THANKSGIVING in St. Johns 2008

-WARNING-

Lots of pictures ahead

Everytime we drive down to SJ Mark always says we should stop and let the boys run down the Sandhill just outside of Moab, this year he finally stopped.  The boys LOVED running down the hill and I didn't even mind all of the sand in the shoes and clothes because it was such a much needed break in the long drive.  Mark even climbed up the hill and ran down with them.

Hayden was quite interested in the sand, I thought afterward that I should have taken off his pj's and let his little toes feel it too.  He played with the sand for quite awhile before he finally decided to taste it!

Playing b-ball at Gma's house is something these kids do every time we are there.  I wish there was some way to know how much ball has been played at this spot in the last 15 years.  Colb and Cam are finally getting the hang of it enough to want to actually play!

The above picture is of Hayden with his wife and kids.  My mom has these dolls that the big kids decided to turn into Hayden's wife and kids.  It was funny because Hayders would play with them and give them kisses and the big kids would laugh and laugh!

Turkeys and Pilgrim Hats   Making these Turkeys has been a tradition that I started four years ago, the Pilgrim Hats were new this year.  The kids always have a good time making these and always eat way more than they make!

The above picture I had to include. Let me tell you why... these are my cousins little boys at Nana's on Thanksgiving Day.  Harvey (in the corner) had his backpack of animals that all the other boys wanted to play with but Harvey was not going to share.  They sat there trying to convince him that he really needed to share with his cousins, but Harvey held out and refused.  It was so dang funny.  I think Kimberly has got her work cut out for her with this kid, he is a lot like his dad!

8 of Nana and Papa's 21 Great Grandkids

The picture above is to explain the picture below.    Hayden could not get over seeing the Mountain Lion on the wall at the Zieler's.  He sat there with Uncle Jim for about 20 minutes pointing and shaking and growling at the lion.  It was so dang cute!

9 of the 36 Mineer cousins

Ok, this picture (above) is for Colt's posterity.  Colt has watched every Cowboys game since he was three and can tell you anything you would ever need to know about the Dallas Cowboys.  After this game on Thanksgiving Day, we all sat around playing cards and eating again but Colt sat on the couch re-watching the TIVO'd football game! Every once in a while he would say, "ok, dad watch this play." If Colt does not grow up to work for the Cowboys or ESPN it will be a crying shame. 

These four kids spent hours playing in their fort in Grandpa's new wood pile.  It was so nice to see them playing together so well and using their imaginations!

Look at Maison's hair!!

Still like it and Happy Thanksgiving

I saw Twlight again last night in Showlow with my mom, Aunt Kristi, Savannah, and Michelle Johnson. I liked it better the 2nd time. I think because I wasn't watching for things that they left out I was able to just watch the movie and enjoy what they did include. And Edward, though still not who I would have picked, won me over even more. So if you saw it once and didn't really like it, I say give it a second chance.

On another note, we are so excited to be in SJ for this week!! Yeah for Holidays that bring families together, even if there are going to be 40 people to feed on Thursday!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

LOVED IT

Just incase anyone was wondering....I loved the movie. Totally worth staying up till 3am. I can't wait to see it again on Monday. I went into it not expecting much and came away pleasantly pleased and wanting to see it again.

3 more hours....................

This will be the first time I have seen a midnight movie and I am so excited!!! I'm sure I will not be so excited when I have to get up early to get the kids to school, but it's worth it. I already can't wait to see it again on Monday in Arizona with my family!! Yeah for having something to be excited about!

SHARK TEETH!!!

I am almost a month late in letting you all know that Cameron has finally lost his first two teeth!! He lost the first one back on October 26th and just lost the 2nd one 6 days ago.  With Colby telling us pretty much everyday that he has already lost 9 teeth, and with Hayden already growing in 8 teeth, Cam was feeling a little left out in the tooth department.  Finally one day he says he has two loose teeth, so I look in his mouth and not only are they loose, but the new teeth were growing up behind the baby teeth. Luckily he had a dentist appt in a couple of days so I didn't worry about it and it didn't seem to bother Cam at all.  The dentist looked and said, yep, you have Shark Teeth. Cameron ended up having a little cavity so the dentist gave him a week to get the baby teeth out before we came back to fix the cavity.  By the time we went back he ended up getting one baby tooth out so the dentist didn't have to pull them! And Cam did GREAT getting his filling, even after all the horror stories Colby had told him!  He didn't have a melt down until after and we were in the grocery store, oh man did he loose it, I was so embarrased!  He was mad because his mouth felt funny and he didn't think he could eat anything!  This story is getting a little long so I think I will end it.  Both baby teeth are out now and the new teeth have moved up to where they should be.  For now all is ok on the tooth front in our house, except for the gallons of slobber and the bite marks on everything from Hayders!  

