Thanksgiving

What a relaxing day! Of course, we started our day by sleeping in! {It was especially great for Trav, since he gets up at 4am every day!} We spent the morning cuddled up on the couch watching the Macy's parade. Ali really liked it because of all the "cool floats". Her favorite was the one with Tawny Heart {from Sonny with a Chance} and Kermit the Frog singing Christmas songs.

After the parade and naps we got ready for dinner at Sandy’s house. Mom and Mike were able to join us... it was great to have them there. Merilyn was so excited to have both grandmas with her! There was a ton of food and laughs - so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Turkey

Ali brought home an "empty" turkey that we had to work together to fill. She loved making her turkey! We used seeds, oatmeal, scrapbook paper, and orange sprinkles for the beak. Ali was thrilled with the final product and I have to say, I was pretty proud of "our" turkey as well. :)

Halloween

This year the girls were Tinkerbell and Ariel. They had gotten their costumes forever ago! They loved playing around with them, so I was glad we were able to find all the parts... well, all but Ariel's shoes. One of them disappeared! {We found some silver ones that worked.} Ali said that it was the best Halloween yet because they set a record with how far they walked Trick-or-Treating. She also loved the fact that she got to spend the evening with her cousins. The little girls did a great job keeping up with their big sisters, however, we knew we were done when the littles were asking to be carried!

The girls & I spent the weekend at my mom's scrapbooking & playing. I got a load of school work done, & then accomplished several pages for different albums. I felt very productive! The girls were super busy playing with their cousins. Merilyn & Johnna are at such a great age - they got along so well! {As opposed to standing inches from each other's nose & screaming bloody murder.}

Grandma had a great activity for the girls... frosting Halloween cookies! They were so excited! {And, I think some of Merilyn's frosting even made it on to the cookies!} Thank you Grandma, for another fun & special memory.

We've been struggling to get Ali to school in the mornings lately! Unfortunately for Travis... he's the one who has to get her up, dressed, and to school. For some reason, the last few weeks have been torture for everyone involved. We've been having the principal or counselor meet Ali in the morning to walk her to her class. That piece of it is getting better - slowly. The other part is just the morning in general. {I must take credit for that, I'm afraid.} We've started putting her to bed earlier {against her wishes, of course} and having all of her outfits for the week planned out. {Thank you, Cheryl, for the tub idea!} She was so excited to get everything organized, sorted, and ready. This has made a difference in the morning drama... now we just need her to wake up easily - and happy. {hahahaha!!}

"But, I wasn't jumping on the bed!"

GO BEAVS!

We were able to head to Corvallis for the OSU/Stanford game last Saturday. The leaves were changing colors, the air was crisp, and the sun was out... it was a beautiful fall football day! Ken surprised us with OSU donuts on the way down. They were so good!

We got there really early so had plenty of time to set up, eat, walk to the book store, eat, throw the football around, and eat. There is never a lack of food on game days! Energy and spirits were high and loud in the stadium, and the Beavs played a fabulous first half. The second half kept us guessing, but it was a great game! {And, the Beavers won 38-28!}