Novemberfest

Brinlie had her very first dance performance today at Novemberfest. She was so ecxited and wanted to make sure everyone was there to watch her dance.
It was so crowded but we found seats and watched her perform. She was so cute and had such a great time dancing. We walked around the booths for a little while and then decided to go get dinner at McDonalds.
We were there for a very long time, as usual. I am not really sure why these pictures were taken but aren't they fun??

Door Busting

Since it was SO COLD outside we didn't want to go anywhere that we would have to stand outside and Wal Mart had some deals starting at midnight so that was where we headed first. We got there about 12:15am and it was a ZOO. There have never been that many cars in the parking lot. We always like to get the cheap DVD's and by the time we made our way back there all the good ones were gone. We had to watch people that had their carts full of them and followed them around so that when they went through them we could get their reject pile. This worked like a charm and we all got what we were looking for (except I never did get 27 Dresses).
It was so crazy in there and we were in line forever but that is what "black friday" is all about!

Old Navy was our next stop and we were able to score $5 pajama pants and some other items. The lines there were crazy too!

Kohl's was next on the list and I hit the jackpot...but I can't say with what!! I am not a fan of Kohl's usually but my sisters love it! The lines of course were crazy there too so Monica and I walked over to Kmart to get Mel some stuff before it was gone. We got everything we needed there and waited in the huge line again!

Then it was time for breakfast. We headed to McDonald's and ate and relaxed a little and decided what we should do next. It was about 8 or 9am by this time, I think. Amberly had a tummy ache so Amy's car took her back to mom's and me, Mel and Monica decided to go to Sam's Club. We pulled out of the parking lot and saw our Dad walking down main street. We pulled over to pick him up, he was getting new tires and was going to wander around. We took him to Sam's with us. We looked at a few things and then we sat down on the comfortable couches to wait for Amy and Melissa to meet up with us. Mel fell asleep a few times and it was really funny! We were trying to decide where to go next but the couches were just so comfortable that no one wanted to get up!

We went to the bakery for a donut and dropped dad back off to get his truck, then we headed to the mall. I hit the jackpot again at the toy store. We debated on going into Bath and Body Works because it was So BUSY but we finally did, Monica stayed out on the bench and was falling asleep. I got a text from her that said "if you guys don't hurry, heads will roll." I thought that was funny. We wrapped up our shopping and headed back to mom's. It was 12:30 when we finally headed back...12 hours of "black friday" shopping and worth every minute!!

The rest of the day is kind of a blur...I fell asleep for a bit, Amy and Jason took the teenagers (we started calling Alexa and McKenzie that) to a few stores, we watched movies and ate leftovers!

Thanksgiving Feast

After the race we stopped at the gas station for some breakfast and hot chocolate and headed up to Logan.
The kids woke up pretty early and so they all took a little nap except Alex. He was too excited to see his grandma Oliver!!!

I jumped into the shower real quick so I could help with the food. I am always in charge of the yams.
As you can see, the teenagers were not very helpful in preparing the meal.


Here is the beautiful table...candles and all. I guess Rich wasn't that big of a help either...no don't worry Rich, you just sit back and read the paper while we do all the work!! Of course I am totally teasing and he did do like 3 loads of dishes after!!
I had to get a shot of Dave with his Dr. Pepper. I just thought that was really funny, I think that's a first!
Miss Brinlie was the cutest little pioneer ever!!
Melissa was full so she had to stretch back and let her food digest!
I didn't get any shots of the whole table sitting down before we started eating. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and went around the table to say what we are grateful for. I love Thanksgiving.
We took a few family shots after dinner.
Isn't she the cutest??
Here is the Clark family. I didn't get the Harris's or the Summers on my camera...I will have to steal them if anyone ever posts them!

After the dishes were all done we pulled out the ads to see what our "black friday" shopping adventures would entail. I don't think I wrote anything down, the ads were not that great, and I told my kids that I was only buying them 1 present this year. They will get gifts from santa of course so it's not like they will only have 1 present to open but I feel like I go overboard and need to cut back!

While we were looking at the ads Max and Owen wanted to look at all the ones with toys. They kind of ruined the system and made a mess of the paper but Max really wanted to circle the things he wanted so after we were done looking he took some of the ads and circled the toys he wanted. He folded them up and told me to hold on to them so he could show them to Santa Claus. All weekend he kept asking where his "mazagines" were, it was really cute!

