We Give Thanks

This year we hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our new house. It was the Holt's turn this year so my parents, the Quarnberg clan, and the McKnights came down. We were missing the Willes crew and Geoff, Alanna, and Alex. We had a great dinner--turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, raspberry salad, rolls, deviled eggs, stuffing, and pies. Everything was so delicious. The boys helped clean up our yard a little bit while the girls cooked and set the table. After dinner we just relaxed, watched football, and played games.

Carlee, taste-testing the deviled eggs

Clark calls for the turkey leg

Katelyn made the placecards for our table


Cooking the stuffing

Aunt Jenn and Clark devilling the eggs

Our Thanksgiving feast

Our Thanksgiving table

On Black Friday, the boys headed out to pick up some furniture and check out the shopping deals. We even hit the outlet malls later in the afternoon. It was crowded but not too bad. I was just overwhelmed by how messy the stores were. It is hard for me to shop like that so we decided to go to Bass Pro Shop. That was the place to be. It wasn't crowded and it was all decked out for Christmas. The kids even got to sit on Mr. and Mrs. Claus' lap. One of the entrances to the shop also goes into the Silverton Casino and there is a big aquarium there. Inside was a live mermaid swimming around and she was entertaining guests with flips and air-blown kisses. The kids thought it was so cool.

We also went to the Four Seasons Hotel and looked at the gingerbread house display. It was different than expected (I had built up in my head some big village that you walk through) but still neat in that everything was made out of candy and there were some really creative buildings.

It was a great weekend with family and we are so thankful for them. We also got the big announcement that Jenn and Kyle are expecting their first baby! We can't wait!

This year we are most grateful for:
-A smooth transition to a new home
-Family members joining us for Thanksgiving
-Happy healthy children
-Happy healthy parents
-The gospel
-Fun church callings we enjoy
-A good school
-Good friends
-A fun neighborhood
-A nice big yard with grass
-Having fun together
-Going to stores
-Eating out
-Getting ice cream
-Watching movies
-Going on bike rides
-Going on walks
-Just living a happy life

Super Six Year Old

Jacob turned six years old on November 22nd. He really wanted to have a birthday party with friends, but due to the move and Thanksgiving only 4 days later, he was a really sweet sport in settling for a family birthday party. He said, "It's okay, Mom. I'm the first one to have a birthday in our new house and that's pretty cool!" For his birthday dinner, he chose to have sushi (I know, only my crazy 6-year-old would choose that) so we got that on Saturday night and then ate his favorite meal of lasagna on his Sunday birthday. He loved the Transformers cake we ordered and enjoyed opening some spy gear presents--a utitlity belt with a laser tripwire, an invisible ink pen, and a disc shooter gun, and some night-vision goggles. He also got the Toy Story Mania Wii game and some baseball slippers. He was pretty excited about his spy gear and as I entered his room to tuck him in at bedtime, I walked into the laser tripwire and the alarm went off. He started laughing his head off because I walked into his trap. Then he gave me a big hug, thanked me for the "best birthday ever" and kissed me good night.





Our favorite things about Jake:
*He loves sushi
*He loves to play
*He loves to snuggle
*He likes to stay home instead of running errands or playing with friends
*He likes to teach Carlee about school stuff--reading, math, numbers, letters, etc.
*He likes to hang out with his big brother and do what he does
*He has a great sense of humor
*He is full of energy
*He is all boy
*He loves his mom
*He likes to play with action figures and make sound effects
*He has a great imagination
*He keeps us laughing with his wit
*He loves to wrestle and run
*He is the best at posing for pictures with a nice smile when I say his name

We love you, Jake. Happy Birthday!

Pack it up!

