Thanksgiving 2008 World Tour

The problem with having Thanksgiving so late this year is that it crowds a bunch of holidays close to one another. This year we decided to have our own family dinner the day before. However we decided to invite some neighbors for our Wednesday feast. I had taken Wednesday off and pretty much laid around in bed/couch all day. When it came time to eat I was more tired than normal and even fell asleep on the floor while our neighbors were visiting with us. I am wondering if doing nothing sometime makes you more tired than doing a lot. Cynthia teased me a little and told me that I wouldn't be able to sleep that night. I fooled her. I crawled into bed at 9 and woke up at 7.

We had dinner with her parents on Real Thanksgiving Day. And it was especially nice because only 3 of the 8 kids were there! There was plenty of food, no spilled food, no long lines. On Friday we went back up and made Christmas Tree ornaments. I had planned on riding my bike up and just meeting Cynthia and kids up there. However, I soon became aware how cold and windy it was, plus I haven't ridden in a very long time, so I chickened out. I rode around Nephi and then drove up later.


The kids made gingerbread ornaments on Friday. The biggest problem we had so far is that Keanu will take them off the tree and bite into them thinking they are food.

We also put up the tree, stockings and lights outside. I asked Cynthia if maybe it was time to upgrade and get a bigger tree. She flatly said no. She also said size doesn't matter...

Saturday night Kai's class was singing at the lighting of one of the parks in town. It was followed by the first annual Nephi City Light Parade. Santa was the Grand Marshall. This picture of Santa on a fire truck took me back being 8 years old and living in New Jersey. I remember waiting each year for Santa to drive by our house on top of a fire truck and give us those little candy canes that were usually broken in several pieces.

Keanu sleeping...again

I swear this kid can sleep any where, any time...

Kai and RADD Kids

Kai and Kalea particpated in a program called RADD Kids that runs through their school. It's aimed at teaching them how to be safe. It's taught by local law enforcement and the kids learn among other things how to defend themselves if someone tries to hurt them. We were able to watch both kids do their programs but only remembered to bring the camera for Kai. Kalea said she hated it because it scared her, Kai on the other hand had a blast. He admitted to me later that night that the best part was "kicking that guy in the nuts". I wished we had taken pictures of Kalea with her class because her size becomes more pronounced when she is with several of her friends.

Taylor made the front page of the Paper

Taylor was recently on the front page of the local newspaper. She was singing at an open house for their brand new school that was just completed 3 weeks ago. All of the 5th graders were asked to sing. If you click on the title it will take you right to the online version of the paper and she is in the 2nd row, 6th from the left.

Kalea's 10th Birthday

This past week Kalea celebrated her 10th birthday. She started the day out by getting a bunch of presents from the family and ended it with another ultrasound of her kidney. That's the way I dream of spending my birthdays. I thought the kidney issue would have been done a few years ago, but I guess with a new doctors they like to be thorough. She had some friends over for a little get together on Saturday which was quiet and low key. While the girls were doing their thing, Kai and I were stuck in the basement cleaning out the storage room and putting in new shelves.

Trampoline

We have now joined the ranks of most other Mormon families by purchasing a 'gently used' trampoline. If spirituality could somehow be measured in terms of having a trampoline we are now approaching perfection. If we really wanted to to be at the top we would have bought a brand new trampoline and had it placed in a hole that was lined with bricks and grass. With a 1/2 acre to landscape and over 500 cubic yards of dirt that needs to be removed, the hole (and perfection) will have to wait...

Halloween

Taylor dressed up as a witch; Keanu went as a dog, Kai went as a BYU football player (which right now isn't very scary) and Kalea went as a Denver Broncos cheerleader. I tried to get Cynthia to dress up with me, but decided at the last minute that she was too cool for it. Not wanting to give the neighbors any more ammunition as being the village idiot, I went as the dutiful father. We drove around in the truck with some friends so we could hit the really good houses in Nephi and ended up at 2 different ward's Trunk or Treat. One of the local doctors was giving out cans of soda along with candy. Score!

To avoid any sort of arguing with the candy we put it into one giant communal bowl.

Camping

The kids are moving into a new school next week and as a result were given a couple days off from school. So we decided to go camping, well just me Kalea and Kai. Cynthia hates camping period and Taylor doesn't like to sleep on the ground. However they came up and had dinner with us and then left.

I wish I could say this was Kai's Halloween costume, but this is how he looks whenever he camps. How he manages to get a goatie made of dirt is anybody's guess.