Thanksgiving day went like this...

Dad carved the turkey -



Jason mashed the potatoes -



Everyone patiently waited...



...and finally it was time to dish up!!



What Thanksgiving would be complete without olives??



...and more olives?



Test-driving a new tradition of a family picture on Thanksgiving



After dinner we broke out the games!
(Rex and Joseph played Trivial Pursuit...well, with the pieces anyway!)



Lindsay and Jason had a tickle fight during Apples to Apples...



...and Jason resorted to using his size to his advantage!



Grandma Janet brought a new game called Scrabble Slam...the kids love it!!




Joseph decided to work off some turkey with push-ups



Later in the evening we celebrated Grandma Janet's, Lindsay's and Megan's birthdays!



Polly Pockets is still a favorite!!



This is one of the many reasons why we keep mom out of the blog!



We tried to get a family picture! We've never had a professional portrait taken...



...maybe because apparently we can only hold it together for about four seconds!



...you know, it's a wonder we ever get a presentable picture taken!


Yes, we love you, Mardi!

Happy Thanksgiving

New Moon

Ya gotta love a great tradition!! A very kind, complete stranger offered to take our picture while standing in line to see New Moon! (Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit, we waited in line to see it!) We sure love Mardi and Kera!!

We love Grandma & Grandpa!!

The kids and I had a fun visit with grandma and grandpa on Friday.



We went up while the older kids were at school. The older kids don't like it when we do that, but it's fun for the little kids to have grandma's and grandpa's attention for themselves once in a while!



We had a blast and fully intend to do it again some day soon - but don't tell the school kids!

Student of the Month

Melanie was selected to be Student of the Month...hmmmm, it's the middle of November, so maybe it's for October? I'm not sure, but whenever it was she was awarded today! (red shirt)



She got to have her picture taken with Deputy Craig whom locals may recognize from Q-6 News spots (Hopefully not from personal encounters!).



Where's Waldo? We were able to find Malorie sitting with her class...can YOU find her???

'Tis the (Volleyball) Season

Madilyn had her first volleyball game last week in Colville - because of about 400 committments here at home and with Scouts, we didn't attend, but Grandma Janet & Grandpa Gary and Rex & Lindsay went to cheer her on!



I forgot all of the silly cool traditions school teams have!



Service!



We won 2 lost 1 vs Riverside last night!!!

Family Night / Cannon Ball Wound Ointment

Last night Jared was in charge of refreshments after family night. He and dad chose to make donuts...the kind where you pop open the can of refrigerator rolls. Mmmmmm!!!






A little known fact (before I published it on the internet anyway) is that I have a sincere fear of refrigerator rolls...well, of the cans they come in I mean. It all ties back to my hatred of being startled I guess (and a little bit of having the flesh torn off my hands...)

When Jared tore a can open, it popped with enough force to 1) give mom cardiac arrest and 2) to make a mark on his chest!!! (Validation!!) Luckily, we have Jacob around - he's our resident quick-whit who instantly called out to me and said, "Mom, Jared needs the cannonball wound ointment!!!" You'll probably have to enlarge the picture (and squint) to see the red circle in the center of his chest...but it's there - and you'll have to be a Brian Regan fan to appreciate Jacob's joke!




His reference to the cannon ball wound ointment is in the last minute and a half of this video! Enjoy.

She said I could!!

Ok, maybe she just didn't say I couldn't...is there a difference? Either way, I told her I was putting this in my blog today and here it is!

JA and Susan will be married in the
Albuquerque New Mexico Temple On December 8, 2009

More Cousins...

I snapped this quick picture of the Scout-Cousins earlier this week at Shane's Eagle Court of Honor!

"This sucks!"

I tried to think of a more dignified title for this entry...one a little more respectful maybe...but then I figured a direct quote from her daughter was probably fitting!

Our dear friend Marge passed away 2 weeks ago. She is my sister-in-law, Mindy's, mother...shouldn't that make her my mother-in-law-in-law or something? Whatever she is (or isn't) to us on paper, she is a dear friend who we love like family and who will be missed!

Mindy told me that the day will come when Marge will get a tongue lashing for this! I supposed you'd have to understand their relationship to really appreciate the humor in that! :) But just so Marge knows...I'm on Mindy's side - and I may not be as vocal when the time comes, but you can bet I'll be standing right behind Mindy nodding and wholeheartedly agreeing...maybe even gutsy enough to shake my finger!

All joking and kidding aside - our family loves Marge...we will miss her until we are blessed to meet again!

And then there were 15...

Our home keeps pretty busy with nine children going in every direction...this week we had family visit from Boise and in an instant we had 15 children going in every direction! It was GREAT!! We've vowed to do better at visiting family from now on! It's so fun to see the cousins pick up their friendships where they left off from the last visit without missing a beat!



"Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug!"



It's quiet in our house now that they've headed back to Idaho - well, as quiet as our house ever really gets. We sure do miss them already!!

Math is Cool!

This weekend was Jacob's 3rd or 4th (a good mom would know for sure off hand) Math Team Competition! No surprise, the school failed us once again and didn't provide a coach for the kids so Brandon stepped in and did the job. With only five opportunities to practice with the kids, Brandon got the team together and they did pretty darn well!



Dillon, Bobby, Daniel and Jacob placed 7th in the 7th Grade, Div II teams! Unfortunately, only the top five teams advance to Masters.



Jacob won the award for best team individual and was given this cool little flash drive. After we got home with the packet of test results, we could see that Jacob was only 2 points from scoring in the top ten individuals over-all. For some reason, they combined the 7th and 8th graders when they figured individual winners this year. It never fails, just when I think I understand this whole math-team-thing...they throw in a monkey like that to keep me guessing!

Happy Halloween

Back L-R: Jared - Dinosaur, Megan - Inmate, Jacob - Musketeer
Front L-R: Joseph - Shark, Malorie - Cheeta, Meredi - Spongebob, Melanie - Witch



We took the kids to Pumpkin Lane again this year. Local merchants hand out candy...it's great!