Thanksgiving Over the Years

2013

2011

 2010

(Ila was in my tummy)

2009

Baby Swing

I put Silas in the baby swing for the first time.  He loved it and actually fell asleep...so I took him out and he napped in my arms.  

Thanksgiving 2013

This year my parents came for 6 days and we celebrated Thanksgiving a week early.  It was so fun and nice to have them here for such a nice trip.

My dad, Silas and I went shopping together.....we had lots of fun and bought lots of fun goodies for Thanksgiving.  

My mom and Mark were in charge of the Turkey!!  They did a great job. 

My mom pretty much cooked the entire meal.  She's a great cook and her famous stuffing is a family favorite.  

Here is our annual family Thanksgiving picture.  Click HERE to see past family photos.

We decorated gingerbread homes....a fun tradition.  We do this while the food is cooking.  

Silas got his first bite of solid food.  We put an avocado through the food mill.  He enjoyed it.  

My mom brought the kids a very special and fun gift.  The last trip she was here she measured our dining room table and made a table top fort.  

While my parents were here Mark put together our new swing set.  My mom and dad both helped and then got to play and enjoy the swing set with the kids. 

One of my favorite things this trip was making glitter quarters with my mom.  This is what the tooth fairy brings and my mom help me restock my supply.  When I was a little girl my mom made glitter quarters and it was fun to do this with her.  

One evening Mark and I got to go out on a date while my parents babysat. We brought Silas with us since he still nursing.  We went out to coffee and then did some Christmas shopping.  The picture below is of me waving to Ila over text message.  My mom and her were texting us and asked for a picture of mommy....."Hi Ila May, mommy and daddy are having a nice date." 

My moms birthday is Dec. 8th so we did a little celebration and had her open her gifts.  Lulu worked really hard and sewed my mom a tote.  Lulu and my mom have matching totes now.  

This was a very special Thanksgiving!!  

Happy 38th Birthday Mark!

We had a wonderful birthday for Mark.  Lulu and I planned a special day for him.  I took the kids shopping a few weeks earlier and we hid the gifts under the stairs.  Levi would walk by the stairs, point and put his pointer finger over his lips and give me a cute smile. 

We got Mark a new watch, a set with a pocket knife and work knife and a really nice hand truck....that's what's under the blue blanket in the background.  

Then that night we flew Mark on a surprise trip to Mexico.....The master bed was the air plane, Levi was the pilot and Lulu was the flight attendant.  He even got almonds and club soda as a snack.  When they landed (Mark didn't know where he had landed) they came out to the dining room and ate at a fine Mexican restaurant.  We had a blast celebrating.  

One Year Ago Today...

We said goodbye to my parents in Redmond, Washington and headed for Boise, ID. We miss our family so much but know Idaho is where the Lord has us. We love it here and are so thankful for this past year. The best part of this past year was having Silas join our family!!

Six Months

Silas is 6 months old! He is a delight and a very happy baby. This past month he's been teething but still no teeth. When we sing as a family he joins in and sings as loud as he can. He's sleeping on his own in his own room. That makes me a bit sad but he and I both sleep much better this way. Silas loves the walker and scoots around just fine. The other day I went out with him alone and when we got home Silas could hear the noise of the kids as we came through the door and started kicking his feet and "talking" to them.