Second Thanksgiving

First off, Maysen met her NaNoWriMo goal of writing 50,000 words in November.  Crazy.

John and Cassie had a bad morning.  They got their car broken into.  It was parked in my dad's driveway.  Cassie's purse was in it and the thieves had a grand time spending their money.  The guy at the tire store called the credit card company and said he suspected fraud.  A couple tried to spend $1,000 there.  They looked like they were on drugs, but the girl looked an awful lot like Cassie.  The couple left to get lunch. The police were waiting when they came back.  Cassie happened to be near by and in her words, "ran her mouth" at the thieves.  The police had to let them go because they didn't have 'proof'.  Even though they were caught red-handed.  It was different people who picked up the order.  So they, technically, didn't use Cassie's card.  Annoying! Anyway, John and Cassie will probably have to deal with that for a long time!

I went and picked up John, Mallory and Trevor while Cassie was busy trying to deal with that mess.  We went to the graveyard with Matt and Sam.  It was Anne's first time at Mom's grave.  It was a little cold, but not bad.

Mallory dancing on her grandma's grave

 John & Trevor

Mallory, John & Trevor 

 Mallory, John & Trevor, Sam, Matt & Anne

 Mallory

 Matt & Anne, Mallory, John & Trevor, Sam

 Sam, Anne & Matt

Sam's mom wanted them to send a family picture.  I think she wanted one by a tree.  She is making a calendar for her family . . . I think.  Here are some pictures we took.  Most of them look the same, but isn't Anne adorable?  How can I pick just one?

Sam, Anne & Matt

Today was the first day my kids got to see and hold Anne.  (Except Stockton who was lucky enough to see her the day she was born.)  They are in love with this little princess!  I got pictures of everyone but Maysen.  I couldn't find my camera when she had Anne.

Anne & Jorja

 Preston & Anne

 Stockton & Anne

 Matt, Anne and Anne's grandpa

I guess I was so focused on Anne that I didn't get pictures of anyone else.  Dinner was yummy.  Bubs and his family was there.  I played Dominion with Matt, John and Mike.  I won.  Awesome that I won John both games I played.  Yep, I'm proud about that fact.

In the Mail

Maysen received the hard copy of her license today.  Wow!  It is weird because the license is printed portrait style.  Maybe that is how they print the 'under 21' licenses now.  Odd.

Maysen opening her license and humoring her mom.

 Maysen with her license.

So, today I accidentally backed into a car.  Cassie and I were going out to Kneaders.  The car was directly behind my dad's driveway.  You would think I would have seen it, but it was completely in my blind spot. Weird.  It took us awhile to find whose car it was, but we were able to find them and they were nice about it.  There is not much damage, but dang!  I have only been in one car accident where I hit another vehicle and it was my fault.  I was in high school and driving without my glasses.  Bad idea.  Anyway, the most annoying thing is now I can't tease Mike completely about driving the golf cart into the house.  I mean, I still can - because it was a GOLF CART into the HOUSE!  Mine was just a normal boring accident, but it would have been more fun to tease him if I hadn't gotten into my own accident the next day.

In other news, I won John and Matt in Dominion.  John was not amused.  Especially since he could have won the game but made one mistake.  I needed five different things to go right for me to win.....and they did!  Happy me!

Golf Carts DO NOT Belong in the Kitchen!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today was such a great day, with a few bizarre moments squeezed in.  Stockton and Mike went to play family dodgeball.  Our ward has a weird tradition where they play family dodgeball every Thanksgiving morning.  Stockton loves it.  No one wanted to go with him but Mike.  I completely forgot about dodgeball and had started making rolls.  Mike and Stockton went in the golf cart. Later, I was folding laundry in my bedroom when I heard a giant crash. I ran to the hallway and yelled, "What happened?  Is Preston okay?" The other kids were all in the computer room and had no idea what was going on.  We all ran to the kitchen, and there we saw it.  Stockton and Mike sitting in a golf cart with eyes as big as saucers and the windows were completely off their tracks.  I had no idea what to say. I kept thinking, "Oh no, this is bad."  Then it dawned on me that I needed a camera!

First off, I can't believe the windows didn't break.  We just had them replaced earlier this year.  They said they were unbreakable.  I guess we put them to the test!  So, this is what happened.  Mike let Stockton drive the golf cart home.  He even gave him a lecture on safety.  When they were coming into park, the space was really tight.  Mike finished working on the boys room yesterday.  I'll need to get pictures up of that...  Anyway, the saw and some boards were still out.  Mike leaned over and tried to help Stockton steer around the obstacles.  He accidentally crashed into the awning.  Mike kind of panicked and slammed on the break.  Except it wasn't the break, it was the gas.  Mike said it was just like in the movies.  They went super fast up the steps and straight into the kitchen.  He had already backed out before we arrived. Oh my gosh, it makes me giggle just to think about it!  What a crazy Thanksgiving memory.  You know that years and years from now the kids will say, "Do you remember the Thanksgiving where Dad drove the golf cart into the kitchen?"  I love that this happened on Thanksgiving day.  Mike is the best.  Look how far he goes to create awesome memories for the kids.

