and so the holidays begin....

Ella made us this handy little map for our Thanksgiving trip. We totally followed it too.



The drive was so cold. How cold? When Colby went to wash the back window at McDonalds/Gas Station stop (as seen on map above), the water froze before he could clean off the window. That, my friends, is too cold.

We enjoyed a stay at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Baby Skye & Baby Kait are BFF-Cousins, and Gretchen loved them so.



(My favorite part of this pic isn't Gretchen's "Intense" face, it's Kait jumping on the bed inches from Skye's head.)


We had a few fun activities, the coldest being a trip to Temple Square. Here Grandpa holds the babies, who are probably wondering what possessed us to drag through sub-freezing temperatures to look at....Christmas lights.



Ella's Primary asked for a picture of her for a craft they're making. I can't find a good one! She's constantly doing stuff like this:


Grandpa, Thanksgiving is SO AWESOME, right?


Yes, yes it is.


We tried to take a family picture for Great Grandpa. Here's the best one:


And here's the 2nd best one:


Now we get to prepare for this:


And friends, let me tell you, it's been a little crazy here. Yesterday BEFORE NOON we'd:

-Had a major temper tantrum on the walk to Breakfast With Santa (Ella! Not Gretchen! She doesn't do it often, but when she does WATCH OUT!!! I promptly dragged her home and left her with Dad. Why was she so upset? She didn't like how baggy her new tights were. I understand that baggy tights can be frustrating, my darling child, but REALLY!?!?!?!?) And so....

-....Gretchen and I enjoyed Breakfast With Santa with our peeps. Donuts and OJ, Booya!

-Did the free craft at Home Depot

-Went to the church for a baptism

-Ran to the store because there were no refreshments and theYW were supposed to provide them! Ahhhhhh!

-Set up refreshments.

-Sighed with relief and checked to see when we could all go to bed.

But we didn't go to bed, instead we went home and cleaned and watched Doctor Who and cleaned and went to a church Christmas Party. And how many church Christmas parties are there this year? Three. THREE!!! Next up, the Relief Society Christmas Dinner. Oh my word, people! This is not keeping things simple! Plus on Friday is Ella's school Christmas program, plus Girl Scouts party, plus the school's "Holly Fest". No one can accuse us of letting Christmas get away un-celebrated.

This week I'm trying to ship out my Christmas Mix Cd-Presents, Christmas Cards & Christmas Mailers. WISH ME LUCK. What are YOU trying to get done this week. Because OMG, we have 20 days left!!! (Don't worry, it's really not that bad. This is the last bit of stuff I have to do & then I'm DONE! Yay!) (And yes, I realize I do this all to myself. I can only blame myself. It's all good.)

PS - I have to tell you what Gretchen did yesterday. She was wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress (of course), and as I tucked her in for her nap she said, "No mom! No blanket. Like Sleeping Beauty."
"Doesn't Sleeping Beauty use a blanket?"
"No. Like this," she said, covering only her feet. I obliged and then she said, "No Mom. I need flowers." I handed her some silk flowers we have (they have a very girly room). She grasped them in her hands and laid down the sleep, looking just as dramatic as this:

(And yes, this is a screenshot of Anne of Green Gables, where Anne reenacts "The Lady of Shallot". The drama runs deep.)

GOOD LUCK this week! Lets all try real hard to say "No" when anyone asks us to do anything else, and spend more time at home. Because really, we don't NEED to do all this stuff, right? Ok! (Yeah, like I'll really listen to my own advice!)