On November 2, 2009 we closed on our new house. I put an offer on a short-sale home back in April and after extensively searching for other homes, being discouraged about the long wait and impatiently wondering if we were ever going to get the house, we finally closed after about 8 months. In October, we were heavily considering other homes to buy but wanted to take one last look before deciding to let "ours" go. We walked through it for the 4th or 5th time and decided that it would be worth the wait even if it took a year. Two days later, we got the call that the bank accepted our offer and we would be able to close in 3 weeks. So the plans and packing began. After Halloween we started the process. Because we didn't like the tile in the new house, we opted to put in a wood floor and get it done before we moved in. It took about 7 days to put in the floor and 3 days later, the moving truck unloaded our stuff in our new home.

The kids were excited and very helpful with the packing. We were only moving 2 streets over so luckily, we didn't have to pack too tightly. Although our rental home was beautiful and we would have been happy staying there or buying it, we were excited to own a home again. The best things about our house is the bigger yard, separate office from the master bedroom, staying in the same school and ward, and being in a culdesac. The kids love riding out in the road without having to watch for cars all the time. And although, we don't have a pool in this one right now, there is a great sports court and grassy area for play.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of our rental home besides the everyday candids but stay tuned for some pictures of our new one as we get settled...

Here is the front of our old house


Some crazy helpers with an assembly line of pantry goods

Blonde Moments

So every once in a while, I have "blonde moments" and the bad thing is that they happen all at once in a matter of a couple of days. They are the kind where you put the milk in the pantry or cupboard, or you go somewhere to do something and forget what you're doing so you retrace your steps racking your brain to remember what on earth you were doing. I know that you all have those moments too but sometimes mine are even more extreme and "blonde".

A couple of months ago, I had a few that all happened in the same week. The first one was that I accidentally dropped and lost my children's lunch money on our bike ride to school. (Luckily, someone found the check and turned it in) The next one was that I tipped over on my bike while standing completely still and waiting at the crosswalk. I just lost my balance and tipped right into the bushes! Then I was trying to impress my husband while doing a Dukes of Hazzard jump over our couch and completely missed the seat and fell onto the floor. The final straw that week was that I was playing Bejeweled on my phone reaching level 32 and thinking that I was setting the world record before I realized that it was the Endless version! What a waste of about 2 hours!

This past week has been about the same. I took the kids to the party store to look for some accessories for our Halloween costumes. We were there in line ready to purchase when I realized that I left my wallet at home in my camera bag from the night before. We had to put everything back, load back into the car, drive home, and come back! The next one was that we were playing Hide and Seek and I was crawling around the kitchen floor hiding from the kids. Clark was heading in my direction so I turned to go the other way and cracked the top of my head on our granite countertop. Another one was that I was turned around walking and talking to Kate when I completely ran into the wall.

And the last straw this week...

Picture, courtesy of Clark

Yes, have you seen anything more lovely, blonde, or dumb? Our vacuum died this week and some people were coming to our house so I quickly ran to the store and bought a cheap one because I was desperate to vacuum the carpet. There is a turbo attachment for the hose when vacuuming the stairs. I was moving the vacuum down the stairs and untangling the cord when I stuck my hand up in the air and that turbo attachment completely sucked my hair in so tightly all the way to my head. I was laughing so hard and trying not to cry from the pain while calling for help from my children. Instead of helping right away, Clark ran for the camera and video camera laughing that I needed to post this for the blog. Katelyn saved me as she unrolled my hair carefully for about 5 full minutes.

I guess I've had my fill of moments for the next couple of months but stay tuned for more. They're bound to happen!

Seriously, do we need a 5-bedroom house?

Joe and I can think of a lot of other things to do with the extra rooms in our house!

Making Breakfast

The other morning I was getting ready for the day when I heard some clanging about in the kitchen and came out to find Carlee making a sandwich for herself.

"What are you doing, Carlee?"
"Just making my dinner, Mom."
"It's breakfast time."
"Well I can have a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast then."
"Okay, do you need any help?"
"No, but can you get me a plate down?"
"Sure!"

