Thanksgiving Feast for Grandpa and Grandma

Since we are going to be gone for Thanksgiving we thought it would be fun to have grandma and grandpa over for a mini Thanksgiving. This is the day my camera decided to break, but luckily I got a few pictures of the table before it broke completely. I decided to let the boys plan this fun night. They made invitations....complete with turkey hand drawings and a long written out paragraph by Andrew. Earlier in the week we made placemats. I had them help me with the food and Luke helped with all the grocery shopping. On Wednesday when we picked Andrew up from school we spent time making Oreo cookie turkeys for the table and for friends and the boys helped make the apple crisp. They loved using the apple peeler. While Allie was sleeping they set the table...and I think they did a great job. I got them out a few decorations and we looked up on the internet the proper way to set the table. Luke had wanted to use cloth napkins, so we found some at Wallmart and he rolled them in a special way...mommy helped with putting the ribbon on. We had a yummy dinner of salad, turkey cranberry sandwiches, and soup. After dinner the boys had set up cornhole in the backyard, so they played with grandpa and daddy. We ended the night with our yummy apple crisp! It was special to celebrate with grandpa and grandma and the kids just loved making a special evening for them!!!

She's Ready to help...

A couple Saturdays ago daddy was putting up a new fence in the backyard. This was the outfit Allie chose to wear to help the guys out. Let me tell you...she was a HUGE help!!!

Luke's Class has a FEAST...

Bummer...our camera is broke...AGAIN!! I have no pictures, but Luke's preschool class had a little Thanksgiving get together today. I got to come in and help. They had cornbread, fruit salad, and made honey butter. I then helped them mix together a cute Thanksgiving mix where each ingredient represented something. It was fun to work with each student one on one and explain each ingredient to them. Allie of course loved helping out as well. We are really loving Luke's teacher Mrs. Ralston...she is so sweet and works so well with the kids!

ANDREW update...3 month MRI

On Monday, November 15 Andrew had an MRI of his knee. This was his first 3 month check-up MRI since surgery and his final bone scan. He did an awesome job during the MRI. They didn't put him out and he laid super still for over an hour in the big tube. I called the doctor today to see if they had any results. The doctor called this afternoon and Andy talked with him. The results didn't come back completely normal, but the pediatric oncologist is pretty sure everything is ok. There is one abnormal spot near the sight of the skin graph. He is hoping that it is just some scar tissue or a deep part of the wound that is still healing. He is pretty for sure that it is not a tumor or more cancer, but he will go over the MRI with the radiologist next week and get his opinion. Even if they don't think it's anything to worry about they will do another MRI or scan in less than three months. Originally he would have not needed one for another 3 months, but they don't want to leave this for that long. We have mixed emotions.....glad we found out some news, it could have been a lot worse, but still a little unsettling, and we just continue to trust that God has our little guy in HIS arms.
Andrew was very cute when Andy told him about the results. He said, "oh yeah dad, it must just be that little part that is different than the rest of my scar, I know what he's talking about." The confidence of our little one amazes me. He didn't even think twice about it and assured daddy that it was all ok. LOVE that BOY!!!

RUMBLE soccer

Now that soccer season is coming to an end I finally took some pictures of Andrew playing. He has been doing a great job and we are very proud of how hard he works out on the field. We had their soccer party after the 2nd to last game. Their coach, Mr. Garza is a teacher at Ruhkala so he let us use his classroom. We played an adult vs. kids soccer game (of course mommy got a little too intense playing :) ) and then we had a BBQ. The kids thought it was fun to eat in the 4th grade classroom. Andrew got his trophy and a little goody bag, which he is very proud of!!! AWESOME season Rumble!!!

Folsom Lake Hike

Last Friday the kids were off school sow e got together with our friends the Gladdens and Schaacks for a little hike. We love hanging out with these families, but since we all go to different schools we don't see each other as much as we would like. We took the kids hiking by the lake and they had a blast. They got to run far ahead of us, climb on huge rocks, see horses, and play by the water. We had a picnic lunch by the water and enjoyed chatting with each other. It was another beautiful fall day and especially fun with friends!!!

Sculptor Park

On our way back from Apple Hill the driver's side window got stuck in the down position, so I talked Andy into just stopping at the automall on the way home to have them fix it. I convinced him that I could find plenty to keep the kids busy. We walked to the pet store and then to sculptor park. It was a beautiful evening, so we actually took some fun pictures at the park. The boys started out being statues and then Allie followed. There usually aren't too many pictures of me, but the kids each took a turn with the camera and they picked who they wanted to take a picture of...and for some reason mommy was in most of them. We ended our adventures with a yummy Taco Bell dinner and then the car was finally finished!!

CRAZY KIDS

Just hanging out in the car on the way home from Apple Hill...daddy was at the bank so we thought we would make some of our greatest faces!!

Apple Hill

We took a trip to Apple Hill last week on Veteran's Day. We hadn't been up there as a family before, so we figured it was time. It was a beautiful fall day in the mountains and the trees were gorgeous. I think that the fall colors are one of my favorite things. Our first stop was at Abel Acres for some apple doughnuts. They were delicious and the kids loved running around the farm. After that we drove around for a while and juts looked at a bunch of farms from the car. We then stopped at Larson's (thanks DeJongs) and had a blast. We played by the creek, ran up and down the hills, ate our picnic lunch, and mommy tried to capture a few too many pictures (thanks Jesse and Toni for lending your camera). The kids were also into taking pictures, so we ended up with a lot of scenery pictures and ones of Andy and I. After we played we bought apple cider at the cider mill and headed out. It was getting very busy on the mountain so we called it a day. The kids really loved it. Luke says, "wow, this apple hill is really fun." YEAH for a fun family day!!!