Thanksgiving Weekend

This year we had Thanksgiving with our wonderful neighbors the Newells. They are so much fun. We are lucky to live next to people we get along with so well. Jackie is an amazing cook and so anytime she cooks it is a real treat. Ben cooked the turkey and I cooked rolls. Jackie did everything else and it was AMAZING! It was my favorite Thanksgiving yet. Thanks guys we love you!

I am so grateful that my hubby is willing to take on such a big part of the Thanksgiving meal. I cannot cook the turkey. It is so sad. I can't help it. I think it is b/c the raw turkey is a recognisable animal to me. I can't bring myself to touch it (raw that is). After it is cooked I am fine. Ben does such a good job each year and it is always delicious! Thanks Babe!


Our Christmas Tree 2009...

This year we cut down our tree with the the Fitch's, the Amberry's, and the Boyd's. It was so much fun. We are blessed to have such great friends in our lives. Thanks for the memories this year guys!

Great job on picking out the tree this year, Ben. It is the best one yet!!!

The Fitch's and their tree...
The Amberry's and their tree. Kelly was such a trooper. She only has SIX weeks left til her due date and didn't complain once!!!
The Amberry's tree was like a 20 foot tree. It was gi-normous!

The Boyd's and their tree...

After tree hunting for a while, the boys finally decided they would have a better/faster time finding the perfect tree without the kiddos, so they left us in a sunny spot where there wasn't much snow. We had a good time waiting on them to return and luckily while the kids were playing no one fell down the mountain.

Emily, Grace and Matthew

Kai in his backpack. He loved sitting in there and just walking with Ben. I think he felt safe in there b/c when we took him out he asked to get back in. Ben told me that this was his last year in it. Next year Cic will ride in it and Kai and I will walk.


All the kiddos (minus baby Matthew and baby Cic). Kinda crazy that we took all these kids up the mountain huh? It was SOOOO much fun though!
Why is there a picture of my butt on the blog? Well, if you look close...NOT TOO CLOSE THOUGH, you will see a wet ring. No I did not pee my pants.
Going uphill with a baby in the snow is so much easier than going downhill. I was slinging Cici (Thanks to Julie for the AWESOME sling by the way) and Grace didn't have a way down the mountain. I thought it would be easier to just sit and slide down the snow with two kiddos rather than trying not to fall. I wish I had a sled, but we used my butt instead. I laughed the whole way down. When I got down to the bottom I did have to feel to make sure my jeans didn't tear and I could have sworn I was going to have frost bite on my butt. It all worked out and made for a pretty funny story in the end. That was Cici's first time sledding.

Just finished hanging the lights. This takes me a while, but I want each branch to have lights on them. Each branch has lights wound all over it. It is heavy on the tree but so beautiful at night when all the lights are off.

Ben's Grandma Nield always sends us ornaments every year. We hang all the gold ones on our three small trees in the dining room. Kai noticed that one of them was a train. (Oh great). We let him hang that one and re-hang it everyday when he takes it down. I know he has taken it down b/c all of a sudden he is "choo choo"-ing all over the house with it.


This ornament is hilarious. "First Born Mom's Favorite"
Kai loved helping us hang all the ornaments on the tree. This year has already been so much fun with him. Can't wait til Christmas morning to see his face!!!

My mother bought Kai this music box when he was about 6 months old. Santa plays the drums when a button is pushed. It is the most annoying music box ever but Kai loves it to death. His face lights up every time he sees it. Just look at his face in these pictures. He is showing Ben his "toy".

Here is the finished product...
As much as I love the holidays, I always think of those who aren't around. It's like a curse. Just be happy already...I miss all our friends who have moved away or just aren't around anymore. I hope EVERYONE has a wonderful holiday. You are missed.

Polar Express in 3-D
Kai is obsessed with trains. I mean, he is hard core....will throw a temper tantrum in the middle of the store EVERY SINGLE TIME he sees ANY sort of train. We thought he would like The Polar Express movie this Christmas and we were dead on. He likes it to much that he hid the movie from us. (Probably storing it in a safe place for use at a later time). We searched the house EVERYWHERE. One night Ben and I stayed up til 11:30pm (which is really late for me) just looking for it. It is gone...or maybe only Kai will be able to find it.
Anyway, we always go to Target the day after Thanksgiving (after the tree hunt) just to see what "bargains" they have.
We found The Polar Express 3-D movie (which included the original movie as well) for $5! YAY! So, after we put Cici down and Kai was fed we pulled out the glasses and enjoyed the movie as a family. It was our first 3-D movie and it was awesome! I had to put a beanie on Kai to keep his glasses on b/c they were a bit too big. Kai LOVED the movie. It was the first WHOLE movie that we have been able to sit through with him. It totally kept his attention and he was "choo choo"-ing all night long.


Church was short lived on Sunday. I went to drop Kai off at nursery and when we walked in there were a couple of kids with a horrible cough. We walked right out. I don't understand why parents bring sick kids to church. I was so frustrated b/c Kai is much too loud and busy to take to class with me now. So, after interrupting Sunday School a few times we left and headed home. I am afraid that this will be a frequent occurrence b/c I will just not put my kids into a classroom with other kids who are contagious...especially church.
We got home and I put Kai down for his nap but Cic was wide awake. I let her sit by the Christmas tree and snapped this shot of her happy face. I love this face.