We just arrived home from another fun filled Disney vacation.  Pictures will post after this weekend since I have a R.S breakfast to host Saturday and may need to be available to help some Andersons move this weekend.  Much fun was had and except for Sophia losing her lunch 5 minutes before we got home it was nearly perfect. 

Pre Thanksgiving was spent mostly in the kitchen making rolls, a salad, and cranberry sauce.  I have a new appreciation for Mom doing it all on her own.  Lots of work.  We left by 7:30 am for Cedar T-day and made it in under 3 hours.  Everyone else had just arrived or did within minutes.  The House.  Amazing.  So much room.  The adults were able to converse and play games and barely even hear the kids playing hard.  The kids.  They didn’t take a break except to sleep.  Except for Serra who didn’t even take a break for that.  Everyone but Liesl, Maren, Me, and the two babies went on a 5 or so mile hike on Friday afternoon.  The pictures indicate they had a great time. 

Liesl outdid herself with everything.  A ham and turkey and both done perfectly I might add.  A lot of little details.  The house was spotless too which I am aware is a whole day job alone.  It was such a great weekend and one of the best Thanksgivings yet.  I really wish the rest of the family could have partaken as well.  It was such a great atmosphere and so good to be with the ones we love.  Brian made a comment as we drove up that said it all.  He said, ” I am really looking forward to spending time with my friends, I mean my brothers.”  It’s true.  You are all not only my brothers and sisters, but my friends.  Thankyou for a wonderful few days.  If we didn’t have Disneyland this next week we would have stayed longer. 

Serra and Sophia napped a bit on the way home.  Serra crashed hard and fast almost upon entering the house, and Sophia was up til past midnight.  I guess you can’t have it all. 

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning, doing laundry, and packing for Disneyland.  But here are the fun times from this weekend. 

One of the Turkey carvers. I think 2 other help.  In the process Doug didn’t get his turkey leg. 

Jacob found the treats Maren made, dimantled it before dinner, and tried to get the candy out. 

fun with reflections…

Serra’s nostril larger than life.  It’s a good thing she keeps ‘em clean.  One never know when it might catch a bad camera angle.

A picture perfect table and perfect mashed potatoes in the making. 

Getting it done.  What T-day is all about.

Little girls do uncle’s bidding.  Family suffers the rest of the trip. 

A trek into natures wonder.  Red and sandy on the return home. 

Lot’s of gaming going on.  Dallas gets a time out. 

Rosie snuggles Auntie Maren and takes a much needed break from the fun.

Darci…has had better days. 

LOOK AT THOSE EYES!

Rosie getting a little pushy.

They can post these pics on thier site too, but I thought they were so cute and since I have them I’m posting.  Na na na na na na. 

Jacob is improving. 

This was just an impromptu shot as we tried to keep the kids that were having the family pictures taken from running around and messing up their hair.  Now I wish we’d had the rest of the cousins in it.

Sometimes a snapshot is the money shot.

Well, we took Rosie’s pictures on her actual birthday and she did so well.  She gets major kudos for being so cute and cooperating.  First, a little update.  Rosie has a way of immitating us after we say something to her that is uncanny.  Very often it sounds strangely similiar to what we just said.  We will try to get her to say it again but she won’t.  Weird.  Rosie also had her 1 year check up today.  She is finally leveling out in size.  At 23 lbs.  and 33 inches tall she is 75th in weight and 90th in height.  She is finally on the charts in size but remains off the charts in charm and cuteness. 

Serra constantly says things that crack us up.  We tell her this all the time.  So she trys to use phrases we say in context and does it well but changes the words sometimes.  She said just the other night.  “Daddy, you break me up.”  (Crack me up…)  Brian often says, he will be “quick like a cat.”  Serra says, “fast like a cat.”  It all means the same thing, right?

We spent Saturday evening with Jeff and Maren.  We sure enjoy having them around.  Sunday we had dinner etc…with the Andersons.  Their home is almost finished and they will be moving this week and next. 

A cute story:  Brian hometeaches a family with 5 little girls.  He usually does a lesson that is kid friendly.  They are a bright and well behaved bunch.  Their father is a short stocky man and when he stands next to Brian it is a little comical.  The eldest daughter came up to Brian on Sunday and said “you could dress up like Santa and my dad could be your elf.” 

We’ll start this one off with a picture of how some of us look in the morning. 

