Thanksgiving 2017

We spent the morning sleeping in (as much as you can sleep in with kids!), watching the parade (the Davis High Marching Band was in it this year!), and prepping food.  We did some quick haircuts and baths just in time to pop over to Mom and Dad's for dinner.  And in keeping with the past few years we snapped a picture of the boys on our bed.  Man am I thankful for my crew.  No matter what ups and downs come our way, I feel so blessed to be riding this rollercoaster of life with them.

2017

2016

2015

 And this was the only picture I got from Thanksgiving dinner....

Unbeknownst to us this boy was coming down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease and just wasn't too thrilled about, well, anything that day.  So he and I snuck outside to try and calm down and Dean and I ate in shifts.  This year we didn't have any visiting family in town, so it was us, Mom, Dad, Janna, Grandma and PapPap, the Wink's (minus Elizabeth), Linda Kay, Debbie Belich, and Cathy Koerner.  We brought sweet potatoes, strawberry jello salad, and deviled eggs, and of course all the food was delicious and we ate way, way, WAY too much.  After a couple hours of letting our stomachs settle we finally squeezed in pie.  Then it was back home to get everything ready for Scott and Laura's arrival.

Decking the Church Halls

One perk of being the Bishop's kids is getting to put up the Christmas tree at Church when your Mom won't let you decorate at home yet cause it's before Thanksgiving.  We had fun last week putting up the tree and then stopping for frosty's on the way home for family home evening.  

Relief Society Christmas Workshop

Since last Christmas Workshop most of the people who have helped in the past had moved or been released from their callings, so it was a little different getting things prepped.  I tried to scale back a little so as to make things a bit more manageable.  We did six crafts instead of the ten we offered last year, the three free classes, and we cut out breakfast and just had lunch this time.  But that didn't mean there wasn't a LOT to do.  This year it felt a little bit like I hit road blocks at every turn.  Crafts that were already signed up for couldn't be ordered, so I had to drive to every Pat Catans within a 100 mile radius to track down the supplies we needed.  It was thing after thing after thing, but every time I started to question Heavenly Father even a little, He proved He was aware of me and things finally all fell into place.  We had an incredible turn out and things went really well.  And this year we even pulled off a service project tying fleece blankets for all the shut in's in the Ward.  Hopefully it brings some warmth into their holidays this year.  And we were inspired when we asked people to teach our classes because they all said yes and then did amazing jobs presenting.  I heard, and tasted some really incredible things even though I didn't get to be there for them.  Grandma put on a class called "Christmas With The Prophets," Barb Mattocks did a "Holiday Hors d'oeuvres" Class, and Lisa Allen put on a "Classy Cakes" decorating class.

The Crafts...

 

We ended up with 67 orders for these string art boards!  It was just a little bit CRAZY!  Haha!

 The Activity...

See me in the back there??  I accidentally wore a buffalo check shirt that matched all the centerpieces.  Haha!  I decided just to own it and pretend like it was intentional.

*Photo credit goes to Holly Schaeffer

Clothespin Indian Dolls

I always love watching my kids do the same projects and then getting to see how each of them approaches things differently.  In 2nd Grade the kids come home with two wooden clothespins and they're supposed to make either Indian or Pilgrim dolls out of them.  They are allowed some help from their parents, but they're ultimately supposed to do most of it themselves.  Landon chose to make Indians just like Tanner did, and although they turned out similar, but they both had things they were adamant about that were different.  I love reading the written portion of the project too.  Landon wrote a cute little essay explaining how he made his dolls and it all turned out so great.  I look forward to having four sets of dolls one day to pull out for Thanksgiving time.

Thankful Turkeys 2017

Every year I look forward to reflecting on our blessings and making Thankful Turkeys with the family.  It's fun to hear what everyone is thankful for and catch a little glimpse into their hearts.  

We're thankful for...
DAD: Andrea, My Boys, Job, Computers, Gospel/Atonement, Friends, Sleep
MOM: Yummy Food, Friends, Family Time, Atonement, Music, Nature, Love
TANNER: Space, Gardens, Animals, The Godhead, Family, Technology, Scriptures, Homes, Chemistry, Family History
LANDON: Shelter, Jesus, Family, Earth, Holidays, Bridger, Brothers
BRADDOCK: Mom, Dad, Family, Pandas, Body, Jesus, Animals
BRIDGER: Foxes, Camera, The Gospel, Nap Time, My Baby, My Family, Candy

The Children's Museum with Grandma and Grandpa Hilton

While Grandma and Grandpa were still in town we made use of the membership they gave us for Christmas and took them to the Children's Museum.  We hadn't been in a long time and the boys were SO excited to go.  We had so much fun playing and exploring all day and it was super nice to have four adults to help chase the boys around.  We ended the day on the top floor with all the water, and while we were there a pipe burst spitting water everywhere.  We felt bad for the poor little boy who got all the dirty water sprayed on him.  And even after a long day at the museum Grandma and Grandpa watched the boys so Dean and I could sneak away for a quick date night.