Friday, November 28, 2014

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was both wonderful and horrible this year!
Wonderful because we had so much family here! Vickie and Clayton and all
four of Dennis and Cathy's kids came, as did my parents and Brenda and Ash
and Betty. What made it horrible was that right as we sat down to dinner,
Betty passed out! Brenda and Ash had to take care of her as she became
quite sick. Since we had all the food hot and on the table, we proceeded to
eat. It was a little awkward knowing she was right there and so sick!
First, we were going to send food home with them, then as she wasn't well
enough to travel and several hours had passed, they ended up calling an
ambulance. She went to the hospital and was given an IV and medication
and we released. She is home today and resting. Despite all that, all of
the cousins managed to have a good time. The kids all played games, while
the adults visited. We even got a text from Keilana right in the middle of
dinner! Later, Wayne and Jolene and August came by for dessert. August
even helped me do a little vacuuming! Overall, it was a nice day, despite
Betty being ill!
 
Vickie and Mom
 
Dad
The "banquet table"
The garland we made listing all the things we are thankful for.
The cousins playing games
Ash in his turkey hat that Lizzie made.
My apple and cherry pie.  Elizabeth helped me decorate the cherry pie. 
My pintrest appetizers!  I think they look pretty cute!
Sarah, Jessica, Daniel and Stephanie, Daniel's girlfriend.
The gang at dinner, minus the Givargis family tending to Betty.

Fall baseball

Joshua finished up the fall baseball season with The Raptors. If it weren't for my dad taking him to practice, he would have barely participated! He had an ok season, but ended on a high note with two hits in his last game! That is after the whole season of not getting a hit, but getting hit with the ball several times! The boys are just starting to pitch and that makes it hard to hit the ball, but easy to be hit by it! He kept a good attitude all season and had fun!

Disneyland


We decided to get the southern CA pass for Disneyland and went
on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Donald had the day off and we were able to
meet up with Elizabeth's best friend, Caytlyn, who was celebrating her
birthday. We drove down on Monday night and got to Disneyland just in time
to see it "snow" and all the lights go on! We went on It's a Small World,
all decorated for Christmas and then saw the light show they project onto
it. It was a late night, but fun!



 

Special Person Day

Elizabeth's school had "Special Person Day" and Elizabeth asked Auntie
Brenda to come and be her special person! The kids sang some songs and then
they did a craft with their special person. I know Elizabeth had a great
time and I hope Brenda did too!

Sarah's 11th Birthday

Sarah turned 11 on November 12th! She had a busy day with
school and Activity Days, but we managed to find time for her to open her
presents. Then, over the weekend, we got together with family to celebrate
Wayne and Ash's birthdays. Sarah also had a dinner and a movie party with a
few friends. She only had four girls over, but man, were they loud!
 
 
 
Fred, one of Donald's best friends from Chico was just coming into town to do a week of locum work at Donald's work.  He stopped in and had dinner.  It was so great to see him!
Elizabeth bonding with the new baby!

Oceanside and Legoland

Last winter we bid on and won a weekend at someone's timeshare in
Oceanside. We decided we would take the kids to Legoland one of the days.
We had beautiful weather, in fact, we were hot at Legoland! The next day we
just stayed at the timeshare, walking down to the beach and swimming in the
pools. I have to say, it was the best beach we have been to for a long
time. First, the waves were crashing far out, so the kids could be in the
surf and we felt like they were pretty safe. Second, we were unprepared for
the beach, so all we had were the hotel towels! That meant that I wasn't
hauling a bunch of stuff! Third, I had a book to read and was actually
relaxed enough to read it! And, finally, there were actually shells on the
beach! It seems like whenever we got to the beach, there are never any
shells around. At this beach, there were so many to pick up and examine.
We even found several whole sand dollars! If there were living, we threw
them back, but if they were already dead, we kept them. It really was a
nice, relaxing weekend!