Thanksgiving

Well I touched a bit on pre-thanksgiving. This year was my family's year. However, we don't really go to Seattle for it. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but my brother and his family moved  to Gillette, WY last June so they are only 8 hours away, instead of 14. My sister inlaw asked if they came would I host? Sure! My Grandma moved to Salt Lake last July, and I've got 2 Aunts that live in the area too.

We ended up having my brother and his family stay with us and my Grandma, Aunt Julie & Uncle Jim came over for dinner. My sister inlaw Stevie's mom, Karen came over too. Even Donavon's Dad and Ruth came over. We had the whole meal deal at our house and it was great!

It was nice to spend some time with family that weekend. Issac and Jack had a blast playing, as did Katie and Marlowe. Although it was a short weekend, we managed to get in a lot of visiting, some sight seeing and a little bit of black Friday shopping.

{Milk tea party for two!}

{Jack & Issac played dirt bikes upstairs most of the time}

{Sunny enough for a day outside!}

{A trip to Scheels in Sandy... Don't go on Black Friday FYI}

{Stevie & Jack waited forever to ride the ferris wheel inside Scheels}

He got hitched

Continuing on from Halloween in February....

Donavon's Dad got remarried right before Thanksgiving. Yup. We met Ruth on the 2 month anniversary of Brenda's passing and they got hitched not to long after. November 15th I think.

Now before you whip out your judgement, this is definitely a very personal choice and Donavon and I have had many conversations about it as well as with other family members. It breaks down like this: Everyone is different, everyones circumstances are different, we all "move on" in our individual ways, and we as a couple, along with most of his siblings are ok with it. Of course I'd be lying if we didn't have mixed emotions on the whole thing, but this is HIS life, he can do whatever he wants. He is our Dad, and we will support him if this is what he wants. We just lost Mom, we dont want to lose a Dad too because of something silly like this.

We knew, before Brenda had passed he had a strong desire to start dating again. That had already sunk in before she passed. If you think about it, Donavon was just a little guy when he started getting chats from his Dad about "mommy might not be here with us long". Donavon was prepped his entire life that his Mom would not be there throughout his childhood, her time was very limited. Thankfully he got her for 32 years. So as you can imagine my father inlaw had to prep himself that his wife would not always be around, and I'm sure had prepped himself mentally that one day he might have to find another mother to raise his kids with him.

So when he created an online dating profile that wasn't a big deal. I think we all thought it might take awhile, but when you know, you know right? The funny thing is, when I saw her picture, before ever meeting her, I knew it was her. Weird huh?

Now I will say we were all totally blown away that they were getting married so fast. We thought maybe early into the new year they might. So we quickly got to know her and met some of her kids after the engagement. Ha! We were pretty nervous about meeting her kids, I mean they've already decided to get married so uhm, ready or not, you are now stuck with new step brothers & sisters!

It went great. Phew. Ruth has 6 kids. 3 boys and 3 girls. We still haven't met all of them, slowly but surely. Maybe? We have officially met 4. Her oldest, Amy, is awesome, I'm sure the others are too but we just spend the most time with Amy since she lives local, and has kids to play with... and she is a hairstylist and we have hair that needs cut a lot. She's got 4 kids, 2 of which are Issac and Katie's age, Courtney is actually ONE week older than Katie, how awesome is that?! She's become Katie's new BFF. She asks about Courtney all the time! Issac was so thrilled he got NEW cousins, and not just one by one after new babies, he got TWELVE new Aunts and Uncles and a bunch of new cousins instantly! Bam!

So as you can imagine, the 32 something of us has increased just a tad.... Should make for interesting holiday family get togethers! Mike and Ruth have TWELVE kids now, throw in spouses and You've got a crowd.... then throw in grandbabies! YIKES!

