Rockin' with the Wrays (my sis)

 My two neices! Adorable!! At the Gaylord Texan (biggest, best, brightest) Hotel in Grapevine, TX.

 Holly (18 mos younger than me) and I at the delicious, tantalizing full-scale gingerbread house. You've never smelled anything so good--especially at that size!

 Nick and cousin, Ellie, played soccer most of the weekend (great Texas weather) on the community soccer field that they could walk/bike to from our house. She's on a team in Austin (thankfully, they were brought miraculously, to live 3 hours away this last September!) and rumor has it she is a Super Soccer Player!!

 Thanksgiving Day Turkey Bowl: Nick, Ted, Uncle Robert

Muddy shoes after a 2-3 hour game.

Drying out...

I was lucky enough to have a Zumba class offered that morning (yea! I have the personal Thanksgiving tradition of going to a sweet workout class at 9:00am every Thanksgiving and I LOVE IT!)

Proud designer and creator of our Thanksgiving wreath. Thank you, Horizon's Marriott Hotel in Branson, Missouri, where we spent one holiday week...craft class, $15 for all you could use. Drove home with it on my lap! At least we were listening to Harry Potter (6, maybe) and the 8 hour drive FLEW by. This was in, oh...2008?

 Two favorites from my yard: The Red Oak I planted the month after we moved in

and the pumpkin we GREW! Picked a bit early, prematurely, because I didn't plant it til July.

Us, at the Gaylord Texan Hotel on the day after Thanksgiving--

getting in the Christmas Spirit

 and our two kids and my sister's two kids:

I can't describe how exciting and emotional I feel about someone in my family living so close to me! To share our lives, our kids' events and birthdays and weekend trips, etc. It is deluxe!!! They are building a house in Austin in the same neighborhood and congregation as Ted's cousin, Jen, whose family we ADORE. Yipee for Austin!!! and especially, for our FAMILIES!!!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Festive Food, Family, Friends and FUN!

 Happy Turkey Day!

My mom and step-dad came from Utah and

we had a complete blast!

 I was lucky enough to have a friend offer to help me make pies

this year. I have never made apple, pumpkin or pecan pies

from scratch, so I was loving doing it!!

 We had the Vivar family over and a new friend, Cynthia, who brought

the most delicious pumpkin bread I've ever eaten.

ahhhh

 maddie and nick chowing down on the rolls

all the kids ate about 5 rolls each!

 Wendy and Chrissy

 My mom, bella Bella, and Nick

 Here's out crew.

We laughed and ate and played

our favorite holiday game:

it involves tapping people in the circle

with a wrapping paper tube (sans paper)

and everyone comes up with a "christmas name"

Ted is always "Heat Miser" or "King of Jing-a-Ling"

and we have Dancer, Comet, Cindy Lou Who, Mrs. Claus,

the Grinch, Max (his dog), Jingle Bells, Rudolph, etc.

If you have a good name for this game, we'd be VERY interested to hear it!

 (see my mom crocheting? she made us all scarves while she was here!!!)

This is our other tradition:

The Thanksgiving Gratitude box

(a cereal box covered with drawings and words

the kids put on it)

We fill it all month long by writing what we're thanksful for on little pieces of paper.

Then during dinner (or after in this case, as there are many inside jokes...so we read

them after our guests left). We even had my sister, Christie, fill some out when she was here

and we had Nani and Pop put some blessings in there. The kids were cracking up

at all their inside jokes! we did have some serious ones, too, thankfully!! :)

Thanksgiving week of fun!

This year, we decided to do something FUN every day of the Thanksgiving vacation, which for our kids' school lasts the ENTIRE week of Thanksgiving. Here is a photo tour of our week:

SUNDAY

The kids spent several hours after church making costumes and practicing four dances from the Christmas music of Manheim Steamroller. They LOVE the fast songs and it gets them dancing without fail. I'll take the credit for this gene (as will my mom and her mom!) :)

Up above is the Robot Dance

Below, is the Ballet Dance Yes, Nick IS wearing Maddie's clothes (including her leggings) and Ted's Elvis 'helmet' (it's rubber, so we can't call it a wig). This was a total crack up!!! We had an audience of 6 neighborhood kids and I video-taped a section of each dance. We even had refreshments of cheese, grapes, crackers, cake from a dinner party the night before. MONDAY We visited our local fire dept (all volunteers, as our town in so small!) with Nicks' Cub Scout pack. The men showed us where they live, their clothes, some intense photos of their rescues, and of course, the ins-and-outs of their trucks! TUESDAY

We drove to downtown Fort Worth to the newly renovated Science Museum, which we usually have yearly passes for--there is so much to do and it is only about 25 minutes away; when it's cold/icy or super HOT, a fun indoor option with plenty to do.

