Thanksgiving/Birthday celebration- round 1

Libby and Macey were cute little friends. They loved playing together!

This is Henry- isn't he cute!

Nanny gave Shelby this enormous dog! It's the size of Shelby's bed and she loves it!

Libby got this rocking horse and she get s little crazy on it! Look out!

I love Thanksgiving! I love when our families get together and create lasting memories. I love Thanksgiving dinner...mashed potatoes always taste better to me at Thanksgiving, turkey, stuffing, jello salad, and of course pies and dessert. It's always the greatest! Shane's mom is a fabulous cook and so is my mom so I always look forward to spending time with both families. Shane's sister flew into town from Arizona with her little Macey the week before Thanksgiving. We spent a few days enjoying them and had Thanksgiving dinner early with the Jensen's so she could be here for it. I left my camera home on the counter, makes me so mad, so I didn't get any pictures from dinner, but it was fabulous! The day before we all went to the movie BOLT and came back to the house for dinner and cake and ice cream to celebrate Sage, Libby and Shelby's birthdays. The kids of course were spoiled but more than anything, just loved being with their cousins! They all had a big sleep over and then we all met at Nanny's for dinner the next day! We are so grateful for Nanny and Poppy and for all of our cousins and aunts and uncles. We love all of them and love to spend time with them. It's especially fun when macey comes from Arizona. We wish we could see her more but love spending time with her when she comes to visit!

Day of fun-

I think Sage had a great birthday. She's so easy going and just wants to make others happy so her day consisted of things that eveyone wanted to do. Started off with breakfast in bed from mom and Shelby- Sage's favorite- waffles, fruit and chocolate milk! Then she went to art class and shared treats with her friends there. After art, we met her cousins at Classic Skating for a few hours of endless fun! The kids had a great time and they were all exhausted by the time we got home. Her cousins are off track too so it made for a perfect day. Sage chose to eat dinner at the Mayan Restaurant. The kids love to watch the divers and show that is put on during dinner. It was a fun day and now we move onto the next couple events- Thanksgiving, 2 more birthdays and then Christmas! Better start my shopping!!

Happy Birthday Sage!

I can hardly believe that our little Sage is turning 7 years old today. I remember when she was born. It was just 2 months after 9/11 and there were still so many emotions from that event. There was a plane crash off the east coast the day she was born and I remember watching the TV and everyone was wondering if it was terrorist related- thank goodness it wasn't. We've been so blessed to have Sage in our home. She brings so much personality and we absolutely love that girl!

Some of our favorite things about Sage are: she loves to laugh and have fun, she's a best friend to everyone, always thinks of others before herself, we love her little secret acts of service, her smile and eyes that light up the room, her sensitivity, she loves to make people laugh, and most of all, she's the best sister anyone could ask for! Just ask Shelby, Lexi and Libby- we love you GG!

We're going to spend the day as a family going to Classic Skating, the Mayan Restaurant and having fun together. We hope you have a great birthday today Sage!
Happy #7- hope there's many more to come!

The silly things that excite me...

I'm officially ready to start getting in the mood for Christmas. I had one of those shopping moments this weekend- look at those Christmas stockings! Aren't those the coolest stockings you have ever seen? A couple years ago I went to Tai Pan and bought funky green and red ornaments for my tree and decorations to go with it. Every year it reminds me of a tree from "Whoville" from the Grinch- it's so fun and different. I've always used these cheapo red velvet stockings because nothing really matched the other stuff...until now...these stockings were meant for our house! The silly things that get me excited! They're perfect in style and color and I just love them! So maybe the Christmas tree is going up early this year....

I had to post this picture of Shane and our little "poochie". Libby calls him that and it's stuck- so cute! This dog sleeps on it's back with it's legs up in the air. It is so funny. He loves to snuggle and for the girls to wrap him in a blanket and be held just like a baby! The girls always take him downstairs and he's usually in a stroller or they've made a bed in one of the drawers or he's in the shopping cart being pushed around. They love him and most of the time he loves them. He does however, run a little bit quicker away from Libby. It becomes a cat and mouse chase. I would probably run too if this big girl came running at me yelling, "Hey Poochie!" in her deep Jensen voice! I did find her the other day holding the dog and hand feeding him his dog food. I took this picture of her and yes she's wearing a diaper. That dog laid like that on her lap forever while she fed him. It was so funny! He's been a great little puppy. We love our little poochie!



