Thanksgiving Tidbits

Just a few quick things to remember about our Thanksgiving this year:  (Since Christmas is rapidly approaching!!!)

1.  We took a short trip down to Missouri- we only stayed for 3 days since we wanted to be back for the girls' basketball games.  Of course, the kids loved every moment of our time there!

2.  One of the biggest hits was Grandpa's go-cart!  It was fun for kids of all ages...including pregnant ladies.

3.  Playing with cousins is always so much fun!

4.  The weather was spectacular.  It was so nice on Thanksgiving that we actually got to eat outside!

5.  We resumed our traditional "Black Friday" shopping with Megan, but actually went on Thanksgiving night.  We scored some awesome deals and had a lot of fun!!!

6.  For Ashton, spending time with Oreo is always a special treat.

7.  We loved seeing everyone and felt very thankful for all of our blessings.  This year, our "Thankful Tree" helped us keep track of some of our specific blessings that we sometimes take for granted.

8.  A couple of days after Thanksgiving, we got to celebrate Tod's 36th birthday.  It was nice to be in town and actually have some time to enjoy the day...some years with all the travelling, his birthday gets overlooked a little bit.  We made him a special "soda" cake and invited some friends over for birthday treats.  What a great guy he is!  He has a lot on his plate with church and work and family but he finds a way to balance everything and always keeps us laughing!

Bits of November

Last Friday, I finally had my ultrasound and we were THRILLED to learn that we are having another baby boy!!!  When we picked Cole up from a friend's, I told him that the baby was a boy and he pumped his fist and said, "YES!!!"  The girls were at school but were anxiously awaiting the news so I wanted to give them an easy signal that they could see while walking home:

Ashton and Jordan were excited.  Regan was a little disappointed at first as she had her heart set on a little sister...but then Tod and I reassured her that she would always have a favored spot as the "spoiled" youngest girl...she seemed to get over it.  And just a few days ago, she told me that she was fine with it being a boy!

Ashton had her first violin concert of the school year and did so well.  Her 5th grade group is really good and they have progressed so much since last year.  She was thrilled to have some special friends from church show up (thanks Justin and Alissa and Macy and Ron!)

Basketball season is in full swing and these two are keeping us on our toes!

I had already committed to coaching Ashton's team before I found out about the pregnancy, so it has been an interesting season so far.  No demonstrations by me this year!!!  Jordan's 3rd grade team has mostly Sunday games, so she has been joining our 5th grade team...what a learning experience for her...that is called learning by being thrown right into the heat of it...she has done well and has a great attitude.

Go Wildcats!!!!
The Cole Man keeps his backpack packed and ready with supplies for all the sporting events he has to sit through.

And Regan.....just happy to be spinning off to ballet class and dancing her way through life!

We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving this week.  I leave you with a fun Turkey craft we made with Regan's Girl Scout troop last week.  Gobble!  Gobble!

Halloween Wrap Up

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I need to get this Halloween post on its way.  Thanks to Grandma Cindy, the kids had fabulous costumes and we had a lot of fun.  For Halloween 2012, we had a Spooky Pirate:

An Old-Fashioned School Teacher:

A Beautiful Ballerina:

And Batman:

They made a really good-looking crew!

We enjoyed the church trunk-or-treat, school carnival and trick or treating in our wonderful neighborhood.  Of course, no Halloween is complete without our traditional pumpkin carving.  One of my favorite activities, especially now that we finally have 2 independent carvers!!!!

It was a wonderful celebration full of fun and memories!

October Around Here

We love October!  It is a wonderful time of year.  We started off by enjoying General Conference weekend- a rare chance to be together as a family and just relax!

 All "original" Andersons will recognize this Go Fish card game that we played when we were young.  It is still a big hit around here!

Of course, we have to have a scrumptious breakfast complete with cinnamon rolls.

Fall water color projects kept everyone busy.

Jersey day at school is always fun.  Ashton sported her soccer jersey, Jordan wore her softball jersey and Regan was rooting for the YMCA!

Pregnancy is definitely starting to show...and I'm finally feeling better.  Due date is April 11, 2013!!

Grandma Cindy sent cute dresses- perfect for the fall season.

We got to enjoy one more soccer tournament- so proud of all the hard work and commitment this girl has put in to this season.  Proud of her for putting her heart and soul into practice even when lots of the games had to be missed due to Sunday play.  What a great attitude she showed.

Proud of these kids for being good sports about watching so many sports!!!!

Halloween post coming next!!