Beauty Pirate

I'm not sure if Anna looks worried because her sister is a little wild . . .

. . . or because Joy's actually a pirate with a pink eye-patch.

Puzzling with Papa

It's been an eventful Sunday.

Joy gave a talk in Primary (with her helpful Daddy holding the visual aid) . . .

. . . then we drove to my parents' home during naptime.

The kids had fun doing puzzles with Papa (Daniel's wearing a bib because Anna makes them look so cool) . . .

. . . and we scored some elk meat from my dad's recent hunt (thanks, Papa :). Roast, anyone?

Thanksgiving II

After Thanksgiving Dinner last night we all headed up to the cabin.

Andrew made us some carrot cake pancakes this morning . . .

. . . then we set to work putting up the Christmas tree.

Joy helped decorate . . .

. . . while Papa took Daniel on a walk.

This evening we went to Uncle Mark's house for a SECOND Thanksgiving Dinner. There were about fifteen adults and fifteen kids in attendance. It was chaos, in a good way. We had a great time.

And then we got a flat tire on the way home. On the freeway. Yeah, it was awesome.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a fun Thanksgiving at Uncle Nile and Aunt Breta's this year. After savoring the sumptuous fare . . .

. . . we played Dress-Up, . . .

. . . dominoes, . . .

. . . and a few wild rounds of Pit, . . .

. . . and just enjoyed being together. As I reflect on my blessings this time of year, my family, my health, and the Gospel are at the top of my list.

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

The kids decided to get into the holiday spirit by having a pre-Thanksgiving feast today.

They even dressed up in a Pilgrim hat Joy made at preschool and a little Indian headband we put together here at home.

For some reason they decided to switch headgear before the first course.

"The corn has been particularly good this year, Mr. Bradford. May I also recommend the brownies?"

The Pilgrims may not have approved of cards, but apparently the Indians enjoyed a rousing game of Uno after a good meal.

Mountain Morning

It was rainy and windy last night, but this morning dawned lovely and cool.

We fed the blue jays . . .

. . . then Papa took the big kids for a walk.

It was a nice day for a stroll . . .

. . . and a game of Cootie.

Two Little Pigs

At the cabin tonight, Papa introduced my kids to a game he liked to play when my siblings and I were young. It's called The Three Little Pigs. I recall it with a mix of nostalgia and residual trepidation.

The "pigs" would hide in various rooms of the house . . .

. . . then the "big bad wolf" would knock on the door and demand to come in. Of course, the wise pigs deny him admittance, whereupon the wolf threatens to huff, and puff, and blow their house in.

The wolf then opens the door and the pigs must flee to the next "house" or risk being "eaten (translation: tickled like crazy).

I'm happy to report that the little pigs got away safely . . . this time.

The Joy of Voting

Joy was delighted when I told her it was election day today.

After I cast my ballot, a volunteer helped Joy with the practice ballot. Joy opted to reelect Abraham Lincoln . . . and virtually everyone else on the list. Yup - this girl loves to vote.

Here we are sporting our "I Voted" stickers.

Ribbons and Creative Spelling

We've had fun with Pink Grandma this week.

She and the kids had a dance party at our place a few days ago.

Apparently it was a freeze dance party - you had to occasionally stop moving, then get your groove on again.

Today we visited Grandma for dinner and played with her magnetic alphabet. She had bought three of each letter, but there still weren't quite enough to spell all the names in our little family, so we spelled Daddy's nickname instead. :)

In case you can't quite make it out, his nickname is "P Dizzle." Long story.