Thanksgiving

Movie night on Thanksgiving Eve.

 Mila's view.

 The guys on Thanksgiving morning.

Cousin Justin stopped by with his cute family.

 Carving the turkey.

 Setting the Table.

 Sweet Potato Casserole in a fancy foil baking dish.

 Green bean casserole in a fancy foil baking dish.

 Canned cranberry sauce with finger poked holes courtesy of chef Wesley.

 The spread (it didn't all fit on the table)

 The fam.

Everything was delicious. Simple and easy. That's the way to do it!

Preschool Thanksgiving

Look at all that delicious food, untouched. What does Anjali eat?

 The dirt cup.

 Mrs. Jolene has taught both my girls.

 I think the pilgrim boy hats look like Cap'n Crunch.

 In the Mayflower.

Wes loves to bowl

We met up with some friends last minute for dinner and bowling. It was Wesley's first time, and the first time in a LOOONG time for the girls. Wes was a natural. (Sorry for the dark pictures, no flash photography allowed inside!)

 I loved the bowling shoes they gave him that were about 3 sizes too big for him.

 High fives!

 Anj.

Wes didn't want anyone to help him. It was great.

Camping 2010

We decided to try our hand at camping. The kids had a 4 day weekend and Cliff managed to get the days off as well. We asked some friends (camping pros) to go with us to show us the ropes. We had a total of 5 adults and 11 kids sharing two campsites. It was a great campsite (Silverwood Lake). It was just a tad cold. Actually, it was freeeeeeezing. We managed ok the first afternoon/evening but when it was time for bed none of us could sleep. It was 30 degrees and our sleeping bags said they were comfortable up to 50 degrees. All night we could hear the kids teeth chattering. Everyone was restless and cold...at about 4am Cliff and I were lying in our sleeping bags--Cliff with Wesley, me with Mila and we decided that we would not stay the second night as we had planned. When we got up for breakfast, we were relieved to find that everyone else (having come better prepared than us) decided the same--that it was just TOO cold. For the rest of the day we huddled around the fire pit, broke down the tents and packed up. But the excitement does not end there! We noticed patrol cars driving through the campgrounds quite frequently in the morning and throughout the day--being new to camping, I assumed that it was just how the park rangers made sure that everyone was checking out on time. After lunch, a truck pulled up to our site and the men in uniform asked to speak with us. We got nervous because we thought that we were getting fined for having an extra car on the campsite. But NO, instead the uniformed man went on to tell us that they had a prisoner escape down the road and that they were pretty sure he was here in the park. They asked if we had seen him. He was supposed to be shaggy looking but they told us to rest assured--the escaped prisoner still had handcuffs on. FANTASTIC! PHEW! After the truck drove off, we all paused and looked at each other, thinking 'is this for real?' and started laughing.  

Now for the few pictures I took:

My Baby - 4 months

Isn't she beautiful?!

Halloween 2010

Here we are at the Villa Park Halloween Party. I like having coordinating costumes for both me and Cliff. So if you couldn't tell, Mila is Cinderella and I'm her fairy godmother (from Disney's cinderella) and Wes is the cow and Cliff's the cowboy. Get it?!?! Anjali is Rapunzel and Lacy is a bride.

The kids got to trick or treat at a church party on Friday the 29th and then at the Villa Park shopping center on the 30th. We had more than enough candy so we stayed at home and handed out candy on the actual 31st. My mom was in town for the weekend. They came over on Sunday to watch the older girls participate in a church primary program. We had dinner at home and my dad once again thought to broaden the kid's horizons this time watching "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy"