Thanksgiving 2009

M - m - good :)

Notice the cool whip on the nose
Dishing up the "feast"

Addison hearts Auntie Jen's rolls

We moved most of the furniture out of the living room so we could have both big tables together for the feast - 20 in all this year

Checking out the ads for black Friday.

Paul and Emilee's 10th anniversary fell on Thanksgiving this year - happy anniversary to them :)

A little x-box

This was the 2nd year for our Turkey Trot (so to speak). Tyson plays the part of the turkey (go figure) and the kids chase him and try to pluck the feathers that are taped to his back. We had some funny looks from a few of our neighbors who happened to notice/hear (and snicker at) the chaos. Make sure to watch the video below

There they go

A tired turkey - allowing himself to be plucked

I forgot to rotate this one, but here he is exhausted!!

A new turkey takes over

Kids hiding their eyes while the turkey hides to begin with

Emilee enjoying the plethora of desserts

Lee was worth his weight in gold as the official "dish doer" for the meal. We sent the dishwasher through 3 times that day

The kids decorated a gingerbread house and tree

Paige and Summer working their magic

Gracie and Bailee did the tree all by themselves - I guess they're growing up or something.

Tyson, Calley and co. spent the night with us so Calley could go shopping with us early the next morning . . .

The lines at Target were really something!! After waiting for FOREVER in the line back at the electronics, the cashier tried to tell us we could only pay for the electronic purchases there - that her register would shut down if she did too many other items. Emilee told the cashier that she didn't believe her, and that excuse wasn't going to work because we had waited too long. There was a manager standing close by who told the cashier to just go ahead and ring the other stuff. Amazingly her register worked fine :). Go Emilee!! :)

Our 3rd annual lunch at RR after the big black Friday shopping trip - we all look a little tired

We came home to find Lee and co. making what I call a camo quilt - you never know what this guy will be up to.

Lee was a bad influence on Billy this weekend, shopping wise, and got him in a bit of trouble with his wife - sorry Kaisa :) , you know as well as I do that Dad does whatever he wants to!

Billy sporting my "warm and cozy" (a Snuggie knock off) that Lee bought for me. Doesn't he look stunnishing?

So proud of my little Pookie :)

Kaisa, with her first "official" pumpkin pies

She did it!!!

Miss Nellie Sue got her license today so she's official now!

She is a VERY happy girl - she sang all the way home; "because I'm sixteen, and I got my license". She said the DOL guy that tested her looked like a Keebler Elf. He must have been a nice elf because he passed her with a 96 ")

YAHOO for Nellie!

PS . . . .

I forgot to say that Nellie's main gift was a stereo for the truck that she'll be driving, installed by Scott of course. You can't see much in the video but she was very happy!

Thing #6 is 19, and Thing #7 is 16

Here's the final product of Chad and Nellie's birthday cakes, candles and all
Lemon cake with rainbow chip frosting

And here's Miss Nellie's "breakfast in bed". She's a funny girl because she won't eat any fruit, yogurt and etc. so this is what we ended up with. She loves chocolate so here's the leftover wheels from her cake, some chocolate milk and scrambled eggs with cheese on top.

She got up earlier than usual today and was actually in the shower when I went up with my tray "~, so she hopped back into bed (for me), turned off the light and pretended to be asleep so I could give her the traditional "treatment"

Here she is in her birthday dress

Nellie's birthday dinner request was barbecue chicken pizza, and chocolate milkshakes, and Chad's was steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, and rolls. Doesn't Chad look thrilled? He SHOULD he's got a nice T-bone steak on his plate :)

Birthdays must really take it out of you . . . this is what I saw as I was cleaning up from dinner and getting ready for the extended family to come for presents and cake & ice cream.

Chad with my "warm and cozy" that Lee gave to me :)

A new coat for Chad

Em and Paul's gift of safety to Nellie - Emilee seems to be having a hard time with her little sister growing up, so she wanted to help her be safe :)

New shoes

Clothes that she wanted

Chad's new favorite book; "Change Your Brain Change Your Life"

New boots

A family picture for Chad's new "pad"

Key chain with KEYS and other misc. items

MMMMmmm!!

The battery died in my camera as we were blowing out the candles so that's all there is folks!! Happy Bird-day to Chad and Nellie :)

Nellie's truck cake

I realize that this cake looks like _ _ _ _, but I tried :). I was attempting to make a white truck like the one she'll be driving when she gets her license . . . let's just say it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The black thing is supposed to be a windshield wiper, and that's supposed to be her driving. Looks like she's been sneaking my chocolate chips again (hence the messy mouth).
That thing on the back is supposed to be the tool box in the bed of the truck

There's her happy passenger on the side

Happy Birthday Princess :)

Now all I have to do is finish Chad's cake - his is easier thank Heavens!!

So in an hour or so my baby turns sweet 16!! It seems crazy to me that she can be that old . . . but on the other hand, I'm ready for a little relief in the taxi service area :). She is understandably QUITE excited for this birthday as it means so much more freedom; driving, dating and etc., so she was doing her impression tonight of the Molly Shannon I'm 50 - except it's Nellie Soptich - I'm 16. ENJOY!

Girls Shopping Trip 2009

Here's my cute "Mama" on the first night of our girls shopping trip. We go every year for a few days/nights and shop, talk, do hair, watch movies, tell stories, eat LOTS of treats, laugh, stay up late, talk some MORE (sort of a group therapy type of thing I think), and just plain enjoy each others company. Tammie belongs to World Mark (?) Resorts, so we get to stay all together for a very reasonable price, which is so nice :).
Miss Connie AKA the smoothie maker, and hair dresser ")

There was a cool Murphy bed out in the living area so we pulled it down the last 2 nights and look what happened - I guess Debbie and Tammie were BUSHED

This was our delicious breakfast Tuesday AND Wednesday; Connie's special smoothies (yes, she hauled her vitamixer all the way up there), and Cinnabons - YUM!

Enjoying breakfast

I made some shirts (Billy made the transfers) for all of us that read: "My Sister has the Best Sister in the World!", so here we are modeling them - L to R Mom, Connie, Me, Tammie and Debbie.

We always have to take a CrAzY picture too, so there ya go :). I was using the timer on my camera which was up on top of the TV with a notebook and DVD underneath it . . . I guess it had slipped and I didn't know it - oh well, still a fun picture.

We decided to pretend to be riding a roller coaster here - that's why Tammie and Debbie are holding onto the "imaginary" front of the car - and I look like I'm going to BITE someone or something.

Another roller coaster shot

Then we went down to the lobby and asked them to take a picture of us all together. . .

. . . and decided to make Mom strike a "pose" - it was pretty funny! You're looking at women who have had 25 kids all together so it's dangerous when we get to laughing too much :)

We always make a VERY important stop at Red Robin for dinner AND. . .

mud pie!!! The people at Red Robin didn't give us a hard time about having our own, like they usually do. They even brought us balloons (see above picture)!!

We had a great time. I absolutely LOVE this tradition and hope it continues for many years to come :).