I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that all were able to enjoy some quality family time ~

 Dad and I had a really nice day with Adam and Cory in the afternoon, and Angella and the kids who came for pie later in the day.  Cory's sisters, Kelly and Staci, came. Kelly's husband, Chris, and daughter, Alyssa, were there, along with Andrew and Carter and their wives. Paul and Cheryl came down from Denver, and then, of course, we had 1 dog and 3 cats 😀 It was so nice to visit with Cory's family and enjoy some yummy food at the same time.  We came home, rested for a short while, and then Angella arrived with the girls and Ben.  

This year, I bought a pumpkin pie because that's Angella's favorite, and an apple pie for Dad. I made a pecan pie that Emma requested, and whipped up a peanut butter pie that Kate sent me the recipe for.  We sent all of the pumpkin pie home with Angella, and all of the pecan pie home with Emma, and slowly but surely the other two pies are disappearing . . . 😋

I love that everyone was able to gather with family and friends this year. 

 Angella cooked a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings (probably no sweet potatoes) and made the most delicious rolls.

After dinner, we played a wild game of "Sorry" in which Ben declared himself the "2nd Champion".

Kim and Chris had a Thanksgiving dinner of roasted Chicken (the best, from Sam's Club), Kim's delicious green beans with feta, and Chris made some rolls.  It was especially great that Max could be home, and so nice for Kim and Chris to have all of their kids around the table.

I know Kim hated to see Max leave, but it was good he was able to get on the last flight going to Salt Lake Friday night, before the snow started and flights were cancelled.

Kate and Jonathan invited their good friend, Miranda, and her two children to their Thanksgiving feast, which consisted of Jonathan's famous lasagna.  Lasagna always sounds good!  Kate said they had a fun night, played games, and ate peanut butter pie!

BEFORE I LEAVE THANKSGIVING BEHIND . . . .  Does anyone remember these turkey placemats???

 I got them at Pottery Barn Kids just right after we moved here.  (It was a sad day for Dad when I found that store 😁.)  Apparently, I only had four grandchildren coming for Thanksgiving that year - I also bought the small silverware sets for children to go with them.  

Well, it was a sad day for me last week, when I handed them over to a friend who lives around the corner and has four small children 😢 - sometimes, I do miss those little ones.

OTHER FAMILY NEWS ~

Kim and Kate got a good dose of snow this past weekend, and we may get some tonight - though, nothing like what got (I hope).  It looks like maybe 10 - 12 inches???

I'm sure there will be some coming our way soon!  It has been cold here today. In fact, I had my first hot chocolate of the season today after we got home from Church.  

ALSO . . . good news from this past week - Jonathan got his new trombone, and Sayre climbed a ladder to help decorate their Christmas Tree. 

Angella has her Christmas decorations up, and I'm sure Max, Spencer, Grant, and Blythe put up their tree early to tease their Dad.  Cory had her home decorated for Christmas, and everything looked so festive.  We are hoping to get a start on ours tomorrow. 

We got to have Hollie spend the weekend with us last week.  She got her first taste of Cafe Rio (and loved it), some time alone at the mall, and she dressed up super cute for Church on Sunday.  After Church, we went out to Adam's for dinner, and she made some new "cat" friends 🐈 with Stevie, Danno, and Lucy. I think she was in a little bit of Heaven - 

 It is always such a treat to have the kids come for a "playdate" 😁

 

 

Speaking of playdates, we brought Milo home on Thanksgiving Day so he could have a playdate with Sendai.  They are so funny together, and Sendai always gets mopey after he leaves.  This is what he did one morning after Kevin got out of bed - He had the whole bed and all of Dad's pillows to himself - this little guy knows how to live!

Love my girls . . . Blythe tried on her Mom's wedding dress 

 No, I don't think she has marriage on her mind right now 😊. She's making all kinds of plans for college and beyond.

Sammi stopped by one day before work and asked me to go to Dick's with her so she could get some new leggings. We had such a fun time!  Not only did she find the leggings she wanted, but we also found a really cute top for her, and then, what to you know, we just happened to run into Christmas Stanleys! We debated on the green with hollyberries, but decided the red ones were more versatile.  

   I have been going through some of the letters I mailed home from our first assignment to Okinawa.  I wish so much that we would have had the convenience and technology of cell phone cameras back then. We had so many fun adventures, and we missed taking photos of a lot of them.  Just a note from this letter I wrote to my Mom and Dad - 

 . . ."Last night we had tickets to go to a program put on by the Okinawa Choral Society. As we were turning the corner to leave the kids at the day care center, Adam threw up all over himself and me. So, Kevin just made a U-turn, and we came back home, changed clothes, and then took the kids for a ride and found a deserted beach. It was low tide, and Josh and Kimi had more fun picking up seashells. Last week, Adam had quite a nasty cough so we took him to the doctor and found he had an ear infection besides the cough. We had to wait a while to pick up his medicine, so the doctor took some time to weigh him, and he weighed just a little under 17 lbs."  Awwww

My closing thought for today is from President George Q. Cannon, "No matter how serious the trial, how

deep the distress, how great the affliction, God will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character to do so. He will always stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters, but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them.

  HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK! ❤

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY THIS WEEK TO JI-CHAN! 
  What a great life he created for us while serving so faithfully in the Air Force. We have so many memories of all of the adventures, the new places we lived, and so many friends we made around the world.  Thank you, Kevin!  You gave us the opportunities to learn, grow, and be strengthened as a family in so many ways❤

One of my favorite videos of Blythe when she was in an elementary school performance for Veterans' Day 😁. (She's in the second row)

 We have had the most wonderful Fall weather this week! I   think we had sun every day and temperatures warm enough that a light sweater was all that was needed.  It was perfect for walking Sendai, and getting the last of the leaves picked up.  Yesterday, when we were walking, I heard someone call Sendai's name, and she looked up and saw our mailman delivering mail across the street at the apartments.  She made a beeline for him and he got down and loved on her for a few minutes. (she does love the mailman)

However, as nice as it was for us, it was not so nice for the Elk hunters in the family. 

With our weather warmer than usual, the Elk were happy to stay hidden in the higher areas, so no one got to bring any meat home.  I think they still had a great time though, and I'm sure they will try again next year.

 AND, speaking of hunting 😁 . . . We got to have Jake on Friday because the teachers at his school had a workday, and he was telling us that for his birthday in January, he gets to take the hunter safety course.  AND then he was telling me about the gun he was going to get, so I asked him what kind of big game he was going hunting for.  AND then he said he was going to hunt for squirrels. I asked him what he planned to do with the squirrels once he shot one.  He said, "Grammie, you have to eat what you shoot".  So I asked if he had ever eaten squirrel before because it didn't sound too good to me.  He said that squirrel meat

Poor squirrel

tastes like chewy chicken . . . so just in case you were wondering . . .😂

LOVE OUR FAMILY!

 Chris and Grant got to visit the United Nations building while they were in Geneva.  Chris said they had a good trip, and it was so nice that Grant could go with him.  Glad they're home, safe and sound. 

 

Jonathan was in Colorado for a couple of days this week - at UNC (Greely) for work.  So close, but not close enough that we got to see him 😞. Kate was home, busy with her art show and keeping up with Sayre.   She said one of his favorite meals now is mini penne pasta with alfredo sauce and chicken.  I love when their palate starts to evolve from chicken nuggets 😄

Kim made a quick trip to Iowa this weekend to enlist Kate's expertise and know-how with Photoshop.  Yay!  Kate to the rescue!  I have used her for some of my school assignments also. 😊

I think they had some fun girl-time, but alas, no shopping 💕

 Our "soccer girl", Lily was in Las Vegas for a soccer tournament this weekend.  I haven't heard the results yet, but I am sure she was amazing. 

 

That reminds me . . . Did you know that BYU's girls soccer team came in 1st at the BIG 12 soccer tournament?  

Dad and I had a busy week.  We started on Monday with a visit to Shannon, who seemed to be in good spirits.  She ate well and even responded when someone waved to her while we were taking a walk. 

Dad's shoulder has really been bothering him, so he was able to get an appointment for him to see the PA who assisted in his surgery.  They took X-rays, and he said that the shoulder replacement looks great, but it's possible that the deltoid muscle has slipped and is out of place.  We're not sure what that quite means, but it may involve a minor surgery to put it back in place.  He has an appointment with his doctor next Monday, so hopefully we will find out what they can do for him.

On Wednesday, we had missionaries for dinner, and on Friday, we got Jake because he didn't have school.  The first thing he said when he came in the house was that he wanted to take us out to breakfast.  We went to Cracker Barrel and then drove up to Scheels so he could look for goalkeeper gloves.  They didn't have what he wanted there, so we came back home, dropped off Ji-Chan, and Jake and I went to Dicks, hoping to find something there.  He finally found some, and in the process, also found an RC car store that had several tracks - I think they call it crawling -

 The gentleman who helped us said they usually require the kids to be 12 years old, but they weren't busy, so he told Jake that if he could do the course without crashing, he could move around to some of the other courses.  Jake did great, and I had fun watching him.  

 When we got back to the house, we worked in the yard - Jake mowed up our remaining leaves and I raked up the pine needles.  Jake also trimmed and watered all of my plants - he is such a hard worker and so much fun to spend time with! 

