Catch-up Time

I realize it's been almost a month since my last post...sorry my heart hasn't been in it.  :(

I'll try to do a little catching up.

First up...Thanksgiving!  We had another wonderful Thanksgiving despite not getting to spend it with family.  We spent it with the Krimmes!  Again I forgot to take pictures of the feast.  Too hungry I guess.  It was a fabulous feast with a great tasting turkey thanks to Mark.  All the food was delicious really, a little short on vegetables but delicious.  (That's for you Em!)

 I did manage to take a picture of the pies which were also delicious.  We had (from left to right) banana creme, pumpkin cheesecake and a cookie pie.

After the feasting, we just hung out watching football, playing wii (we had two systems set up...one for the adults and one for the kids) and we played one of my favorite card games, Euchre.

I managed to take a few pictures of the cute kids.  Here's Kaitlyn in all her cheesy glory.

A very focused Lauren.

Cute Carley

 Every time I tried to take a picture of Matt he would run and hide in this corner.  Too cute!

Got you Matt!

In other news:  I went to Arizona a couple of weekends ago to see my oldest niece get married.  If I ever get copies of the photos I'll be sure to post them.  I left Saturday morning at early o'clock for Arizona and came back Sunday evening.  It was one whirlwind of a trip.  It consisted of:  going to the sealing, lunch and shopping with my sister Christine, attending the reception, volleyball with my sister Christine, her husband Weston, and friends.  The rest of the time was spent with Mark's side of the family.   I ended that night with Jordan and Mandy who are great hosts, especially sweet Ashley.  Sunday morning I visited with Spencer and Sara (they fed me and awesome pancake breakfast).  Thank you for the fun rounds of Phase 10 and Pit (I think that was what it was called).  Around lunch I was back with Jordan and Mandy and Ty and Tiffany and got to see their baby Maddie for the first time who turned one this week!  Mandy fed us an amazing lunch and then us women went to Brian and Erin's to see their brand new daughter Addison.  What a joy that they were able to adopt this sweet baby girl!  Not long after that I was back at the airport heading for home.  I feel blessed that I was able to visit with so much family.  And if I missed you, don't worry...I'll be back for Christmas!

So before I close I do need to share one funny and sad moment we had in November.  Mark won some Omaha Steaks that came packaged with dry ice.  Mark decided to have a little fun so he placed it in the toilet and then called down the kids to ask them in his sternest voice, "Who was the last to use the downstairs bathroom?!"  The kids come down and Lauren already has this look of terror as she realizes she was the last one.  She fesses up to it and Mark goes on to say something is wrong with it and sends her in to see how she has broken the toilet.  We of course start laughing but Lauren who is horrified starts crying...hard.  It took a while to calm her down and convince her it was a joke.  The kids spent the next hour fascinated by the smoking toilet and have since talked about what they'll do the next time we have dry ice.  :)