Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. The turkey, cranberries, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy are delicious... and it might be the only meal in which I am just as excited (if not more) for the leftovers. Food aside, I love how it brings people together. 

Thanksgiving was different for me this year. Rather than sharing the dinner table with my Mom's side of the family like we traditionally do, we enjoyed dinner with Mark, my stepdad's, family. Admittedly, I was a little nervous because a few of the people joining us for dinner where family members that I had never met.

My kids were spending Thanksgiving dinner with their Dad this year but I still wanted to find a way to celebrate with them.  We started by leaving 'thankful notes' on each other's bedroom doors the night before. Each time I walked upstairs there were more and more notes. Some were very sweet and other's were silly, I loved them all!

Since we wouldn't be together for dinner, we had an extra special breakfast, complete with sparkling cider.

I was delightfully surprised with dinner, it was wonderful. The company was great as well as the conversation. It was beautiful to hold hands around the table and say grace. It was fun to hear new stories from Mike about him and his brother, Mark when they were kids. Dinner was delicious and my Aunt and Uncle even joined us for dessert. 

I know it's just one day of the year but as I get older and older I am trying keep the spirit of Thanksgiving with me year round. I'm not sure gets credit for this quote but it's one of my favorite:

"It is not happy people who are thankful; 

It is thankful people who are happy"

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Footloose

Ashleigh was cast in her High School play, Footloose.  She was one of the high school students with a twin sister (played by her best friend) It was such a fun play! 

The kids went all out with the 80's theme. The costumes, hair & makeup were outstanding.  

They rehearsed multiple times a week for five months. I absolutely love watching her on stage, she is a natural. It's great to see everything come together after hearing her describe the set and hearing her practice for months.

A local new station visited Ashleigh's school and highlighted a segment from the play which you can see on their site, here: KSL and click on the third segment (Ash is third from the left on the raised level of the stage).

Bastille Concert

 It was fun to sneak away for an evening to see Russ' favorite group in concert. We headed out to UCCU event center in Orem and had a great time.. even though my kids called me while I was there because they were fighting over who's turn it was to use the iPad. Seriously.

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

 I attempted to grow our own pumpkins this year and failed terribly. In full disclosure, I did not put much effort into my garden this year. We ended up with a few small gourds but nothing that was jack-o-lantern worthy. Happily, we headed to the same pumpkin patch we've been going to for years.

 

We were just about to leave the patch and my Mom drove up next to us in the parking lot! She just happened to be driving by on her way home and saw Jackson loading his pumpkin into the trunk. It was a fun little surprise visit. What are the chances?!

Jackson hasn't had an interest in trick-or-treating the last couple years so I was glad he decided to go with some of his buddies from school. Ashleigh drove out to one of her best friend's house to trick-or-treat and spend the night. Eventhough they weren't going together, they happened to want the same type of costume. They were cracking me up posing for pictures and Ashleigh dancing around in her fat morph suite was hilarious!

 

Vampire Bat & Monster