Thanksgiving

We had a terrific Thanksgiving thanks to the head chef in our family. Dan is an expert at grilling so why not grill a turkey? He used a dry rub that seasoned the turkey like pastrami and then grilled it. It turned out so good. It made all my little side dish contributions seem pretty simple.

Donald loved the idea of grilling for Thanksgiving because he wants to be outside all the time. He especially loves a chance to be in the snow.

The boys had fun playing with our neighbor Logan although they stayed in their own respective yards.

Here is the feast. Everyone really enjoyed it, except Adrian and Charlie could have done without the green beans. Donald wasn't much in favor of any of the Thanksgiving fare. He wouldn't even taste the potatoes and the faces he made over the green beans and stuffing were less than thankful. He didn't even eat a roll.

Here is our little Cinderella. She was so thankful her Dad and I worked so hard making a nice dinner she didn't even mind doing the dishes. Shari loaded the dishwasher and the boys helped with wiping and sweeping. It was quite the family effort.

While the after dinner work was getting done Dan and I practiced for our Pie and Rock Band party at the Hunter's. It was so much fun to see everyone and enjoy my favorite thing about thanksgiving, PIE. Donald finally found a Thankgiving food he likes when he tried whip cream and chocolate pudding pie.

It was a great day and we have so much to be thankful for.

Our Contribution

Today was the Primary Program. It was so much fun to watch. It was really fun to sit with just Donald. He enjoyed waving at everyone on the stand too. We dolled him up today and boy did he know it. When I first put on his little outfit he said, "I don't like it." Apparently he got used to it and decided he looked good. I want to know who taught him to pose like this.

Everyone did a really good job on their parts. Rebecca gave a talk about father's. It was very sweet. Charlie said his part very clearly and then ended it with "Thank you Thank you Thank you." Of course everyone laughed which is exactly what he was going for. I guess we didn't warn him sternly enough about not being silly. We decided we're going to tell all future primary presidents that he's not allowed to be in the primary program! That'll teach him.

32

We celebrated my birthday on Sunday because on this birthday night we are at an airport waiting to fly to DC. Dan made my Sunday celebration really wonderful. He made me a mosaic of our pictures in the form of a picture taken of the temple on our wedding day. It's really neat and the kids love finding pictures of themselves in it. In fact, you might find a picture of yourself in it if you look closely.

Dan got me Cold Stone cheese cake ice cream for both my ice cream and cake. I just wasn't in the mood for cake and with all the Halloween Candy in our house I didn't really want more sweet stuff around. We had some left over cupcakes from Shari's birthday so I did blow out some candles.

Here is my mosaic hanging on our living room wall. Dan also got me some warm slippers, earrings, and a new journal. It was a fun day.

A Little More Halloween/Birthday

The girls dressed up their little doll like a witch and handed him a wand one night. He thought he was all powerful!

Here he is casting a spell on the fridge. I think he's hoping for ice cream.

On Friday night Shari got to have her birthday late over. It was really fun.

9 yr old Angel

For Shari's birthday we planned on visiting her cousins in their brand new house for the first time. She was looking forward to it all week. The night before her birthday Donald developed the croup so when we woke her up the next morning I was worried about delivering the bad news that Donald had ruined her birthday plans. She didn't say a word about herself and only asked how he was doing. She even said, "We'll get to have a family party." She has such a wonderful way of looking at the bright side of life.
For her birthday breakfast we had donuts and she gave half of the one she wanted to Rebecca. For her special birthday XBOX turn she chose a game that everyone could play and didn't even complain when they didn't do it her way. In fact, she made an effort to let them all play the places they wanted. She's pretty amazing.

She was super excited to get her first big legos set. She's always finding her way into the boys room to build theirs. She was also thrilled to get the Homeward Bound movies and her very own robe to keep her warm this winter.

I have to say this really is the face of an angel. She helped me make her birthday cake and her birthday dinner. I love her so much.

I hope her wish comes true.

Halloween Fun

We had the best Halloween this year. We threw a big party and invited lots of cousins and some Aunts and Uncles. It was so much fun. My sister took some great pictures and they are featured on her website http://sharidphotography.blogspot.com.

Here is Donald enjoying his first time trick or treating.

Here is his first treat.

Pumpkin Carving

We actually participated in this glorious tradition a week ago but it's taken me this long to post pictures. First of all our pumpkins were right out of our garden and they smelled so good! It was really amazing. The whole time we were carving them we were all breathing deeply. It was a really yummy melon smell.
Here is Dan working hard and Charlie presiding over the pumpkin carving tradition. This is Charlie's favorite time of year.



Donald wanted to make silly faces with his brothers and sisters for the pictures. They are all so cute.