Thanksgiving weekend

What a great Thanksgiving week we had.  It started off on Tuesday with the big 2010 blizzard.  School was let out at noon because the storm was predicted to arrive at 3:00.  Sure enough, by 3:20, it came, and lasted until about 7:30.  Wind, 5" of snow, and white-out conditions made for a fun afternoon!  Mike had a hard time getting home from work, but after that, we all enjoyed staying inside and watching a Harry Potter movie.

On Thanksgiving day,  we surprised the boys with an early Christmas present.  We told them we had to drive to find it, and that they had to be blindfolded (sad for them that they thought we were taking them to pick out a puppy at some breeders house. . .).  We then proceeded to drive around aimlessly for 15 minutes, only to end up back at our house!  We had wrapped airplane tickets along with tickets to the upcoming MNFB game in Arizona between the Cardinals and 49ers.  They were sooo excited!  They had a great time at the game last night, and are enjoying a day with the Hatch's today before flying home in the morning.

On the way down to the Weyerts for Thanksgiving dinner, we stopped at the movie theater where Lindsey and Ryan were attending the 12:00 showing of Harry Potter #7 to decorate their jeep for Lindsey's 30th birthday.  Since the high for the day was in the teens, we were quick about it!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner with the Weyerts, Weyerts and Nelsons.  Mike slaved away all morning making two amazing apple pies!  Jake even got into the action by making a tasty key-lime pie.  That evening, Jess and Brad went to Willard to be with Brad's family, and me, Mike and the boys came home, put up our tree, and watched Harry Potter 6. 

 Cam was asked to play in a Thanksgiving tournament in Brigham City on a team of boys a year younger.  They had won their game the Saturday before in the rain/sleet/snow, so were happy the day after Thanksgiving that all they had to contend with was the COLD.  And I do mean cold- and a frozen playing field.  I don't think anyone was too sad that they lost and didn't have to play the next day. .Prior to the game, I did some black Friday shopping by myself, then with the boys for a few hours.  After Cam's game, we had leftovers with Tom and Freda, then watched another Harry Potter movie-

Saturday, all 4 of us did some good deep cleaning for most of the morning.  It's great to get help from the family and not have it to do all on my own!  I attended a nice family bridal shower in Brigham City with Jessica that Brad's family gave her.  Then that night, we all 6 went to the new Harry Potter movie!  It was great to see it after watching all the movies in past week.  It was a great movie, and I'm anticipating part 2 even more now. It snowed most of the day Sunday, and we were left with another 14-16" of snow by Monday morning.  It was a beautiful, sunny, blue sky day once the storm passed, and I rather enjoyed seeing all the beauty of winter.  It's a great time of year to reflect on my many blessings and the things I'm so very grateful for--- family, the gospel, friends, good health, a free country and so many more.

bargin shopping

There's not much I love more than getting a good deal at the store.  Even the grocery store.  This week Smiths had some great deals, and with the addition of a few coupons, I came away with $100 worth of stuff for the amazingly low price of $33.10!!!  Can you say WOW?  Now granted, most of these items are things we don't really NEED, but when you can get  2 liters of the best soda that's only available during the holidays for 40 cents, wouldn't you get 10 or so of them like I did?  I'll hide them in a cooler in the garage, and forget about them, then it will be a nice surprise this summer when I come across them (that's happened before, and it was great!).

I love getting good deals on clothes, household goods, beauty products, sporting good- you name it. This week at Kohls, I had an extra 30% off everything coupon, plus for every $50 you spent, you got $10 back in Kohls cash. I went with all three kids, plus Brad there on Thursday night to get some needed items, plus a few Christmas gifts.  When we were ready to check out, I realized I didn't have my jacket which I remembered having about 10 minutes before.  So I retraced my steps, but it had vanished.  I've been back three times to check in the lost and found and retrace my steps again.   I wouldn't be that concerned about a lost jacket (although it's a cool one Kylee brought me from Alaska) BUT, my CELL PHONE was in the pocket. . .AHHHHHH  I'm sooo upset.  If it was stolen, whoever has it hasn't used the phone, but no one answers when I call it.  Where did it go?  It's a mystery but I"m not ready to get a replacement phone just yet.  I'm still hoping for a miracle. 

Engagement and Birthday

There have been some very exciting things happening at our home the past few days.  First off, and most exciting, is JESSICA & BRAD got engaged Saturday night!!!  It was so fun to be a part of the planning and surprise.  Since they met at a Halloween party a year ago at our house, Brad wanted to propose at a Halloween Party at our house this year.  So even though this means they'll only be engaged for exactly TWO MONTHS, I think it's so fun that he waited and did it the way he did.  He had her convinced that the ring wouldn't be ready for another 3-4 days, so she was totally surprised.  (This picture is a re-enactment since I was downstairs at that special moment)

 I love that they're in their Halloween costumes!  They were so cute and happy for the rest of the night.  It happened while their friends were out on a picture scavenger hunt, so they had fun showing and telling when they all got back.

Jake celebrated his 17th birthday on the 29th.  Can it be?  We had a nice family dinner along with Grandma Freda and Aunt Stacie, Jaxon and Sidnie.  We excused Grandpa Tom since he had the really great excuse of being gone to the WORLD SERIES game in San Francisco!  How fun for him!  Most of Jake's gifts were candy and gift cards.  He also got a PS3 game.

 Jessica and Brad gave Jake this picture frame full of funny pictures he has taken on Jessica's Mac computer.  That boy can entertain himself for a long time on that thing.  If you know Jake very well, you know he loves to make funny faces.  We've all had some great laughs over what he comes up with.

I am so thrilled to have Brad as a member of our family.  Even though it won't be "official" until December 31st, it's felt like he's been one of us for awhile now.  I love how he treats Jessica, how he's easy and fun to talk to and be around, how well he gets along (and tolerates) the boys, how he enjoys doing what we enjoy doing, what a hard worker he is, how even tempered he is, and how polite, kind and funny he is.  Good job Jess with finding such a wonderful guy!