Our Thanksgiving

Wow what a great Thanksgiving we had this year. It was our turn to spend it with the Bakers, so like we do every other year, we started the day off with a Turkey bowl. We had all the boy cousins there (even Oliver who sat at the side lines in the stroller cheering us on and eating snow), and played a fun game of football.

Since there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, we threw a few good snowballs at the opposing teams as they were going over their plays in their huddles. At the end of the game, my brother hit me so hard in the back with a tightly packed snowball....I guess i deserved it.

In the past years, we have had a bigger turnout for the turkey bowl. Hopefully next year more people will want to join us. Even with our few numbers, we still managed to have a great game and a wonderful start to the day.

My brother and his family were nice enough to host all 18 of us. We had all the traditional thanksgiving fixing's and stuffed ourselves so full that all we could do was sit around...until we had room for dessert.

The dessert table was full of pumpkin pies, cupcakes, cheesecake, apple pies and ice cream. I ate a little bit of everything and it was wonderful.

After resting up for a while, the girls decided to brave the cold weather and hit up some stores in the wee hours of the Black Friday morning. First stop: Old Navy. After this, I had to go home to get some rest while the 4 of them kept going.

I am so grateful to my family for their love and support. I am grateful to have them all in my life. They make life fun and interesting and I'm happy that we can all be together for our Thanksgiving holiday.

A few other things I'm thankful for...

#30- My camera

#29- Testimonies

#28-Running water and electricity

#27-Love

#26-Parents

#25-Oliver's laugh

#24-My amazing friends

#23-The gym

#22-The gospel

#21-Sun light

#20-My car

#19-chap stick and moisturizer (especially on cold windy days)

A serious reason to par-tay

My sister in law, Taleesha is pretty cool. A while back she told me that she wanted to have a Twilight/New Moon party before the new movie came out. So, last night was her party. Sadly I missed most of it, but what I was there for, was awesome! Her whole living room and kitchen was decked out in red and black. Quotes from the books all over the place. The food table was very impressive. Baseballs, apples, fur, candles, glitter, and the best part, posters of Jacob and Edward.

Playing games. The winning team won glitter ornaments that said "Real Men Sparkle". So cute!


TEAM EDWARD

TEAM JACOB (my team)



Thanks Taleesha for hosting such a fun night. I can't wait until your party in the summer. I'll definitely be there for the whole thing.

Oh and today I am thankful for...

Humor.

More thankful fors

#17

I am thankful for...

My house

#16

I am thankful for...

Warm clothing and blankets on a cold fall day

#15

I am thankful for...

Thermometers and medicine.

#14

I am thankful for...

My bed

#13

I'm thankful for...

Our jobs. Luke has been working for Heath Engineering for the past 4 years and has been doing a great job at it. Since we have been married, I have had a few jobs. Some that I have loved and some not so much. The job I had right up until I had Oliver was probably one of the best ones ever. I worked with such fun people and the work wasn't that bad either. I decided to stay home once Oliver came into the picture and therefore I [sadly] quit. However recently, I decided that I wanted to work again and do something on the side that wouldn't take away from much time with Oliver so about a month ago, I got job. I pretty much love it and working around this time of year at a mall is so festive and definitely makes it feel like the holidays have arrived....the extra money isn't too bad either.

#12

I am thankful for...

Food. Yes, I know that this is one of those things that is just a given to be thankful for and not really thought about, but around this time of year when you hear about donations needed for food banks and shocking statistics about people going hungry, I say no, it's something that I am very aware of and thankful for. I'm glad that we have sufficient food in our home and even thankful for the tiny little food storage that we have managed to maintain.

And on a lighter note....I'm thankful for my newest favorite thing (thanks or maybe no thanks to Amy) Pomegranate diet 7-up. CHEERS!

#11

I am thankful for...Veterans. I may have never had any family members in the military and I may not even fully understand what it's like to be as thankful as some of these families are that have lost their loved ones, but I do have friends that have sacrificed a lot to be able to give so much to this country. For all of them, I am thankful. I recently found out that one of my friends will be deployed to Iraq soon which makes me even more grateful for the men and women who provide such a selfless act on our behalf. Freedom will continue to ring throughout this nation because of the incredible people of this country. Thank you thank you thank you!

#10

I am thankful for...

Okay this may be a weird one, but I am thankful for good TV shows. I have a handful of shows that I watch and I love them. Isn't good entertainment great??? Tonight I hung out with some of my fave people and watched a couple of them {Survivor & Greys Anatomy}. Thanks you guys!

#9

I am thankful for...

My nephews. I got to spend the majority of the day with two of my nephews. I love that these two are at the age where we can actually have a pretty decent conversation. However, when they are talking amongst themselves, Spencer and Tayten can say some of the funniest things and I can't help but laugh [inside] at their jokes and ideas.

