Our Thanksgiving weekend

I have put this post off long enough. This morning I got Maddie off to school and then came home and thought to myself....hmmmm...laundry and dishes or blog?

Wow. That is a tough one.

What is a girl to do? HAHA! Blogging it is.

(In defense...I did think for one albeit brief second that I could hurry and get them started and then feel productive while I got the 'ol blog updated but nah...!!)

I guess I didn't screw up the turkey too bad last year so I was entrusted again this year. I learned a few things from the first time around. Things like not leaving everything until the night before and then be a frazzled wreck of a mess on Thanksgiving. It worked out so much better!

And yes...that is the tree in the background. Normally I am a "wait until after Thanksgiving is over" kind of girl but I was TOO darn excited this year. Plus who wants to lug out a bunch of boxes and decorate when family is in town?! Not me.

The darn turkey.

Yep. Darn. This stinker was HEAVY. Mix it with some slippery and cold and lets just say he almost fell on the floor twice. I was covered in nasty turkey crap twice within 24 hours. Rememeber...I am a germ freak. So nasty. But he turned out great. He cooked too fast too. I was freaking out that he would end up like the bird on Christmas Vacation because he was done almost 1 1/2 hours before dinner and Michelle was still driving up from George. Stupid thing to stress about? Yes!

I give you the "kids table". Designed by kids. Maddie and Hayden said they wanted to be able to color. So we put big paper on the table. They found the snowmen cups and said that they wanted fun cups. Done. The straws are just a given with kids. :)

Maddie was off track during the Thanksgiving holiday and wanted to do something. So I gave her the patterns and she was off putting together stuff to make indian hats so that on Thanksgiving all the kids had hats to glue together and wear during dinner.

And "Aunt Cher" was helping with all of the gluing. Or did she secretly wish her seat was at the kids table so she could color during dinner?!

The kids all lined up for pictures in their hats. I wasn't paying any attention at the time to what Maddie or Hayden were wearing when we were taking these pictures. When I first saw them on the computer I had to laugh. Maddie is wearing her version of a "pilgrim" costume. Complete with her pajama top tied backwards around her waist. I am assuming that is her apron? She has one but I guess that didn't look "old world" enough like her pink pajamas! HAHA. And yes Hayden is not complete without his Batman cape. He goes everywhere with it. Apparently even Thanksgiving dinner.

I didn't take any more pictures on Thanksgiving. We had a great time eating, playing games, eating, watching football, eating and relaxing. Oh, and eating some more.

The next day between shopping (no I didn't even ATTEMPT the early morning shopping) Ash asked me to get some family pictures for her. Her words were "point and shoot". WHHHAAT?! Does she know me at all?! Hahaha!

It was halftime and Jake gave us 20 min. So we hurried. Plus, it was so COLD! None of us are used to this cold and we were shivering and freezing. But we had fun and I got some winners. Not bad for 20 minutes right?! HA!

These girls are just so darn cute. I wanted to keep them. I would be willing to have 3 more kids, if they were these 3. I did think of smuggling them out to my car by the end of the weekend. I think Ash would have known they were missing.

That night we decided to head downtown and see the lights turn on at Temple Square. So did a lot of other people!

Grace was absolutely INSULTED that she was in a stroller when everyone else was walking and was more than happy to let Paisley use it. Until it was time to go home and we put her back in and she SCREAMED the entire way to the car. We got a lot of awesome looks from people on our way out.

I love this picture. And what makes it better is the Hello Kitty stamps Sydney put on her cheeks!

This was absolutely beautiful. They had it sitting in the middle of the reflecting pond in front of the temple.

The next night Austin got his Eagle Scout award. I have never been to one of these in my life. I had no idea they have a "nest" that all Eagle scouts sit in during the meeting...okay....? And when it was my turn to say a few words about Austin I had to keep reminding myself not to say "Amen" at the end. He worked so hard and I am so proud of him. Now he will get to sit in the cool nest when he goes to courts of honor. Even when he is 92. hehehe!

We ended the weekend with our $5 gift exchange. It is funny what you can get for five bucks. I wish I would have gotten more pictures but we were having too much fun!

Another AWESOME thing that happened during Thanksgiving was the day before Josh had a job offer.

For those who may not have known, the company Josh had been working for began "quiet layoffs". Josh was pulled into the office and told that he had a job...for now. They gave us a small window of time to look. With the holidays and the economy we knew that it would be very tricky. It is a stress that leaves you feeling completely helpless. There is nothing you can do to fix the situation except job hunt. So not fun. This year hasn't been the funnest. :)

Josh interviewed with a company, felt good about it, and then found out that he was in the running with one other guy. In the end, the other guy got it. We were disappointed but kept going. The CEO from this company had heard of another job opening at another company that he thought Josh would be a great fit for. He called the other company, recommended Josh and then called Josh and told him to apply. The new company called, Josh had a couple of interviews and was offered the job. And crazy enough he is working with one of my friends from high school.

I am so thankful for the blessings I have in my life. From the big things like a job and my family to the little things, that I get to do what I love to do. I am truly blessed.