Oh and I almost forgot the best part of the night...Me, Amberly, Melissa, Amy and Alexa went on a drink run to Mooch's. As me and Amb were getting our drinks this big huge tongan dude with tatoo sleeves on his legs (yes it was 5 degrees outside and he had on shorts) came in and shoved past Amberly and said "excuse me" (as in get out of my way, very rudely). Well he made it over to me and said it again, "excuse me" and I said "can I finish getting my drink first?" He says "hey lady, what's your problem? I said excuse me." Then he continued on saying "I'm in a hurry." So I said "maybe I am in a hurry too." He asked "what's with the attitude lady, I said excuse me, do you own this gas station?" Then Amy pipes in "do you?" Alexa is looking at me like mom, why don't you just be quiet...she thought things were going to get out of hand, but I could not just let it go, it was completely ridiculous! He goes on to tell Amy that he doesn't own the gas station but he knows the owner and "I went skiing with him this morning, WHAT NOW LADY?" yes, that is exactly what he said. Melissa dosen't do well with confrontation so her and I were up with the cashier paying for the drinks and as she hands her money to the girl she knocks her drink over and it spills all over the counter and the floor onto the cashier. The guy just walked out without getting anything and we were all like "did that just really happen?" It was so crazy, I still can't believe people act that way!

Turkey 10k

The reason for our overnighter in Salt Lake was because Rich really wanted to run a race on Thanksgiving morning and he found one in Bountiful. We wanted to be closer so we didn't have to wake up so early.

The race started at 9am and it started and ended at the rec center so the kids just hung out in there while we ran.
Pre race photo. It was like 16 degrees outside when we started running. It was a pretty challenging course. I was about halfway through mile 5 when I saw Rich running toward me, he decided to come and finish running with me. That was a nice surprise! I did get pretty warm during the run and had to take off my gloves.
They were doing the awards outside and we didn't want to wait around so we headed inside to see what the kids were up to.
The boys had a blast climbing on this rock wall and exploring the rec center.
Alexa watched some of the parade on TV but she was getting pretty anxious to leave.
We headed back outside to see the turkey and get a quick photo and then we were off!

***I looked up the race results, Rich finished in 42 minutes and was 2nd in his age group and 11th overall. I finished in 1 hour 6 minutes.

Hotel

We picked up Rich from work at 3:30pm to head up to Salt Lake for the night. We stopped in for a late lunch at Sconecutter in Sandy and then checked in to the Hilton.

It was pretty early and the boys were anxious to get to the pool so Rich took them and Alexa and I jumped on TRAX to The Gateway. It was a really cold night and for some dumb reason I forgot a coat and I had a skirt on. I borrowed Rich's jacket and we were off. It was fun walking around but our time was cut short by her dad calling and telling me he was on his way to pick the kids up for dinner. His cousin is in town for Thanksgiving from London and he really wanted to meet the kids. We rushed back and made it just as they pulled in. He took them to Chili's for dinner.


Well by this time we were hungry again so Rich, Max and I decided to hop back on TRAX and go eat at the food court at Gateway. I made Rich wear my hoodie so I could wear his jacket and he was so put off. He was embarrassed and said he looked "homeless" which was kinda true but who cares, right??
Max loves riding the train and kept asking questions about where the driver was, it was cute.
After we ate, we walked down to the huge tree with lights and hung out by the fire to warm up.
Max and Rich stayed there while I ran to Old Navy. It was hard leaving the warmth of the fire but we pulled ourselves away and headed back. We got back just as the kids did so it was perfect timing.

We all decided to head back down to the pool and sit in the hot tub.
Rich and the kids were feeling crazy and decided to go outside and do "polar bears," Alex is the only one who actually laid in the snow but it was freezing. We had a good long soak and then headed up to the room to get showered and ready for bed.

We had a great day together!

FHE Thanksgiving Style

For FHE tonight I wanted to focus on Thanksgiving and have some FUN!!! We started out by making lists of what we are thankful for. Then we each went around and shared some of the items off our lists.

Rich said he was thankful for:
*Family
*The Church
*Our Country
*House
*Job
*Good Examples
*Food
*Men and Women in the Military
*The Scriptures

Here are some from my list:
*Rich
*Alexa
*Alex
*Max
*Family
*Freedom
*Diet Coke
*The Prophet
*The Beautiful World
*A Healthy Body
*Our Home

I took pictures of the kids lists because they were so unique and individual and I LOVED them all!!!

Alexa is thankful for:I guess she liked Alex's idea and started drawing pictures but she ran out of time...at least she got the most important ones...cats and boys!!!

Alex was very creative and is such a great artist, he makes me proud!
What an artist.

Max's only option was to draw since he can't write...
he drew the house all by himself, and the people at the bottom are him and me.

After that we played Thanksgiving BINGO for prizes. Alexa kept winning, Rich forgot how to play (I looked over at his card and he had 2 Bingo's but forgot to call them). Max and Alex were very patient as we continued to play until they won!! It was a great time and we ended the evening with chocolate silk pie!!! DELICIOUS!!