Today was our Stake Conference.  We always love going and visiting with friends we don't get to see very often.  We had two visiting authorities, Elder Teixeira and his wife from Portugal, and Elder Magswatogotha from Botswana.  They were both wonderful speakers with faith-inspiring stories that certainly gave us something to come home and think about.  I think it is so meaningful to get a glimpse into the lives of others who come from different countries with different gospel experiences. 

  This week I have thought a lot about Elder Kearon's talk, Welcome to the Church of    Joy! 

  We are so blessed, shouldn't we feel joy every day?  Elder Kearon said, "Because of the loving plan of our Heavenly Father for each of His children, and because of the redeeming life and mission of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can - and should - be the most joyful people on earth! Even as the storms of life in an often-troubled world pound upon us, we can cultivate a growing and abiding sense of joy and inner peace because of our hope in Christ and our understanding of our own place in the beautiful plan of happiness.  

PLEASE, PLEASE, HAVE A JOYFUL WEEK, AND REMEMBER HOW MUCH YOU ARE LOVED!!!
 Some of my favorite photos of JOY!

 Even though we are in the second week of November, I think I'm still living in September. This year has just gone by way too fast for me.  Our cooler days bring me back to reality, though, and I hate to think that snow is just around the corner.  However, we have had lots of sun, so I can't complain 😊

 It has been a busy week for our family.  I substituted at the District 20 Human  Resource office on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.  I always have a hard time saying "no", and I really should have this week with lots of school work to get done. It was a good wake-up call, and I know I have to do better at managing my time and commitments. 

Dad had a successful visit to the physical therapist, though he came home with some sore muscles that have lingered all week.  He was able to take the cardown to the dealer for an oil change, and took my place at the beauty salon for a haircut. 

 Eilis stopped by one day to show us the guitar she got for her birthday - a gift from her friend Jacob. 

It's a really nice base guitar and she loves it!

 

Also got to see Emma on the same day ❤ Love these girls!!! (and Sendai does too!)

Adam and Paul left this week for the annual hunting adventure with the Riggs clan.  Paul is coming back for school, but Adam will remain a threat to the Elk population until early next week.  

 (I think he's sticking his tongue out at you, Adam)😀

Yesterday, Dad and I went to Lily's last league soccer game for the season. She'll do indoor soccer until the league soccer starts up again in early spring.  Here's my funny "grammie" story about this . . . When we got there, I asked Cory the number and color of Lily's jersey.  My mind heard, white 39.  So for the whole game, I kept trying to follow "white 39", but it didn't look like Lily. I got so confused, and I asked Cory a couple of times where Lily was, and Cory would point her out and say she was the shortest one on the field, and so I just kept my eye on White 39. (I'm sure Cory was having her doubts about me 😳). It wasn't until we were leaving the game, and I saw Lily with a red jersey on, that reality struck, and I realized she was Red 39, and I had been following and cheering for the wrong person the whole time!  I actually was relieved, because White 39 did not look like Lily!  So much for getting OLD 😁

Look who got cute school pictures this week! 

Looks like these were taken before he lost his two front teeth ❤

 

Sayre has grown up so much.  It seems like just yesterday he was able to come home from the hospital, and  Jonathan and I were taking turns with his middle-of-the-night feedings.   

 These two handsome fellows are in London tonight - just in time for Remembrance Day in the UK (similar to our Veterans Day).  Chris has meetings in Geneva this week and took Grant along with him. They went early so they could spend a couple of days in London.  

  Hmmm . . . let's see - London and Geneva vs. elk hunting in Colorado . . . sorry, Adam, I pick London and Geneva (although I wasn't invited to either 😁)

    

Kim and Blythe are home "holding down the fort".  Thanks, Kim, for the Sunday Selfie! 

 Kim and I were comparing notes today about the stress we had felt this week. Kim's class this term is an art class that is all about Photoshop. She says it is hard, and I will add to that saying she works all day, and then comes home and takes care of her family - dinner, laundry, chauffeur, etc.  I don't work all day, except when I don't say "no" to a sub job, and sometimes still find it stressful to get all of the work done for my assignments and get them turned in on time.  

I know some stress is good for you. Remember the video I've posted a couple of times about the health benefits of stress?  Well, this week I didn't feel like my stress was helping my health.  

  *My solution for a stress-free week?  I am going to be in bed by 10pm (no eye rolling).  I am going to set aside three hours every day to work on school (no distractions allowed). The remainder of my time I will spend doing things that make me feel good - spending time with dad, and sometimes that can mean cleaning and organizing, shopping, reading, etc.  

 This week, I am so very thankful for 13 BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING grandchildren.  You are all special, and you are all my favorites! You fill my heart with love and always make me smile!  THANK YOU! 😍

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK ❤