Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Thanksgiving

We had planned to spend this holiday by ourselves, nothing too big or fancy, just all the regular side dishes to make the meal different from any other. But by surprise our friends Matt and Mandy Ellett invited us over to spend the day with them. They really are so thoughtful to invite us even though they had their own family in town. The great part is Ben actually knew Mandy's family when they lived in Evanston for about 6 years when they were younger. It sure makes being friends easy and fast when you are from the same town :)
I made yummy green beans and creamed corn for sides to share and a couple of apple pies to enjoy! I thought the whole dinner was delicious and so wonderful to have the kids running around and playing chase with "cousins" during the day. We have so much to be grateful for! So many blessing we enjoy in our lives right now. Our family, home, and the gospel brings such joy in our lives!

On top of it all, the missionaries came over for dinner as well. We ate and played a famous people guessing game. It was pretty tricky when there were names I couldn't even pronounce, let alone guess! Stick with Jabba the Hut and Mickey Mouse, will you?  I didn't take any other pictures besides the dessert and getting ready to watch a movie. It was so great and wonderful be enjoy our Thanksgiving with good friends and family.

Lean to the left! Lean to the right! Stand up! Sit down and ENJOY THE SHOW!

Highlights AUG - OCT

One of my favorite sayings when I'm feeling behind and am trying to convince myself that it is okay to be tardy. However, I do feel flustered when I am waiting for someone and they are late-- Crazy, I know. Take a walk with me down memory lane...

AUGUST: My "baby's" first day of school. This is the face when I told him he got to go to school EVERYDAY! Is that excitment or fear? Brecon and I take Cael to school around 11:50 and he rides the bus home around 3:25. While Cael is off learning, Brecon takes his nap or we go shopping, depending on the day.





SEPTEMBER While Hurricane IKE struck the Houston area, the boys and I enjoy some good times with the Brown Family and one of our last times (with our season pass) to the ZOO. We also attended a special fireside with guest speaker Michael Ballum. Our sitters managed to put 2 one-year-olds asleep using the "tickle" method. Needless to say, we were impressed.






OCTOBER:What a FUN MONTH! To start it all off, we joined with our friends in celebrating CANADIAN THANKSGIVING! Seriously, it was awesome. We threw up Red and White streamers and balloons and sang 'O CANADA'. We just wanted our Canadian friend to feel the love, and a delicious dinner was enjoyed by all!



Then, throughout the month we really had fun making our front yard into a "graveyard" bits and pieces at a time. We think that next year skeletons and their parts need to be sticking out of the ground... it will totally add to the"spooky"effect. Ben was quite busy with the skill saw and the boys helped me with the paint. We added some plywood ghosts after these photos were taken. One of them reminds us of Slimer from Ghostbusters.... he's such a cutie.
THE FRONT


UP CLOSE and PERSONAL. Our buddies got a kick out of these ones, so did we!


Can't go wrong with a yeast joke and Brecon's Halloween Gator suit. Despite his attempts and frustrations to remove the head part, that baby stayed on!


*Cael's costume is not shown due to computer malfunction... alright, it's not uploaded yet* I'm a dork! He was the cutest PETER PAN (with a homemade costume) I've ever seen.

As I like to say, thanks for the memories! Here's to many more!

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving 2002

We had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner in Star Valley at my parents home. Grandpa and Grandma Hoopes were there and all my brothers and Aimee, plus new sister-in-laws and even Jessica Challis, Dustin's fiancé. My mom really made a delicious feast, I was so full I could hardly move. After dinner Derek, Dusty and Ben played a game of RISK- and Ben won! Allie, Jessica, my Mom and I worked on fabric trees for a craft.

Derek and Allie are the first ones in line and ready to eat their dinner. They are still living in Laramie while Derek finishes up his degree in Health Sciences at the University of Wyoming.

Ryan and Lindsie made it up to Star Valley after dinner to join the family. We were glad to see them and spend some time together. I think Jessica is taking this picture for us (she's not "officially" allowed to be in the family pictures yet! Ha Ha Ha!)

My Dad got a bull elk that fall and had the antlers mounted. It made a good prop for the MEN to hold above their heads.

Me and Grandpa Hoopes relax on the couch after our Thanksgiving feast!

Later that night, as tradition holds, we went to the old bowling alley in Afton. We had a good time knocking down the pins, laughing and joking around with one another. It was cute to see Dusty and Jessica being so sweet to one another. They are going to get married after Christmas this year and we are excited to be there.

Cute little lovebirds Dusty and Jessica move in close for this cute picture!

My Daddy and Me-- We take a minute for a quick photo! We must both be doing really well to be that happy and smiling at the bowling alley.

Mama Hoopes gets ready to knock them all down. She was in a bowling league when I was a little girl, so she knows what she is doing there.
We had a great time visiting for Thanksgiving, even though the drive is long all the way from Phoenix, we love the chance to be together with the family during the special holidays that happen during the year.