Anyway, its been 6 months since they got married. Ruth is a great addition to the family. She's sweet and makes Mike happy. My biggest concern was whoever he picks, this will be my children's Grandma. All of my nieces and nephews are older, Grandma Brenda was with them throughout a majority of their lives and they are teenagers now, they will forever have those memories. My kids? Not so much. We'll be lucky if Issac remembers much of her. Katie wont. So yes, I was very concerned who he picked, because we needed a Grandma. The first time we met Ruth, she changed Katie's diaper. She played with them and they had a great time. She's a great Grandma, and that's all I wanted. Oh and now we don't have to worry so much about Mike, she takes care of him pretty well :)

So here are some pictures from the wedding. My camera was freaking out big time that night, I was so frustrated. Most of my pictures were super blurry. The flash would go off way after I took the pictures. These are the only good ones I got.

{Katie loved the "loons" and dancing in her princess dress}

 

{Frist Dance}

{Color station thanks to new Aunt Amy!}

{Aunt Vonda & Uncle Bryan - Brayn is the Oldest in Donavon's family}

{Busting a move... Actually I dont know what he's doing, but it looks like he's dancing!}

{Grandpa & New Grandma w/ Katie & Courtney}

{This time w/ Issac!}

{Two tired kids, Issac ran around the church ALL night with his NEW cousins!}

Happy turkey day!

It was Donavon's side this year. You know the drill. Mona, in the ward house gym, 200 people. The most un-thanksgiving ever. Ok, maybe not. I'm just being dramatic. I grew up having Thanksgiving with my family, my cousins from my Mom's side (all 3 that lived in Seattle) and my Grandparents. Nice and intimate, and don't forget delicious. Well, everything but Grandpa's giblet gravy. Ewwww.

I'm learning to embrace the "ward" style Thanksgiving. That's exactly what it feels like, a ward party. I even have the recent Halloween party to compare it to ;) just like it. I've noticed over the years I'm learning to just go with the flow and it is what it is. But hey, I have to give them props for having real Turkeys (I never said it was warm...), REAL potatoes (Donavon's Aunt peeled and mashed 50lbs!!) and even though the gravy is *gasp* from a can, its pretty tasty. Don't forget Donavon's Mom's stuffing. I'm picky on stuffing and it was good! Also cant go without mentioning my niece's Snickers Salad! Mmmm mmm! After we eat they do a talent show, whether you consider it "talent" or not is your choice. Following that is the big auction. Each Thanksgiving they do an auction, whatever money is raised goes towards next summer's activity, whether it be camping for a few days, renting out a pool for the night, etc.

Now this Thanksgiving was a little bit somber. Donavon's Grandma recently passed in late August. It was the first time we'd all been together as a crowd since the funeral, and the first since some of has seen Grandpa since then as well. You could tell it was really hard on Donavon's Mom and her sisters, I'm sure brothers too but they hide it well. Now Donavon's Grandpa put this rose colored bowl up on the auction table. I saw him walk in with it and Donavon's mom and one of her sisters wanted to know what the heck he was doing with it. I knew it was going to get interesting.

That rose colored bowl went for almost $200. The girls were in a bidding war over it, they weren't letting that thing go! The auction is always a fun thing to see, and there are always some interesting items.

Since this was Katie's first Thanksgiving I knew she'd just love it. Issac was too little on his first Thanksgiving to be able to eat anything, but my girl Katie. She loves food. Especially mashed potatoes and gravy!

{Here she is, first Thanksgiving modeling off the shirt Mommy made for her! Yes, I MADE that.}

 {Typical finger in her mouth, gnawing away on it like its a piece of meat}

{Its a joke trying to get a good picture of TWO kids. One is always goofing off or not looking!}

{Having her appetizer of Gerber puffs, she had mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, stuffing, a roll, snickers salad and some apple pie!}

...Turkey Day

Continuing on... I swear one of these days I'll get caught up.

My last Thanksgiving I spent at home was 2002. For 2003 I flew out to New York to my sister's house and my parents met me there. As for the years after that, I was an orphan and kicked around between other peoples homes during college and once married I was sucked into the family tradition of every other year in Mona with Donavon's mom's side.

This year Donavon requested leave and it was actually approved; then it became a matter of funding. Thankfully Donavon was allotted an extra $500 from his Texas 'trip' so we used that cash.