It doesn't end with just these two though. I feel that I have some of the coolest nieces and nephews around. Fortunately, our siblings trust us enough to be able to watch their kids on a regular basis and I feel that they add so much spark and joy to my life. Love you kiddos!

Thank you thank you

I am a week behind, but I wanted to post some things that I am thankful for this month. My goal is to post something for every single day in November, so without further ado, here is what I am thankful for today (and for the past 7 days that I have missed).

#8

I am thankful for...

Church Leaders. Today as I sat in YW listening to the lesson, I thought back on all the many leaders that I have had throughout my life. Seminary teachers, YW leaders, Prophets, Bishops, visiting and home teachers, and so on. Most were so helpful to me and taught me things that I have been able to carry and apply in my own life. What a blessing it is to know that there are actually people out there that want to see you succeed and who are so willing to give of their time and talents in order to help you find happiness in your life. With this being said, I am also grateful for the leaders that I have the privilege to serve with. I feel so inadequate next to them because these are truly amazing and inspiring women, but I hope that I can be like them someday and have an impact on the lives of those whom I get to serve.

#7

I am thankful...

To live in such a beautiful state. I seriously love the state of Utah. Whenever I hear someone say how they hate living here, it bothers me so bad. Of course everyone is entitled to their own liking, but I thought the beauty of Utah was an obvious thing. My favorite things about this place is that we get to experience every season to its fullest. Cold and snowy winters, Refreshing and colorful springs, hot and sunny summers, and my favorite, crisp cool falls. I love the diverseness of everything you can do in the outdoors. There really is so much that Utah has to offer and I don't think I would ever want to live away from this place that I call home for too long. I'd surly miss it.

#6

I am thankful for...

Music. That's right. I love a good beat. Music has a way of accommodating my mood and making me feel just the way I need to. At times, nothing can express the way I feel better then a song or a melody. Music speaks volumes to me and I'm grateful that there are such talented people out there that can provide us with such rich soundtracks to any memory, emotion or thought.

#5

I am thankful for...

My health. I am so grateful that I have been able to stay healthy so that I can preform my responsibilities without many interruptions. Being healthy is something that I have strived to be more cautious about. I want to be able to teach my family the importance of living a healthy life and the benefits of doing so.

#4

I am thankful for...

Technology. I really like having a computer....and the Internet and our phones and a camera and so on and so forth. I especially am grateful for all of the modern advances that we have including medicine, the opportunities that we have to study these things and apply them through an education. What a cool thing it is to live in a technological world.

#3

I am thankful for...

Family. Luke and I both have pretty great families. I am so grateful for the friendships in which we share and the love that we have for one another. We have wonderful parents who have taught us to have the gospel as a strong foundation in our lives. Our families are always willing and eager to help us out whenever we need it and often offer a lot of support in our daily lives. You are never forgotten in our prayers for all the service rendered. We thank you and love you all.

#2

I am thankful for...

Luke. I really am impressed with all that Luke does to provide for our little family. He is a hard worker and is motivated to want to do more by his love for us. He sees my flaws and knows my weaknesses and instead of making me feel guilty or worthless, he loves me even more and helps me to want to be better. I love his laugh and his silly sense of humor. He is such a kid at heart which helps me to not be so serious all the time and just have fun. wink...

#1

I am thankful for...

This guy. Oliver has been one of the richest blessings ever. I never thought that I would ever be as blessed as I am from having him in my life. Whatever I did to deserve this kid well, I have no idea, but I'm sure lucky to be able to call him my own. My love grows more and more everyday as I learn more about him. I can't wait to see what new adventures this sweet little boy will take me on.

Halloween {Two-thousand-nine}

Halloween this year came and went in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. This is one of our favorite holidays around here and so we tried to pack in as much as we could. Here is what we did...


The Baker's always get together to carve pumpkins Halloween week so that we can have them up and glowing on Halloween night. Friday night we got the group together to carry out this family tradition.

We had a Halloween dinner with Black and orange homemade bread bowls, Chicken tortilla soup, Salads, veggies, the best slushy drink ever, cream cheese brownies, a cookie caterpillar, and red velvet cupcakes. YUM! My sister in law Taleesha did such an awesome job preparing all the food and making it so fun and festive.

Next came the carving of all the pumpkins. It was messy, it was loud and it was fun to see what creative pumpkins everyone came up with.

My dad had the best pumpkin around...his big round belly, so my brother and I tackled him down and included him in the pumpkin decorating.

for Halloween night, Luke and I thought it would be fun to stay home for once and pass out candy. We had some friends and family stop by and ended up having a great time.

Our costumes this year had no theme involved whatsoever. I just used my mystery dinner costume, Luke threw his Luchador costume together in seconds and Oliver was the Incredible Hulk (Although most people didn't really know what he was).

We hope everyone had a great and safe Halloween. Until next year!