Samantha's Late Night

Samantha's 10th Birthday was Wednesday and she had a "late night" with 5 of her friends on Friday night. We had a lot of fun. When everyone arrived, the girls all made their own personal pizzas and then frosted their own cupcakes and had snacks and watched movies. There was lots of energy in our house, but Samantha had a great time and I still can't believe that she is 10. One of the gifts that she received was a messenger bag that she was able to decorate herself and do iron ons, etc...She had a lot of fun and we completed that today. She really loves to do any sort of craft projects.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We decorated the Christmas Tree this week and the girls really enjoyed that alot. I took a few pictures and although they did not all turn out great - at least you can see. We also started a tradition a few years back as we could never find a tree topper that worked for our tree so we asked the girls to make a star for us. Every year the girls take turns and make a star for us and it has been fun. This year was Sophie's turn to make the star and Mark helped her put it on the top.

Our Turkeys...

Yes, for those of you who do not already know, we do have Turkeys and are at a point that will probably be with us for only a few more weeks (if you know what I mean??) They are absolutely huge!!! Mark let them out to roam around the other day and it was quite funny how inquisitive they were - I took a few pictures and even a video as they actually came right up to our sliding glass door and were rubbing it into the dogs - HA. It really was quite hilarious.

Samantha Turns 10!

Yes, 10 is what I said - I can hardly believe it! Samantha celebrated her 10th birthday and it seems just like yesterday that she was born. Time goes way too fast. She went to school today and after getting home, we all went as a family and celebrated at Red Robin - she loves that and she received an ENORMOUS piece of Mud Pie - boy was that delicious! We came home and she opened her presents and was very excited as she got a text messaging system to text with her friends, a latch hook kit and some gifts from Sophie. We are working on her birthday cupcakes for her party on Friday. She is having a "late night" with some friends and is really looking forward to that. She is so grown up!

Thanksgiving Week in Boise

I know it has been awhile since I have updated the blog, but we returned from a very relaxing week up in Boise over Thanksgiving. It was so nice to see my Mom and sisters and family - it had been too long. We arrived in Boise on Sunday, November 23rd and left to come home this past Sunday, November 30th. It was a great week and filled with lots of good food, fun and relaxation! We stayed with my sister, Larissa and her husband Jim and my adorable nephew, Brenden. We took the kids to the park on a couple of occasions to play with their cousins and another day to celebrate Samantha's upcoming 10th birthday - the kids had so much fun and what a great park. Grammie wanted to take the grandkids to the Zoo while we were there so that was a lot of fun as well. It really was a great zoo, it sits on 11 acres and had some really amazing animals. I included some of the lions and tigers in my pictures - you were able to get very close, very cool. Thanksgiving Day was lots of fun and Mom made an awesome dinner with a huge turkey, homemade stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc and of course homemade pies (apple, pumpkin and huckleberry cheesecake) - needless to say - I was not hungry much while I was there. The day after Thanksgiving we avoided shopping and had no desire to be in the crowds of people. We visited my Dad's grave for the first time since he passed away as well as my sister Leanne's since she is now buried next to my Dad - the VA Cemetary really is beautiful and it was so nice to finally be there. The kids also got to frost Thanksgiving cookies with their cousins as well and they so enjoyed that. Saturday night, we decided to do a girls' night with all the sisters and Mom and we had so much fun - we all had dinner together at Larissa's and the guys all rotissieried a prime rib (YUM) and then we went to my Mom's for a movie and relaxation. FUN was had by all. Overall it was a great week that really seemed to just fly by and we miss them all already ~ it was so nice to be together with our family. We missed my Dad so much, but know that he was there with us in spirit and we know we will see him again someday. We are so thankful for our family!