I've figured that on average it costs us at least $1,000 each time we go to Seattle. Gas, food, hotel, and activities while we are there. It aint cheap thats for sure. Definitely when I start to envy married couples who live 'at home' and both families are in the same town. What would that be like? I'll never know thats for sure. I definitely miss my family a lot and wish we were closer.

Like I said we left from Vegas; drove North through Nevada on up to Boise and stayed a night. Donavon was lucky enough to get a Thanksgiving gift from Nevada, a $100 something speeding ticket. What ticked me off is that the cop wrote for weather conditions 'snow & ice'. Hello, it was NOT snowing and there was NO ice. My theory is if you get pulled over anywhere but your home state, you WILL get a ticket. Why? Because its not like you'll come back and fight it so its sure money for them. At least we have until March to pay it.

It was a long and boring drive. We passed Area 51, but thats nothing exciting when you've lived at Dugway. Then there was nasty snow and ice storms around Ely until Boise.

{Gassing up in Wells, NV}



We left Boise and headed to Seattle. It took forever. The Oregon & Washington passes where lovely. Really makes you appreciate Utah and its DOT. Thanks Grandpa Mike! (Donavon's Dad works for UDOT and is a slave in the winter months).

We finally arrived and there was snow in Seattle. As a kid it seemed like it never snowed and lately every other year they've been getting dumped on. It kind of put a damper on things since we were OK with driving in it, but there were by far too many idiots on the road.

My poor sister was without water & power for awhile so she wrangled up her kids and came to stay with my parents too so they could have hot showers, heat and food. I'll admit it was pretty nice because we then didnt have to figure out schedules to meet up, and since it wasnt exactly great driving weather it gave us something to do around the house! My Grandma also was there. It was one FULL house. Ha ha, the Fuller's house was full. Ba-dum-ching. Dumb I know.

Issac had a blast playing with his cousins for a few days, he doesnt get much kid interaction at home and most of his cousins down here are older. It was nice to get that monkey off my back for a few days, they did a good job of keeping him occupied.

Like I said the weather was kind of crappy so we didnt do much, nor did it really feel like we were there very long anyway. We did take Issac down to the preschool fire station in Richmond Beach. The Shoreline Fire Dept. who my Dad works for has a old fire house they use for teaching kids about fire safety. My sister met us there with her kids so they could all play. I've never seen so many fire trucks in my life. Before we met we had to stop at Dick's. Delicious. Donavon & my Dad even thew in some entertainment for us. An old man slipped on the ice and was out cold, they rushed to him to help and call 911. Once the fire truck showed up we left, but Donavon was covered in the dudes blood; gross.

{Thumbs up dude!}

 {Donavon keeps saying he needs another job; I hear stripping pays well...}

For Thanksgiving we went to my brother's house. It was us, my sister's family, my parents, my Grandma & Stevie's dad Val. Nice and small and intimate. Just the way I like it. (Donavon's side is literally a ward activity, rent out the gym at the church, everyone brings a dish to share, talent show & auction and there is literally over 100 people there, maybe even more than 150.) Thanks to my brother & his wife for hosting it; it felt just like the old days! Plus the food was delish! Yum!

{Trying on Auntie Stevie's stripper hat - she asked my brother to get her a cowboy hat for halloween and he came home with THAT}



We didnt really do much that week; hit up a few places to eat and stuffed ourselves as usual and ran a few errands here and there. Dick's, Ivar's, Perry Ko's, Mi Tierra; the usual stuff face routine.

We did make it up to my Uncle Bill & Aunt Diane's twice. Love seeing my Dad's side! We saw them before thanksgiving and then the day after when my Aunt Jane & Uncle Brad where in town. My Aunt Margaret stopped by too and holy smokes, I thought Grandma Gwen came back 50 years younger ;) I havent seen her in awhile but she looks like my Grandma thats for sure!
Before we knew it, time was up and we had to head back. In snow storms. It took us about 16 hours to get home. We decided that we could have stopped in Boise for the night or we could keep going and get home past 11pm. Issac usually hits his limit around 7-9 hours. We kept going, and boy was that a good choice! The roads started getting really bad towards the Idaho-Utah border and there were hardly any cars or trucks. We pulled in at home at 11pm and I guess they shut down the border, and had a few fatalies in Northern Utah and Southeastern Idaho. Not to mention the entire next day was nasty weather in Utah.