She then got off the stool and walked over to the drawer to get a pink knife to cut it into "2 pieces". Then she asked me to get her a drink and proceeded to carry her "breakfast" over to the table to eat it. I guess I'm off the hook for making breakfast!

Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance

Katelyn and Daddy got to attend a 50's Sock Hop dinner dance for Activity Days. They had a great time twisting and jiving the night away.

Obviously, Carlee thought the activity should include all daughters!

Halloween 2009

Halloween festivities have been in full force this past week as we have made caramel candy apples with Aunt Cath, Uncle Jay and cousins, attended the Ghostown carnival at the elementary school, trunk or treated at the Ward Fall Festival, carved pumpkins, and trick or treated around our neighborhood. It's been a great time!

The Ghostown Carnival included the Lollipop Tree, fishing pond, car races, tossing rings over the bottle tops, throwing balls at milk bottles, eating snowcones, cotton candy, and chili cheese fries. We even checked out the pumpkin patch for a quick picture!

Here we are at the ward Fall Festival. Joe, the wizard, was taking pictures as I am leading the children's costume parade with my little Alice in Wonderland. Katelyn was the Queen of Hearts, Jacob was a pirate, and Clark decided last minute to dress up as a missionary because his costume arrived late. Unfortunately he is getting beat up by a knight in shining armor, Carter!

And the pumpkin carving happened for Family Home Evening. The kids drew out their pumpkin faces and set to carving the shapes. Great job, kids!

The pro carver, cutting and shaping to every child's wish!

Clark's favorite part of the carving

The final masterpieces!

And here they are...all dressed up to trick or treat!

Alice and the Queen of Hearts

The Mario Brothers

My Sweet Girl in White

Katelyn was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, October 10. She had her bishop's interview about a month ago and she said that she felt really good about talking with our bishop. Even Carlee must have felt pretty good about an interview because she told our bishop that she wanted to have a talk too. (We teach them real young at our house) When Katelyn walked out, Carlee rushed right into his office beckoning the bishop to follow her and she shut the door. A couple of minutes later, the bishop came out laughing but Carlee said she wasn't done yet. We had to practically drag her out of there. The bishop said that he had asked her what some of her favorites are. He asked her what her favorite food was and she replied, "Cafe Rio!"

It was a wonderful day for a baptism and several family members drove down to celebrate this experience. Kate was a little bit nervous throughout the week because she thought Joe was going to hold her under the water too long. I told her that he just dunked her for a few seconds and that he would hold on to her the entire time. They practiced the motion a few times and I told her that she didn't have to get baptized, but she looked at me in shock and said, "I am going to be baptized, Mom. I'm just a little nervous." She did just fine and was very happy when she came out of the water. I was a proud mom of her choice to be baptized. Afterwards, we decided to have her confirmed that day since all of our family was here. Then we headed outside for pictures and back home for a dinner of Cafe Rio-like pork salad and rolls. The evening was spent playing games, watching movies and just enjoying each other's company. A big thank you to the family and friends that came to support Katelyn in this important choice. We love and appreciate you!

Grandma and Grandpa Holt

Grandma and Grandpa Stuart

Staheli Farms

Due to the lack of pumpkin patches and corn mazes in the city of Las Vegas, we drove up to St. George to get in our Autumn fix. The kids were out of school so a group of moms and cute kids drove up to Staheli Farms for the day. It was so much fun. We got lost in the corn maze, slid down the corn slides, teeter-tottered up and down, petted farm animals, swung on ropes in the haystacks, galloped on horses made from tires, took a wild ride on the barrel train, climbed on the playhouse, rode in the big wagon to the pumpkin patch, and picked the perfect pumpkins. The weather was perfect and so was the farm. All in all, a perfect autumn day.

Barrel Train Ride

These lil' punkins just keep on growin'!

Giddy-up!

Swinging into the hay

Landing in the corn kernels

Movin' on up

Here you go, goatie! Here's some hay.


Perfect Punkins!