Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 We hosted Thanksgiving at our house yesterday and Grandpa Frank, Grandma Pat and Aunt LeAnn joined us for the feast.  We enjoyed some music, old stories and gin and tonics over some tasty appetizers, and it was a great day for it...almost 50 degrees out!

 I made a 21 pound turkey (what can i say, it was on sale :), sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, a broccoli & cauliflower casserole and some herb cheese rolls.  Naturally we stuffed ourselves and i am pleased to say, it all turned out delicious!  I dont make turkey often, so im always a little nervous about making one, especially with an audience, but thankfully, it all turned out great!

 Jordyn designed up this little turkey game, sort of like a pin the tail on the turkey.  We werent sure if LeAnn would join us or not, as she had to work all morning, but we set a place for her just the same.  Well, Jordyn didnt have Aunt LeAnn on the turkey because she wasnt sure she would be there either, so when she arrived, Jordyn added another finger and quickly made a feather for LeAnn too.  i thought it was quite clever that she just added another finger, and sweet that she did it on the sly :)  As for this picture of Trash....well, i guess Turkey has the same effect on felines as it does on humans!

 After everyone left, we cleared the table and set it up for Lego fun with this new Star Wars set.  This kept Jordyn entertained, while i cleaned the kitchen, and tried to find a place in the fridge for all of the food.

All in all, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I hope yours was a safe and happy holiday too!

Vacation!!!

This is what a preschool teacher looks like on vacation!!!  6 whole days off....wooohoooo!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone ~

Fun on a Friday Night ~

Enjoying a Star Wars marathon at home...and in between movies, Jordyn and Daddy do battle.  Fun times on a Friday night in the mountains!

Crazy Quilt Gifts for Christmas ~

 I somehow managed to find time to work on these crazy quilt gifts for Christmas, and now i'm inspired to do more :)  Jordyns artwork, which is in the center, was printed onto fabric last year, (note the six sheep, means she was six years old when she created it...that was the assignment).  Anyways, i finally got around to sewing it, and now i can work on embroidering stitches along the seems.  I plan to sew them into a pillow.  I made two, and will probably keep one for myself.  Anyways, since i havent created in a while, i thought i would share!  I was thinking of doing white embroidery stitches along all of the seems...what do you think?  Suggestions are welcome :)

Meanwhile, we've had a little snow the last few days, so i thought i would share my chainsaw bears with you.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Birthdays, Birthdays and More Birthdays ~

 Lots and lots of birthdays this month!  Last Saturday we celebrated Jordyns very good friend, Rehna's 10th birthday!

They played games, made crafts, played freeze dance and of course batted around balloons all afternoon! 

 

The next day, Sunday, we celebrated another one of Jordyns good friends birthday.  Nicole is a huge One Direction fan, so she received many "teen beat" type of gifts.  Here she is enjoying the card Jordyn made her, and though her gift was not a 1D gift, it did include some 1D stickers.  :)

 Here is Nicoles mom, Eva, jammin on the guitar pinata.

 And heres the whole gang on the parks cannon.  We were fortunate enough to have fabulous weather.

 Today, was Jade's birthday.

 We made our own pizzas, decorated cookies and enjoyed the gorgeous weather we had up here in the mountains.  The kids spent most of their time outside on the playground, while the parents enjoyed catching up with each other.  We missed Parkers birthday party, as we were at this one...so sending of a Happy Birthday to Parker as well!  We have one more birthday this month, and then things should quiet down a bit.

 And these are the bracelets we made in girl scouts on Thursday...the girls really enjoyed this craft, and we all walked away with a cool bracelet!

Halloween At Last!!!

 The library had a wonderful party on Halloween for the kiddos, followed by Trunk or Treat.  They had all kinds of activities, including this jail.  The jail was quite a hit, and Jordyn spent a lot of time in there.  Once you were sent to jail, you had to find the matching picture to the card you were given and it was hidden somewhere on these shelves.  Once you found your match you could leave jail, and send someone else to jail.  Jordyn sent me to jail, and i was in there forever before i found my match :) heheheheh  It was fun!

 There was cookie decorating, caramel apple making, and many other games.  When it was time for Trunk or Treat, it was decided to move it indoors to the hall instead, due to weather.

 So, we took all our decorations and staged ourselves in the hall for the bombardment of trick or treaters. 

 and here they come...

 they went around...and around...and around!  and took in quite the candy haul!  But they also ran around having fun with all of their friends and neighbors...ya gotta get creative when you live in the mountains :)

 On our way home we stopped off to visit Connie, and naturally she had a special Halloween bag for Jordyn...im telling ya, this community spoils that kid!

When we got home Jordyn and Justin dropped in on Aunt LeAnn, who had a goody bag as well as some shrimp and snacks (real food, not candy).  I had homework to do, so i stayed home.  All in all another great Halloween season!  I should mention, that even though Jordyn brought home a ginormous bag of candy, she didnt eat one piece all night.  Not sure how she managed it, but there it is!   Happy Halloween Everyone!  And Happy Birthday Dad...I love and miss you!

Carving the Pumpkins ~

 On Wednesday night we carved up our pumpkins!  Jordyn designed and carved, completely by herself, her very first pumpkin!  Look how cute it came out!

 i carved this second one, and then Jordyn carved this third pumpkin which is a cat with the moon. 

Now we are ready for Halloween!

Bartel Farm Pumpkin Patch ~

 On our way home from Denver, we stopped at the pumpkin patch to have some fun and pick some pumpkins.  We love this place and come here every year.  They always have different animals out for the kids to pet, and theres always something new to see.

 The hay ride was a nice break after all the running around we had been doing in the city, so we relaxed and enjoyed the moment!

 At last, we found the perfect pumpkin!  The pickins were a little slim being so late in the month...note to self, get here a week or two earlier next time.  We did, however, find a few cool pumpkins, and then it was time to head home.  Fall...a truly magical time of year!

Halloween Fun in Denver ~

On Saturday morning, after the Fall Festival, we headed down to Denver to go to my Uncle Jims VFW Halloween party.  They have one every year for the kiddos, and its usually a lot of fun for all the cousins. 

They paraded around the room to show off their costumes, and then the games began!

They played hot potato...or in this case, hot pumpkin :)

Bounce the ball in the glass....oops...not Terri's glass!  Party Foul!  :)

Ring toss...the little Doc gives Jordyn some pointers, while Aunt Gwen cheers her on!

Pin the nose on the pumpkin...are you sure you cant see through that mask?!?

Then it was time for tattoos...

After the games, the kids spent most of their time running around outside, so when the party was over we headed to Gwens house to let them run around some more.  Here they are unsure of how to utilize their sugar highs :) hehehehhehe  This was the best i could do at herding them into a photo.

We had another reason for celebration...Phil got home from Kuwait on Friday, and we were all excited to see him.  He was deployed for 8 months, and the whole family was happy to have him back!  Welcome home Phil...we love you!

And we were also celebrating my cousin Greg's big send off for the World Championship Punkin Chunkin in Delaware.  He is with team Inertia, and they won the last two years, so we're all hoping for a third victory for him.  Good Luck Greg and safe travels!!!  You can watch the "Chunk" on the Science/Discovery channel on Thanksgiving day :)

There was a lot of dancing and fun, and of course hugs!  Thanks for a great time everyone, we missed all of you and hope to come for a visit again soon!