Thanksgiving with Loved Ones

This year I started the popcorn kernal thankful bowl- say that three times fast. It was an adaptation of Kim Greenfield's past family Thanksgiving idea of putting a candy corn in a bowl for the things you are thankful for. I decided since the kids definetly didn't need any candy and I had already spent enough on other food, that we would use popcorn kernels. Then, later on in the evening I made homemade popcorn on the stove with a frying pan to show how after we thank Heavenly Father for our blessings, he blesses us even more because gratitude is so important. By the time the kids had worn out their brains thinking of things to be greatful for, Tyler started saying "And I'm thankful for this kernel and this kernel" and Sydney chimed in. Pretty soon the bowl was full!

We were blessed to have my brother Randy and his wife Katie and their four kids join us for Thanksgiving. Katie is great at making sweet potato casserole and she also did our stuffing and deviled eggs (A Tucker tradition- deviled eggs at family dinners!). I cooked the turkey and made a yummy fruit salad and a few other things. Left to right- Sydney, Mc Kenzie- Randy's oldest, and Randy.

Here is the rest of the spread. This reminds me of my favorite punch that I made but served in my plastic pitcher:) Notice the late blooming Memorial Day Mums that I cut from my back yard. Gotta love the color purple!

3/4 of a 2 liter bottle of Sprite

1 can of frozen Welches white grape juice

Raspberry sherbert icecream

Water

Directions:

Mix the first two ingredients together and add water until you get the right flavor. Then add scoops of the raspberry sherbert until you get the right frothiness. Okay, I know these directions are worthless- just mix everything together and add sprite until you like the taste- you can't go wrong with this combo! You can only mess it up by making it too sweet or too watery!

Katie and her newest addition- Malia! Morgan is Katie's second child and she is the grinning one in the back. Tyler snuck into this photo and as usual, made a funny face!

Dallin, Me, Katie, Malia and Tyler! Grandma will love this picture!

Micah! He is the third child in Randy's family.

Cute pics

Here is a totally raw photo that I haven't touched up at all. I'm so impatient, I just like to post my photos without fixing them up!

Ryan and I got the kids together for a christmas photo shoot and here are some of the bloopers! Notice how absent Ryan and I are from the photos- we were too lazy to get dressed up for the shots and Walgreens was having a sale that day on photo greeting cards. I know- I'm cheap!

My Drama King and Queen.......

This one would have been great but there wasn't enough lighting.

I really liked the way Sydney looked in this photo, but you can see it was too blurry:(

I finally chose this photo to put on the card, but as you know, haste makes waste- the cards didn't turn out very well. When I took the CD into Walgreens, there was a button on the screen that said enhance photo. Well, I thought why not enhance it a little more. Bad idea! Since the screen didn't have high resolution, I couldn't see that it made the colors look too saturated. I should have ordered one print and then checked how it looked before printing 60. Live and learn.......

Memories

I haven't taken any recent photos but I wanted to blog- so I dug out some old photos! Most of these my sister Kristi took a while ago, but they are so cute that I wanted to share! I guess today I am glad to have my little Dallin and I am pondering how much joy he has brought our family. We waited 7 years before trying for our third child, but I am glad we did. This first picture is of Dallin and Sampson- best buddies. Sampson is very patient with him and never nips or bites. He will get up and move if Dallin is pestering him too much. I just got some great video (not digital) clips of Dallin taking a toy away from Sampson, and then holding it out for Sampson to grab. Sampson will carefully take the toy from Dallin and chew on it for a second before Dallin takes it away again. Then Dallin holds out the toy and Sampson grabs it again, over and over. It is amazing because Sampson is four times bigger than Dallin (80+ lbs) but he is so gentle with him. I remember after I brought Dallin home from the hospital, Sampson acted different- like he knew how special this little one was. He would nuzzle me just a little and sit and watch the baby in my arms. He also began to mark his territory in the neighborhood when he got loose. Sampson never did this before since he viewed all dogs as friends. It was like he became the baby's protector overnight. Luckily this never turned to aggression which is not a good thing. As Dallin has grown, Sampson forgot about marking his turf and is back to thinking any dog is his friend!

This is one of Kristi's great baby photos. I just love baby feet and hands, don't you?

How Sweet is that?

Do I see a hint of family resemblance here? This is a great photo of my brother Randy at my parents house holding Dallin.

My little dishwasher helper. What is it about dishes and toddlers? So far none have been broken, but atleast one has been dropped! Hope you have enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with me :)

Time for a Change....

