What a Life!!! Part 1

We hosted the Williams side of the family for Thanksgiving this year. Everyone, except my sister Carli who opted to be at BYU-Hawaii this year (loser), came and stayed with us that weekend. There were 10 of us total. It was a lot of work (so much fun though) getting menus and activities planned but so worth it. It is a good thing that we have tons of floor room, because it was definitely utilized! Of course there was my first turkey that turned out great. I was so proud of myself, I mean it takes a real culinary chef to defrost the bird, wash the bird, bag the bird, and then put the bird in the oven until the button pops. If I had to baste it I think it would have put me over the edge! The great thing about this Thanksgiving was that I once again perfected my "gift" of bossiness and made food assignments for each person so it really wasn't overwhelming for me. Everyone did a fantastic job and the meal couldn't have been yummier.

Other Thanksgiving festivities were: Dad and Mom proving they were smarter than a 5th grader (the rest of us flunked), Black Friday-and man, did I rack it in with a sorts of fun goodies!, installing a new garbage disposal (thanks Tay and Nate!), and family canning. But the crowning event, I thought, was the opportunity to volunteer at the Family Food Center (a family-oriented soup kitchen). Jeremy and I have worked there before with our ward before but it was so cool to work together as a family to help those less fortunate. The people are so humble and seem very grateful to have a healthy meal. It makes you reflect on how many blessings the Lord has blessed you with. One man told me that was his first and last meal of the day and it looked delicious. What a neat experience. I appreciate my family for making it special, never a complaining word out of any of them. I am truly grateful to have them.

On to a different train of thought. We have been using the "Love and Logic" techniques for Makayla's discipline for quite some time now. She was in the bathtub one night and while laying there soaking she says to herself in her little toddler voice, "Kaya, you stay in tub or get out. You choose." She answers herself by saying, "I stay in tub." Then comes the kicker, "Good choice, Kaya, good choice." I just sat there completely speechless at that little dialog. She is such a little product of us. I realize that there is a lot of her that is her own person, but wow, she definitely proves the nurture theory too!

One more funny thing during the Thanksgiving time period to share. This one is a video of Natty being spun in the chair with Daddy. And boy, is she dizzy!