The past 2 years, it has been transformed, enlarged, and super-charged, so we couldn't wait to go. We went some wonderful friends, the Becans, who we met the first year we lived here through the kids' school classes. Water Zone

The new CSI exhibit was completely interactive: crime scene, draw all your observations, go to various labs and test your information, make conclusions, check out what the autopsy showed, make your case, and see if you figured out who did it!

More Water Zone; even though it was quite chilly, the kids loved this part--they got pretty wet, but luckily, we did this last, so they had a heated car to warm up in on the way home.

Maddie making sand art on a spinning wheel; where the sand it, it was spinning slowly so that each design she made in the sand would go around and around. It was cool.

Nick and Michael at the outdoor Dino Dig.

This museum has a huge section for studying real dino bones and facts as many, many recent discoveries of dinosaurs and oceanic creatures have been made right here in north Fort Worth!

Nick in the Science Experiment Zone putting paper objects in a wind tunnel and seeing them fly up and out--

We took some of Nick's friends and went to our town park for sports, swings, and some sun.

(back to MONDAY)

WEDNESDAY

This was my favorite: ROLLERSKATING!

From a girl who spent most weekends rollerskating (from about '77-80), who loves disco & soul music, I am loving that my kids love to skate, too! We went with a few friends and had a blast!

Nick counted how many rounds he made (105) before we left. He was doing his dance moves on his favorite songs; and I requested Abba and the BeeGees to get my fix. A new friend of mine requested KC and the Sunshine Band...now that is making my day. I think I'm going to go back during the day (homeschool hours...if there's not too many tiny tots) and just skate for 2 hours! Great workout, so much pure enjoyment for me.

Wednesday night we took the kids to dinner and to see the new Christmas Carol movie. We absolutely loved it! Especially Ted and I. Such a beautiful story about life and sharing, happiness, selflessness, and forgiveness. Loved the new 3-D--it's amazing how technology is improving each year. We love to see a movie on Thanksgiving Day or Eve.

THURSDAY

Turkey Day and Turkey Bowl.

Every year, Ted helps organize a bunch of guys at church to a turkey bowl football game. He and Nick went this year (though Ted took the year off from organizing it) and both boys got to play as there weren't too many dads.

Maddie and I watched the NYC Macy's Day Parade while I cooked up a couple of Chocolate Mousse Pies, a chocolate chip cheesecake pie, and prepared some veggie dishes for our meal with our Texas 'family' -- the Ballards, whom we met at church. We are thankful for them as they invite the four of us to join their EIGHT person family (plus 3 other families this year) to dine on deluxe food at their home. The weather was terrific and Nick got to play lots of football and basketball with the boys at this gathering. The adults laughed and told great stories; the dining was delish! (I have no photos of this event; too busy eating!)

FRIDAY

Our youth from church, ages 12 to 18, had a trip to the LDS Dallas Temple all afternoon; lunch beforehand at the church and then Ted, Maddie, and I left for most of the day. Nick stayed with his good buddy, Ben, and enjoyed lots of sports and Wii I suspect. Thanks, Sharla!

SATURDAY

Clean the house! It's up for sale and it was a mess. Then we went to do some Christmas shopping for each other; we all split up at Walmart and took the kids to get each other gifts. Maddie and I like doing this, the boys are not as excited; or I should say, they are enjoy it and are ready to do it and be done, while Maddie and I could keep on looking and going for a few hours.

That night was the highly, very anticipated BYU-University of Utah game. The boys watched that (their delight, BYU won) and the girls went out for a movie night.

........................................................................................................................................ Maddie was in charge our "Family Night Activity" and we had a crazy experience...

She gave us notes printed up on the computer that said,

"Wear some beat up clothes, bring a small bag of two items and meet your guide out at the mailbox."

So, as we went to put on our shoes, she says, "NO SHOES...you have to have a real experience!" and so out we went in barefeet and raggy, painted up (for me) clothes to the dark streets of low 50s or high 40 degree weather. Maddie tells us we are homeless and we are on a journey to the shelter. She asked us to 'introduce' ourselves to each other: Ted was "Jimmy Stevenson" and Nick was "Bob Johansen" and I was "Slyvia Longbottom" and Maddie was an unnamed lady from Kentucky. :) "Bob" and "Jimmy" were vying for my affections (hee hee). We walked around our street for awhile and sat by the fire hydrant, under a street lamp and talked about the warmth of Thanksgiving and had to count our 'homeless blessings'...wow! Maddie was in character, this one she had just made up, the whole night!

