Mr. Peanut Moves Out

After 2 years Mr. Peanut has has found a happy new home.  

Why you ask?

This dragon mom will no longer share my laundry room.

(I did share with him for over 735 days.)

But more importantly, the thrill is waning for his owner, Meg.  She is busy and Mr. Peanut is

a social bunny that loves to be played with.  He needs little ones loving on him, building forts for him to crawl through and giggling when he washes his little face with his paws.

Despite the teary goodbye photo, Meg agreed with this decision....
really.
I am not that big of a dragon mom.

I have tried to ease the vacancy by reminding her to clean up his messes, get him out from under my bed, and clean up the half-eaten banana slime on the floor...just to provide relief when she realizes she does not have to do those things anymore.  I think it is working.

I really wish I was a pet mom....
I have given it a try with 4 parakeets, a guinea pig,
6 cannibalistic hamsters, hermit crabs, fish, dog sitting.....

I just can't do it.

Thanksgiving

I love love Thanksgiving.

I love a holiday that celebrates gratitude and reminds us of those brave souls that came to a new, unknown land to worship God in their own right and for the compassion the natives showed them.

Also, I have never had to host the dinner....

nice to still hold "contributor" status. 

I made all my "sides" the night before so we could enjoy a little Turkey Trot in the morning

to help support our friend running for Supervisor, Denny Barney.

He was also giving all proceeds to Azbrainfood....really love that!

 This year we did turtle races after the feasting.

I was bummed that I had forgot my camera--and then 

I remember that I have a trusty camera on my phone.

Seem to forget that I can use that feature.

Team Farnsworth took our turtle race serious.

Isaac was assigned turtle decor and naming our racer "Speedy."

Cole was over the incentive to make our turtle move, 

Tom was in charge of getting the turtle to the starting line...it was over 100 pounds.

The girls did turtle cheers.

"Speedy" took first place in both the

circle and uphill races.

Chad brought his main squeeze, Carissa, to Thanksgiving.

We love her....she is a keeper (: wink wink  

They are hosting a camp-out in the backyard this weekend with all the grandkids.

Carissa, you are a good sport.

This is the perfect weekend for puzzles.

Once you finish one, you are ready for more.

Meg is 12....what??

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this child turning 12. 

 She will forever be our little "Nutmeg."

I am just sorry she has to share her special day with her mom.  

She is always worried that I am not having a good birthday.

I always have a good birthday sharing it with her.

The blog post my kids surprised me with was quite interesting.

There were a few things I was scratching my head about.....adventurous, best cook ever??

If that is really how they see me, I have brainwashed them well. 

Meg informed me that she has not had a "friend birthday party" ever.
(Excuse me, she forgets her super-hero themed party when she turned 5.)

We invited a dozen or so of her buddies to celebrate.
I love all of these girls.  

I saw these pictures and I wish I had provided
 root beer in a can and not the bottle...

looks like quite the party.
I might as well have served candy cigarettes too.

Up until this sixth grade year, Meg's best friends were boys.  

Unfortunately some of them had scout camp-outs.

Glad that Alex, Trey, Taylor, and Dallin could make it.

My party planners for the evening were Summer, and her friend Sandra.
I love Sandra..I say jump as she says "How high?" 

 They handled the s'mores and ping- pong competition.

Isaac was a help as well, providing entertainment during dinner.

I don't even blink an eye now...this is normal.

Guest Post: The Kiddos

Hey guys! Its Summer, Meg, Ike, & Cole! We thought we'd let you in on a little secret...its our mom's birthday! We want to share the 39 things we love about our mom.

1. Hardest worker we know
2. Beautiful on the inside and out
3. Great dancer
4. Makes any situation fun
5. Positive and upbeat
6. Understanding
7. Story teller
8. Creative...thinks outside of the box
9. Compassionate
10. Never gives up
11. Spiritual
12. Loving
13. Forgiving
14. Always happy and always smiling
15. Truly inspirational
16. Everyone's best friend
17. Good listener
18. Humble
19. Always striving to better herself
20. Our role model
21. Great sense of humor
22. Talented Photographer
23. Best. cook. ever.
24. Avid blogger and never misses an event
25. Organized
26. Responsible
27. Adventurous
28. Adept Scuba Diver
29.Comforting
30. Easy to be around
31. Classy
32. Dare Devil
33. Helpful
34. Loves books and has great recommendations
35. Grateful
36. Active
37. Leader
38. Mad piano playing skills
39. Fantastic mother and friend

Babies

This weekend was a blast.  I got to throw two baby showers on Saturday.  The first one in the morning was for my friend, Laura.  Unfortunately she didn't make it to her baby shower.  Her water broke at 1 a.m. the night before.  We just celebrated anyway with a  

"Baby On The Way" shower and  took lots of pictures. 

We brought the remnants of the celebration to the hospital the next day. 

 Baby Eli was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and is round and so beautiful. 

(Laura's halloween costume--she doesn't just walk around in these shirts for fun)

A fun fact about Laura is she is an OBGYN.  Now she really knows what it is like (;

(Laura is also from Texas and I love how she says Y'all..... Just had to throw that tidbit in)

Later that afternoon we celebrated my baby sister Bridgette's baby, Jensen.

Could you follow that?

There was no risk of going into labor with this one....he has already arrived.

He was the cutest little guest of honor. 

YW

This week is our big Young Women Evening in Excellence ---wow that is a mouthful.

We celebrate the girl's achievements in the Personal Progress program.

We ordered these necklaces from Etsy.com and then I just snapped a photo with

a picture of the Arizona temple in the background.

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These 4 great girls are receiving their medallions.  

Desi, Emmy, Brooke, and Jill

When I was called to serve as YW president I wanted to spotlight the girls that worked hard to earn their medallion.  So, I thought maybe it would be 

nice for them to have a picture taken with the medallion.

I hope they always remember this accomplishment.

Enough serious posing....now for some fun.