This isn't a very good picture but I had to get one before they get tossed. We made one at home and then Carli's class made one at school. Sydnee made one at Young Women's but it had some structural problems and didn't really work too well. But ,all of the yummies that the kids have picked off as they pass by have tasted great I'm sure! Sydnee isn't in the picture because she leaves so darn early and we never have a spare minute before she is out the door.
Gingerbread Houses
Thanksgiving
Getting ready to FRY the bird!
Bret Burkinshaw came to visit with his girls. The kids had a blast playing in the snow and of course doing a big SHOW in the basement. Anytime you have a lot of GIRLS together you can almost always count on a show. It was pretty cute. This was the first time Del and I haven't been with any family for Thanksgiving and I was nervous to cook 'the meal'. Del deep fryed our bird so I didn't have to worry about that. Bret was my helper in the kitchen and the kids had fun setting the table and sampling the rolls.
Sydnee winding up.
Lindsey planning her attack!
Macy getting ready to get pelted with snowballs.
Bret - so domestic!
Carli, Marley, and Maddie "toasting" to a great Thanksgiving Dinner.
Rock Band
Del does this every year - He'll bring something home a week or two before Christmas that we really should just wait and give the kids for Christmas. I'm not complaining because we have had a lot of fun but I just think it's funny because he really does this EVERY year. Anyways, Rock Band is a hit! We had the Jensen Family over last Monday night to play and the adults and the kids were fighting over who got to do what. Carli and Jolie and Savanna went down to the basement and found some "props" in our dress up bin. One of them was a mullett wig. It was pretty funny! Lindsey has decided have her birthday party in February be a "Battle of the Bands".
Such concentration!
.
Juliett, Lindsey, and Jeff
Carli's Birthday Party
Even though Carli's birthday was in October we didn't get around to having a party until the middle of November. There is a store called 'Nicky Nicole' that has all kinds of girly stuff and they do birthday parties and that is what she wanted. It was the easiest party I have EVER done. We just showed up and they did everything from getting the girls changed into their 'fashion show' attire to making bracelets to writing down the gift list. It was great and Carli had a fun time. I can't believe she is 7! (even though she acts like she is 17 sometimes) Our baby is growing up!
Lindsey and Paige were good sports and participated in the party. I don't really know how much fun it was for them but Carli was happy they were there!
Del looked a little out of place in that Girly Girly store! Oh, wait, he is used to that kind of stuff!
Dance Party
Catching Up - November 2008
I have a few things to catch up on. Here are some pictures of when Lori and Paige came to visit us in November.
It was so fun to have them out here. Lori hadn't been out to visit us and it was Paige's second trip. It's always so fun to have visitors!
Sadness
Friday was just another day until I got a call from a friend's husband letting me know he was on his way to meet his wife at the doctor and they needed my help with their kids. She was about 23 weeks pregnant and they couldn't find a heart beat. I was speechless when he called because I didn't even know she was pregnant. They hadn't told anyone except their two oldest kids and were waiting to break the news this week on their Thanksgiving visit with family. She gets sick at the beginning and loses weight and with jackets she was able to hide it. I've only known her for a little over 4 months so I wasn't really aware of any real "changes" in her energy level or her tummy. My heart sank and was filled with so much sadness only to be replaced by the joy that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation can bring to someone going through something like this. How grateful I am that this family we have become close with shares our faith in Jesus Christ and knows that He has a plan for each one of us. She was able to have a priesthood blessing in the hospital from our Bishop and her husband and I know that has helped comfort her. They were worried that it could take a really long time for her to deliver but it went quickly and physically she is feeling pretty good. I will attend a short graveside service tomorrow with them and then they will be heading out on their vacation to be with family. I hope and pray they will be able to find comfort with family at this sad time for them. Things like this make you stop and reflect on the fact that we are not in the drivers seat and God has a plan for each on of us. As I was talking to her today we realized that her husband had planned to be out of town until Friday night and decided to come home on Thursday night. Just another tender mercy and blessing.
Halloween
I didn't really know what to expect for Halloween this year. I was so sad not to be able to hang out with all of the great families in Higley Groves that we usually see. I didn't know what the weather would bring and if my kids would be trick or treating in snow or rain or just freezing temps. It turned out to be a beautiful day - about 63 degrees and the night was beautiful as well - just chilly enough but not freezing. Everyone here dresses up! Even some of the high school kids. The houses are a lot further apart then what my kids are used to so they talked Del into taking them in the Rhino for awhile. Some people in our neighborhood do a haunted house that everyone goes to. I think it was too scary for Carli but Lindsey and Sydnee said it was fun. Melinda Jensen and I sat on our driveway with a fire and handed out candy. The kids had a half day of school so we carved our pumpkins that we hadn't gotten to earlier in the week and roasted pumpkin seeds. So Yummy!