Mike-I love that I caught this pose on camera. Pretty much says it all.  

We had Thanksgiving dinner over at Scoop and Cori's new house.  They just moved in last week, I think.  The house seems great for them.  It is not too big, but big enough to have everyone over without feeling super cramped.  I only got one decent picture.  Preston who decided to have a little pie with his whipped cream.  I tried to get a good picture of Sherry with her crab, but it didn't turn out.

Preston

We stopped at my dad's on the way home.  We got there about ten minutes before John and Cassie arrived.  John walked into the house and announced, "Cassie's pregnant!"  Then he looked around and said, "Maybe I should have waited for Cassie."  Haha!  When Cassie walked in, he made the same announcement.  We tried to recreate our excitement.  We weren't very good actors.  So excited for them though, although Stockton is really annoyed that there will be no chance of having the baby born on his birthday!

Trevor and Stockton

 Jorja and gross dog Kenny.  Dogs are gross.

 How can she stand touching him.  Gives me the willies.

I don't know what the willies are, but ewwww!  Cute picture though.

 Trevor and Jorja

Glad John and Cassie made it here safely!  Today was a fun, memorable day.  Life is good.

Gingerbread Houses with Max and Mia

My dad only gets to have Max every other weekend and Wednesdays now.  That has been hard for him.  This month has been weird.  My dad was in Israel on his weekend.  Cathy was in California.  They asked Max's mom if they could change weekends.  She said no.  My dad is supposed to get Max this weekend, but because it is an odd year he will spend Thanksgiving with his mom.  Thanksgiving trumps regularly scheduled weekends.  So, my dad won't get his this weekend or the next. The first weekend in November was the last time my dad was able to have Max for the weekend.

Anyway, my dad was excited to have Max this Wednesday.  Especially when he found out Max didn't have school.  Then he could have him longer.  My dad texted Hunter and asked if he could pick Max up at 9:00.  Hunter texted back and said, "We have Mia, so Thanksgiving weekend starts now."  My dad was so sad!  He was planning on having Max decorate a gingerbread house.  My dad called and asked if we had a house that Mia could decorate.  We did, thanks to Anne being born and keeping her parents in the hospital.  My dad asked if he could take Max and Mia for a few hours to decorate gingerbread houses.  Luckily they agreed.  So, that is why Max and Mia were here decorating houses. I was watching Bubs kids while he and Ange went to a movie.  We had a full house!

Dad and Ella

 Max

 Mia

 Mia and Max

Mike and I went to see Catching Fire tonight.  We were both so tired.  It was nice to have a quick little escape before the craziness of Thanksgiving!

Gingerbread Factory

This morning I went to Orem to visit Anne.  She came home from the hospital yesterday.  Matt had classes today, so I was able to spend a few hours with Sam and Anne.  I was very thankful I was traveling south. The north bound traffic was completely stopped.  I saw one car rolled over in the fast lane.  It was backed for miles and miles.  I have never seen traffic so bad.  I called Matt hoping he was planning on taking Front Runner today.  He was not.  Oh boy, I wonder if he made it to his classes.  Mike said that there were people at his work that normally get there around 8:00 who didn't make it until 11:00.  Yikes!

Anne is so tiny!  So beautiful and perfect.  Makes me sad that I don't get to hold Grace.  I held Anne while I talked to Sam.  I ran out to get lunch when Sam was feeding Anne.  Sam and I ate on her bed and it was delicious.  I left when Sam's mom arrived.

For Young Women I had my annual Gingerbread Factory.  I have nine girls now (since Ashley and Zoe turned 14 last week!)  Eight girls come regularly.  I made 9 houses, but only 4 of my girls came.  I was a little disappointed in that.  I know it is Thanksgiving week.  One of my girls is in Nebraska, I don't know if the others were traveling or not.  Last year we decorated the houses on Thanksgiving week and every one of my girls came.  Oh well.  It was still fun.  One of my girls brought a friend.  I told her she could decorate her own house, but she wanted to share.

Anyway, here are my pictures from the night.

Erica

 Carson and Erica

 Carson

 Preston & Erica

My girls love my boy!  He loves them right back.  So cute!

 Sephora

 Alice

 Sephora and Alice

 Carson and Erica

 Crystal and Senora

 Erica

 Carson

 Sephora

 Carson and Erica

 Crystal and Senora

 Senora, Crystal, Sephora, Carson, Erica, Alice

 Senora, Crystal, Sephora, Carson, Erica, Alice and Stephanie