THANKSGIVING...and much much more

This Thanksgiving I was grateful for good friends that invited us to dinner with their family. Thanks Capener's for a rockin' time. And since I wasn't hosting I didn't have to prepare a full meal. Kinda exciting, right. I pitched in with a relish tray, mashed potatoes, corn, and apple pie. Everyone else brought yummies too, and may I just say the dinner was scrumptious!

And just so y'all can get an idea of just how rockin' our night was...here is our host, Jonna(sorry the camera was blurry)... 

 yeah...work it :)

 that's right....

And actually, just while we're on the subject of our rockin' host I have to toot her horn a bit. Jonna is as awesome as they come. And I mean AWESOME! She keeps it real, she's a great listener, and has the most positive attitude E-V-E-R. She's been through some rocky stretches - not only has she survived multiple deployments by her husband(who is almost as equally cool...lol), she survived the last one with the added stress of their brand new home burning almost to the ground. All that being said, she's a rock. She came out on top and I can honestly say that I admire her to the Nth degree. Now, all the mushy aside, here's the deal...she is a KILLER personal trainer. She will kick your butt into gear. And not only is she a KILLER trainer but she is so knowledgeable about the body it makes my jaw drop sometimes in awe.  In one bicep curl she noticed an imbalance with my shoulders that has probably been there for years. In one single leg squat she noticed my IT bands were so tight it was adding added stress to my knees most likely causing an injury I'm getting over.  She is A-M-A-Z-ING! 

OKAY...Thanksgiving anyone...We had seven kids and seven adults. So much fun :) Madelyn, Marcus, and Brian love the Capener kids.

 Kyle at his finest...lol 

 We had quite the spread of pies for dessert. Apple, pumpkin, razzleberry, cherry, and a pumpkin marble cheesecake. Can you say yum to the double YUM. Why am I talking like this.... 

Thank you so much Dale and Jonna for inviting us into your home. I have been super sentimental this year and missing family being so far away from home. You made the holiday great for us. 

And on to other random things....we had a lot of fun over the holiday break with the kids. We roasted marshmallows over the fire. Yes, you see us doing it inside. I can explain. First it was sooooooo cold and windy outside that we were freezing our little tooshies off(and by we, I mean Brent and me). And second(and thank goodness for the excuse), there was a little technical difficulty with the outdoor fireplace that actually was fixed before we started roasting, but once ya change venues, I mean, what ya gonna do, right?

And the kids created their first holiday craft...we just had some good ol' fun Monday night with our Family Home Evening activity...Christmas foam stickers, some 12x12 paper, Sharpie markers, glitter, and imagination.

We had some fun at 'Christmas in Comfort'...fantastic small town outdoor bizarre, lots of yummy food vendors, and very talented local musicians. And to be honest we only heard one group singing some country tunes but they tugged at my heart strings so they were "very talented". If I knew the name of their group I probably would search out a CD. But....since I don't....

 Marcus got to celebrate his birthday belated at school on Tuesday... that's his teacher next to him singing happy birthday. His teacher looooooves him...as she should. He is a fantastic student.

 Chills down my spine. A lot of you have seen this picture already but I had to keep it on the blog so I could always remember one of the things that freaks me out THE MOST living in the ultra hot temperatures. SCORPIONS! Found this doozy when I innocently grabbed two balls out of the bucket and had him crawling on one of them. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Imagine that scream super duper UBER loud!

 And my own two projects this year so far....my 'Merry Christmas' banner.....

 ...and my Christmas Wreath...

So....all said and done...the holidays have been good to us thus far. I love this time of year. Am I sad that we live 24 hours away from family - it's no secret, YES. But as long as MY family is safe, happy, and healthy, that's all I need. I am grateful for Brent...he works very hard to support his family. In fact, he works OVERLY hard. But I know how much he enjoys what he's doing and anything new that comes into his work schedule. So we support him. He is a fantastic father. And well, you've read the posts and the Facebook status's...he treats me pretty darn well too :) I am grateful for Madelyn...my BFF. She is such a sweetheart to all that she comes in contact with. The number one compliment I receive about Madelyn - her contagious smile. I am grateful for Marcus. That darn kid just cracks me up. I went to parent/teacher conference today, actually, and his teacher told me she wished she had 20 of him in her class. I am grateful for Brian. He keeps me on my toes; all of his spunk. He has facial expression for every single adjective.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS