Housewarming Party

 Woo hoo! We had such a successful housewarming party! The food was delicious, a lot of people came, and the house was actually ready! That was a relief. I knew once we set the date there was no turning back, and although I was ready to pull my hair our an hour before it started, it magically came together. :) I had each of the "before" pictures in their respective rooms so people could see what improvements had been made. It was really neat!

Melissa, Taylor, Rick, Deleen

Nancy, Grandma Hanks, Clara, Chad and Irelyn

Robert, Craig, Ken, Karen

Julie, Steph, Berto, Angela, Kendra

Amy and Eric

Melissa and Jennifer

Sam, Ian, Carter

Adelaide, Wyatt, Jayli and Joselyn

It was a late night for us, but we had fun. Especially Brooklyn. See below. 

Thanksgiving and Temple Square

Thanksgiving! What a wonderful holiday. Not only do you realize how much you are thankful for, but you get to spend it with family that you love. At least I did. We had the whole Hanks clan (minus Mom and Dad) at Melanie's, and it was a paaaaartay! Even Matt and Jen were able to come up and spend a long weekend here. We had such a blast. On Wednesday we made the pies (banana cream, chocolate cream, pecan... yum), and although I didn't get any pictures of that, I did get one of Brooklyn and me in our matching aprons. *sigh*

On Thanksgiving Day, the boys went out back to play football while we got dinner ready. It was a little chilly, but what a beautiful day for a football game! Even the older kids played. I had such a lovely "housewife" experience, busy in the kitchen with the other women, with mounds of food everywhere while the boys played out back. I felt like a wife of the olden days. ;)

The table was set to perfection, and it wasn't until after dinner that I realized I didn't get a picture of it! It was so beautiful, complete with sprigs of flowers on each napkin, and nametags made by the kiddos. Our turkey was DELICIOUS! We used the Our Best Bites recipe, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. It was so good.

As per tradition, the boys cleaned up the dishes. ;) 

Here is everyone (minus Marianne, Michael and Marilyn who had already left) hanging out afterwards.

So fun to have Matt, Jen, and Toby!

Uncle Matt taught Brooklyn how to correctly hold a rifle. Thanks, Matt.

On Friday, we went downtown! It was Brooklyn's first time on the train, and she absolutely loved every minute of it! She cried every time we had to get off. Here is her waiting for the train!

Each family got on at the stop closest to their house, so we "picked up" each family on the way to Gardner Village. 

At Gardner Village, we got lots of pictures and stopped at the Sweet Shoppe. Then we headed to Salt Lake City!

Cousins.

All the girlies. Brooklyn was slightly terrified of the freaky looking elf on the bench.

Handsome boys in a girly set up.

The lights at Temple Square were beautiful, and we had a blast exploring in a big group. It was one of the best Thanksgivings ever!

Brooklyn loved being with her cousins. This is Jade and Brinley having a "dance party" waiting for the train to go home. So much fun!

Snow

The first snow of the season! Brooklyn looked outside this morning and shouted, "NOOOOO!!". She loves snow. Except I always think she's shouting "no" at me, which irks me until I look over and she's pointing out the window at the "no". It's adorable. Bucket also loves snow, which is weird. Anyway, here are some pictures of us playing in the snow!

 Hahahaha!

 Tasting the snow - a common occurrence.

 Love my Craiggy.

 Brooklyn learning to throw a snowball!

 Daddy teaching her how to make one.

AND this face just cracks me up. Perfect timing. We love snow! One of the perks of living in Utah.