The girls are off track and Sage's b-day is right around the corner along with all the holiday fun! Good times ahead! I do want to take a second and tell all of our family and friends how much we love and appreciate you. This week we will attend our second funeral in a week and it reminds us at how fragile life really is. We are so grateful to have such great family and friends who love and support us in all we do and we just want you all to know how much we love and care for you all! It's so important to find "joy in the journey" and to enjoy all the little moments in life! Thanks to you all for being such a big part of our lives.

Costumes...

Did I mention that we really like Halloween? Because we do and this is one of the reasons we do...our costume party at my sister house Halloween night! Shane and I always have been good sports and dress up and trry to be creative and have fun with it. This year my sister decided to give out awards for the top 3 costumes. The challenge was on...
Shane dressed up as a beautiful, bustful blonde chick (if that's possible) and I dressed up as his manly partner. We were in rare form. We both decided that we should stick to our own sex because we really aren't that attractive as the opposite. We had fun though! Shane brought home the winning 1st prize, an iPOD shuffle.

Leslie and Ryan came as caveman and acavewoman with thier little Millie as a pig. Ryan LOVES to dress up, can't you tell!

WOW! What more can I say but keep your eyes upward! Shea and Mindy were Adam and Eve- they were really funny! I just can't help my eyes...haha...

Here's a few of the kids.. Coop was Spiderman, Ryder was a pirate, Sage a rockstar, Shelby was a vampire and Asher was a rockstar too. Great costumes!

Here's a couple of my cousins and their friend. They were a reindeer, mad scientist and Kelsy pulled off the Little Mermaid costume, my girls all loved her and said they voted for her to win. It's fun that they come over for the excitement. It's just a great time to be able to laugh and make fun of each other and to be able to get away with it!

This is my mom and dad! That's right, Bruce and Jean. They are such good sports! They come dressed up every year and they did not let us down this year! They took 2nd and 3rd place. They looked great! They were my personal favorites!

Here's our cute little family. We are such an UGLY couple, don't you think!

And my cute little girls sitting on the porch after trick or treating. Halloween was great this year- no snow, a light sprinkle, but warm enough to not have to wear coats. The kids ran from house to house and we have TONS of candy here at the house. Now we'll wait a day or two and then in the garbage it goes, but it was fun while it lasted!!!!

More Halloween fun...

Libby was a puppy for Halloween. These are the best costumes- easy, low maintenance, and not much stress for mom. She loved having her little nose painted with whiskers and asked for it every day whether she was wearing her costume or not. She was so cute!

So one day she asked Sage for her nose and so Sage took her into my bathroom and got my make up and went to work. This was the end result. Not a cute little puppy nose but the entire puppy drawn on her forehead. Isn't that great! I was laughing so hard- love those moments!

Halloween kick off party at the Jensen's

(I can't figure out how to stop the underlining...anyone know how?)

We love Halloween! We love to dress up, eat candy and all the parties that come with it and it always seems to get kicked off with a great party at Nanny and Poppy's (Shane's parents) house! They are so great to have the kids over and play games, decorate treats, and trick or treat to different rooms in the house. We love it! Shane's sister Kendra and her husband and little Macey live in Arizona. We miss not having them close and especially miss them when we have these fun get togethers.

This is a picture of the girls going for the donuts on the string. Notice Shelby's tongue- she

wants that whole donut and she got it!

Here's Lexi the Devil and her cousin Batman (Henry)! These two are a riot together- it's all about throwing and hitting or kicking a ball. They are great cousins!

This is the result of the Mummy Wrap game. Lexi was dressed head to toe in toilet paper and looked so cute. These are games that we play every single Halloween and the kids love it! Thanks Nanny for a great party!

Of course the guys didn't want to miss out on the fun...

This is for you Macey. Blow up the picture Kendy and show Macey what Shelby made for her. We miss you Macey!

I love this next picture!! Nanny is notorious for her treats and all the kids learn at a really early age where Nanny hides all her treats. And Libby goes for them every time we are over there. This is Libby trying so hard to reach those green bins where she know there's something good inside!

And this picture is exactly what happens next...Nanny to the rescue to give her that little treat she's been looking for! We love our Nanny...

The kids are all waving to you Macey. Can't wait to see you in a couple weeks for lots of fun!
We love you guys!

Pumpkin patch