Finally (relief for our cold feet), she led us to the "soup kitchen" (our house) and we went in and sat down. Blankets never felt so good! She helped us think about pioneers and the homeless and hungry. She passed out paper and markers and said that we would make turkeys and write our blessings on the feathers and hang them up for a few days til Thanksgiving:

Notice a couple of BYU turkey fans...

That inspired Maddie to giver her turkey a purse with green money poking out;

and it inspired me to give my turkey some weights, a yoga mat and a stability ball.

We hung them up around our fireplace for a few weeks.

Just want to thank Maddie for her creativity!! and fun!

We love our new Thanksgiving traditions, making grateful-feathered turkeys and having a Thankful Box, which we fill up with things we're thankful for all month long. Nick and Ted have at least 70% of what they write as 'inside jokes', puns, goofy things, which make us laugh. But they always remember the real blessings, too.

I'm grateful for a family of laughter, spirit, gratitude, and love!

Thanksgiving with Texas friends

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life."

"Gratitude unlocks the very essence of worship. When you walk with gratitude you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a Spirit of Thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives."

Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, it also unlocks the doors of heaven and feel God's love.

Gordon B. Hinckley

We were blessed to spend the day with the following families from our church family:

The Ballards (like siblings to Ted and I)

The Sanders (like grandparents for our kids)

The Boss family with great kids (future BYU roommates or dates!)

Relatives of the Ballards

Parents (newly off mission from So. Africa) of the Boss family

We ate a GINORMOUS feast and the tradegy was that there was so much dessert, so many pumpkin pies, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin dips, fruit salad, chocolate moose pie (compliments of me via my sister, Holly), chocolate chip cheesecake pie (moi) and the best pecan pie in Texas, by Lynnette. Her pie will have a special place in my heart and memory because on my first birthday here in Texas, she made me one and brought it over to me on my birthday! I'll always remember how that made me feel; and I'll not forget how it tasted, either!

Ted and Nick spent the morning playing football with Dads and their sons from church as the local middle school. This has been a tradition that Ted started when we moved here: the Turkey Bowl...and the men & boys would start practicing for a couple of weeks beforehand. The men were few this year, so Nick and his little friend, Ben, got to play. Nick said that he sacked Ben, mightily, quite by accident! :)

Maddie got our the Christmas stuff (7 big Tupperwares!) and I was melting chocolate over the double broiler (is it "brioler" or "bioler"?) and whipping up cream and shaving chocolate for the pies. How unbelievable that I FORGOT to take a photo of these gorgeous, rich, chocolate moose pies!! quel dommage!

And finally, at the end of the night, Ted came home and got out all the outside lights and put them up. We will do our bushes later this weekend; we'll get the tree up tomorrow and tidy up in GREAT hopes that someone will come look at our house...

GRATEFUL FOR

FAMILY healthy, spontaneous, deep-thinking children husband who loves coaching kids' sports Nick's crazy cackle (and red face to go with it) Maddie's multitudes of kisses Ted's late night jokes/puns Ted's early morning excellent mood: great shower singing! family game night family rollerskating! HOME Our home a king size bed fireplace ceiling fans walk-in pantry and laundry room flowers and fresh herb gardens quiet neighborhood, friendly neighbors connected, supportive church 'family' EXTENDED FAMILY Wonderful, beautiful, caring sisters and sisses-in-law focused, fun, bright brothers and bros-in-law parents who love us and our kids like crazy vacations with extended family family blogs & phone calls LIFE ted's steady job; his 'normal' hours my p/t interpreting job in our school district my full-time, full-life job as Mother and Wife opportunities to serve others daily cub scouts program for Nick motivated children who will work at home and school great recipes family traditions church volunteer service Sunday afternoons/eves with each other PERSONAL books, books, books old movies Pride & Prejudice digital & slow-version scrapbooking 76 degree weather sweating in exercise class dancing singing / karaoke Michael Buble and the Rat Pack instrumental music: classical, jazz, latin massage therapy! naps warm hugs meaningful conversation faith testimony of God and His Son the restored gospel of Jesus Christ temple ordinances that bind my family for eternity hope enthusiasm for life!