Happy Thanksgiving!

How do you make Thanksgiving dinner with this thing on your dominant hand? Can't cut, can't transfer food from bowl to bowl, can't pick up anything heavy(like a turkey!), really can't do much without a right hand.

No problem, just borrow another right hand.

Or a few right hands!

Everybody pitched in to help with the meal this year, and my mom made half of it. I (we) made the turkey, rolls, candied sweet potatoes, and a white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. The turkey was the best ever; we brined it the day before, and it was fresh. Soooooooo moist.

Ava helped to place all the leaves!

This was what I saw when I peeked during prayer. So sweet.

Ava and cousin Cayden.


Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our thankful turkey. We added feathers all week with things we were thankful for written on them. Then we read them on Thanksgiving.

We had a very good dinner and loved reflecting on all we are thankful for. Our lives are richly blessed.

Happy Birthday Ava!

Ava turned 5 on November 19th. I can't get over it; 5 already! She had a great birthday, lots of celebrating. On her actual birthday, she got breakfast of her choice, which was bacon, eggs, toast and hashbrowns. Our Ava is so special and we are so glad to have her. She is always smiling and bursting with energy. She loves to share with her little sister and says the cutest things.

The weekend after her birthday is when we celebrated. We took a day trip to Utah and went to the aquarium and the Mayan for dinner, as per Ava's request. This is a fun restaurant where it is all themed around the rain forest, with "natives" performing rituals and diving off cliffs into a pool.

Ava got a special dessert!

The girls watching the show.

The aquaruim was a great hit. They had lots of neat creatures, amd you could touch stingrays and other little things. Ava wouldn't touch the stingrays, and was timid at first for the others. But as soon as she saw they wouldn't bite her, she went for it.

There really are jelly fish in there!

We also had cake and ice cream at home for her.

5??!! Really?????!!!!!!!!

Even a pinata, which was lots of fun.

She got all kinds of toys, and we got her this desk and filled it with art supplies.

On the day of her birthday, Grandpa brought her a new big girl bike!

All in all, she had a great birthday, we love her so much!