Thanksgiving and other stuff!

Well, I feel like it's been a while since I wrote on here, so I thought I'd give an update. I'll try to keep it exciting! The first pic of the rose stem with the note attached is from a story my dad sent along before Thanksgiving- the overall idea is that we should thank Heavenly Father for the thorns along with the roses. The thorns in our lives strengthen us and build us up and help to mold us into eternal beings. So, I shared the story with my Sunday School class and gave them each a rose stem without a flower. I asked them to think of any trials in their life and during Thanksgiving week, to think of them and thank Heavenly Father for them and to think of how they have grown because of those trials. The other thing attached is a baggie of pumpkin choc chip cookies! It's a weight watchers recipe I got from my friend Camille. Good news is, is that these are low fat! Other good news- there aren't any weird ingredients. Just a spice cake mix, can of pumpkin, and choc chips! Very easy to make and sooooooo yummy- I ate a million of 'em. Except, I think it's only a weight watchers recipe if you don't eat the ENTIRE batch. lol.. They're THAT good- you gotta watch how many you eat. After 4 batches, I'm still trying to learn how to eat in moderation! :) After a ton of trauma and last minute fixes with our car and thanks to Rachel for being my chauffeur- we were able to go to Boise for Thanksgiving! It was a short trip-Tues LATE evening (4:30 am) to Friday afternoon. Josh had to work on Sat. :( But it was great to be there. We spent the first day catching up on some lost sleep and then spent the evening with Josh's dad.

We went to an Egyptian place for dinner and then caught a bit of ice cream from an old fashioned ice cream parlour- Goodies! We went back home and watched Ratatouille- which was pretty good!

The next day for Thanksgiving, Josh went with his mom to volunteer serving the homeless and I stayed back with Holden. Then we all went to Josh's Uncle and Aunt's house to eat and visit with cousins. It was so delightful and exactly what I needed! They were so much fun and I felt like I was home with my own family gathering for the holiday.
We then went home to a turkey that a kind bishop had cooked for us. This wasn't just any turkey. He cooked it in a dutch oven in the ground with special secret spices! It was amazing and looked awesome! Holden couldn't wait to get his hands on some! :) We ate more turkey and rolls 'til we were stuffed again. Then we just relaxed the rest of the night.

Our little family with the turkey!

Grandma Mercer also found out about Holden's love for the refrigerator. So she let him get inside and look around a bit! It was the best part of his vacation!

Along with loving the refrigerator, the dog Scruffy was next on his list! He had never seen a dog before this one. He was amazed at the little animal! Grandma Mercer would sit outside on a chair with Holden and just talk to him and let him feel the outside air. Holden loved his time with Grandma.

The last pic is of Holden wearing Josh's favorite hat when he was a little boy!

Can I just say how much I love my kid!? He is always so happy- I am so grateful to have such a sweet boy! I know all moms think this so I know you don't mind me saying it! The next day we packed up and went home. It was a very short, but nice and needed vacation!

Next on the to do list when we got home was to decorate for Christmas! Instead of a real tree this year- of which I am a total advocate btw- I decided to simplify especially with our limited space and Holden's roaming fingers! I put up my white wire tree instead.

I also put our stockings up! Check out these stockings. A friend of ours had his mom make them for us. Aren't they so fun? No way I could ever fill those, so I think their just for decoration and we'll use other stockings for Christmas morning! Although in the future, I'm sure our kids would love it if we filled them! hehe :)

I put up our nativity over the tv...perfect place eh? lol It was the only place big enough and out of Holden's reach...I KNOW that's one thing he wouldn't keep his hands off of!

I'm playing with the idea of puting up garland, so we'll see if it happens. After decorating, I made some spice potpourri for the stove and soon enough our house smelled (and still does) like Christmas! The very last thing to do was put on the movie Polar Express. I have now watched it about 30 times since Monday! lol I love it and it makes me all teary eyed every time. The little boy in the galoshes is soooo sweet and cute. Also, I would like to point out that at this time of year our carpet actually looks fun and adds to the spirit of Christmas with the plaid and all! lolThis is Holden's happy face! lol He is soo excited to have all this stuff up. Amazingly enough, he just looks at everything, and he'll touch a light on the tree once in a while but he doesn't pull anything down. He mostly just sits in front of the fireplace or in front of the tree and stares and babbles. Again, he loves the lights! Also, he is soo funny. Whenever I pull out the camera, he'll just be sitting there, then I tell him to smile- and it's like he knows exactly what I'm saying because he will pull a perfect smile whenever I ask him to. lol We get such good pics it's funny he loves to pose so much... I guess that makes him a poser...LOL jk I love his guts!

Okay- I think that's enough for today. Hope you enjoy the pics and that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now it's on for Christmas! YEAH!!!!