And what a Thanksgiving it was......

The night before Thanksgiving is where allot of my memories are. I have always enjoyed watching my Grandma, Mom, and Denny prepare for the meal. This year Jaylin slept over and she was a wonderful helper. Her and Mason helped Denny make the pies.....they did an excellent job!

What great helpers Jaylin and Mason were.

Denny was so proud of his crust this year...says it was his Best!

This was the finished product on Thanksgiving night...

It was a hit!!

Thanksgiving was a blast. It went really well. Denny did a wonderful job on the turkey. Just a side note....my Thanksgivings are aways done in pajama style (The way they should be)...


Me, Ryanne, Lindsay, Kamrin, Jaylin, Alyssa
Girls Rule!

Denny cutting his perfect turkey

We do not know what happened....before we knew it the kids took over!

They had their hostages.....poor Colby (even Ryanne became one of them)

Ryanne with Tyler

Mom, Alyssa with Sophia, Tyler, and Gage

Geez Denny! Have you been working out?!?

LOL...

Grandma with Sophia

Me and Alyssa with Jaylin and Tyler

Aspen, Andrea, and Amy

Gratitude #20.......HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I would have to say this will probably be my last gratitude post. I know Thanksgiving is not until tomorrow but I am sure I will not have too much time for blogging. I am Thankful for Thanksgiving. I think I will work harder on stating what I am thankful for every time I have a moment of gratitude. But I am glad that we have this holiday to think about what we are thankful for and spend time as a family while eating a very yummy dinner. Every year we have our assignments and we stick to it. It is one of the best meals ever. I love Thanksgiving day. When my family comes over to my house we eat the yummiest meal ever and then have a day of playing games.

Our yummy assignments:
Mekelle- Homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable
Denny- Turkey and pumpkin pies
Mom- Her yummy Jello salad, stuffing (Grandma's recipe), more Pies, and sometimes they make another turkey (Have to have leftovers)
Grandma- Yummy Cranberry Salad (She use to do so much of it when we had Thanksgiving at her sister house. So, now we try to make her assignments small)
Kristi- Sweet Potatoes, Apple Pie

We never change the assignments or menu. We always make and bring the same things. We like it that way. Why change tradition and perfection? I am thankful and love my family and friends so much. I love all of you that take the time to check in with my life and read the blog. It is such a great way to keep in touch. I am truly Thankful for so much in my life and feel very lucky to have what I have and for the family and friends that I have. LOVE YOU GUYS! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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Gratitude #19...Grandparents

I am thankful for my Grandparents and for what I learned from them. I was not as close to my Grandfathers as much as I am to my Grandmothers. Both of my Grandfathers have passed away. I have my Grandma Bybee who I love so much. She has always been there for me and my family when we need her. She is always taking care of everyone. We helped her this last summer with mowing her lawn. I actually looked forward to going over there and spending time with her every week. I use to visit her all the time when we lived in Kaysville. But, when I moved we are not able to visit as much as I would like. I remember going to her house the day before Thanksgiving and watching her make the stuffing and cranberry salad (Both are soooo yummy). I also remember every Halloween we would think we were so funny when we rang her doorbell and trick-or-treated at her house all dressed up instead of just walking in like we always did so that we could see that surprised face when she realized it was us. She always has the really good candy!There was some time when I was in High School when I lived with her. I slept on the couch and hated first period so I would try to sleep in and not go to that class. She would try to wake me up....and if she had no luck she would come at me with a squirt bottle and squirt me in the face....hahaha. I would be shocked! I do love her so much. I am Thankful for all she does.

I also have my Grandma Wilde. She passed away shortly after Me and Denny married. She was my best friend in the whole world. I loved her so much and think about her every single day of my life. She was always there for me when I needed her. We went over to spend the weekend with her all the time. We always made honey candy together and homemade French bread. We had many great memories together at our family cabin that we all built together. She called me all the time.....just to see how I was doing. She was my biggest fan. I miss her so much. She was the most wonderful woman in the world. We had such great times together. I named my daughter after her. She is deeply missed by everyone who knew her. I hope she knows how much I miss her. I wish I could just have 5 more minutes with her to tell her how much I love her. Then I would just hug her as tight as I could. I learned allot from all of my grandparents. Grandparents are awesome and I can only hope that I am half of the grandparents they are. I want my grandkids (in 30 years) to look up to me and look forward to our time together when we have our sleepovers like I always did. I want to be that awesome Grandma when I grow up! (again not for 30 years)

Today, I am thankful for my Grandparents and what they have taught me. I love each of them so much.

Gratitude #18.......My BFF Sister Lindsay

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Today, I am thankful for my sister Lindsay. She is a wonderful sister and my BFF. Without her I am lost. She has been there for me. We stay up many nights talking and laughing. We do everything together. We had a wonderful summer together. Lots of camping and hanging out. We totally rock on Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero! We have both been through allot together. I am so glad to have her through my life. I remember when I started dated Denny, she did not like him. She did not like that he took me away from her. Although she did go every where with us. When me and Denny had our first kiss.......she was on the porch waiting for me. She was my "Maid of Honor" when I was married....geez, she was like 13/14 years old. We have become closer as we have gotten older. We were not that close growing up. I would actually bite myself and then tell my mom that Lindsay bit me! She would get in so much trouble. (LOL....there mom, that is my confession) I am sorry Lindsay for that. I think it was around the time my parents divorced that we grew closer. I have always looked up to her for her courage and strength. She is not afraid to tell you how she feels. She is not afraid of anything! So, I feel safe having her by my side. With that we do bump heads from time to time. But I have learned allot from her.

