November Highlights!

We arrived home from China on Sat., Nov. 15.  Heather was in town for a foot zoning conference so we were able to visit with her over a bite at Cafe Rio as we had no fresh food in the house.  She left early the next morning for ID and I took Steve to the airport about 9:30 so he could work in CA that week.  I drove on up to CV for church.  Britton played a piano solo "I Love To See The Temple" in sacrament meeting.  He did an exceptional job on his solo church debut.
Steve continued to struggle with jet lag throughout his work week.  For me it wasn't as difficult.
He arrived back on Thursday and that evening Tiffany and Abigail flew in too.  Everyone was tired that night.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day so Abigail helped Steve and I rake a lot of leaves in the yard.  We love all the trees, so the raking is worth it.  Abigail was an excellent helper and stayed right there with us until we finished the front yard.  Then Tiffany left for CV to prepare for the next day's big party.  We left shortly thereafter.

Saturday the 22nd was Korinne's birthday and Tiffany had planned a big party for both the November birthday girls.  They not only played dress ups, but had a photo booth, games, pizza, balloons, cake and ice cream.  Jenna and Korinne loved helping Tiffany decorate and set things up.  They all loved the party.

Happy 9th Birthday to Korinne.  Abigail turned 8 on the 3rd of November and has continued to celebrate the entire month.  That philosophy aligns with mine so I completely understand it.

Korinne is smiling over her root beer float which was the treat for her family celebration later that day.

We all attended church together on Sunday and then Steve and I had to drive back to SL as I had a client from California in town and I needed to show houses all day to her.  Tiffany hung around with Hilary's family on Monday.  On Tuesday we headed to ID in two separate vehicles.  Tiffany drove the Sequoia and took the old highway so she could stop at the Pepperidge Farm outlet store.  That place is a personal favorite for our family.  We left from SL and stopped only in Blackfoot to drop off some of our Thanksgiving items at Kathy and Brent's.  Then we stopped and picked up Shawn who flew into the regional airport.
Tiffany arrived at Heather's first and immediately the cousins started playing.  This Tickle Witch Parade cracked me up.

Abigail, Elsie and Quinn quickly planned a camping trip too.  Fortunately it was in the family room.

I had some food preparations to make for the Thanksgiving Feast the next day, and it is always a job keeping the crowd fed any day.

Sloppy Joes that I made ahead came in handy.  Steve is so happy with that meal as long as we add some potato chips.

Brinley does a little rehearsing for her musical number at the upcoming baptism.

The morning passed quickly and soon it was time to leave for Brent and Kathy's. There we gathered for a pizza dinner and then went to the stake center for Abigail's baptism.  When we arrived at the stake center, Aaron commented that he was baptized in that same stake center when he was 8 years old. Brinley, Anna and Heather left early and rode with us as we had to stop in IF to purchase Steve some dress pants.  Neither of us noticed that we handn't put his suit in with all the food, Christmas gifts, etc.  He needed new pants anyway.
Here are the happy shoppers.  We definitely preferred to shop the day BEFORE Thanksging than the day AFTER.

We also checked out some birthday items for Brinley and Anna's upcoming December birthdays.  We successful and we also found Steve a nice pair of slacks.

This was the sunset we enjoyed on the rest of the drive.  I took a bunch of photos but from a moving car, it is a challenge for me.

When we arrived at Brent and Kathy's, we were greeted by Hilary's family, Jake's family and Dustin's family.  They all joined with us in eating pizza, cake and ice cream and attending the baptism.  Cassidy, Dustin's oldest child, has grown up to be a beautiful young woman now.

My sister Jackie drove down to join us for the baptism too.  We were so happy to see her and have this opportunity to visit.  Thanks, Jackie, for making that extra effort.

Abigail was very excited and willingly posed in her baptismal suit with a beautiful, special towel that was a gift from Kathy and Brent.

This is a nice group of  cousins and second cousins who attended the baptism.

Front row, Cole, Jantzen, Quinn, Abigail, Anna, Korinne  Back row:  Britton, Cassidy, Parker, Riley, Brinley, Jenna, Tanner and Jameson  In the middle are Elsie and Oakley.

Kathy and Brent coordinated with their Bishop to have him conduct the service and have the ward mission leader fill the font.  We really appreciated their service.  Family members took care of all program items.  Heather played the piano.  Tanner conducted the music.  Anna and Jantzen said the prayers.  Brinley played a violin solo.  Jenna and Kristen gave the talks.  Shawn performed the baptism and the confirmation.  All of these things were beautifully accomplished in less than 30 minutes.

It was a very spiritual event.  Everyone did an extremely nice job and Shawn gave a simply beautiful confirmation blessing to Abigail.  I was very touched by the whole service and loved being there in this "heavenly" atmosphere with so many family members.  This was truly a spiritual highlight for me.  I appreciated everyone who supported Abigail and contributed to this most memorable event.  Abigail, we love you and are happy you chose to become a member of Christ's church on the earth.

The next morning we were back in reality land.  In spite of a little conflict, we were still happy and excited to spend the day at Kathy and Brent's again for our Thanksgiving celebration.  Thanksgiving at Kathy's is our favorite family holiday.

What's not to love?  Adam makes his fabulous rolls.  Kathy does the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, pretzel salad and an amazing variety of homemade hand dipped chocolates and candy.  Everyone else brings, veggie trays, fruit trays, homemade root beer,  yams, dressing, ham, beans, salad, cranberries, pies and cheesecake.  You mix in the kids' crafts, organized by Tiffany, plus bowling,  fireworks and a piñata provided by Brent and Kathy and you have ONE AMAZING CELEBRATION!  Brent asked everyone to name something they were thankful for.  I'd say THANKSGIVING with so many family members.  AWESOME!

The weather was so mild that some of the boys played soccer outside, Jameson and Oakley become best buddies and played everywhere including outside and a few of us really enjoyed our after dinner walk wearing jackets instead of bundling up in total winter gear.

The bowling alley was very crowded with our family and two others so we only had enough lanes for the kids to bowl.  I don't know if any adults were really disappointed.  The bowling alley folks have promised to give us an appointment next year.

The bowling machines malfunctioned so we didn't have accurate scores.  There were a few tears over unrecorded strikes and spares.  Brent just kept the trophies until next year.

Then we had fireworks, the piñata and dessert back at Brent and Kathy's.  We really did pack the day with celebratory activities.  Our thanks to Kathy and Brent.  As usual they were supreme hosts.

Friday, we hung around Heather and Aaron's and ate some more.  No one went early shopping but a carload of the men went to the Army/Navy surplus store to check it out.  A few of us went to Cal Ranch in the afternoon.  Many had walks around the neighborhood enjoying the pleasant weather.

A few movies were watched and a lot of Wii games and dancing took place.  We never did get around to baking cookies.  We just didn't need any more sweets and the kids were having lots of fun together.

The next morning, we took pajama pictures before we left to take Shawn to the airport.  Then Tiffany, Abigail and I drove the Sequoia and Steve drove the pickup.  We made a couple of stops at Kohls looking for a particular birthday gift.  We scored.  We also stopped altogether at Maddox Drive In for lunch.  Tiffany and I love their chicken.  Yum!

We gathered for one last family prayer together.  I love praying with our family group.

I believe Hilary and Adam's family left directly behind us.   It was soooo fun to be together.

All the cousins sat on the stairs for a photo at my request.  I never have too many photos of our grandkids.

Thanks Heather and Aaron for letting us all crash and hang at your house.  It's great that you can handle such a big group.  We loved hanging out in our pi's!