Thanksgiving 2011

Before we left for Legoland I commissioned myself to be in charge of cooking the bird this year for my families Thanksgiving. I got the recpie from Our Best Bites (I get quite a few recipes from there). So, I had to get it thawing before we left so that it would be ready by Wednesday night. Over the years it has become our families tradition to have Thanksgiving on the Wednesday night. It just seems to work out best that way. I had never even thought of brineing a turkey before but the blog post made me want to give it a try. So, the bird was brined and then cooked and then eaten so fast there was no leftovers! It was the best turkey that I had ever eaten. I don't know what everyone else thinks but I am hoping to do that again. 

Ben Carved the turkey. Ever since I can remember my family always has an appetizer bar for family dinners. It usually consists of: Potato Chips, onion dip, Mike's Salsa and Chips, Veggies with ranch dip, Ritz, and maybe some other random stuff. It is one of the things that we look forward to on family dinners. And I have gotten a picture of Mike at that bar quite a few times now! Aunt Sarah and Damien trying to console Mark. Katelynn playing with the puzzles. I was wondering why I had a random picture of Jesse then I looked closer and saw what was on his feet. Cinderella's Glass Slippers! There were two pairs of shoes that night and Katelynn, Max and Jesse were wearing them. 

Getting together is always a fun and crazy time especially when Katelynn is there.We all survive though. 

Legoland California

 A couple weeks after Mark was born we went over to Adam and Sandy's to swim and have dinner. While we were there they told us that they had went to Legoland CA using a Homeschooling option and were able to get into the park a lot cheaper than paying full price. Since Ben LOVES Legos we decided to check into it and see about going. There are only certian days that you can go and only one day that would work in our schedule, the    Monday before Thanksgiving. We planned it and decided to go. We packed ourselves up, and headed to Caleb and Heather's to stay the night on Saturday and Sunday and the cousins had some fun playing together, as you can see, Uncle Caleb is somewhere underneath all five of the kids on that chair.   Then we went to Legoland on Monday. 

Ben and I went on the rides with Katelynn since she of course couldn't go on any of them by herself as she was too young. Katelynn didn't like having to wait to get into the park. 

Mark was along for the ride. He chilled mostly in the stroller. Another reason Ben wanted to check out Legoland was because he heard that there was a Star Wars display going on. Katelynn and Ben checked out the displays of Chewbacca and R2-D2. The Millennium Falcon was pretty huge.

Katelynn's Favorite ride of the day was a helicopter that went around in an oval and whipped you quickly around the turns. Let's just say during the ride there was squeals of delight and when we had to get off there were squeals of horror since she wanted to stay on the ride. Taking turns and waiting patiently for things isn't something she likes to do. Ben or I would wait in the line she and Mark were with one of us outside the line and then when it was her turn we would grab her to take her on the ride.

We stayed for about 3-4 hours and that was enough time for her and us. They did have their Christmas decorations up so we were able to get a picture in front of the Christmas Tree made of Legos. One thing we did wish they had was more things made out of Legos. There really wasn't too many things that were made out of them throughout the park. It was fun and I am glad that Ben had a good time too, theme parks aren't his favorite thing but he loves when Katelynn is happy and this did make her happy. 

Family Pictures

I wanted to get family pictures done this year and so I called Gwen Hawkins and we met at Woodward Park to take these. I am so happy that she did them. They turned out great.

I asked Gwen to take this last picture because I liked it when I saw it on Pinterest. Ben thought it was corny oh well I don't and that is what matters! I don't think that we would take pictures there again since there was so much duck poop! And poor Ben got some on his pants and boy does that stuff stink too.

Mark's Blessing

For Mark's blessing we kept with our tradition and had the blessing not during Sacrament meeting. Ben gave him his blessing on Oct 16, 2011. My parents, Ben's parents, Caleb, Heather, Jackson, Eden, Jonah, Joshua, Kevin, Beth, Tara, Brynne, Mike, Sarah, Max, Jesse, Ben, Katelynn, and I were in our home for that special time. Ben gave Mark a very sweet blessing that we were able to record correctly this time, unlike when Katelynn was blessed and there was a user error that didn't catch her blessing.
I am grateful for the Priesthood that has been restored to the Earth to give us a greater knowledge of he love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I am grateful that the power of the Priesthood that it can give me and my children the comfort and strength whenever they need it. I am grateful that Ben has been able to bless myself and our children countless times, I know that there have been many more blessings in our home since having kids than ever before and I am grateful that Ben has been worthy and able to give the blessing to us.

Of course there are pictures from that day.

Mark ready for church. Ben and I both agreed that we did not like the white blessing outfits that were made for boys. So, after some trial and error of trying to find something that we agreed for him to wear we settled on a blue button down shirt with khaki pants.

Mark's, "Oh, you were talking to me" face.


Another surprised face.


Mark Andrew 1.5 months old


Katelynn being soft to Mark


Katelynn eating the remnants of an empty Mint and Chip Ice Cream container.



Our first ever attempts at a family picture. Next time, don't try and take a picture with cousins running around having fun, made for great memories though!


Mommy and Mark



The afternoon went very well and I think that everyone had an enjoyable time. We really love having family in our home. It is a tight space to have everyone there, but no one seems to comment about that while it is happening, we just worry about it before the event happens. We do wish that our entire family could have been there but they were missed and loved.