Christmas Crafting

This morning we had an Activity Day's "Super Saturday" activity with the girls and their moms. We had breakfast at the church and then had 3 craft projects for them to work on. I was in charge of the Christmas cards. I made a few examples to give some ideas. I can't believe how creative all the girls were making their cards. We had a great turnout and everyone had a great time crafting!

There was a lot of paper left over so I took some home and since I already had the mess out I decided to just get them all done this afternoon.
I made cards for hours while watching "A Christmas Carol", "Fred Claus" and "The Grinch." I don't think I have ever watched Christmas movies this early in the year but I WAS making Christmas cards so I thought it was appropriate.

I took a little break to go to Nephi for Rich's dad's birthday party. When we got home Max wanted to watch "The Grinch" again so we threw it on and I finished up with all the cards and another Christmas project that I will blog about later.
This is how the night ended...WITH SNOW!!! How perfect!!!

P.S. While I was inside enjoying Christmas movies, Rich was outside freezing his tail off putting up the Christmas lights!!!

"State" Project

Alex picked South Dakota for his "state." He had to write a report and do some research on the state. Then he had to do a "project" to display for the school and parents. He of course waited til the last minute and since I wasn't home last night, he didn't have much help.
Max and I went to the school to check out all the projects and to say "hi" to Alex. He added the box with Max's army guys taped down and wrote "DIE DIE" this morning before school. I asked him what that had to do with South Dakota and he replied: "nothing but it is getting alot of attention." Oh my Alex is a crazy one but you gotta love him!!

Afternoon Concert and It's my Birthday AGAIN???

This year for our birthday's my mom gave Rich and I some money because we wanted to buy season tickets to The Capital Theater. They were a bit more expensive than I thought so we decided to buy tickets to see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra and also tickets to a Jazz game. That left us with some money left over for...who knows, maybe more concerts or Jazz games!!

The concert is so popular that the 8pm show sold out so they added a 4pm show and that is what we had tickets for. I met Rich at the park and ride in Orem and we headed to Salt Lake. As the show started I could tell it was going to be a very visual performance.
They had tons of strobe lights and pyro-technics.
It was really hard to get any good pictures because of all the lights and smoke. The first part of the show was a Christmas story (I didn't follow it that well), it was narrated and then there were songs. There was a LOT of long hair and head banging with electric guitars and violins. Not a typical Christmas concert but very entertaining. That was about an hour and a half. I thought it was over but they came out and said there was more...and there was, an hour more!! By that time it was a little too much for me and I thought 2 and 1/2 hours was a bit long.

I am really glad we finally went because for several years we have been wanting to go see this show. Honestly I would not see it again, but I am glad I went!

Rich and I have also really wanted to try Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It is a very expensive place to eat and I don't love spending a ton of money on food. I had $100 left over from the treadmill money and they were having a special...a salad, entree, a side and dessert for $59 per person. For those of you who have been to this place can appreciate that this is really a good deal.
Rich made reservations for 7pm and they took us to the table and there was a Happy Birthday sign and little happy birthday confetti's all over the table. The hostess asked who's birthday it was and Rich said it was mine. I guess when he made the reservation they asked if it was a special occasion and he told them it was for my birthday. So I felt embarrassed since my birthday was like 2 months ago.
Rich ordered the New York steak. They cook the meat in a really high temperature oven and it comes out at about 500 degrees. It was sizzling and smoking and the plate was super hot!!
I ordered the Fillet Mignon. When I order this at other restaurants they usually have to butterfly it because I order it medium well but they cook it at such high heat that they don't have to...it was DELICIOUS!! I have to admit it was worth the money!!! We got garlic mashed potatoes and green beans for our sides and they were really good too!!
When the waitress came to take our plates away she pulled out this "crumb comb" and cleaned off our nice linen table cloth. It was pretty awesome!!
Since it was my "birthday" I got free dessert. I chose the double chocolate, which is the chocolate cake with warm gooey fudge in the center and huge berries on top with a custard on the plate...it was so rich!! I loved it, and so did Rich. There was also a little cup of chocolate mousse with whipped cream on top.
I blew out my candle but I didn't make a wish because it wasn't really my birthday!!

I was totally impressed with everything about this restaurant. I would love to go back and try it again. I have never had a steak with such great flavor!!

We were SO FULL that we decided we needed to walk around a bit before heading home. We made a quick stop at Target and I didn't even buy anything, now that is rare!! Alexa watched the boys for us, we got home around 11pm and they were all asleep!!! It was a great day, I love spending time with Rich!!