day. He is so cute, so sweet, so funny. He follows me around saying, "Hold me!", and when I pick him up, he squeezes me so tight. Every time I put him to bed, we have a ritual. We say our goodnights, and then I say,"Stay in bed, don't get up!" And then he says, "Okay, I not get up." And then he always gets up. He loves me and I'm a better person because of it.
When we were in Las Vegas, he learned how to drive! There is nothing cuter, or scarier. He would go forward, crash, go backward, crash, back and forth.
I am thankful for lazy Sundays, where the most important thing on my list is cuddling with my 2-year-old and taking a nap.
I am so thankful for my health. I have been very blessed to be super healthy. I very rarely get sick, and when I do, I recover very quickly. I've gone literally years without getting sick at all. I did get sick this year, but it only lasted two days. Right now, 3 out of 4 of my kids are sick, so I'm thinking a lot about this. I am really lucky that I never get sick and I know it!
Today, I am thankful for R.J. He is such a good big brother, especially to Conner. When Conner was a baby, he would get so excited and start bouncing and kicking whenever R.J. walked into the room. Now, he gets just as excited, but usually tackles him. All day during school, Conner is constantly asking, "Where's R.J.?" or saying, "I need R.J." R.J. is like this with all little kids, always playing with them and being so helpful. In one more year, he will be a good babysitter!
R.J. is really smart and remembers everything he learns. He likes to share facts with me in his funny monotone voice, like he's reading straight from a book. He will even start drawing diagrams if he doesn't think I'm getting it! He loves documentaries, and is interested in everything, math, animals, military weapons, copper & iron. He finds all new knowledge to be interesting. He also loves to run and is training for his first 5k on Thanksgiving morning. He plans on winning us a turkey at his school's turkey trot next week, too! I love this boy. He is such a blessing to this family.
I am thankful for all the veterans that have sacrificed for our freedom. My brother, father-in-law, dad, brother-in-law, and so many more. But I am especially thankful for this one....
I am grateful for road trips that are OVER!! Even though we had tons of fun, even though it was 2am when we finally arrived and my house was only 61 degrees, even though I have 17 loads of laundry and I'm out of milk, it's always good to be home!
I am thankful for DISNEYLAND!! I am especially thankful for people who buy 4-day hopper passes, don't use every day, and give us 4 free passes!! We had so much fun, the kids were so happy, and now we never have to go back right??
Here are Conner & Sienna ready to go!!
Ryan spent an hour and a half on a conference call. At Disneyland. LAME. But, if you have to have a conference call, Disneyland is better than home, right?
Conner loves creatures in costume. We discovered this at a Trunk or Treat when he spent an entire hour chasing the BYU football mascot. Tigger needed to take a break, and Conner took off after him, and I had to chase him all the way past this fence, while another employee kept yelling at us to stop. :o) We aren't allowed back there....
Conner loved watching the teacups. I literally had to pry him off of this fence when it was time for another ride.
And the kids loved the teacups, too. Me & Ryan refused to go. :o)
The Innovations museum place (can't remember what is was called) was really fun for the boys. Braden got to help conduct an experiment with lightbulbs...
And all of the kids got to operate a little windmill...
There was a spinning sidewalk around the inner part of the musuem, which provided endless amounts of fun for Braden.
Our own little family rock band.
Conner seriously rocking out!
And, of course, Mickey Mouse. It was really difficult to pry Conner away from Mickey too. He gave him lots of hugs and high fives.
And now the kids have experienced Disneyland.
I am thankful for delicious, warm gooey cinnamon rolls and my wonderful sister-in-law, Alyse, who makes them at EVERY single family gathering. I know RJ ate 5 of them today and I refuse to admit how much I ate.
Today I am thankful for FAMILIES!! I have been blessed with a giganticly huge family on my side and Ryan's. I love it, even all the chaos! Today we are in Las Vegas and celebrated two nephews being baptized, one nephew ordained an elder, and a birthday party for a niece! We are so lucky...
I am thankful for talents. My life has been so blessed because of the talents of other people. Today, my family was blessed by the photography skills of my best friend, Debbie. Here is a sneak peak! Sorry, I'm not allowed to show the real stuff before the editing process, but maybe these shots will make you smile. :o)
