It's Just Thanks

Martin and I are taking a vacation to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.  In September we celebrated our 16th anniversary.  Last year on our 15th, we decided to book a vacation that would be spectacular, but we wanted to save up and plan for it.  So, we made the plan last year and now we are leaving the day after Thanksgiving to go to Austria and Germany to do a River Cruise and visit all of Germany's Christmas Markets.  We are excited!  And Ready.

The boys will be staying with friends while we are gone, so there will be no one around to eat leftovers.  Wah.  So I am abbreviating Thanksgiving to just "Thanks" this year.  Only one pie.  No homemade rolls.  A turkey breast with a few mashed potatoes on the side.  Evil, right?

  

I thought about this long and hard.  I didn't want anyone to feel like we were skipping Thanksgiving - I mean, I live in a houseful of men!

Everyone seems to be ok with it - probably because I started decorating for Christmas a week ago and pushed past the gobble gobble.

That said, I am very excited to spend tomorrow with my family in Thanks.  I love being with them and watching them grow and become wonderful young men.  I love watching Martin spend time with them teaching and recreating and helping them understand their worth as men of God.

I  am THANKFUL!

I wish you all a very wonderful Thanksgiving.

Up to Speed

 So just to keep everything in tact, let's review.  Favorite things list from summer, 2015 to current date.

1.  Favorite food from this summer - S'mores pie.  Duh.

 2.  Favorite fam activity - Jackson Hole.  Double duh.

 3.  Family reunion!

 4.  First ever visit to Cake Carousel.  This is the cake mold room.  You can rent these for your next special occasion.  Unbelievable.

 5.  Jimmy came to visit - We toured Cowboy Stadium.  Jimmy had his own press conference.

 6.  This guy came into our lives.  We love Banjo!

 7.  Marching band took over our lives even before school started.  Here they are at a football game.

8.  Here they are competing for a chance to go to the State Competition.  They actually made it for the first time in the history of our school and placed 12th among 200 schools.  Way to go, Royal Pride Band! (Seriously, I don't even know what I'm talking about.  This was a completely new experience, and I totally loved it.  I did not, however, love the fact that Henry was gone from 6am to 7pm everyday with mounds of homework - out until midnight every Friday and Saturday for three months straight.  Yikes.  He loved every minute of it.)

I'm a Bear

I feel like I've been hibernating for the last four months.  We have been so busy - summer flew past and school started and it has been an experience.  I am tired, but happy.  So many adventures have overtaken us.

I've decided to jump back into the blogging thing because it keeps my memories, thoughts and connections in order.

I started thinking a few days ago how I could put everything back into place.  Too many pictures, too many stories were making me growl like a bear.

So I'm going way off course just to break the ice - again.

Enjoy this little slice of humor while I get my thoughts together.

P.S.  I showed my three boys this clip and kept a straight face throughout.  I wish I had video'd their faces.  Priceless.

Ramblings

We've been getting crazy rain the last few days. It's coming from the Gulf Coast. There's some sort of Hurricane happening over there. Twice now I've been out running errands and out of nowhere someone pours a bucket of water over my head.

Henry left for High Adventure today. His scout troop is going to Missouri to explore caves and see church history sights. I'm actually jealous and wish I could go. Unfortunately, a scout mom is not a scout, so no admittance for me.

At the moment I'm at the nail salon getting my pedicure. I've already dropped and broken a bottle of nail polish and put my foot in the water basin hard enough to splash my pedicurist in the face. I don't think he appreciated it. Oh, and my legs aren't shaved. I'm considerate like that.

Got a phone call yesterday. It was a member of the bishopric asking me to speak in church on Father's Day. At least it wasn't Mother's Day.

I'm blogging for the first time from my phone. If I can figure this out I might just get back to posting a little more often. So "on the go" right now.

We are looking forward to our trip to Idaho in July. Our summer is ramping up to be very hot and humid-two of my least favorite things. Please keep the weather cool until wet get  there.

Upcoming events:

Hayden's scout camp, EFY for Henry and lots of summer movies. We just saw Jurassic Park in 3-D. Ate too much popcorn as usual. Why oh why does movie theater popcorn make me retain water for days. Someone please invent popcorn that didn't doesn't do that. Please and thank you.

I'm thinking about sewing again and possibly some crafty projects around the house. Crazy, right?

I've got a male pedicures today. He's awesome. He just finished the massage. I don't think I'll be able to walk when he finishes.

How's that for randomness?

And . . . We're Done

Tomorrow is the last day of school.  Henry is graduating the 8th grade, which is the end of middle school here in Texas

He starts HIGH SCHOOL in August.

The graduation ceremony is tomorrow, June 4th, 2015, at 10:00 in the morning.

Hayden will be advancing to the 7th grade next fall.

Both boys have done well in school and have thoroughly impressed me.

I'm looking forward to the future.

Henry is now taller than Martin.  I have no idea who he will be taller than by the time school begins again.

Henry will be going to High Adventure for the first time.  Henry will be going to EFY for the first time.  Henry has joined the marching band - The Royal Pride Band to be exact.  Their motto is NO PASS, NO PLAY, NO REFUNDS, NO EXCEPTIONS.

I'm not sure what all that means.  Martin says it means the director is a freak.  We shall see.

What I do know is that Henry is done being a little kid.  He will be entering the world of high school and big boy things.  He will get his drivers' permit next summer.  Whew.

Being done with middle school does not mean we are done with life.  There is much more of that ahead.

And . . . . we're off!