Thanksgiving and Then Some

Wow. I haven't blogged in long time. I think I say that at the beginning of every blog though. Oh well. Probably because I feel like I have been running around crazy for the past month and a half. So since there is so much to catch up on I am just going to give a list of the highlights, and when I find my camera I will post pics to go with it all.

NOVEMBER

-my little brother Jay had a 2 week break from Med School and came to visit. It was SO great to see him. When I saw him at the airport I was screaming with crazy excitement. Yeah I am one of those people. We had tons of fun eating whatever (He's a starving student, I had to fatten him up) Running crazy runs & working out together, Playing games and kicking his butt in Monopoly deal, seriously I am pro at the game so watch out if you ever play me. We just had an awesome time together & I was really sad to realize that he would probably never live by us again and it would always just be these visits when we get together. boo. He's been my best friend forever, and been there for me through the hardest times of my life. I love that kiddo. And I am excited to see him in just a few more days for his Christmas visit. (it is short though, only a couple days) sigh.

-Thanksgiving. Was really fun. I made the yummiest rolls ever, my apple pie wasn't the best ever, but still pretty good. We went over to Gma Robertson's this year (we take turns each year) And we helped get everything set up, cooked and ready to serve. I felt like the hostess just a bit, and then I realized that I really want to host Thanksgiving. So I informed everyone that next year I would be hosting the Dinner in my new house.

-New House. yes our new house. We are once again building. We stumbled upon some really cute homes while going for drive (we had all been sick for weeks and needed to get out). So we called on them, walked through the model home and Ben and I just knew that this was our new home. before we knew it, we had picked out the house, the lot, the upgrades, signed papers and put the first chunk of money down. Wow. It is amazing though I will tell you that. If you want to go check it out here is the builders website new house plans And if you click on Tour the Model those are pictures of the model which is the same as the home we are building and will look basically the same. Isn't it fantastic? We are building in Pleasant Grove, just southeast of the American Fork Temple on a half acre lot. I love this house. It really is my dream house and I can't believe we are getting it. I love that it is big enough that we can just stay there forever and raise our family and grow old together there. So, our home right now is for sale (yeah good luck right?) We'll drop the price until it sells, and so I am sure it will eventually. Our home won't be done until end of April first of May so we've got a few months.

-Black Friday. Was awesome. We spent the night at Target. Yeah we did. Crazy huh? We didn't even have anything we NEEDED to get. Just wanted to do it for fun. We ended up with a big TV and all of our Christmas shopping completely done in one big shopping spree. Ben literally had to fight to get the TV. Okay not fight, but people were pushing him over and taking TV after TV away from him, so he decided to just go for it. He muscled his way in grabbed one and didn't let go. It was hilarious. I will never forget that mound of people fighting for those things. Even though it was FREEZING cold all night and I thought my toes would fall off, we are already planning on spending the night again next year. Oh the joys of the Holidays.

DECEMBER

-Family Activities. At the start of the month we sat down with the calendar and planned out the entire month of all the different things we wanted to do. Before we knew it, every day was filled and we have been busy with fun-ness ever since. This is what we have done so far.... Got a Christmas tree and decorated the house, made gingerbread houses, paper snowflakes, christmas chains, went light looking around several neighborhoods, Temple Square, Thanksgiving point lights, made peppermint ice cream sandwiches, helped the kids make spritz cookies, saw santa, made friend presents, had a nativity play, went to James' school choir concert, got tags off an Angel tree, hmmmm, I think that is all for now. We still have to take around all our friend and neighbor gifts, go sledding & ice skating, we have watched most of our favorite Christmas movies, but still need to see A Christmas Story, oh and we have stuff to make Chocolates for all the kids cousins. Whew! busy month!

-RS Christmas dinner. It's done. Done, & Done. Thank heavens. No it really wasn't that bad, just glad I don't have to stress about it anymore. We have over 200 sisters in our RS and didn't have very much of a budget left for this dinner. But with lots of volunteers and good people to bring this and that, the food was absolutely amazing, the program was excellent and I cried several times when I saw all the people that were helping me out to make it all come together. THank you everyone who helped, you are seriously so wonderful, THANK YOU!!!

-Kids. Things they have said or done that makes me laugh.

Sophie saying "missmiss whites" every time she sees any Christmas lights.

Harrison opening James' presents. (yeah he knew they were James' that's why he opened them).

Harrison sharing his Elf treat every morning with James. So sweet!

Finding a love note from James to his sweetheart Lexi. He has liked this girl since we moved in over 4 yrs ago. It said "Lexe, I luv you. Do you play Baseball? I play baseball. We can go to BYU. (picture of them holding hands and BYU written above it with hearts everywhere) last page "I will give you a present for Christmas" picture of him giving her a present with more hearts. (how is that not the cutest thing ever?)

James passed off all his requirements in Gymnastics to move to the next level! I was so proud of him. He really does have a natural ability and talent at it. I am excited to see him continue to improve.

Harrison is in Gymnastics as well. and he LOVES it. He is a goof the entire time and just loves to be running around with other kids, but that is all he needs to be doing. Just enjoying it.

Sophie going to Harrison and saying "sorry Dee dee sorry" (yeah that is her nickname for him) after she hit him. The she hugged him. How is she growing up so fast?

Had a super fun day with the kids yesterday. Picked James up early from school so we could go visit Santa before Gymnastics, Saw Santa, James asked him how the reighndeer fly, then we played at the big tree for a while, went to gymnastics, made them their favorite dinner Spaghetti and Meatballs, watched a movie together, ate popcorn and oreos and then had a sleepover together. Ben is out of town this week, so it was nice not to be alone in my room. We had such a fun time together, and man I was tired at the end of the day. Love those kids though.

All right, I think I am done. That is all I can think of for now. We are excited for this weekend as ALL OF MY FAMILY is coming for Christmas. We haven't been all together in over 7 years. it is going to be insane, but SUPER fun! We are so excited. So chances are that I will not blog again until after everything. So, until then... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!