Lulu the Dancer
Sydney and Sydnee - cute little chefs!
Three little witches - Carli, Jolie, and Savannah
Ready to go get some CANDY
Happy Birthday Carli
I can't believe my baby is 7. She really is a special and very STRONG spirit! She can be hard but also so much fun. She amazes me every day at how smart she is. One night we were reading scriptures and Del's jaw was dropping at the words she was able to pull off. She loves school and started taking piano lessons recently. I'm so grateful to be her mom! She definitely keeps me on my toes.
Company
I love having company! My mom and sister came for a week and we got to do some fun stuff. We celebrated Carli's birthday, went to see some Amish communities, went to the John Johnson Farm, and did some shopping. They got to see beautiful Fall Colors and also a little bit of snow which they never see in Las Vegas. My kids love having them here and fight over who gets to sleep with who every night. I'm glad that even though they are far away they still will come visit.
It's really funny to see my mom with MOJO. She has never been a pet person but for some reason she really likes MOJO. When it is cold outside I leave him in the house when we leave and she always wanted to turn on a TV show for him! So unlike her...
What is wrong with this picture?
There are a couple of things wrong with this! The first one is that snow should never under any circumstances be on top of pumpkins. The second one is that I had to use my flash to take this picture because it is still dark when we wake up! We were happy to learn it was going to get nice at the end of the week so our trick or treating wouldn't be so freezing so I was a bit surprised to wake up to this. But, I have to say it is so BEAUTIFUL to have a little bit of snow with all of the bright leaves still on the trees. The kids were so excited. I tried to take a picture of Sydnee before she left but she was too cool to pose for me this morning so I just have Lindsey and Carli. (and Mojo)
Who is doing this?
Every night we go to bed with all of our little pumpkins by our front door. When we wake up, one or two of them are in the middle of the grass and they all have bites out of them! I think there some crazy raccoons that just like to mess with us. Maybe all of the raccoons just like to mess with the Tanner family since my sister in law just found a raccoon up on top of her kitchen cabinets. It had come in through her doggie door and climbed up on top of her cabinets! 
Kinda CRAZY!
NYC
We made it NYC. We parked the motorhome in Jersey City and thought we would be thrifty by taking the subway in to the city to get to our hotel. Great idea but it was a circus act! Just imagine... 4 adults, 7 kids, at least 14 bags. We had about a 10 minute walk to the subway. We had to change trains and then got off at 42nd street and our hotel is at 47th street. I wish I had pictures but all of our hands were so full that we coulnd't take any pictures. We tried to find elevators in the different subway stations so the kids didn't have to drag their bags up the stairs. Both elevators we found had the strongest urine smells I've ever smelled. I thought Sydnee was going to have a nervous breakdown. Her nose is VERY sensitive! It's always fun to watch my sheltered children take double takes as they get over the initial shock of all of the diversity in this city.
One of the things my kids have really been looking forward to is seeing Legally Blonde. We saw it tonight but last night we decided to wait outside the theatre after it was over to get pictures and autographs with Bailey (Elle Woods). A lot of the cast members came out and were so great to pose for pictures with the kids. We saw the play tonight and it was FABULOUS! Lindsey didn't leave the edge of her seat the entire time. All of my girls were in heaven. I loved it and Del even enjoyed it. The last show is Sunday night so we really got lucky to get tickets.
This is Bailey signing the girl's playbills.
Top of the Rock
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls was great. The Maid of the Mist boat ride was very wet and it was amazing to get up close to the falls and see how powerful they are. It's a good thing we got back into America with the rude Border Agent. Sometimes people with firearms have a serious "I'm a big deal," attitude! It all turned out OK and they didn't detain Del or Denny. We needed our Captain and his Wingman. Someone has to drive and navigate so Nichole and I can surf the web! Kiley and Sydnee joined in, too. Thank goodness for laptops and a great internet connection the whole way.
It was a beautiful drive. I don't think we could have timed the leaves at their peak of color any better. The drive to Palmyra was short and we were able to see the place where the Book of Mormon was first printed. We also went to the Joseph Smith family farm and the Sacred Grove. It was so peaceful. We were the only ones there. The kids all wrote in their journals. It was truly a beautiful place and I gained a greater appreciation for Joseph Smith and the sacrifices of the early saints.
The next day we went to the visitors center at the Hill Cumorah site. It was raining so we didn't get many pictures there.
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