THANKSGIVING 2014

Technically, it was our year to eat a Thanksgiving dinner with a Mitchell, but since we had just spent a month in Utah and had gone back a second time in the fall, we really couldn't bring ourselves to drive up there again.  We decided to stay home and invite anyone who wanted to come or was willing to travel.  Barbara, Earl, and Christine, of course took us up on it, and so did Jane and family.  So, it ended up being a Chapman year.   We hadn't really eaten with David's parents or Jane in a few years anyway, so it turned out just right.

David took on the menu and cooking.  Holy smokes.  You just have to stand back and let him do it when he gets in one of his cooking moods.  He bought a giant turkey roaster so that we could cook the main turkey separately and have room in the oven for his other creations, which included a red chile turkey breast, 2 different kinds of stuffing, 2 different kinds of gravy, 2 kinds of cranberries, mashed potatoes, a salad, and (Barbara brought the rolls and relish tray.)

big people table

little people table

Chef David

(first one to pass out after eating dinner)

Obvious, but important things I'm always thankful for:

scenes like these in my house,

little girls who know what they love,

and a good husband.  who cooks.

Church Activities

Last fall, the girls did have some really cool church activities.  The Activity Day Girls planned a big fancy tea party with their moms.  We all dressed up and borrowed antique hats from Grandma Barbara.  Grace agreed to wear a hat if she didn't have to wear a dress, so she wore a "proper" British riding outfit. 

 That was enough girly stuff, so thankfully, they did something a little more tough a couple months later, and hiked the volcanoes on a Saturday morning.  I am so glad we went.  It was a great morning for the girls.

 And, we got our first family photo too!

The primary also challenged every family to take their kids to the temple in November.  They gave the kids a scavenger hunt and asked them to draw a picture of the temple.  Stuff like this is very Zen for Grace.  She could have sat on that fountain and sketched for hours.  Harriet loved it too.

I don't talk about church very often in my blog, but we do go to every single Sunday and spend a lot of our week on church things too, so I thought I'd give a shout-out to something that our family really does spend a lot of time doing.

Stryder graduates from puppy school

One of my biggest accomplishments of 2014 is raising Stryder at the end of the year.  I am barely alive after all of the sleepless nights, cleaning up his messes, training, and exercising him.  I knew he would be a big project, but I don't think I was truly prepared for what I got into when I said yes to that puppy.

We did enroll him in puppy school, hoping to at least get a grip on the basics.  When we adopted him at 4 months old, he couldn't even sit still long enough to take a picture of him.  Within a class or two, I was able to get him to sit and focus on me long enough to take a picture!

Even though we had been through several classes with Shadow and Velvet and knew what to teach him, going to a class just makes you do it so much better.  It forces you to do things in the right sequence, and to work on things daily so that you have made progress by the next week when you go to class again.

I admit, we STILL need work on "leave it," and tons of practice on "come" and "stay," and "heel."  But, he mastered "off," "sit," "down," "shake," and "drop it."  He won the shake contest in class against his class-mate, a baby german shepherd.  He also learned how to sit still with a hat on his head so we could take a picture of him with a graduation cap.  (not that having a graduation cap on is a useful thing down the road, but having him sit still with something on could come in handy.)

David was traveling on graduation night, so the girls came with me and helped with his test.  They love their puppy and have learned how to give him commands too.  He doesn't listen to them very well though.  He doesn't like to listen to me either when he's up to something.  (David is the only one with a deep and serious enough voice to be able to call him way from trouble quickly.)  But we are constantly working on it, and I think some day, he will be a very nice, well-behaved dog!  We put a ton of work into Shadow and Velvet too.  It will take time, but he's coming along nicely.  Thankfully, we are past the baby puppy stage and calming down every day.  

Love the Bubbers!

This green frog was his graduation prize.  He destroyed it in about 10 minutes flat.  

Harriet's first cheer performance - October 2014

Okay, I'm going to say this about a hundred times when I blog about Harriet being a cheerleader.  But, I CANNOT believe this kid, turned out to be a cheerleader!!!!  If you would have told me that's what she would gravitate to when she was 3,4,5,6, even 7 years old, I wouldn't have believed you for a minute.  She has always been so shy, had so much stage fright, and is so self-conscious.  She won't speak in front of people, let alone YELL.  Cheerleading was the last thing on my mind.

At the end of 2nd grade, Harriet decided she wanted to join the school cheer squad, which is a Razzle Dazzle group.  We were desperate for her to have new friends, and thought at the very least, she'd be able to meet some different girls.  We had no idea she'd find her passion, something that made her happier than she's ever been, AND, the most darling friends you'd ever hope to have.  It has been nothing but a huge positive in her life.  She has come out of her shell in every way you can imagine.  (You should see her give a presentation at school now, or a talk in church.)  It is just incredible.  I am so grateful for her cheer coach (Coach Kristen), and for these sweet little girls who have scooped her up and included her.

Well, anyway, October was their first performance.  They are required to perform once a month.  In the fall, they did some high school football games, and this was one of them!  Their uniforms hadn't come in yet, so they wore their school shirts.  Go H-A-T-T-I-E!!

 pre-game practice

 cheering the team as they ran onto the field

 half-time performance