Carter's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Program

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving the kindergartner's at Carter's school put on a special program for their parents. There were songs sung, and poems recited. Carter had been practicing for weeks. Each child was dressed as either a Pilgrim or a Native American. Cammie and I were lucky enough to have the chance to go and watch. There is Carter smack-dab in the middle.

After the program the kids had a feast. They contributed to the meal, and even helped to prepare some of the food.

Cammie got tired of watching the other kids eat,and decided to help herself to Carter's plate. Carter didn't mind sharing.

I wanted to record Carter's class reciting their poem. While I did that I neglected to pay attention to my squirmy toddler who was sitting on the bench next to me. As soon as the class got started Cameron managed to fall off of her seat, hit her head, and started screaming at the top of her lungs. Obviously I had to put down the camera to scoop her up and take her out of the room so that the other parents could enjoy the show. When we got home I had Carter recite it for me by himself.

It was a cute way to begin the Thanksgiving week.

Thanksgiving in Oregon

Gregg's brother Jeff, and his wife Cindy are currently living in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This year everyone thought it would be fun to have Thanksgiving there. It was a full house for dinner. 20 family members, including some of Cindy's family were there.

The week began with Gregg's Mom Kathy taking Kyle up to Oregon with her on Sunday. She also took Courtney and Ashley with her. Kyle adores his cousins and was happy to spend some extra time with them and his Grandma. I can't being to tell you how quiet it was around the house while he was gone. Carter had school Monday and Tuesday, and Gregg was on a job, so we couldn't leave until Wednesday morning. Wednesday was a long day. It took us 10 1/2 hours to drive the almost 600 miles to Klamath Falls. But the drive was beautiful, (well, most of it) and traffic was light. We stopped a few times along the way to let the kids and the dogs run off some energy.

About 8 hours into our drive we and ran around in a field in Redbluff.

Happy to be out of the truck for a few minutes!

We got to Jeff and Cindy's just in time for dinner.

Then Uncle Jeff gave all the boys a bath before it was time to get ready for bed.

Thanksgiving Day was great. The kids played with their cousins all day while the rest of us visited, cooked, watched football, and relaxed. I realized after I got home that I didn't take very many pictures of all the festivities. So some of these photos are care of Cindy.

Chris and Penny. What a cute couple!

Cammie and Grandma B, being silly.

Cindy and I were both taking pictures of the food so I shot a picture of her, and she got one of me. Ya, I know...Dorks! ;-)

Carter, and Jackson. Two Peas in a Pod!

Penny and Courtney

The feast! Cammie doesn't seem to be enjoying it at all, does she?!

After eating way to much on Thursday, we had a nice relaxing day Friday. We went to the playground (but only for a few minutes because it was freezing outside.) I took Carter, Jackson, and Kyle for a walk, and they found a big leaf pile to play in. It was cute!

Later we all took the kids to the indoor swimming pool.

This picture is blurry, but I couldn't resist posting it. Kyle Loves his uncle Chris and was right by his side the whole time.

My Birthday was on Saturday, but that day we would be driving home. Kathy was sweet and bought me a very yummy cake, and everyone sung "Happy Birthday" to me on Friday night.

Gregg bought me a present and Kathy found a very clever way to wrap it since we didn't have normal stuff. She used a napkin and rubber bands. Isn't it cute?

Here is my sweet Carter.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with family, food, and fun.

An Early Birthday Celebration

When I was a kid it was tradition for my Dad to take each of us (kids) to Japanese Kitchen for our birthday. It was such a special treat to get to go to a "fancy" teppanyaki restaurant, and we each looked forward to it every year. As we got older and busier with families of our own the tradition fizzled out a bit, but my Dad and Step-mom decided to revive it for my birthday this year. My birthday isn't for a few more weeks but last Friday was the only time we we could get to Fresno to do it. My Step-mom arranged to have two of my brothers and their families meet us there too. It was a lot of fun to get to all hang out for a few hours and enjoy a nice meal. I forgot my camera of course. Luckily for me my sis-in-law Carroll isn't as scatter brained as I am. Here are some pictures of the fun thanks to her.

Carroll and I.

My niece Brooke, my Step-Mom, Kyle, and my Dad.

My Brother Nolan and I.

Nol and his wife Melissa.

My Step-Brother Bradley and his sweet baby Jace.

Here are some of the kiddos, (we had 7 total.) It got a little chaotic near the end but the kids had fun with their cousins.

It was a fun night.

Thanks to my parents for getting us all together!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was so much fun this year. Our day started out at Carter's school. Instead of traditional Halloween activities the kindergartners had "Scarecrow Day". I was able to volunteer in his classroom. We had a lot of fun. All of the kids were SO cute!

Later Matt, Mandy, and the kids came over for dinner and Trick-Or-Treating. It was very busy getting all 7 kids fed, dressed up, and ready to go out. Of course the boys and Macy were excited because they new what was going to happen. Trying to keep Cammie and the triplets happy enough to get them out the door was a little more work. Once we hit the streets they were all great!

Chaos!

Kyle the Cowboy and Carter the Chef

Carter wants to be a chef when he grows up and talks about it all the time. Kyle thinks he already is a cowboy so there's no need to wait until he grows up.

Mommy and her Angel

She refused to smile for pictures. In fact my usually camera happy daughter started telling me "No" when she saw me coming her way for a photo opp.

The angle from behind.

We met up with Hunter, one of Carters friends from school. He was a transformer. They were quite a pair.

Cammie wanted to hold Macy's hand the whole time.

Still no smile.

Kyle was scared of some of the more elaborately decorated houses so his big brother took him by the hand and coaxed him to the door. He pointed out that none of it was real and that he wouldn't let anyone get his little brother. It was really sweet!

Mandy and I showing a little Halloween spirit.

When we got home the kids played, watched a couple Halloween shows, stayed up way too late, and ate way too much candy. It was awesome! I'm sure next year will be even crazier, and even more fun.

Until then...Ni-Night!

It's Time for Pumpiks

If you know me you know that I LOVE pumpkins! This year we went to the pumpkin patches 4 different times. Its so much fun to just walk around and let the kids play in the hay and see all kinds of pumpkins. Here are some (okay a lot) of my favorite pictures.

The Kiddos

Cammie in all her Halloween accessories, she's such a girl!

Kyle on a big tractor. Very exciting!
Such a serious face.
My sweet Carter just going with the flow.

The kids were trying to count all of the pumpkins.

Don't trip CamCam!

Taking a break from climbing and counting.

Kyle and Cameron were fascinated by the straw.

My little "Punkin's"

And then of course it was time for carving. This year we went to Dustin and Lety's (our neighbors) house to carve with them and their son Ryley.

Kyle very meticulously cleaned out his pumpkin, and did a darn good job of it.

Cammie assisting her brother.

Carter chose a cute little pumpkin and Daddy helped him carve it.

Cammie wanted to try.

The final product. Kyles Jack-O-Lantern is the big one and Carters is the little one. (Please ignore Mommy's disaster in the back). :-)