Black Friday

(just a really cute picture of my kids)

I am not ashamed to admit, that I have never ventured out on Black Friday to go shopping. And. . . . this year was no different. I have no interest whatsoever, in fighting my way through the crowds, and getting the best deal. Mainly because I tend to get panic attacks in crowded areas, and we never have that much money to spend anyway. Our friends, Mitch and Mindy called this morning, and invited us to go to a reindeer village in Ballard with them. The kids were pretty excited, until we realized it was just 2 reindeer. But, it was free, and freezing cold. We ate at Red Robin afterwards, which kind of redeemed the day.

Taylee, Rohne, Cameron, and Julia

Thankful Thanksgiving

We had a good, traditional Thanksgiving this year. It started out with Jake's annual Turkey Bowl. He organizes this every year, and every year it gets more complicated, and competitive. He worked so hard on it, and it turned out really great. (Even if his team did place last. Sorry, honey!) Rohne jumped in on the photo, if you will notice he is up front next to our friend, Tila.

We decided to go watch, and just caught the last game, which was okay. Rohne loved running around the football field, and wanted to play along with the guys. Tay and I were freezing, so we snuggled right along with Jessi, who had been there since 7:30 that morning. What a supportive sister!

Here's the 3 kids eating chips, and watcing a Christmas movie.

And, here's another one with Parker, who we can't forget. What a cute kid!! He ate the whole Christmas tree empty of candy canes, I think.

I didn't take many photos of the day, probably because I was feeling very sick most of the time. Too darn much food, I guess. The table was beautiful, food was good, and the company was great. The one tragedy that we had was the turkey. Oh yes. . . . Jer and Mo decided to provide a smoked turkey, courtesy of Stan's BBQ. We ate it last year, and it was awesome! Well, we started cooking it at the designated time and temperature, and when we went to check it at dinner time, it was still cold. It was pre-cooked, but still had to be at a designated temp. in order for it to be safe to eat. Needless to say, we did not taste smoked turkey that day. When we left at 9:15 that night, it was still in the oven. Sad, sad, sad. Sharon had cooked a small turkey the day before, for some gravy, so we heated that up in microwave, and it was okay. The appetizers we ate the whole day long were the best.

We invited our friends, Clark, and Lisa to come celebrate with us. It made for a crazier house, but it was fun. Then, we decided to attempt to get a family photo, which Clark took for us. It is sooo hard to actually get everyone looking, with their eyes open, then say smile. This picture was my best one. I think that Monique's camera got the better one. Anyways, this is our family, on Jake's side. Two brothers, one sister, 2 grandparents, 2 daughter-in-laws, 2 granddaughters, 2 grandsons, and growing by the minute. I am thankful for so many things this year. My wonderful kids and husband, a loving extended family, our health and lives, Jake's job in this shakey economy, wonderful friends, and of course a Heavenly Father, who watches over us, and makes all things possible. There are many more things in my life which I am thankful, but I won't list them here. I sincerely hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Photo Shoot

We got a little sunshine today, so Jess, the budding photographer, called, and she took pictures of our kids. She did such a great job, and we had so much fun spending time with her. Thanks for the wonderful day!! Check out a few of the photos at:

http://feelyphotography.blogspot.com/

Hmmmm. . . .

Not much going on here in our household. Life is slowing down a little, at least for now. We are looking forward to the holidays. I love Christmas, and can't wait for the Thanksgiving Feast. I fully plan on putting up the Christmas tree the after Thanksgiving, if I can wait that long. Taylee and Rohne were participating in Sports Classes at the Community Centers, and they are done now. They both had a lot of fun, and it gave them something to look forward to. I never did get very good pictures of them, but you can picture Taylee as a 4 year old trying to play a real basketball game. It was fun to watch her try to figure it out. Rohne has always been a little more coordinated, and I think we might continue his class after the New Year, and get Taylee back in Ballet. We are going to be celebrating the holidays here in Washington again this year, which makes me really sad, because I will greatly miss my family. But, with Jake just starting a new job, we cannot justify the trip right now. Just so ya know, everyone is invited to our house any time!!! Taylee is still doing preschool once a week, and enjoying it. She has known all of her letters for a while, but is slowly learning the lower case ones now, and writing them a little better. Rohne is going back to the Dr. again on Thursday, which I hope will bring good news. He is forever our monster, and terrorizes his sister, and my house on a daily basis. He is (cross my fingers) sleeping a little better lately, which makes for a happier mommy in the morning. Jake's job is very busy, and time consuming, but he is quickly earning a reputation in the company as one of the best Advisors, which gives him more referrals. We miss eating dinner with him at night, but he does spend quality time when he is at home, which I greatly appreciate. I am dragging him to see Twilight with me, and I think he is actually a little excited. He probably won't be when he is surrounded by a bunch of screaming teens. All in all, we are surviving each day, and trying to make the best, and have some fun too.

Too Funny!

I miss my family a whole lot right now. Probably because the holidays are coming, and we don't think we are going to be able to travel anywhere. (And, no one EVER comes and sees us! Except you, Nat). Anyways, I know how much I love to see videos of my nephews, so here are few for you, family, to see. Not anything special, just really cute. The first one is of the kids trying to do a rap or something, don't know where they came up with that. And, the second one is Name that Tune!! Who's gonna win?

Happy Birthday Rohne! Where did the Time Go?

Rohne turned 3 last week!! I can hardly believe that he is so grown up. He has always been a big big boy, but still has been my baby in all ways. However, he is growing older every day, and I can't do anything about it. This past year he has matured in so many ways. He is potty trained, can get dressed by himself, talks a mile a minute, rides a bike, and actually plays with his sister instead of just pestering her incessantly. We love our little boy, and are so blessed to have him in our family. He has always been such a happy spirit, and a joy to be around. He is not shy, and loves to meet new friends, and try new things. I see so much of his daddy in him, which is a very good thing. Thank you for coming to our family, Buddy, we love you!!

We had a party including our family, and the Reynolds clan. It was pretty low-key, but very fun. Grandma Sharon and I made a dragon cake, because Rohne is loving dragons right now. It turned out really good, and I can't wait to see what cake the next occasion will bring.

He got so many fun toys to play with, including noisy ones to annoy his mommy with!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Small clarification

Awhile ago, I posted a video of Taylee singing the ABC's into this contraption. I have been asked by multiple people what this was. So, I decided to do a video to demonstrate.

Tay, unfortunately may have inherited my athletic abilities. I was never the most coordinated. I can run fast, do aerobics, and dance. That's about it.

Rohne is really good at sports already. If you will notice, Jake makes him bat left-handed, even though he is right-handed. He wants him to be a lefty batter, don't ask me why. Taylee is actually left-handed, so she bats the right way.

Oh, by the way, the kids have been playing swimming all day long, that's why they are in their swimming suits. This happens at least a couple times a week.