Pie, preschool and a Christmas tree

The program I usually use to blog with stopped working so I had to go back to blogger.  Bleh.  At least they've improved it a lot since I used it last, but still not my fav.  Anyone use anything better?

11/30—I made 4 pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving.  There were so many yummy pies that day so pumpkin was hardly first choice.  Needless to say, I had LOTS of pie left to eat.  I was actually pretty sad when it was all gone!  No more pie for breakfast :(

Luke’s art work on the wall at school.  It’s a story about a mustache with a cute pic!

12/2—Muffins for breakfast.  I think Ella left more crumbs than she actually ate. 

I took my infant development midterm.  It wasn’t too bad, although I wasn’t a fan of the essays.  My hand was killing me after writing for an hour.  I’m not used to writing that much!

Chad and Mike came over to watch the BYU/Utah basketball game. 

The fact that Chad is on his phone in this picture indicates how well the game went.  lol. 

12/3—Preschool!  It has been at our house in the month of December.  These girls needed more time to play than just preschool, so we had them bring a lunch and stay a couple hours longer.  They had a blast together! 

Ella’s drawing of her family from preschool. 

12/6—Putting up the Christmas tree!  I love that our tree has become a “scrapbook” of sorts for our family.  The kids really enjoy getting out all the ornaments and remembering what they are all from. 

We went to Chad and Julie’s to eat ice cream cake for Jason’s birthday. 

The kids ran around the house with different kinds of hats on.  Always a party with the cousins!

 Happy Birthday Jason!

Thanksgiving Weekend

11/25—Darrin took the day off to help with Thanksgiving prep.   We watched more of the demolition.  Darrin took some time lapse video that was super cool!

  

He also helped by entertaining Ella who is ever looking for someone to play with. 

I got a few things ready the night before: pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and cranberry salsa. 

11/26—Thanksgiving Day!  We started the morning by prepping the turkey.  It was definitely a team effort. 

The finished cranberry salsa.  It was actually really, really good! 

The finished turkey!  We cooked it upside down in hopes that all the juices would run to the bottom. 

Chad really wanted to us to fry the turkey, but we told him no, so he ended up doing a turkey breast himself.  Which looks better to you?!  lol.  They were both good in the end; both tasted like turkey!

Ella and Luke both made one of these in school!  Perfect for table decorations.   

Pie central. 

Sassy Ella!  Hanging out by the cool whip.  I’m pretty sure that’s what she ate the most of during dinner. 

Almost ready to eat!!  The turkey took longer to cook than anticipated, so we ate about an hour later than we planned.  Ugh.  Things never seem to go according to schedule!

The kids pigging out!

After lots of chatting and playing, it was time for PIE!

Jason and Ryan decided to have a pie eating contest and see who could finish a slice of blueberry pie the fastest.  Ryan won!

After the pie, we got the kids coloring place mats for Meals on Wheels.  Instead of exchanging gifts on the Hancock side, we are doing acts of service instead.  This was one of them. 

The finished thankful tree!

11/27—We went and saw The Good Dinosaur with our cousins.  The kids liked it; I thought it was nothing original, but that’s just me.  We got Panda Express for dinner and then played games with Chad and Julie afterwards. 

11/28—Darrin took the boys over to Mike and Tanya’s to watch the BYU game.  They gave Tanya the movies we are donating to a children’s hospital (another one of the service projects). 

Demolition, race, and birthday

11/20—I hosted breakfast club this morning.  I decided to get bagels and made this breakfast casserole.  It was a fun morning with yummy food and good friends.  It was also a great excuse to get a jump on the Thanksgiving cleaning and de-cluttering!

That night Darrin and I snuck upstairs to play old school Super Mario Brothers 3.  We made it to world 2 and then gave up.  By that time the kids had discovered us and kept begging to play too. 

11/21—The kids needed to burn some energy so I took them to pool to swim.  It was freezing outside, but we had a nice time in the heated pool. 

11/23--I really wanted to do a thankful tree this year, but had a hard time finding time to do it, so I gave the job to Josh. 

It turned out pretty well!  We added the leaves on Thanksgiving day. 

11/24—They started demolition on the old houses across the road.  Boy was it fun to watch!  I hardly got anything done I need to because it was so distracting!  It’ll be fun to watch to the progress and building of a new neighborhood. 

Darrin took me out to lunch for my birthday at Potbelly’s.  Then Ella and I hit up the mall on the way home. Ella loved Charming Charlie.  She tried on this furry scarf thing.  I guess she thought it was a belt. 

Birthday selfies!  Ella asked me all day when my party was going to be.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I wasn’t having a party like she imagined I should!  It was cute though!

At the last minute the kids (Josh and Luke) decided they did want to run in the city Turkey Trot.  So we headed over to the track to participate. 

The 2nd graders had to run around the track 1 1/2 times. 

Warming up with the other 2nd graders.

On your marks, get set, GO!!!!

Luke won first place for the 2nd grade.  Way to go buddy!!!  And you can see…it wasn’t really that close ;)

His 1st place ribbon!  He also won a gift card to Albertsons (to buy a turkey lol) and a pass to go ice staking. 

Josh participated in the 6th grade race.  They had to run 3 1/2 laps.  He won 2nd place!  He lost to a very tall and fast 6th grade boy.  He got a Dick’s Sports gift certificate and a free donut!

Very proud of my runners!!

We went to Outback Steakhouse for my birthday dinner.  Our kids were super well behaved and almost made it too easy to eat out.  The coloring book and the basketball game on TV entertained them while we waited for our food.  The only problem now is that it costs an arm and a leg! 

Love the chocolate bread!

We came home and ate the yummy pumpkin cake that Darrin made for me! 

What great kiddos I have. 

Silly faces!

I had a great b-day!  Thanks for all the texts, messages, cards, and gifts!  xoxoxoxoxox