Thanksgiving 2105

We had a happy and cold Thanksgiving this year! We had frigid temperatures, but no snow. The kids are so anxious for some snow!!

We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner at Ma and Pa's house this year. We were hoping for a good Turkey Bowl in the backyard, but it was too dang cold! 

 Daddy brought some games to play with everyone while we waited for dinner. Adam and Tessa liked playing Bang with all the big kids.

 Ma reading to Caleb

 Our Tom the Turkey got so full this year. We loved looking at all the things we are thankful for in our family. Gwen's answers always made everyone laugh. 

 Friday morning we got all bundled up and headed to the mall to see Santa fly in on Chopper 5. Unfortunately, it was super windy, so it wasn't safe for Santa to fly in. He surprised everyone and arrived on a Fire Engine!!

Poor Caleb was not loving the waiting, or being held, or especially the cold. He and Daddy ended up waiting in the car while the older kids said hi to Santa. 

 The Fire Engine wasn't quite as exciting as a helicopter, but it was still a fun way to have Santa arrive. 

 We had a great front row spot to see Santa, and then we kind of got crowded out of it, so Mommy couldn't get any good pictures. 

 Tessa and Gwen were excited to see Mrs. Claus!

 

We found some very special princesses waiting for Santa too! Gwen was so excited to see Elsa and Anna!

 Elsa asked the girls if they were nice to each other and reminded them that they needed to be good sisters, She told them that one time, she wasn't very nice to her sister and she accidentally froze everything. Oops!

 We found Ariel too!

 It was crazy cold and early, but we had fun and love our holiday traditions!

 The Princesses all signed a special card for Gwennie. She walked around telling everyone she got their "annagraphs". 

We love this time of year and are so thankful for all that we have been blessed with! Especially that we are a happy and healthy family!

Queen of Cursive

Yesterday at school, Tessa was named the Queen of Cursive! This means her cursive was excellent this week.  (She was so proud of herself!) Way to go, Tess!

Weekend Fun

Last Friday, we bundled everyone up and headed to the Riverwoods for the annual Christmas Lighting. We got to sing, dance, see fireworks, and see Santa! The kids loved it and we always love seeing all the beautiful Christmas lights turn on all at once. It was cold, but fun!

 Caleb was not loving the whole experience. He just wanted to run. There were TONS of people there this year, so putting him down was not an option. 

Saturday, Mommy and Adam got to run away to BYU for a good chunk of the day to watch the football game. We had fun hanging out on campus before the game started. 

 Adam got up bright and early to make a sign for the game. He wanted to get on camera so bad! His sign said, "May the force be with BYU!"

 We got our favorite food to share for lunch. We can't get enough of Cupbop.

 It was freezing cold, but we had such a fun time! The game was awesome and we had fun cheering and laughing. We realized that we sound exactly the same when we scream. That had us laughing pretty hard!

While we were gone, Daddy and Tessa had some fun of their own. Daddy helped Tessa with several science projects. She got to dig for fossils and they made a volcano, which was the perfect backdrop for Tessa's toys later in the day. They waited until we got home to make the volcano erupt. The kids were so amazed! It was fun daddy/daughter day too!

Thanksgiving Countdown

This past week, we kicked off our Thanksgiving Countdown. I originally started our countdown activities to go along with our Mommy School program, but now they have just become a favorite holiday tradition and the kids always look forward to them. That makes all the work worth it. 

We had to do our Turkey Hunting. This is always a favorite. Gwen was a surprisingly good shot this year!

 We added a new game this year and I think it will have to be added to our favorites list. We had so much fun with Turkey Feather Races! This game produced many happy giggles.

 We painted pumpkins

 We made Mayflower treats and talked about the Pilgrim's and all that they endured to come to America.

I had to add this picture just for Gwen's face.

We made Pilgrim puppets and turkey handprints

 And, we made some Teepee's. 

We've got a few activities left before the big day!  We are excited to have some special family time next week and use these next couple of days to reflect on how blessed we are. Heavenly Father has been so good to us and I am grateful for this time of year when we slow down a bit and really think about our many blessings. It's overwhelming to think how blessed we are, I love our life and wouldn't trade it for anything!