Thanksgiving Weekend

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving weekend. Scott designed this turkey centerpiece.
We went and cut down a Christmas Tree, we did it last year for the first time with the kids. Growing up, I had done it with my family until I was a teenager and then my mom bought artificial trees. The kids loved going even though it was freezing outside.
Claire had a project to do for school. We had to decorate a gingerbread person. Here's how it turned out.

Nile's Baptism

Nile was baptized on Thanksgiving Day in St. Louis. He was able to have his great-grandparents there and both sets of his grandparents, some great-aunts and uncles and aunts and uncles there. Nile's uncle Marc gave the talk on baptism and then Claire, Nile, and Brent sang "I am Trying to be like Jesus." It was too cute. Then Nile's Papa gave another talk. Nile was so excited to be baptized and have his family there to watch him.

Happy Birthday Brent!

Brent had a busy day for his 2nd birthday. We started out at the ice rink watching Nile play hockey then we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead to rake leaves for National Family Volunteer Day. We then went to watch Nile play in his last flag football game of the season. We had some friends over for cake. Scott took Brent into DQ to pick out a cake and out of all the cakes he picked a Kansas Jayhawk cake.

Happy Birthday Nile!!

Nile turned eight last week. Nile woke up in the morning and his grandparents were there to celebrate his birthday breakfast with him. Nile's grandma made him a hockey quilt which is so soft and comfy. The had stopped by on their way to Denver to watch a couple of BYU hockey games. When I was growing up and it was our birthday we could choose to have either a birthday party or a shopping spree. So we have the same tradition with my kids. Nile opted for the shopping spree because he wanted a gaming system but I said he could have a few friends over to play football and watch a movie. He told my mom he got everything that he could have ever wanted from his friends and the shopping spree. He is going to get baptized in St. Louis on Thanksgiving day. He is getting excited for that to happen. The day after his birthday party he had a hockey game and football game.
Brent likes to wear a mouth guard because Nile wears one for football and hockey. So I bought him his own mouth guard and cut it down to his size. He cracks us up. He thinks he is one of the big kids. He gets the football and then tells Nile to tackle him.

Garth Brooks Concert in KC

Scott and I went to the Garth Brooks concert last night in Kansas City. It was his first concert in nine years. We had a great time. The concert started with Trisha. She sang for about a half hour. Then Garth set the stage for his performance and sang for over 2 hours with 2 encores. He went through 20 of his hits and his new song. We had so much fun. Garth is a great entertainer. At the second encore, he came out with his guitar and sang some songs from his idols. He sang some James Taylor and he ended with Don McLean's "American Pie." The friends I went with could not believe that Scott and I knew all the words. I told them it was my family's Christmas Carol that we sing it almost every year at Christmas time.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. On Tuesday night, Scott carved pumpkins with the kids. They had a fun time deciding what kind of pumpkins they wanted. Claire wanted a one eyed alien, Brent wanted Mickey Mouse, and Nile wanted a pirate. They turned out pretty cool. Then on Halloween, we had some friends over for a spooky dinner. Then Scott took the kids trick-or-treating this year while I handed out candy. The kids had a great time. They were exhausted when they got home, Scott took them out for about 2 hours.

Disney World Trip

We had a great time at Disney World. The kids were great on the plane. Brent slept the whole way to Orlando. Nile and Claire watched a movie and loved looking out the window. The first day we went to Magic Kingdom and rode lots of rides and the kids got lots of autographs from their favorite characters. They loved watching the parade and seeing all their favorite characters. Nile loved Space Mountain and was able to ride that a few times with Scott while I took Brent and Claire on some other rides. We went to Epcot that evening so Nile and Scott could ride some rides there. The next day we went to the Animal Kingdom and had breakfast with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. We all went on the safari and then Scott and Nile rode the Mount Everest ride a couple of times. That was Nile's all time favorite ride. We then went to MGM Studios and I took Nile and Claire on the Tower of Terror. Claire loved it. We went to a class about learning how to draw Donald Duck. Someone on the shuttle back to the hotel saw Nile's picture and asked if she could have it. Her mom said they were going to frame it and hang it in her room. The next day we went to MGM again and then we went to Magic Kingdom. Claire had her big make over at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and then we had dinner with Cinderella. Claire loved it!! We then went trick or treating through out the park and watched a fireworks show and another parade. The next morning we left to come back to Kansas CIty. We were catching up on sleep all week long. I finally feel back to normal.