FYI...

For those of you who were praying for my brother-in-law last night... he is home and alive!  Praise God!

Yesterday, he was putting up the Christmas lights on the roof and fell...

Yikes!

Apparently, his head was not as hard as some would believe... Lol...

He received a concussion. 22 stitches and 3 chipped teeth.

Thank you for your prayers.

Christmas Prep...

We set up the Christmas tree the other day...

Some years I enjoy putting up the decorations...

and some years it just feels like a struggle.

This year was a struggle...

Everyone pitches in and gets the job done.

I think the reason that I struggled this year is that I have been trying so hard to get well from this cold.

Just when I start to think I am getting better...

Oh forget it... no one wants to hear me complain.

The little kids enjoy things the most...

They get to help putting decorations on the tree.

They think this is so special.

We let the older kids do the breakable stuff...and the younger kids do the non-breakable stuff.

Now that the tree has been up for a few days, I am feeling in the season...

Thanks family... for helping me get in the mood.

Daddy's and Daughters...

There is a special relationship between Daddy's and their daughters...

Especially after a nice warm bath...

when the daughter is all snuggled up in her pajamas...

and she is ready for a book.

Time with Daddy is very important.

Lessons

Smiles

Snuggles

Stories

...Time

It all boils down to love.

Building Cathedrals...

Sitting in my living room this morning... feeling a little down... I was blessed by this from Resolved2Worship... a blog that I love to visit... not only for its beauty in photography, but its beauty in word.

Please listen... You will be rewarded.

Handy...

The two medium girls are currently outside in the driveway... shoveling.

We woke up this morning to a lot of snow... and it is still coming.  I know that some of you may be asking why shovel when it is still snowing...

The answer, my friends, is that if we don't do it now it will be so heavy later that it will take hours to accomplish the job.  Also, if one of the cars drives over that snow... it will pack down and become miserable and may not come off the driveway again until June.

So, they are shoveling.

I knew having these kids would come in handy one day...

So Worth It...

What happened after Thanksgiving?

I made stock!

We use stock around here a lot...

casseroles

soups

chili

stews

etc......

Some time ago, I got tired of shucking out the big bucks for the premade stock... that, sorry folks... tastes like poo.

So, I make my own and it is so wonderful.

If you haven't given this a try yet... do it!

It is so worth it... and so easy.

Oh So Good...

Am I the only one who thinks cinnamon rolls are the ultimate breakfast?

I just love their ooey, gooey-ness... (yes I made up the words... and the spellings)

I like to throw the ingredients together at night before I go to bed and then toss it all in the oven in the morning.

Nothing wakes the kids up like the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven...

Oh So Good....

Mister Potato Head...

This lovely young lady is Rachel.

Rachel is my oldest daughters best friend.

She joined us for Thanksgiving this year since her family lives too far away for her to go home for the short holiday... and because we wouldn't have let her miss out on our crazy holiday.

She is a blessing!

When it was her turn to read her, "I am thankful for you because..." card the waterworks began...

She cried, I cried, Grandma cried... the others were holding back their tears.

She managed to get through the reading of her card... In part, because the little man...

decided to lighten the mood!

Suddenly, every 8.6 seconds, we started hearing, "Thankyou Mister Potato Head"...

We tried to shush him...

and then it would come again...

Thankyou Mister Potato Head...

Thank you mister potato head...

I'm a funny boy...  Thank you Mister Potato head.

Thank you mister potato head...

What a goof...

Thanks for lightening the mood, son...

 I love you!

Thanksgiving 2009 Recap...

Bampa found a nice "quiet" spot and read the paper...

I think he was the smart one!

We snacked all day on chips, dip, monkey munch, veggies...

Our homelooked a little funny with the RV hanging out in the street and cars lining the road.

Who cares if the neighbors needed space... right?

Like always... the family gathered around the table.

Uncle Sean could be found entertaining the little ones with a movie or the wii.

The kids never wanted him to go to bed!  Poor guy.

My son was the bowling champion... this was not his best game...  He is only 4!

I think his best score this day was 212.

My mother-in-law... whom I LOVE, by the way... made the whole crew dinner on Wednesday night!  I was in heaven!

Sean's daughter, Serene, was in love with Raider...

The poor guy has been lost without having her here to love on him constantly.

Dinner... Oh, my...

It was wonderful.

Sean blessed us with egg nog...(yuck)  but my son may be a convert...

Was it good, Sean?

I guess it was good!

Savannah, We just loved you!  You remind us of our own little girl... 20 years ago.

Serene loved the movies...

The turkey was gone!  Now the bones have become stock... oh yeah.

I cooked, so the others cleaned...

We gathered around the computer and watched youtube videos...

Mark climbed into the floor and feel asleep... go turkey!

Ari napped sitting up...

Grandma napped sitting up...

Aunt Dayna made the girls look as cute as a button...

A popular pasttime was putting on hats, scarves and gloves...

Why?

Who knows...

Cadi's shoes kept the girls attention for a bit...

The kids played dressup... I love the face, Brysen...

Serene wore the spiderman costume for hours... lol.

Having the family with us for our nightly devotion was such a blessing.

Our "I am thankful for you because..." cards were a big hit as always!

Rachel, Grandma and maybe me... cried.

Wrestling with the boy...

I would say this Thanksgiving was the best!

Thank you, Rachel, Sean, Dayna, Serene, Savannah, Grandma and Bampa for sharing it with us!

We are SOOOOOOO Thankful for all of you!

Ugggg.....

I would show you a picture of my rudolph nose, but it is too scary!

Yes, I have finally come down with whatever the kids had a couple of weeks ago...  Uggggggggggg..........