Today I want to get my hair cut. I've been wanting too for a couple of weeks but have been having a hard time deciding what to do with it. I also want to put highlights in it again but I don't want to take three hours and have someone babysitting Dallin during all that time. I've decided that I will break up the appointment and just get it cut. I hope they will let me do that! Otherwise I'll wait until next month to get it highlighted. I asked some of the girls at our weekly young women's night how I should get my hair done. One of our girls suggested that I get it short in the back and spike it up. I chuckled and said that the last haircut I had- an A-line with short layers in the back, I could have spiked up but never did. I sometimes flipped it out, but didn't spike it. It has been quite a while and has since grown out. One of the leaders came over and felt my hair and suggested that since it is thick with a little wave to it, that I should not have too many layers. She suggested an A-line cut along the jaw-bone but keep it blunt. I like bob haircuts, but I look really plain with it and need some angles to look a little less matronly or freckle-faced country girlish. Any other suggestions? I can't afford a weave and don't want to go to the cosmetology schools for a cheaper price. (I've been to a couple of them for just haircuts and one time saw a girls hair turn bright orange from coloring- she was devastated). I vowed to never go to one for coloring. Someone else can be the guinea pig:) I'll post a picture after I'm done getting the color and cut!

Happy 1st B-day Dallin!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS~~~ 1. What does a one-year-old do with a present? He eats the wrapping! 2. How do you know if they DON'T like a recycled Dora doll from their sister as a gift?

If they find the buckle on their high chair more interesting!

3. How can you tell they DO like a gift?

They stare transfixed at it and then cry if you try to take it away to open the package!

4. How do you know if you've given a great gift?

They AND their older siblings play with it until it's time for bed!

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Tyler took Dallin out for a quick jump on the trampoline before the birthday party. Pretty soon Sydney was outside too and I got this cute picture of them together!

Okay- I admit I am too cheap to buy a cake at the store if I'm not doing daycare or earning extra money somehow. This is my best attempt at using a box mix, can of frosting and different colors of sugar crystals. I tried to be creative! Don't you like the sugar crystal stripes?

Dallin liked the Lactose-free ice cream (Yea Breyers!!) better than the cake. He also didn't dive into the ice cream or the cake- he prefered that I spoon feed him! Spoiled boy. It was really interesting to see his personality emerge as we did traditions that we have done with all our kids.

One of our traditions is on the first birthday, we let the b-day child play with a whole roll of toilet paper! Dallin is not as wild as his older brother and sister were. He really didn't play with the roll much- so Tyler and Dad helped him out. Soon after this picture was took, we all went to bed for some much needed rest!

Our Halloween

Okay, so here is our first family photo in months! We went to Ryan's work in downtown Salt Lake City after school got out. This proved to be the best place for us to trick-or-treat because there was no crowds, tons of candy, and it was indoors w/lighting. Even our church trunk-or-treat on Saturday couldn't compare to that! Don't you love Tyler's costume! He worked for quite a while with Ryan to earn half of this costume and earned enough to buy the storm-trooper gun and pay tithing! Talk about dedication! Then, here's the kicker- after trick-or-treating in SLC and then being stuck in traffic on the way home, HE DIDN"T WANT TO GO TRICK-OR-TREATING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!! He handed out candy at the front door not wearing his costume. That's okay with me because I know we will still see this storm-trooper running around the neighborhood chasing his friend who likes to dress up as well. Maybe this ST will even wield a lightsaber or two. You'll never see that in the movies!

Oh yeah don't you love my purple stethoscope! I got that during my CNA class to practice taking blood pressure. We've actually used it a few times at home along with my blood pressure cuff. Next I want an otoscope to check out our ears! Scrubs are NOT flattering- especially with post-baby fat ;)

Downtown SLC. It was exteemly bright as you can see from Dallin's face.

IS IT A BEAR, OR ANOTHER DOG??

Nope, just Dallin! He loves this puppy costume.

Stuck in traffic on the way home, I decided to get a picture of the green hills just outside SLC. The sky was beautiful! When we finally made it home, it was about 6:30 pm. Luckily I had set the bread machine to make dough for pizza before we went to SLC. All we had to do was spread the sauce, sprinkle cheese and preheat the oven. Sydney made her dough into a ghost shape! During this time Ryan was answering the door with Tyler and Dallin. Soon the pizza was done and Sydney hooked up with a friend to go door-to-door. What a fun evening!