Sorry for the long absence.  I have been so busy my head is spinning.  We had three dinner parties at our house last week.  My R.S. president also started feeling guilty that we as a presidency weren’t assigned to visit teach even though we visit sisters every week.  She felt like we were missing out on those relationships.  SOOOO…I now have a vt route with a partner and 3 sisters to visit every month.  I don’t think it will be too hard.  We have a day set aside at the beginning of every month that we will try to get it done so the month doesn’t get away from us. 

Halloween was a lot of fun.  The girls wore their costumes all day long and at one point Serra took hers off and said, “It feels so good to me me again!”  We took the girls trick or treating around our block.  That was enough for us.  Then we visited Grandma Anderson at work and then Grandpa and Adriane.  Serra spent her time there handing our candy to other kids.  She thought that was just as fun as running from door to door.  It was a fun night.

We also had a fun evening at the world championship bull riding competition.  That was really fun.  Serra kept rooting for the bulls to stomp on the cowboys.  I think she noticed the excitement when that happened and decided that was what it was all about. 

Back to the dinner parties.  My friend from California youth days, Heather Hadlock, got married last week in Vernal.  I was planning on attending but after talking to her and finding they were honeymooning in Vegas, we decided to meet here for dinner.  So she and her husband came for dinner.  Lasagna was on the menu and it was tasty of course.  They seem very happy and I hope they will treat each other well and have a wonderful life together.  She is now Heather Wright.

The second dinner party was a dinner group that we do in our ward.  Anyone who wants to signs up and then someone assigns people to homes so you end up having dinner with people you wouldn’t normally get together with.  It’s a good way to get to know people in the ward better.  I hosted and had two couples with their 5 kids combined.  We had taco soup which Brian thought was a strange choice on my part until he tasted it and saw the way it got slurped up in a hurry.  It was fun except for our sink innards exploding during the event.  How handy that one of the men there was quite handy with plumbing.  He and Brian ran over to Home Depot and came back and fixed the sink in 5 minutes.  Brian is capable but it takes him longer because he doesn’t fit under the sink very well and hasn’t fixed very many sinks.  So we were glad we hosted.  I also made a dessert that was really good that we also finished off for the third dinner party.  Pumpkin pie cake.  Delish. 

Saturday Maren came over and helped me put the third dinner party together.  Sophia’s 1st Birthday Bash!  That’s right! She turns one on Wednesday but we celebrated Sunday so the masses could come.  This time creamy mushroom chicken, a new recipe worth keeping.  It was really good and and easy crockpot dinner.  Maren helped me with the cake and the decorations.  We got everything done so Sunday we could just eat and enjoy.  After we finished we started Wives and Daughters.  Jeff got off work and wanted to take Maren out for some food poisoning (I’ll let them tell you about that one) so we only got through the first episode.  We plan on getting together on Saturdays until we finish it. 

Sunday, after church Jeff and Maren and the Anderson contingency came to help celebrate.   Good food and company and a cute birthday girl made for a fun evening.  The boys got in a little football, of course, but they paused the game to participate in the birthday fun. 

Food Folks Fun.  What it’s all about.

Last week in between dinner parties I got in a day of canning.  I thought I was being all slick by using a really good apple pie filling recipe to use as the syrup for the apples.  Unfortunately, I found out after I was done, from Mom that sour cream should not be used in canning.  My bad.  I had to buy freezer containers and dump all my hard work into freezer containers.  At least it wasn’t wasted.  Yesterday and today I canned the second box of apples and used a nondairy syrup recipe.  It is amazing how long that whole process takes.  I have no idea how Mom did it so much for all those years.  Craziness.   

Serra continues in her preschool and really is doing well.  She has a “special” friend.  She doesn’t like us to call him her boyfriend ( I have trained her well.)  She told me, ” Sometimes we see each other across the table and then we smile.”

Sophia has mastered the down part of the stairs and can also open doors.  Keeping the lids down on the toilets is no longer a hinderance.  And, keeping her from climbing is a constant battle.  All the little chairs are kept up on the tables for the time being.  I watched her climb on the little chair to the little table and then into her own high chair with no hesitation or nervousness.  This critter is so unlike her sister.  She doesn’t walk much anymore.  Running is more like it.  She is a happy delightful child who we can not believe is turning one. 

The video is about 5 minutes long so only start it if your in it for the long haul.  It is snippets of Rosie’s birthday fun.