ThAnKsGiViNg WeEk!

Monday November 24- Preschool was at our home today. The mom (whose turn it was to teach today) was going out of town, so we swapped days-- and I got to do the T-day PARTY! We used up good ol' popcorn balls from Halloween and made our own TOmMy the Turkeys (above). The kids got to hear the morbid story of Tommy-no crying (b/c the turkey does get eaten in the end)... so that was a positive. We played throw the candy corns into the muffin tins, and drop them into a glass pumpkin bowl (used up my left over candy corn supply from Sterling's b-day...sweet!), counted down days on the calendar...and they pretty much wanted to just be playing outside. I was not complaining. I LOVE it when I can get my kids outdoors voluntarily. However...keeping them off (legal safety)the trampoline was another matter!


We ended the evening by doing a FHE lesson on thankful feathers and we made them for our family's 'naked' turkey. Colton's were really sweet this year. I LOVE it when my children tell me they are thankful for each other (brothers and sister) with NO prodding from me! I was NOT feeling well at all that night and fell asleep super early...only to wake up with a raging fever and sore throat. I LOVE antibiotics (there is NO TIME to be sick when people are counting on you!)

Tuesday November 25- I was able to go into Sterling's class and help with his annual Thanksgiving feast at school. One of his teachers LOVES Thanksgiving, so she puts on weeks of activities with these kids. We get to make vests and drums at home. The kids make homemade bread, homemade applesauce, and homemade butter in the class for it. I was able to make phone calls for donations and help cutting the apples. I helped at Colton's feast 2 years ago....and believe it or not I still had the pilgrim attire saved! ha ha ha The antibiotics and Motrin had kicked in--I was feeling better.

Wednesday November 26-Was a crazy, busy kind of day cleaning the house, and getting ready to leave for Grandma Sorensen's that night.It had turned into winter/fall and was rainy, downcast and windy all day. The boys had NO SCHOOL today either.

I pulled out all the kids clothes and packed up the summer ones, replacing them with the winter ones. I cannot begin to describe to you what a task clothes is for me. It takes HOURS to pull out tubs, try on clothes, re-hang and FIND a place to store it all. Not to mention the unwilling participants in the whole affair. There are mounds and piles of clothes EVERYWHERE (remind me next time to take a picture). I have 3 boys, 3 different sizes, and at the same ages during 3 different seasons. 2 of them are in similar sizes now. I have about EVERY possible option in boys clothes. IF I knew we were done with children I would UNLOAD it all on some lucky person!ha ha BUT we aren't...soo the house gets even smaller. We are being taken over by clothes!

Dacie had been running a 102 fever the last 2 days, so I got her into the pediatrician that evening before we left. Poor little girl had a severe ear infection. It was so bad that the Dr. told us, that if she had been seeing an ENT he probably would have poked a hole and drained it. It was almost perforating the ear drum. I guess I better stop encouraging her to go underwater during bath time. Once again, WE LOVE ANTIBIOTICS!

Dan got home that evening and we pulled into PHOENIX super late. The kids were surprised by Grandpa and Grandma's completely renovated upper part of the house...(it does not even look the same)!

THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!

We started out the day with some Macy's Day Parade watching while I gave all the boys much needed haircuts. The men got in some football game watching, and I think I even got a brief nap. That is ONE thing I have to be grateful for, is that I have never had to make a Turkey solo yet! I was able to help with some dressing and clean up...but not even half of the work it would have been in my own home! We celebrated Sorensen Style w/ a majority of Dan's family there, dropping by, or calling on the phone. YuMmY!

The boys wore their Indian outfits while Grandma Dawnster was the lucky pilgrim girl at the feast! ha ha

Dan and his Dad loaded his truck w/ a new couch (from Uncle Clint) for us, some guns and hunting gear and took off for Cottonwood. Dan got drawn for the Elk hunt this year for area 6A (our neck of the woods). I opted to stay in Phoenix and PLaY (& have loads of help from Grandma and Aunt Kerri)!!!! Dawn and I laid the "worked up"kids down for bed and took off for the outlets in Anthem at 11pm. IT WAS NUTS!!! The exit on the freeway was backed up and people were STILL going strong (w/ kids & babies mind you) at 2am. We dropped into bed at about 4:30am. Whew!!! We got some good deals BUT definitely NOT worth it. The boys are stocked in jeans now--AND children (even the grown ones) are no respecter of shopping-late-night-momma's. We were up and going at 7am!!!

The next couple of days at Grandma's house were a blur of:

LOTSA' SHOPPING, returning the jeans for different sizes ( a nice 2 hr. trip w/ traffic back there), getting my hair cut and dyed real DARK, a movie with the boys (Madagascar 2), lots of playing in grandma's toy filled basement, pj parties, getting spoiled by Aunt Kerri, trips for kids Christmas pictures (what an event that was--I figured out AFTER the photo shoot I had the wrong store for my coupon-aah what is few more bucks after this weekend, right!?), watching movies and TV and being away from all responsibility. Now I can do hunting season more often IF it is like this.

~Getting Dacie ready for the kids expensive Christmas Pictures~

~Oh yeah, I got myself a CowGiRL!!! ~

Filling Aunt Kerri's shoes

I think Dacie drug every pair of Aunt Kerri's cool shoes (she has a great collection of them) and wore them, as well as dragged them all over the house.

Dan came back down on Saturday night after seeing a whole bunch of Elk....all cows (girls). He drew his gun but could not shoot, darn it! There is always next year right? We enjoyed church in Dan's old ward, and a Sunday dinner as a family. Then we sadly packed up our presents and returned home with a whole bunch of sleepy heads.

We have SOOOO MUCH to be grateful for. We have stability in our lives amidst a time of much insecurity. We are grateful for our beautiful little family, and a cozy little home that we fill. We are grateful for our WONDERFUL extended families. We really are supported and loved from all sides.We are grateful for modern medicine and the comforts it brings, rather than having to battle sickness solo. We are grateful for "LITTLE" things we never knew we were thankful for like a washing machine, clothes dryer, hair dryer, and working 2nd car...until we lose them (not the car permanently).

.... stay tuned for one of the most expensive days in our lives-- until next week!

We are thankful for YOU!!!!