If I could chose a talent...

I would chose to be able to make amazing cakes. 

First I would make this flip-flop cake just because it is fun.

Then I would make this cake for Hayden's first birthday.

Ten days later I would make this cake for Mark's birthday

and on the same day make this cake for Mark's dad's 60th birthday. (yes, they share a b-day)

For Christmas I would make this pretty cake.

In January for Colby's 8th birthday I would make this Lego cake, he would love it!

On the same day as Colby's I would make this Strawberry Shortcake cake for me because it is my birthday too and because I had a cake just like this one when I was a kid.

Or I could make this newer fancier version?

Or, I could go with this fun cake?  Either way it wouldn't matter just as long as I get a cake too! and a pink one to boot, we are lacking in anything pink around here.

So now you know what one of the talents on my wish list is. 

R-E-D-S-K-I-N-S

REDSKINS STATE CHAMPS 3rd year in a row 1994

After all of the negative press that St. Johns has gotten over the last 2 weeks it was nice to see that someone in the BIG TIME media is willing to see St. Johns for what it is, and let others see what it is we all love about our little "po-dunk, redneck" town. I started off reading the article with a little bid of SJ pride welling up, then when I read KJ's name the emotions took over and I finished reading in tears. (for those of you who don't know, KJ is my cousin, my boys love him!)

Good Luck to the boys this weekend. We really hope they win so we can watch them play in the Championship game the day after Thanksgiving!!!

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/11/16/20081116stjohns1116.html

Thanks to Lindy for posting this article on her blog first!

11 months old

I don't think I am able to convey in words just how much we all love this baby boy. He is so STINKING CUTE & FUN!!!!! He's into everything, and has started throwing fits when he doesn't get his way! Seriously, we all look forward to seeing him every morning and wish you all could see him too, you would love him! And yes, he still has Red hair.

What I want for Christmas...

Just a few things on my Christmas list...
I can smell the yummy bread I will make when I have this Wheat Grinder!

I love this Pottery Barn Bench, I need it, like, last Christmas!!

This Shark Steam Mop...when your house has hardwood floors in every single room sweeping and mopping become a huge burden, but this little find would make my life so much easier!

No words....

There are no words to adequately express the emotions associated with what happened to this good man in St. Johns last week. I have known Vince for his whole life, my Uncle married his Aunt and so in a way, joined our family to the Romero family. This story consumes my thoughts as it does for everyone in St. Johns and from St. Johns. You can't have lived there and not know a Romero or two, they are a great family. Trying to make sense of what happened is hard and I am not sure if it will ever make sense. I pray for Vince's family and the Roman family to be able to someday soon find peace of mind and happiness in life. And for the people of St. Johns to also be able to find that peace. Parents, hug your kids and love them more than ever. I am so glad that my kids don't have to know about this. (until we go to SJ for Thanksgiving at least, I'm sure they will find out somehow when we are there.)
If you haven't seen this story on the news or the Today show, you can find more info here and here.

I VOTED. DID YOU?

The cookie smudges and the roughed up edges of the sticker are thanks to my sweet little baby boy! I know it's shameful, but this was the first Presidentail Election I have voted in. We moved around so much that I never took the time to register to vote, but this time I was not going to let the responsibility pass us by.

Dangers of Blogging

Tonight KSL 5 tv up here in Utah is going to do a report on the dangers of blogging. After watching the preview of the report, I decided that it is just better to be safe then sorry and am going to permanently make my blog private. When the report comes out I will post a link for those of you interested in seeing it, or you can just go to KSL.com and find it there.

A Fighting NINJA - A SCARY VAMPIRE - And one SUPER CUTE FROG

When Colby was 2 he was a Ninja and this year he wanted to be a Ninja again. He decided that every 5 years he would be a Ninja!  He was by far, the best bike riding Ninja I have ever seen!

Cameron decided on a Vampire and didn't change his mind once!  He loved the makeup but would not wear the teeth for more than 5 minutes. 

Hayders got to wear the FROG costume that Colby wore, and I have to say he was so stinking CUTE.  I could have squeezed him and kissed him all night.  I couldn't decide on just three pictures...

We had a fun night with friends and Gma and Gpa coming over for dinner.  There were so many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood that we ran out of candy!