Family Greetings

Thanks to our treasured friend, Heather Sheffer, we have family pictures AND a Christmas card this year!!! Thank you so much, Heather, for sharing your time. talents, patience and camera with us! I've posted many of the pics we took, so keep scrolling....

Thanksgiving

Food~Family~Friends
SOOOOO much to be thankful for!
What a fabulous Feast we helped prepare & share with our sweet Aunt Jennie and dear friends, Brian & Jessica Grayless and their 4 children! ( have to tell ya, WE had the BEST turkey in the county that day!) The smoked turkey was actually to die for! We were completely stuffed with turkey, ham and ALL the trimmings, which really left no room for dessert, but who could resist?! They were amazing desserts! Thanks especially, Jess, for the sublime HOMEMADE Italian cheesecake, and Brian for the Strawberry/Rhubard Pie and Jennie, your cherry pie looked like it should have been an advertisement it was so pretty! Wow---I was impressed!
Before bed that night, we stopped by Daryl & Patty Ward's house to especially say "hello" to our New Mexico friends, Bev & Enoch Laudie and their boys. The four guys in the bottom picture are the group of some of Joe's closest friends from church. They served together in various leadership positions in the Elders Quorum (men's organization that focuses a lot on service such as helping people move in or out.) Joe loved serving with them! We are blessed to have such amazing friends!

Next, we spent the weekend at my sister's house and enjoyed "hanging out" with so many more of our loved ones! We tried something different this year....each family brought their favorite homemade soup and dessert to share with the rest of the clan. It was so simple, it was a hit, and I bet we do it again. (It was a welcome break from the Thanksgiving Feast/ production/calorie fest!) The kids spent the majority of their time JUMPING on the trampoline, even Levi, and Joe and I spent our time re-connecting with old friends and the sisters.
"As time passes, and we part, sisters always stay close at heart."
Yep, it was good and pleasant.
I'm thankful for that. :)

Silver Dollar City for the Holidays

What a GREAT destination place for the family! I highly recommend going to Silver Dollar City for the Hoildays. We enjoyed every bit of our time there. It is worth it to get the 2 day pass for the price of one in order to spend a leisurely time there. The LIGHTS were my favorite part, as it seemed that every plank, railing and piece of trim were covered and the nighttime displays were dreamy. There were tons of craft shops, yummy food vendors (including hot cocoa and wasssail), fun festive shows, and amusement rides to boot! We also really liked the train ride and the Christmas Tree lighting and the Parade. Evidence of the true story and meaning of Christmas was everywhere, and we appreciated the strong Christian influence of the park. We were fortunate to have perfect weather our first day, and didn't get rained out until the very end of our second day, which was really okay because we were able to watch "A Christmas Carol" stage show before we left.
On another note, we experienced the luxery and convienience of renting a lakehouse instead of motel rooms. My sis-in-law introduced us all to the idea, and I must say, it is a good choice. I don't really know the details, but from what I gather, there are homes all over the States that are available to rent for vacations. Branson is full of them...You get all the comforts of home (privacy, yard, space, full kitchen multiple baths, etc.) and after the cost has been divided with the other participants, it is cheaper that a hotel/motel!
We WILL be going back!!!

Trick or Treat!

So, this is a little late in coming but, hey! I'm a busy woman! Extra computer time these days is spent on secretary work for Primary or Facebook! What a shame...
Anyway, we have been able to get out and do quite a few things the past few weeks, so I thought I'd better get caught up before I started running into Christmas. Would be hard to blog about Halloween THEN!

OP1 Trunk or Treat 2009

Halloween Festivities

Jake really enjoyed getting to wear his Werewolf costume all day at school!

The girls got to sing and dance together at the Assembly!

It was super fun to hang with friends at the big Halloween Dance after school!

Jake was in the Final Four for the "Scariest" Costume Contest!

Yee Haw!!!

We went to the American Royal this year. We attended the Senior Youth Invitational Rodeo finals in Kemper Arena. How fun to see so many youth involved in a cherished American tradition. They all did great!