Thanksgiving

It was a Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure I'll get in trouble for many of these pictures. Historically, for some reason , I do not take very good pictures at large family functions. I guess I'm too busy snapping away without thinking much about it or trying to get candid shots when people are eating (not pretty). Maybe even though I want to get some pictures, they are hurried so I can enjoy the family and food myself. Anyhow, whatever the reason... here are some anyway.

Grandma and Mitch

Alex

The beginning of the feast...filling up the kids plates.

Manicures by Great Grandma

Saroya & Kobe

Cousins- so happy to play all together again

A rare and very appreciated smiling picture of Michael.

Miss J

The after dinner ritual begins. Nathan & Holly scanning the Black Friday ads.

And then there's the other after dinner ritual- the walk. This is really where I'll probably get in trouble for posting pictures! It started out as a nice brisk walk...

and then things got silly- thanks to Holly, of course. I ran ahead to take a picture of them and when I turned around Holly was running up right behind me. Cracked everyone up. It's probably only funny to those who were there- me, Holly, Mom, and Tami- but I'm posting these for them.

I miss you guys!! Can't wait for another visit!

My Family

A few random photos of my family...

My handsome and successful husband

who loves me "desperately. " (Holly's word)

Our 11 year old Jillie who is growing up so fast

and enjoys that fact.

A leader, singer, public speaker, basketball star, etc...
She's developed so many talents.

It's exciting to see her reap the rewards of her hard work.

Reagan, our easy going 9 year old singer, star gymnast, and recent cellist.

We've realized lately just how quietly confident
she has become. It's amazing to us.

Kobe, our cool 6 year old and Mr. Popularity..

who loves to create, who NEEDS to create.

an example:
He sees some plastic spoons and knives and
within in minutes it is an airplane- complete with teddy bear pilot.

And finally...

Jack Jack, our mischevious 3 year old
and lover of technology- especially cameras!

Again?!?!

Well, the response to my first ever blog post was mixed.

Holly congratulated me with an extremely kind post on her blog and Sunny? She was proud of me too, but now she's forcing me to write yet another post! And it looks like this one is going to take even longer! :) Just kidding Sunny- it's OK. These are getting fun! ;)

Sunny tagged me to answer these specific questions...

-The best thing you cooked last week?
Cheesy Garlic Chicken (see recipe at recipesecrets.com)

-If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who? I would go to NYC with Greg to a Broadway show or someplace tropical with a quiet, beautiful, secluded beach- you know, rent our own island!

-Five things you were doing ten years ago...
Jillie was 1 1/2. We had just moved into an apartment off of Alpine Ave. in Grand Rapids. I was also about 2 months pregnant with Reagan. I think this was about the time that I snooped around til I found out Sunny's phone number in California (She was on her mission) and I called her to tell her the news (she was mad at me a little for making her break the rules). Greg was working at a PR firm (his first right out of college) for about 6 months & was anxious to climb the ladder out of that first job. I was working too. I'd take Jillie with me to this family's house to watch a 4 and 6 year old during the day.

-Five things on your to do list today
Clean the entire house
Get laundry done
Shop for the baby shower "group gifts"
Make an appointment for a follow up ultrasound on my mammogram
Decorate for the baby shower we're having here tomorrow....
oh yeah, and watch and feed the kids who are all home from school today (Veteran's Day)
[No I do NOT have time to be doing this right now! :)]

-Five favorite snacks
POPCORN! Healthy Pop Butter
Curves Peanut Chocolate bars
Weight Watchers lemon cake
Baby carrots
Golden Delicious or Gala apples

-Five bad habits
Staying up too late at night
Putting exercise on a back burner
Over sleeping
Being late to almost everything
Eating more than I should/Eating more sugar than I should

-Five favorite foods
My goulash!!!
Mom's spaghetti sauce
Cheesy Garlic Chicken
Roast Beef with potatoes(not mashed) and gravy
French Toast

-Top Five places I've been
Disneyland/Disney World
The Badlands of South Dakota/Mt Rushmore
Washington, DC
Yellowstone/Yosemite
Salt Lake City/Provo

-Five favorite memories
Our first date
Our wedding day
Delivering each of the kids
Trips to Disneyland & Disney World
The week we spent in Michigan for Dad's retirement- Mom, Dad, sisters and all the cousins

OK, another post done! Tagging Angie back on this one! :)

I will not blog!

I am not going to blog! I don't have time for this! I only have time to read blogs other people write (which I quite enjoy). But now Angie has "tagged" me. I think this is a conspiracy- She swore I'd be a blogger soon! :)

Well I still do not intend to blog...at this point anyway. But I will take the challenge of posting 6 truths about myself. (This feels more like confessions though.)

1. I ate 1/2 of a bag of Light Ruffles while thinking about this. Only about 3-4 WW points though so it's not too bad. If you haven't tried the light ones- they are so good!

2. My husband calls me "Bok". Nikki turned into Nikkerbokker, which turned into Bokker,which turned into Bok.

3. Most days I suffer from "CHAOS" (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). If anyone finds out how I really live, I am mortified. I love to have a clean house, but it isn't easy to keep it up. My standards have lessened considerably though. I now just try to keep the main floor clutter free- not actually clean. These days it seems much more realistic to just have the perception of cleanliness. As Greg likes to say, "Perception is Reality." If you want a tour of the whole house, give me about a week to clean the upstairs and basement!

4. Everyday I feel guilty that I'm not doing a good enough job as a mother and homemaker.

5. My memory fails me. It started when I was first pregnant, and has worsened over the years. It actually scares me sometimes how long it takes me to come up with a name or even a word. Considering the fact that there is some dementia in the family- I get pretty nervous about this.

6. I wish I could read minds. I wish I could read my kids minds to know why they do some of the things they do. I wish I could read my husband's mind so I could be a better wife. I wish I could read everyone else's because I want to know what they REALLY think of me. (That last one bothers me- why do I care SO much about what others think of me? I really do though. I'd be so sad if I found out someone didn't like me... but I'd still want to know.)

Ok, done. That only took me about an hour or so thanks to Jack Jack's interruptions. ( I finally put him in front of Blue's Clues so I could finish- see #4).

Thanks Angie!
I will now tag my sisters- Holly and Sunny