Thanksgiving & a biggggg surprise

We traveled up to Mark and Danna's for Thanksgiving this past week.  To kick-off family time Wednesday night we went to the hockey game and sadly watched the local team, The Americans, loose.  Oh well, you can't win every time and we had fun.

 Especially this kid:

 For the past 5 years I have been at a early morning workout but not this year.  Where was I?  Snuggling my family and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I love that parade.  My family always makes fun of me but this year they really got into it. Proof that I know what is fun!

After the parade we finished getting dinner ready.  We ate and ate and ate.  

We held babies.

 Took selfies.

 Kept the 3 amigos jailed.

 Showed off our inner beauty.

 Played lots of games.

 And even had a dance party.

 We also relaxed.

 A lot.

Then when all our food was settled we celebrated Emily's 18th birthday:

 A bunch of us thought that Em deserved something special for her birthday and impending graduation this year so a few months ago we hatched a surprise birthday plan.  The gifts began the we watched the surprise unfold.

First, she got a journal with an inscription about life's adventures and enjoying where the road may take you.

 Next she opened a black travel case...

 That included a ticket to Europe...

(she's crying)

 and an application for a passport.

 It took a few hours to sink in but she finally happily accepted the fact that she's going to Italy, Greece and Turkey in May.

 Sound familiar?  That's right, it's the trip we are taking the kids on.  She's coming with us!

Thanksgiving and Emily's birthday was a big success and we are happily in the swings of holiday cheer!

Happy Thanksgiving

We try at our house to be grateful, thankful and to count our blessings.

I don't think we will ever regret that, not ever.

I believe that what James E. Faust said above is true.

Here's to being grateful everyday!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

Beauty Shoppe

In our ward we have sister missionaries. One of our sisters, Sister Heywood, is a hairstylist. On Monday she came over and a few of the girls in the ward got their hair did. Kahau (above)and Braley (below in tin foil)got some highlights. Kali (on counter) and Sarah (folded arms) got fresh new haircuts.

Oh yea. And Cole...he got a cut too. From the looks of it he's feeling pretty good about it too.

The girls: Sister Sullivan, Braley, Kahau, Sarah, Kali and Sister Heywood.

Thanks again for hanging out with us Sisters. The girls had a blast.

1st wrestling meet

Oh my goodness, you guys.  Ansen had his first wrestling tourney this weekend and it was intense. I'm not kidding.  My little mother's heart could barley handle it.

 Our guy is still new to the sport so we were a little surprised how crazy competitive this sport is at this age. Ansen wrestled 3 times and lost 2 and won 1.  The 2 kids he lost to came in 4th and 6th in state last year. IN STATE.  Talk about baptism by fire.  He did so well and he tried his hardest and we couldn't ask for a better experience at his first meet.

 One thing that I didn't expect were all the tears shed. Honestly, for a room full of 300 boys there were criers everywhere. At first it was strange to see but I really like the emotion behind this sport. It's okay to show your frustration, disappointment, relief, exhaustion through tears.  There is always a winner and always a loser and in a lot of cases (all ages) both were crying when their match was over. 

 We were pretty proud parents when that boy of ours signed his winners sheet and we were even more proud of him when he held his head high when he lost and congratulated the winner.  There are some great life lessons to learn from this tournament and Ansen is excited to get to the next one and see what he can do there.

 Look at those teary eyes......crying cause he won.

We are SO proud of you for trying something new Ansen and for doing your best.  This season is going to be fun!  

Most embarrassing moment

A few weeks ago someone asked me what my most embarrassing moment was.  I told them that in truth I really didn't have just one big moment that made me want to die. I am naturally a pretty awkward person, therefore I have plenty of "I can't believe I just did that moments", so I usually just roll with the punches, ya know?

Last Saturday there was a baptism at the church for a great young mom who's husband is already a member.  After she was baptized I was asked to give a quick "Welcome to Relief Society" pep talk. Because so many people attended the baptism was moved from the Relief Society room to the chapel to make things more comfortable.  I gave my welcome and felt like it went pretty well.  On my way down from the stand I got the heel of my shoe caught and BAM! I hit the floor.  Thankfully it was a quick, clean fall. One moment I was standing, the next moment I was kneeling on the ground.  Super awkward guys but I was embarrassed to have fallen in front of so many people that I didn't really take stock of myself until I was back in my seat.

Once I was sitting again my left foot started aching something fierce. Then it began to swell and thennnnn this crazy bump showed up on the top of my foot.  Once the baptism was over I had Jason get the car and I hobbled myself out to it.  Once home I put it up and took some pictures and started sending them to friends who were nurses.  I wanted them to tell me it was okay and I was being a big baby.

They didn't.  They said ice, elevate, ibuprofen, and get to the doctor. Ugh! 

 So I elevated and iced....

 Jason went to the store for ibuprofen and came home with that AND Excedrin Tension.  Honestly, I'm not into drugs but if you have a headache--this is the stuff to take.  It's been off the shelves for a year or so and it's been sad (I'm not a druggie). Jason found it and grabbed 2 boxes (actually he grabbed 6 and then decided he didn't want to look like a druggie so he put 4 back).  So pardon the puff eyes and the crazy hair and just focus on that beautiful box.

 The next morning I took myself to the ER just to be safe.

 I have torn ligaments in the top of my foot. I'm stuck in this boot for a few weeks.  At first the nice little ER doc was talking about casting it because it would heal quicker, but she took pity on me in this snow and ice and told me if I was diligent about the boot I wouldn't have to use crutches and a cast.

So here I am in an ugly boot and also with a true most embarrassing moment.

It's never dull around here.

Nerds vs. Geeks

She is loving these stake dances.  We are so glad.

This weekend was the nerds vs. geeks dance hosted by a neighboring stake. She had a blast and can't wait til the next one.

Winter wonderland

Remember when I said that snow was in the forecast?  Well I am happy to report that it did indeed snow and snow and snow.  In fact we got so much snow that the kids had Thursday and Friday off for snow days.I always say I'm not a huge fan of the cold and the snow but, I'll admit, it is pretty and the kids sure have loved playing outside. It was really cold out but it didn't seem to matter to my crew.  

Now onto picture overload:

This is where the snow was at the 1st morning. Just shy of 6 inches. Over the course of 2 days we climbing to about 1 1/2-2 feet of snow.

 I decided to brave the weather before it got too bad and run to walmart to buy the kids some snow pants and boots.  Also, we needed a snow shovel.  Thank goodness 1)Jason put my snow tires on a few weeks ago 2)we went to the store when we did because we got the last shovel worth buying and the storm only got worse as the day went on.

 In between hours and hours out in the snow the kids came in to get warm and have cocoa.

 Ramses got a sweater.  He's not a fan but when the nights get down to -20* he needs to stay warm.

 Out for a walk Thursday.

 I lovingly call my van "my office" and this is what she looked like on Friday morning when we woke up:

 Our neighbors didn't seem to mind one bit that it was freezing out.

 Friday morning the snow was practically up to my knees.

 For some odd reason the kids spent a lot of time just laying in the snow.  I don't get it although I think I remember doing it as a kid as well.  I would much rather be laying on a beach in warm sand but hey, work with what you've got.

These kids of mine are in love with this weather right now.  Let's hope their enthusiasm remains if the winters stays cold and snowy.  But for now we will just enjoy our winter wonderland.