Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today was the Canadian Thanksgiving and since one of our Elders, the one seated closest to the camera, is Canadian and since Dustin will be working a 12 hour shift on our Thanksgiving we celebrated today. Elder Melnyk is from Alberta and Elder Mulliner is from Utah. I cooked and cooked and cooked all day long today. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, greenbean casserole, Doug's delight (Jell-o salad), homemade rolls, corn on the cob, and homemade apple and pumpkin pies. Since we were in SLC yesterday I had to get it all done today. It worked out just right. We planned a turkey game to play before dinner and we made clucking turkeys out of plastic cups and learned a song for FHE. You can see one of the turkeys in the picture. I think it was a success. The boys took leftovers home and that's always a good sign. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Be sure to take some time to reflect on what you're thankful for- it can make any day better!

Jeff's Off To Play Group

Here is Jeff this morning, all ready for his new Preschool Play Group. A group of us are rotating hosting a play group in our homes. There are 5 boys. He was so excited to get his backpack ready with crayons, scissors, and a show-and-share item (a blue police car). Today is was at Ryan's house and they made mini pumpkin monsters with wiggly eyes and feet. He had a great time and came home talking all about his new friends. This is going to be really great for Jeff and it was nice putting Jenna down while he was gone and having a little while to get some things done.

The Future Musicians of the World!

This spectacular video was taken last Monday for FHE. I was so busy last week getting ready for our trip to Salt Lake City that I didn't get it uploaded until this morning. They LOVED getting the instruments out. I keep them put up and only bring them out every once in a while. I think they sound pretty good. :)

So, we spent the weekend in SLC. The weather held out- YEAH! We had to drive through the blowing mountain snow but nothing was sticking to the roads. Butte had snow on the ground as well. I felt bad for them. Snow just isn't my thing and I am soooooooooooooo grateful that Great Falls is actually getting an Autumn this year. My birthday is Saturday and there isn't any snow in forecast. I think that's the best gift of all. Getting back to SLC...Dustin and I had tickets to attend our church's General Conference. I've been watching conference via satellite my entire life and FINALLY I got to see it live. It was well worth it! There was such a special spirit there and to be near President Hinckley, a prophet of God, was amazing. We also got to see Grandma Pamela, Aunt Linda, Aunt Rosalie, Cousins Shannon, Pamela, Ben, Jonathan, and Mandy. We all went to the children's museum and even got to ride the TRAX train to get there. We all had a great time.

Jenna's Walkin'!

Okay. So this is the first video I've tried to upload. Sorry it's sideways. I didn't think about that when I held the camera. She's getting pretty good at walking with the push toys and along furniture but hasn't done much of anything at all on her own. I hope you enjoy the movie. You may want to pop some popcorn and watch it over and over since my kids are just so darn cute!

It's a start!

Yeah for Jenna! She's just starting to walk with the help of this little toy. Earlier in the week she tried once but she would just laugh and fall to her knees after only one or two steps. Then, yesterday, while I was visiting teaching she started going around in circles with a toy stroller. That was the most she's ever done. I decided to have her try again tonight and she took several steps while pushing this toy. The poor thing's pants kept sliding down even though I tried to roll them up. She'd probably have done even better if her pants weren't in the way. She seems so small but she is a year now. The boys were both about 13 months before they walked so she's right on their schedule. It sure goes by fast. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital.

Our New Treasure

Here's another plug for Craigslist! I saw this piano listed on Craiglists maybe a week and a half ago for $4oo. The listing had been posted for about a week so I emailed them to see if it was still available. She wrote back to say she still had it and that she had dropped the price to $250. I thought about it but decided we really didn't need to spend the money. Then on Thursday she wrote to say she had to move the piano within the week and that she'd sell it to me for $100! I went to look at it Friday and we made the deal. Dustin rounded up a few helpers and picked it up last night. The piano is definitely an antique. There's a sticker on it that says it was tuned in 1926! Dustin and I can already play a song together. Now we just need to get our kids into lessons so that they can grow up to be concert pianists and make us all rich! Hah!

Yum! Yum!

Here are a few photos of Jenna tonight as we celebrated her first birthday. It was so fun to decorate the dining room with pink, red, and purple hearts. We even had pink cake with pink frosting. The Smiths came over and we all had a nice evening visiting and eating and watching Jenna open her gifts. Thank you to the Smiths, Grandma Pamela, and Grandma Pat for the fun presents. We all had a great time. Happy Birthday, Jenna! We hope this next year is even better than the first!