It was one heck of a trip, it felt like we did nothing but drive. Hopefully next time we get to go up there we dont have to go to Vegas first because that is one drive I will never do again! No thanks!



Thanksgiving & Pre-Christmas

I realize this is slightly delayed, but so am I so to bad.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent it down in Orem w/ my sister inlaws family. Odd you might think, but its not. We all grew up together and her family was like family before my brother married her. It was nice to have somewhere to go. They have always been the ones to invite me when I've had no where else to go or no other invitations. The last Thanksgiving I spent at home was 2002, the year my brother got married. Their anniversary fell on Thanksgiving this year. I think in 2003 I met my family in NY at my sister's house then after that I've been on my own. So maybe next year.
It was great to see my brother and his family, I always enjoy it when I have family in town, or I get to see my family period. It only happens a couple times a year. We were able to hang out a few times which was a nice diversion from our normal weekend.
We went in on Wednesday and came back Sunday - I know it was a long trip. On the way home we stopped off at my Aunt Julie's and met my brother there; on the way out my sister inlaw, Stevie commented on how packed our car was. I often feel like we are moving in just for the weekend. Our car is PACKED when we go. This time I had to have Donavon drop off a car load half way through the trip because we went Christmas shopping. Thankfully the guys were coming out to Dugway to go shooting anyways. I decorated my tree Sunday night - Issac helped me out. I'll have to take a picture of it sometime and post it.
Issac has been doing very well. He's currently sitting next to me watching me on the computer and playing with his toys. He's starting to put everything in his mouth, oh joy. He has been eating his Mr. Elephant toy that his Grandma Joan gave him, along with the chain connected to it. Oh and his hands. He slobbers them so bad that they turn to ice cubes. People keep saying 'put mittens on them' yeah well then he's suffocating himself with cloth! He's getting pretty good at the hand & mouth coordination. He also sits up pretty well and is starting to lunge forward at things. OH duh, the Friday after Thanksgiving he started talking!!! Major milestone! He started coo-ing here and there randomly awhile ago but now he gibber jabbers. Pretty exciting! We got him an exer-saucer for Christmas but I'm debating if I should just get it out now because he is getting pretty playful and likes to try things out. If you give him your fingers he will pull himself up, and he does crunches all the time. So I'd say he's doing pretty well. Maybe not so much in the sleep department but we're working on it.

Other than what I've mentioned nothing is really new. Same 'ol, same 'ol, still hate Dugway, and I've pretty much decided I'm never going to get to leave this hole. Donavon's orders for Korea were officially deleted. They didnt have any slots for his position open in Korea so they were deleting them and putting him on a MIT team to go to Iraq for 6 months. However, he called as they were doing it and they didnt and gave him until December 15th to get orders for Recruiting Duty. If not by then, then Iraq here he comes. Lets hope not. He is going to Washington DC the end of January for some forum thing for the Army, we're thinking that maybe I can tag along for the ride (free hotel room) and then we can do things at night or the evenings. Also Donavon said Tommy might be interested in coming down to see us there. I havent been to DC in along time. I'd say I'm getting pretty worn down with the hole 'sit and wait' thing they Army has us doing. Same 'ol song and dance. WHATEVER, tell me the day before and I'll pack my bags, until then I dont want to here 'what if's and maybes'. I think our plans have changed twice a month for the last 15 months. ZzzZzzZ.....

Well, Id say that I need to get going and do some chores but I cant today, orders from Issac. He's been really fussy the last two days. I dont know what the deal is. He's really been cramming things in his mouth, but isnt it too early to start teething? He will NOT go down for a nap today, he just wants to play and be held, oh and eat. So much for getting anything done today.... Oh and Donavon is off hunting AGAIN. Last weekend FINALLY. And dare I say he didnt get anything? Putting the cart before the horse since he's not back but I'm not expecting it. Anyways, cry baby wants to be picked up I better go.