Happy Thanksgiving!

Mom put on another great feast for us!! We had a very relaxing day followed by a little holiday shopping fun for Mom and me on Friday morn. I wasn't the crazy coot out at 4:00 am. but still found some great deals by mid-morning.

This year I am most thankful for family..my busy boys, fun-loving husband, caring parents, adorable niece who calls to talk to me often... As my brother and sister both live out of town with their families...it makes the times we spend with them more special. I am also thankful for my great friends and a job that I love. I have so many blessings in my life and always appreciate a day to celebrate them.

Ouch- Luke's first broken bone!

Well, we have been to the Emergency room with Luke a few times before. However, this is the first broken bone for him. On Monday, he fell off of the top rung of Ryan's bunk beds He landed with a loud thud and cried for a long while. Matt was on duty...I was at work..and he wasn't quite sure if it was broken at first because Luke continued to play as usual. We noticed that evening that he just seemed to guard it more than necessary and wouldn't put any weight on it. Finally, Tuesday morning we decided it was worth it to get it checked out and thank goodness. He has a break of the radial bone and is wearing a full arm cast. He hated it for the first couple of hours but has adjusted quite well. He just refuses to wear long sleeves over it. We wrestled for a good 10 minutes before church today! My dad says that this will probably be the first of many for Luke. Let's hope not!!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun night. I was in a writing conference all day which was very informative, yet brain boggling. It was nice not to have to battle the Halloween high at school--kind of a bonus. So when I got home, the boys were ready to hit the road. We traveled up the hill to the shopping strip mall. All of the stores participate in trick or treating starting at 4:00. It was so fun for the kids because they didn't have to wait until dark to get busy. We circuited the stores (including a stop at Starbucks for the parents) and then went to Andrea's house for pizza. Ryan and Luke hardly ate anything. They just wanted to get out to the action. It was a beautiful fall night so the streets were swarming with kids. Luke ran from door to door, even opened one poor man's door because he didn't get there fast enough. It was mortifying but the man was a good sport. Ryan was a bit more reserved and spent more time helping our little friend Natalie get to some of the doors. It was fun to watch a one year old toddle up to the door again. Ryan received many compliments on his painted face. He was pretty proud to be a Marine! Luke was complimented on his big muscles and even dropped down to do a push up or two to show how strong he was. At the end of the night we divided the candy in to a couple of BIG bowls. We have enough candy to last months!!!