Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! After Bart and I spent our Anniversary at a condo in Park City, we decided to use the rest of the gift certificate to rent another condo for our whole family. We did this over Thanksgiving weekend and it was incredible!

Although the decorations were not my taste exactly, the layout was absolutely perfect! Just right for our little family. We had two bedrooms, one upstairs with a bunk bed, and the Master Suite on the main floor.

The main room was spacious and easy to move around each other in. The kids had a blast running around and playing together. I loved all the cooking and time in the kitchen. Bart soaked up the down time and marveled at the -4 degree weather outside.

I forgot to take pictures of the beautiful, magazine worthy food, BEFORE we started eating it. So, you get the left-overs! Enjoy!

The kitchen was just spacious enough for me to be able to cook a full Thanksgiving meal for a small group.

Alex hung out and explored the space all weekend.

Genny had a great time helping Mom cook the food!

Anna had a great time helping herself EAT the food!

Instead of a full turkey, I did a large turkey breast. I used fresh herbs from my garden, along with some dried herbs, which I mixed into some butter and spread between the skin and meat of the breast. It turned out beautifully moist and delicious! I was so proud of myself!

I made my mom's stuffing recipe. My FAVORITE Thanksgiving dish! Thanks Mom!

A Must Have for me at holiday dinners is green bean casserole. I just LOVE those fried onions!

Freshly grated garlic and some heavy cream mixed perfectly into the mashed potatoes. YUMM!

The Rolls almost didn't make it to the table! (One of the traditions I'm trying to keep up from my side of the family.)

Dessert baked the night before! They were so yummy with vanilla ice cream and fresh whipped cream.

Some Orange Jell-O and Butterscotch pudding finished off the desserts, and pickles were served on the side of the meal. We all had over stuffed tummies and happy taste-buds!

We spent the time we weren't eating: snacking, watching tv, playing games, and napping.

It was a heavenly weekend! I hope yours was too!

Halloween Happenings!

We had a fun time this Halloween. It started off with Genevieve's first friend hosted Halloween party on Thursday and then her first school party on Friday. She was adorable and fun as a silly clown this year.
Then Friday, our play group got together to decorate cookies in the morning (thanks for hosting Heather!) and then a trip to Pumpkin Land in the afternoon. Alex stayed home to nap for both of those activities so the girls could enjoy without mommy feeling overwhelmed or out numbered. I really enjoyed watching Genny and Anna have a new experience. Everything was exciting and big in their eyes. And they LOVED being out and playing with their friends.








I had fun with MY friends too!


It was a very pleasant and fun Halloween activity. Perfect for little kids! We'll probably go again each year while the kids are small.

Because Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, Saturday was our Halloween. We carved our pumpkins Saturday morning and had a pretty easy going day.





Then I panicked! I had all the costumes perfectly arranged and accessorized... in my mind. When it came time to actually get costumes on for trick or treating, nothing was where I thought it would be.

Since Genny had already worn her costume so many times, she had temporarily lost her clown hat (we all frantically/angrily raced around the house looking for it). And she REFUSED to wear the honking clown nose she BEGGED me to buy her.

Then after Bart got the three layers of tights (to keep her little legs warm) and her entire costume on Anna, she then decides to tell me she had to go to the potty.

Alex started to cry and whine, because he had refused to take his afternoon nap, plus he was breaking out in a rash ALL over his body, including his face and head. (I'll tell you that story in another post. *sigh*)

I couldn't find my shoes... Bart was the only one who kept it all together. I was a hollering ranting mess. I should have been wearing a witch's hat! So when I realized I was ruining what was supposed to be a FUN night for the kids, I changed my tune, laughed stuff off, and made it about the kids! Then it became fun. We eventually found everything we needed.

I put clown make-up on Genny EXACTLY the way SHE wanted me to.


We had fun taking pictures while we waited for the rain to stop.

And when it did, we went out trick or treating and had an incredibly fun time together. Alex was a natural. Even though this was his first time trick or treating, he got right up there next to his sisters and raised his bucket high for the home owners to fill. It was so cute!

All the kids got lots of attention for their AWESOME costumes. For this I have to thank Grandma Terry. I added some new accessories, but the main pieces for the girls, came from her.

My mom made clown costumes for me and my brothers and sisters when I was about 4 or 5. Genny wore the one that I wore back then.

My mom also made ME a cute little bumble bee costume that I wore when I was 3ish. That is the bumble bee costume that Anna wore. She couldn't have been more adorable! I was gushing with pride over this one, because this costume is one of my most treasured early childhood memories. Yay for mommies and daughters bonding over costumes!



And how 'bout my mom, makin' costumes that lasted 27-28 years!? Thank you Mom!

Alex's costume was a treasure to find! He was originally going to be a store bought Captain America, made out of that, not so great, fabric all the "costumes in a bag" are made of these days. But then lucky me, decided to drop into a local thrift store on a whim and found the most incredible, hand-made matador costume. I got the store manager to drop the price on it, and I walked out feeling like a champ. Alex was so perfectly cute in it!

Bart and I were a couple from the 50's. Blonde Curls, Red lipstick, Letterman Jacket, converse style shoes (with BYU printed on them of course) and all! The poodle skirt, with petticoat, is one that, again, my mom made when I was 17. Man, I need to learn to sew! I hope your Halloween was at least half as fun as ours! Cuz ours rocked!