Gobble Gobble

A very happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there! I, for one, am very thankful for the three turkeys pictured above. We gobbled till we wobbled ( and then some!) at Grandma's house and spent the day doing jigsaw puzzles and playing Scrabble and Boggle. Here are some of the highlights of Thanksgiving.....and a few other fun photos...........

Make sure you take this photo BEFORE they eat pie........

Olives, anyone?

Eating turkey is really helpful when you're trying to loose your 2 front teeth. We'll have to think of a new nickname for her instead of "Snaggletooth Princess".


Scary picture, I know, but Rich and I just celebrated 11 wonderful years of marriage. I asked Ben to snap this photo and to try and not get my "chubs", as Garrett calls them. Only prob is that when you are 32 weeks pregnant you would have to literally be out of the picture to not show your chubs. Also, pay careful attention to the Harry Potter mark I've got going on my forehead. Voldemort...you ask? Naw, just me wielding my straightening iron. Let's just say it was a rough week last week...but it ended happily as I spent the weekend with my favorite Civil Engineer in the whole world as we celebrated our anniversary. The weekend consisted of a few of my favorite things....spending time with Rich, sleeping in late, presents for Kelly, eating out at various restaurants, and seeing Twilight with BC friends. It might have been the perfect weekend....

Seven

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to our wonderful seven year old princess! Truly she is all that anyone could ask for in a daughter and brings much joy and happiness to our home. We love you Cass!


To celebrate the occasion Cassidy had a tea party with a few of her favorite people at Dear Lizzie's in Highland. The girls had such a great time, all dressed up and drinking raspberry lemonade out of dainty china cups and munching on buttery-soft sugar cookies piled high with pink frosting. Their favorite part seemed to be browsing through the store, drooling over everything glittery and pink: bejeweled staplers, feather-topped pens, sequined calculators, monogrammed tissues, and sparkly Christmas ornaments. Opening gifts was also a hit!

Mall Rats

Some of you may already be aware of this----secretly, my life's ambition is to be a full time mall rat. I want to shop shop shop, finding the best deals around and rotating my meals through the myriad offerings of the food court. However, some of you may have noticed that I am usually accompanied by an entourage of short people calling me "mom". My entourage is not usually mall-friendly. They are usually averse to anything not revolving around them. They have no time for picking over clothing racks and strolling from store to store. They want action---Kung Fu Panda action, if you know what I mean.

But tonight that all changed. With Rich in Washington, the three short people and I headed to University Mall for a night on the town. I could feel the adrenaline kick in as I deftly maneuvered a pristine parking place near the mall entrance. With my mother's death-like grip holding onto two of the little ones and the other one gamely trudging behind me, we entered my beautiful, sparkly world of bling. First things first--we headed straight to the food court. The little ones were drooling over the choices, and having the high standards that they do, they quickly decided on TACO BELL, which would have been my choice too if I were allowed to make choices in their presence. After feasting on nachos and tacos (and of course taking both C and G to the bathroom) we headed out to do a little shopping. The kids were amazing! I'm serious! We wove in and out of stores, up and down the mall, with nary a complaint. I graciously bestowed some of my vast mall knowledge, showing them how to head straight to the back-of-the-store clearance racks. We stopped at See's Candies for a free sample and made the whopping purchase of 4 vanilla suckers. I gave them each a quarter (hey, big spender!) which they deposited in a gumball machine and loved watching the gumball descend its roller coaster-like track. They took their time examining merchandise (Garrett--The Disney Store, Cassidy--Bed, Bath and Bubbles or whatever, Ben--Gamestop) and told me exactly what they want for Christmas. They asked questions about all the weird teenagers there(Mom, why is her hair like that? Moooooom,He had an earing in his nose!Moooom, I have to go to the bathroom again.)

To sum it up, we had such a fab time at Kelly's Happiest Place on Earth. I just might do it again! And next time my friends will be ready for lesson number two: Strategic Mall Planning: How and when to use your Mall FAST PASS to get the most out of your shopping expedition. I can't wait!


P.S. Any other Mall Rats out there? I know its taboo and worldy and all that, but the first step in recovery is admitting your skill (I mean problem) right?

BC

This is my friend Ilene. She is smart, funny, cute, a great listener, and a million other wonderful things. She is holding a diaper cake, didn't you know?

These are my wonderful, fantastic, amazing, and stylish friends from my book club, fondly known to us as BC. From left we have Tiff, Erin, Ilene, (me), Heather, Kandice and Steph. These women are so amazing---I can't even begin to tell you how much I adore them. Each day I'm amazed that they let me associate with them! Originally we were all in the same Lehi ward together and somehow we started a book club, and now, more than 5 years and 60 books later, we're still going strong. We meet once a month to "discuss" our book (read: eat and gossip and share our joy and pain---it's way cheaper than therapy although some of us still need that , too). Between us we have 21 kids! In this photo we were together last Saturday for a baby shower for wonderful Ilene, who, after two boys and countless years trying to get pregnant is due to have a GIRL any day now. We were so excited to throw her a shower and watch her open everything pink.

I'm just so thankful for friends. I truly do love people. I love meeting new people, although I'm always sure I come across like a dork (my Dad always told me to find something I'm good at and stick with it. Thanks, Dad.) I never get tired of talking to people, learning about their life, asking their opinions/advice, and especially doing things together. Without sounding whiny (whiney?) I only wish I had more time and means to play with more people out there! Thanks to all my friends out there, old and new. Thanks to all of you who look beyond my NEON flaws and insecurities and bad fashion choices and still are so nice to me. And here's to making many, many more friends in the future! Wanna come over and play?

Pumpkings (a play on words, not a typo)

We are a true pumpkin carving family! We love to use patterns to trace intricate designs and this year Ben and Cassidy carved their own with very little help! Ben was especially proud of his BYU pumpkin, and every year Rich and I have been married we have always carved one that says KINGS. Garrett tried to get in on the fun by first carving the dining room table and then carving his own hand. We were not amused, but evidently he was.

The kids had fun (big surprise) trick-or-treating. I sent them out with only one goal: Do not return without a Mr. Goodbar. They failed their mission but still returned with lots of other goodies that I shouldn't eat but did. We've trained our children to pay the PARENT TAX upon their return from trick-or-treating. Rich and I each take our pick from their booty, and they are actually really good about sharing with us. I feel good about doing our part to keep the world's dentists in business. It takes a village.....