Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been such a relaxing week around our home. Ben had the week off from school and has been able to spend a little extra time with Jenna and me. She's definitely gotten spoiled by having him around so much and is in for a shocker when he goes back to school next week. When he's home studying, he has to lock himself in his office and she sure doesn't like it when she knows he's in there and she can't get in. It's pretty sad, but I know he gets great satisfaction out of it!! I went shopping on Monday and Jenna saw this hat and would not take it off in the store. It was on clearance so I bought it for her. And she didn't take it off the whole time we were at the mall. Even though it's an outdoor mall and it was 80 degrees outside!And everytime she sees it around the house she has to put it on. It's just so cute!

We decided to try to go to a movie with Jenna so on Wednesday we ventured to the theater for the 12 Noon showing of "Bee Movie". She actually sat still for a good 20 minutes, but then seemed a little disinterested after that. We made it thru the whole thing, but did spend a lot of time wandering around the back row. It wasn't that great of a movie and I think she may have done better if we'd seen something more catered to kids, or with more lights or animals or something. So maybe we'll try another one later.

We spent Thanksgiving with our friends the Montierths. They were kind enough to invite us over and so we split the menu and ate dinner at their home yesterday. I'm quite proud of myself because everything I made tasted quite good. I made my first pumpkin pie (which is pretty easy) and my mom's famous banana creme pie (which is not as easy). I also made my favorite dish - raspberry pretzel jello. Mmmmm..... And it's pretty hard to mess up on corn and green bean casserole. Kristen made everything else and we had a ton of food left over. Jenna had such a great time playing with Bryn and Cody and woke up this morning saying Bryn's name. She loved their kitchen set, which is a good thing, since that's what Santa is bringing her this year. He just needs to go pick it up at the Wal Mart and have daddy assemble it on Christmas Eve!! Anyway, dinner was good and we had a nice time. It sure is different not speding the holidays with your family, though. And maybe the 80 degree weather made things seem a little strange. But I'm not complaining. It just feels different. We also invited one of Ben's classmates from Nigeria over for dinner. He has no family in town and wasn't able to go home, so he spent the day with us. He's a nice kid and really likes Jenna. She's not too sure about him, but did seem to warm up a little by the time he left yesterday.

Here's Harrison playing ball with the kids in the lanai.

The Montierth's have a bunch of fruit trees in their backyard and they all went out back and picked a bunch. Jenna bit right into this starfruit and loved it! She ate the entire thing. They also had orange trees and grapefruit trees and it all looked fantastic.

Oh yeah, the turkey bowl. I don't really know where to start with this. Ben was so excited to go play with the ward, even if it was at 7am. But he got up and put on his flashiest Utah shirt and left the house. I only wish I would have gone and watched. You'll have to ask Ben about it to get the full story, but let's just say it's a good thing we don't have to renew our temple recommends with the Stake President for a while!! Apparently he's Florida's biggest BYU fan and had it out for Ben the whole game. And Ben didn't appreciate it when the guy claimed he'd gotten Ben down way far back after Ben had run all the way down the field for a touchdown. It was enough for Ben to question his integrity in front of everyone. Yeah, the Stake President. You'll have to ask Ben for the details. It's a pretty funny story.

We're getting real excited for this baby to come. Only 3 weeks from today - or less. It'll be fun to have a baby around. And I do think Jenna is going to like having one as well. She loves her stroller and putting her stuffed animals or balls in it and pushing it around. It'll be nice to not have this big tummy anymore so she wont have any reason to lift up my shirt and laugh at my belly button! Well, let's hope that stops, anyway. On second thought, maybe it won't, because she does it to Ben too.

This picture is for you, mom. I took too long of a video while she was putting the stickers on and I can't upload it or email it. So here's the final product of the turkey you sent Jenna. She loved putting the stickers on - all in the same place - on top of the turkey's head. Unlike lots of kids, this one does not like to pose for the camera. I'm lucky if I get her looking at me - as you can see in this picture. But it's the best I got.

She looked so cute today that I wanted to get a good picture of her. I love her in black. It looks so cute with her white hair. But she just would not look and smile at me. So here's the best one. While she's trying to plug in the vacuum! But isn't she just adorable!