So Much to be Thankful For!

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with good friends who recently moved just a little closer to us, making a relatively short trip possible. My friend Lisa and I got together on the phone a few times in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving to coordinate the feast. We envisioned a different, healthier, less glutonizing kind of feast... But when the husbands heard about it, they rebelled and we ended up with a pretty traditional Thanksgiving only moderately simplified - and it was wonderful! It doesn't matter so much what is sitting on the table when across the table from you are many people who warm your heart!

Yes, between the two families we do have 10 children. It was great!

Aubrey's Brithday

Aubrey turned 7 Monday, and had a wonderful day. I brought cookies, a brother and a sister to her class. We played with the fun play balls at home after school. Had her favorite (plain spaghetti and sauce) for dinner, opened presents and ate cake. I think she loved her day. I sure love her. I am so glad I have an Aubrey.

Aubrey wanted a carrot cake with a bunny on it for her cake.

I was super excited for Aubrey to get the presents I worked so hard on for her. She was super excited to get them. She loved them! Ohhhhh! I was so happy.

The first is a soft bristle brush - Aubrey has a tender head and we keep losing the other brush...

I put Aubrey's name on the front of her first "big girl" journal. She loves it.

This one is the best. I was so excited for Aubrey to get it.

YAY! She loves it as much as I do!

Pretty presents don't last too long - better take a picture while they're still pretty.

I think Hannah is too yummy. I love that girl too.

Look who I get to play with all day!

The thing that looks like mop is actually a hedgehog--Hannah's favorite friend.

So many clothes, so little to wear...

Clothing that is too big, small, wrong season, worn out or that just won't do has to go somewhere... Its mounded up in my hallway right now. I guess we're just way too blessed. How nice.

We're quirky in our own sort of way

Sometimes I embarrass myself by talking to people and using big words. I love words. I love the subtle shade of difference between words that are similar. I need those words to express the subtle shades of difference in my feelings. Growing up, mom wasn't shy with her big words - she loved them too. Its not hard to pick up the vocabulary when you just don't know any different. I have to laugh inside myself when Heidi looks at something and deems it, "sufficient". Here we go with another generation - And with a tendency towards introversion, I like to call us:

All big words, no talk.

Just two things...

I learned some songs in grade school music class that just stuck with me, so today I looked them up online to see if they were still as I remembered.

The first,

Acres of Clams "Old Settler's Song" by Pete Seeger

The second,

"Seattle" by Perry Como

May I say how much I enjoy these songs? They rattle around in my brain for days and no one else seems to know them at all. Ah, it feels so good to share. Thanks.

Halloween

Halloween was enjoyed by all this year. We went to the ward trunk or treat Saturday. Brian was out of town all day and couldn't make it. So I got the kids all ready by myself and it was crazy but got done anyway. Then we went home and Brian had gotten home, so we went to a couple friends houses in the neighborhood we had arranged previously to drop by. The kids got a serious amount of candy. We were pretty liberal in allowing them to munch (and far too liberal with ourselves). We noticed the candy made the kids crazy and cranky and made the adults sick, restless and very cranky. The whole pile went in the trash Monday evening. Critchfields can't handle candy I guess...

Anyway, I made the girls costumes this year (not Joe's or Hannah's). Aubrey was a bat (wings too) and Heidi was Hello Kitty. The costumes would have looked a little better had I not been so rushed before the ward trunk or treat, but I think they turned out wonderful considering my sewing skills...

Is that smoke coming from our garage?

Brian stayed home to do some woodworking commissioned by Conoco this morning. He worked in the garage while I took care of things in the house. While I was busy loading the dishwasher, I could hear him open the garage door. I was thinking he had probably had had enough of the wood dust and was ventilating - but no. Next I see light clouds floating from the garage. What is that? Smoke? "Brian is that smoke coming from our garage?" "Why yes, yes it is." He says as he is on his way out his car. "And you might want to make sure the fire is out while I am gone - no, I'm not kidding. You never know if one of those sparks is still smoldering."

Hmmm. OK. My garage could be on fire. Nice. See ya later!

Saturday

To all you Grandmas who like lots of pictures. Here is our Saturday. Everyone else - probably more pictures than you want to see, but enjoy anyway!