Lindsay with her daughters Jaylin and Kamrin

Cool Chicks!...Curtis' girlfriend Zenetta, Lindsay, Mom, and Me

This is our pretend wedding we did on Girls night while the boys went fishing...we thought we were so funny!

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Today I am thankful for my sister, my BFF. Love ya Sis!

Silly Ryanne

Here is some photos of Ryanne being silly....

Ryanne found a drawer in her room with misc. stuff. She came out looking like this.... It was pretty funny.

My favorite was the diaper cover hat!

Then one day I came home from the Gym. The kids were helping clean the house and they put Ryanne to work too!

She found a rubber band and thought of all the things you can use it for...You can use it as an earring!........
And you can use it as floss!.........

And this is her new favorite sitting spot. She will take everything out of the cubby (where we hold a million controllers) then she will sit in there, usually both legs but she wasn't doing that for the photo. She even has a back rest. Then she will put everything back into the cubby and will attempt it again in 5 minutes....

Random stuff of the weekend

It seems like I have not posted photos on here for awhile. So I would like to post some that I took throughout this weekend. We had a wonderful weekend. I was off of work on Friday. I have some vacation days I need to use before the end of the year. It was just Me, Denny, and Ryanne. The others were at school. It was nice spending that time together. Then on Saturday we were trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and doing some running around in attempt to make it home before the BYU and Utah game. When we stopped to visit my mom on our way home, Popps was telling us he was not going to be able to see that game on his TV so we invited them over to our house for dinner and the game. My mom also had Alyssa's two boys for the day. Alyssa is in Rehab. She has been there a month. I am so, so, so, so proud of her. While she is in rehab the kids are in a foster home. Alyssa has until April to get better and in a good place in her life to get the kids back. My mom gets to spend time with the boys from time to time. So she brought the boys over so play with my kids. They love Tyler and Gage so much. So, here are some photos of our day. We had a wonderful time. We were laughing all night. The kids were playing and having such fun. I have not seen Alyssa's boys in a long time. They are growing up so fast.

My Mom with Alyssa's boys Gage and Tyler

The kids played this game where Colby, Amy, or Mason would pull all of them around on these blankets. Tyler, Ryanne, Mason, and the dogs just loved it. Ryanne would cry every time they stopped pulling her around.

Mason is always dressing up in costumes. He changes from spiderman to a batman or a pirate all the time. Or he will be a spiderman/batman at the same time. So, when Tyler came over, Mason was so excited to have a sidekick. They were so cute. They were playing something like Batman and Robbers.

Then on Sunday we had a Thanksgiving dinner with my Dad and Sandy at my house. We had a good time. My step brother Trebor and his wife Nikki came over, Lindsay and her little girls, D.J., and Alyssa was able to come over for a couple hours. It was wonderful seeing both of my sisters. I did not get too many photos from the dinner. But I did get a picture of Alyssa. I told her I needed an updated photo.

Here is Denny, Colby, Ryanne, and Alyssa. She looks so good and healthy. I told her she looks so pretty. I am proud of her. It is going to be hard....but I know she will get better.

Gratitude #17

Holy Cow! How did I get so behind? I was doing so good! Well, I have been trying to get ready for my Thanksgivings....that is right! ThanksgivingS. I am having Thanksgiving at my house with my Dad and family today and then Thanksgiving day at my house with my mom and family. Good Times.....Good Times.....Sorry, but I am not going to be able to play catch up. Kind of busy....but every day I am truly thankful for all that I have.

Gratitude #15

I am thankful for My Eternal Companion. I know I have done a post already for my family. But, I think Denny does deserve his own post. He is amazing. I love him so much. He is my best friend. He is the friend that loves me unconditionally. He loves me on my bad days, He loves me on my goofy days, he just loves me. He is a wonderful father and husband. And, he is not bad looking either. I look at him all the time and think "How did I get so lucky?" He is so handsome and funny. I always feel so safe when I am next to him. He does whatever he needs to so support this family. He has helped me with so many things. He is the one that helped me quit smoking when I was 16-17 years old. I have not had a cigarette since. He has helped me with so much. I do not know what I would do without him in my life. We have been crazy busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. I tell you what...when that guys gets busy cleaning, there is no stopping him! He has been a huge help. I love him. I love him. I love him. I love him! I love us. I love when we are together. We have been married for 11 1/2 years and it amazes me how when we are apart how much I miss him, and how everytime we kiss.....there is FIREWORKS! He is the greatest kisser. He is my rock in life. He is my venting wall. It is not always easy being married to me....but he makes it seem easy. When we first met, he actually told his friend that I was the woman he was going to marry. Now, I thought the opposite. I did not care for him that way. But, he never gave up on me and one day I remember saying.....that is the man I am going to marry. Thank you babe for not giving up on me. We married in June 1997. Sealed in the Temple May 2000. I have enjoyed this adventure together.

With this post I am going to play our song....."Its your Love" By Tim McGraw and Faith Hill