thanksgiving break

i know...this is a long over due post (that isn't a birthday post)! thanksgiving break was full of family, food, and fun. and i am EXHAUSTED!

kevin's sisters, rosanne and staci (and staci's husband kyle) spent the holiday weekend with us. it was fun having them around.

thursday morning amber (sister-in-law), nat (sister), and i went and did the run to feed the hungry 5k race. the weather was pretty tolerable and there was an awesome turn-out. so good that they didn't have enough shirts or race packets which was pretty disappointing, but we still had a good time.

me, amber, and nat

then, we enjoyed a nice and fairly quiet thanksgiving dinner at my parents house. this year it was just my little family (plus rosanne), ben and his family, my parents, nat, and my grandma freidenberger. the food was DELICIOUS! and they boys were given these adorable hats which they actually enjoyed wearing. aren't they the cutest darn pilgrim and turkey?

wes and owen...thanks aunt rosanne for the new shirts!

friday we woke BEFORE the crack of dawn (4am) and went and braved some stores. we were really lucky and got everything on our lists. then we enjoyed a well-deserved breakfast at smitty's pancake house. YUMMY!

and, as soon as i got home friday it was time to put thanksgiving away and pull out the christmas decorations. i let owen decorate the little tree in his room and this is his masterpiece. i am sure you can tell which ornaments i placed on the tree and which ones owen did. i love how he groups things by color. funny little man.

hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

happy birthday natalie!

my baby sister, natalie, turns 23 today!

it's hard not to love natalie with her contagious laugh, great smile, and her willingness to help! plus, she's my gym partner so...what's not to love about that!


me, melissa, natalie, and mom

happy birthday natalie! we are looking forward to some cake and ice cream tonight. we love you!

happy birthday micah!

happy birthday to my nephew, micah! he turns 2 today.

i had to attach to photos of this little man because i thought they were both very cute! i could just eat micah up (you know what i mean) because he reminds me so much of my little wesley with his big eyes, long eyelashes, and such kissable cheeks. what a cutie! we love you micah and we are thinking of you today! happy birthday!

happy birthday simon!

my nephew, simon, turns 2 today!



simon is such a handsome little boy and is now a proud big brother! happy birthday simon!

happy birthday kaylin!

my sister-in-law, kaylin, turns 25 today!

kaylin is super crafty, so thrifty, and a super good mom! it seems like she is always up for whatever and that is what makes her so fun.



hope you have a fabulous day today kaylin! we are looking forward to joining you for dinner and a movie tonight (what a fun idea!)! we love you!

happy birthday kate!

my little niece, kate, turns THREE today!

kate is an independent, beautiful, mischievous, spunky, little thing! we love her sassiness!



happy birthday kate!

sunday birthday lunch

sunday afternoon my family gathered for a lunch at my place in honor of our old mom!...jk mom

this is really the first family gathering kevin and i have been able to host since our apartment has always been too small for such large groups. so we were really excited about it. everyone pitched in and brought an item of food and we all got our fill! plenty of food to go around!

happy birthday to you grandma! can you tell these grand kids love their grandma?

"a little one" got a hold of my camera and i wanted to share some of the cute pictures.


look at these posers! carter, ogden, and owen

sami

i think this is the guilty one...guess who?!

the skating rink

for my mom's birthday, which was actually sunday, she wanted to treat everyone to a night of skating. so saturday night THIRTY of us took her up on the offer and spent the evening on wheels.

i really think that everyone should go to a skating rink at least once a year. it's so nostalgic, fun, and great exercise!

owen liked the idea of skating, but spent just as much time in the arcade.


owen and kevin

ahhh, couples only skate...me and kev

all the little cousins were SO FUNNY falling down all over the place. i bet they were hurting the next day.
alyssa, sami, and halle

doing the hokey pokey
me, owen, ben, eli, anna, alyssa, sami, megan, ellie, natalie, and halle

thanks mom and dad for such a fun night!

ps i didn't add a picture of little wesley, but he was there. he was being pushed in his stroller all night long. most people using it as a balance. (;

happy birthday mom!

today is my mom's birthday...fifty-something! since all but one of her eight kids were around this weekend we had a birthday lunch for her yesterday. it's always fun to celebrate our mom!

a few things i LOVE about my mom:

her attention to details
she works hard
she knows how to make any and every event special and memorable
she is passionate about politics and her country
she loves to read
she loves to learn about world history
she is proud of her heritage and does what she can to instill that in her kids
you can always call her for creative ideas
she is a great hostess
she has a strong testimony of the gospel of jesus christ and has raised her kids to have strong testimonies
she is beautiful inside and out...i love being told that i look like her or i remind people of her



happy birthday mom! i love you!

happy birthday halle!

today my niece, halle, turns 8! i thought this was a cute picture of halle doing her tennis thing. halle is such a baby lover, she is smart, curious, and beautiful.



happy birthday halle! we hope you had a great spa party this morning. and we are looking forward to your baptism in december. we love you!

happy birthday samantha!

today my niece, samantha, turns 11!

i know, i know. i used this picture last year for samantha's birthday...but, i really don't have any recent pictures of her.

happy birthday samantha! i can not believe that you are turning 11 today! you have grown-up so fast. you are such a sweet, kind, smart, and tough girl. we are excited to see you this weekend. and watch out because i am going to be following you around with a camera.


samantha, megan, and alyssa

we love you! happy birthday!

more house...this is the last of it.

okay. just a few more.


this is the entire kitchen so you can get a better idea of how it's laid out.

the living room. we have lots of decorating work to do yet. all in time.

the tub in the master bathroom.

more house

per request i am going to add a few more, not so interesting, pictures of our house. enjoy!



the backyard view from the sliding glass door in our living room.

the kitchen is huge. this is the view from the kitchen sink. there is a nice big corner that some day we will have a beautiful desk and hutch. but, for now...our old plywood desk and metal chair will have to do! (;

the stair well to the basement and part of the coat closet (this is to your left as you come in)

another shot of the laundry room from the garage (owen is preparing to rob the pantry). and you can kind of see the kitchen table in the background.

the house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. and the unfinished basement has a floor plan that would include three bedrooms, a bathroom, family room, and storage room.

"my monkey bar"

kids are pretty good about inventing their own playground in the house. it didn't take owen and wesley to long to discover the bar in our house.



owen calls it "my monkey bar".

happy birthday ogden!

my nephew, ogden, turns 4 today!

happy birthday ogden! owen is so excited to go to your birthday party tonight! you are such a handsome, athletic, and smart little man. we love you!



"the rat pack"- ogden, carter, and owen

happy birthday carolyn!

happy birthday to my mother-in-law, carolyn!



something i love and admire about my mother-in-law is that she is ALWAYS thinking of others. carolyn never lets a holiday or other special occasion pass without mailing a card to let you know she loves you. thanks carolyn for all your love and kindness! we hope you had a wonderful day celebrating YOU!

taking it easy

after such a busy weekend, by sunday we were ready to take it easy!


wesley...just chillin'


rosanne and napping wesley

kevin bought the movie journey to the center of the earth in 3D and it came with 3D glasses. owen was so excited to sit down and watch, but WAY too tired. he barely made it through the first 10 minutes.


owen snoozing

wesley trying help sleeping owen put his glasses back on