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