Thanksgiving!

We started the day with a self-made turkey trot with some of our dear homeschool friends. We didn't do a full 5k, we did about 1/2 that, and then ended with a pot luck breakfast. I hope this is a new tradition of ours as it really was a great way to start a full day of eating, even though it was EXTREMELY windy and cold.

Here was our contribution to our Thanksgiving dinner- a pumpkin, chocolate, and apple pie, rolls, and Jell-O. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with how pretty the apple pie is!

Kindness Krewe

For Kindness Krewe the girls made holiday cards for soldiers. Claire won "Most Motivational Words of Wisdom Award"

Thank you for fighting even though you might die trying.

Thank you for keeping us save. Happy holidays. I hope you understand cursive.

"The holladays come and they go."  -Claire Marriott

First Quilt

Audra finished her first quilt! She was so excited for this. As soon as she knew my friend was pregnant, she wanted to make a quilt for the baby. She got her corners almost perfect. She enjoys the precision of a quilt, and can't wait to make more quilts. Anybody else having a baby anytime soon???

Sledding and Rembrandt

For recess this week we went sledding! These poor, unsocialized homeschoolers who never get to be with anybody and just sit at home all day, everyday. HA!

Then, today we went to the Denver Art Museum to see their Rembrandt exhibit. It was really neat! They divided the kids up by age group, and each group was led by a docent in a very age appropriate tour. I was with Claire's group, and I loved it because I got to learn so much! I love being able to learn along side my kiddos.

Of course, though, the favorite for the kids were the kids areas.

It really was a great week!

Service

Our neighbors across the street are in a state of transition. They are recent empty nesters, and the husband moved to Arizona for work, while she is staying behind to finish her school year (she is a teacher). So, she is all alone in this big house.

My girls have been super sweet and want to help her out. They raked up her leaves a couple of weeks ago, and today they went and shoveled her driveway. They even got the neighbor girl to help out.

I love that they want to help her out!

Veteran's Ceremony

We had the opportunity to attend a Veteran's Ceremony that our church hosted with Catholic Charities. It was supposed to also be a service project at the Fort Logan Cemetery, where we were going to spruce up the cemetery. But, it snowed and was below freezing temperatures, so we were all grateful when the service project was cancelled and the ceremony was moved indoors!

We honored Colonial Bob Coates, who started his military career in WWII, then served in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He has some pretty great stories, including many near-death experiences where his life was saved by nothing short of divine intervention.

He had never been honored before, so it was great to honor him today!

Thanksgiving Tree

Claire has assumed the responsibility of making the Thanksgiving tree. She did a great job!

We had fun coming up with things to be grateful for- a lot of gratitude for our family and friends.

Camille got my phone and here is what she took pictures of:

And, of course, she got a picture of herself looking as cute as can be:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Big Day!

Whew- we had a big day today!

Audra had her last soccer game, which means- drum roll please- soccer season is over! YAHOO!!! We survived, until next year! As we watched her game, all I could think about was how much my parents really sacrificed for us to play so competitively for so long- traveling all over the western United States, spending hours and hours (years, really) sitting through soccer games in the rain and snow, my dad giving up every Tuesday and Thursday night to drive me up to Sea-Tac, 40 minutes from our house, to sit in the car and wait for my soccer practices to end. I told my dad this, and he said, "Yeah, all those soccer games were pretty boring." WHAT? That is never what he told us when we were young! He said, "Well, you guys enjoyed it." (To be clear, I do not find the soccer games boring! I love watching the girls play. I do not, however, enjoy that soccer takes over our lives- soccer practices nightly and then games all day on Saturdays. That is why they are only allowed to play one season a year. It's 10 weeks of CRAZY, but then we have the rest of the year for family and other activities)

Anyhow, Audra's last game. She scored a goal- she was the leading goal scorer for the season, but she needs to work on her endurance. She likes her team, even though they are pretty horrible. They won 1 game all season (well, 2 actually- but 1 was a forfeit). They did have improvement, and Audra likes the girls on the team. In 3 years of soccer, she has been on 3 different teams, so she would prefer to stay on the same team for awhile. We will see if her team is even around next year- her teams seem to keep disbanding.

After her game, we went to the bank and set her up a bank account- woah! That seems like such an adult thing, but she is starting to baby-sit, so hopefully she will start earning money and saving and such, so it was time.

Then we went to the mall and Claire had her turn on the exciting day:

Can you tell? She got her ears pierced! This was a gift for her last Christmas, but she hasn't wanted her ears pierced until a few weeks ago. But, it was still soccer season, and she couldn't get them pierced during soccer season, so today was the day.

She was so scared she was shaking. We gave her lots and lots of hugs and encouragement, and she did great. The woman doing the piercing was fabulous- she was great with keeping Claire calm, and she pierced them very quickly. She said it hurt quite a bit, but after a few minutes she was fine.

We went out to lunch and then down to SeaQuest.

Then, we came home and the girls had a 2 hour rehearsal at church for their primary program tomorrow. Ben also had to go, so I have been looking forward to having the house to myself. But, sigh, Audra threw up while at the practice and came home. Ben and I cancelled our date and we stayed home and watched The Brave Little Toaster as a family.

It was a busy and great day. I'm glad that most of our Saturdays are not this busy!

Roommates In Vegas!

I had the wonderful opportunity to fly down to Vegas to reunite with a couple of my college roommates. As always, it was simply perfect.

I truly had the best college experience, and it is all thanks to my incredible roommates. There were about 6 of us who became incredibly close over the course of several years- though, honestly, even the ones who weren't in that group of 6 I am forever indebted to and grateful for.

We saw each other through boyfriends, finals, medical problems, financial struggles, and so much more. We are now spread out throughout the country, but whenever we are able to get together, it is like time has never passed. So much has changed, and yet so much stays the same- like the friendship and  loyalty we have for each other. Truly, these friends are one of my biggest blessings in life, and I am eternally grateful. I think roommates make or break your college experience, and these roommates definitely made mine the best!

Katie, Kristin, and I are the stalwarts at the reunions- I think we are the three who have been to all of them, and we were the three who trekked down to Vegas. Katie drove down, which really helped so we didn't have to get a rental car.

We met Friday night and left early Saturday morning, so it was short- but totally worth it.

Crepes- YUM!

Eiffel Tower

Mostly, we walked around Vegas and just talked. I did insist that we stop at The Venetian for Gelato, but going to the hot tub at 12:30 AM so we could soak our sore muscles might be my favorite memory from the trip. I am pretty sure that we could talk forever.

Being with these ladies is always the best!