Thanksgiving Checklist

Turkey...check.

Potatoes....check.

Rolls...check.

Pie...check.

The flu....check.

What?  The flu?  UNcheck, UNCHECK!

To sum up our Thanksgiving weekend, we were sick.  We drove 5 hours to get sick.  Jacob spent Thanksgiving in bed.  I think he had some ginger ale and a few bites of apple for Thanksgiving.  Then he managed to share the love with pretty much anyone who so much as even looked at him.  I, being the lucky one who gets to sleep next to him, was a benefactor as well.  The only good thing was that it didn't hit me near as hard.  And at least waited until after the actual Thanksgiving feast and a bit of absolutely ridiculous why-do-I-do-this Black Friday shopping.  I at least got to enjoy turkey!  Sometimes a crystal ball would come in so handy.  We could have avoided being so generous.

Again to the Israelsen clan:  WE ARE SO SORRY!


Here are the two lone pictures I took of Thanksgiving lunch with the extended Israelsen crew.

Kenna and Allie feasting on candy corns with some cousins:

And Lexi with the gorgeous Aunt Connie:

Overall, we loved being with family (even if they didn't love us so much by the time it was all said and done).  We topped off the weekend with hearing Uncle Benson speak in Sacrament meeting prior to his departure to the MTC in a few weeks.  He did a superb job and will be a fantastic missionary.  Watch out Mexico, here he comes!  I won't even attempt to pronounce, or spell for that matter, the name of his mission.

Us and Benson:

Benson and the two newest grandbabies:

We had lunch at the Caine Dairy in Logan, and the mini cows in the front entrance were a big hit with the kids:

Another Thanksgiving down for the books.  Very....memorable.

And I need to throw in another little memory- Kenna's first little tumbling performance at a local Christmas Craft Fair.  She's a future member of the Fab 5 US gymnastics team.  Well, okay.  That's a stretch.  At least she's fabulous to us!

 

Happenings

October.....gone.

November....almost gone.

2013 seems to be just about halfway over.

Before I turn 40 I better get another update in, huh?

For some reason, we manage to get people to drive south for 5 hours to visit us every so often.  Our good looks?  Our charming personalities?  The beautiful expanse of cedar trees?  Hmm, must be our good character because cedar trees are nothing but overgrown sagebrush if you ask me.

Well, no matter the reason, we LOVED having family come down the past few weeks.  Our first visitors were Grandma and Grandpa Israelsen.  We get plenty of love and attention when Grandma and Grandpa come, and we are always sad to see them leave.  While they were down we managed to head into town for the annual Sheep Festival complete with a parade of tractors, sheep camps, horses, and of course, sheep.  Kind of fun to see a whole bunch of sheep trotting down mainstreet.  It was a perfectly beautiful fall day to spend together as a family.

The following weekend Uncle Karl and Aunt Julie came down to visit.  We laughed and ate and had just a great time together.  I would love to show you it all, but well, I didn't take a single picture.  I was so engrossed in all the fun!  Thanks so much for coming to see us Karl and Julie!  We can't wait to meet our newest little cousin next year.  Another little lady- go figure.  Looks like Ty man is going to have to work overtime to keep the Israelsen name going strong!

And of course I need to throw in Halloween.  Halloween Israelsen style, that is.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

And let us not forget another visit from the toothfairy.  One of my favorite parts of being a Mom is watching my kids encounter each little milestone.  And have maybe just a twinge of sadness that tooth by tooth, my little girl is quickly becoming my little lady.  I'll just enjoy these baby teeth as long as I can, I suppose.

Intelligence

During a visit with my dear Visiting Teachers a while ago, I was discussing with them about my two oldest ladies.  When Kenna and Allie are in public, such as school or church, they really are good little troopers and are actually quite a bit on the shy side.  When they are at home, however, they are two big balls of energy who seem to have more personality than their sweet, kind Mother knows what to do with.  The one Sister said she had read somewhere that when children exhibit this kind of behavior, it actually is a sign of intelligence that they can differentiate between times of needing self control and others when they are able to let loose a bit.

Well, yes, of course!  My children are extremely intelligent!  Please, I don't need a study in a journal to tell me that!  For example-

The other day we were in the van riding back from town, and it just so happened that the girls had switched booster seats to sit in.  They were having one of those afternoons where they just kept getting on each others nerves.  Here is the conversation in the van:

Allie:  "Kenna, I just farted in your booster."

Kenna (trying to be oh so non-chalant):  "I don't care."

-silence in the car for a few moments as Kenna is deep in thought-

Kenna:  "Oh yeah Allie?  Well that's a fart-switching booster so now it's in yours."

Yes I do believe that's intelligence right there.