Happy New Year

Happy new year everyone. Just want to point out to all my friends in AZ that we will get to 2011 before you. LOL! It is our last night in Indiana. We are going up to my sister in laws house for dinner and games. Everything is packed and ready to go for the morning. We are flying out of Nashville so have to drive there in the morning. We are excited to get home although I hope the weather warms up before we get there. Hope everyone has a great (and safe) New Year's Eve.

Christmas in Indiana

Hello blogging world. Haven't had much time to blog this week. We're in Indiana visiting family for Christmas. It's been a busy and interesting past few days. I will have stories to share later. The highlight of my trip so far...eating at White Castle. Yum! Better go plug in my iPad. Keep checking back for more updates on our trip.

Merry Christmas

The Goebel fam is off to Indiana to visit family for Christmas. We have a really early flight in the morning. Hoping the weather will hold off until we get there. The girls are excited about having a white Christmas. Much different than the 75 degree weather here in Phoenix. Looking forward to time with family and friends. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Confessions

Confession #1- I did not put up our Christmas tree this year. Not only did I NOT put up a tree, but I didn't put up any decorations either. Not one string of lights, or Christmas wreath or even a cute little snowman...nothing! How sad! We've been so busy and we won't be here for Christmas anyway so I figured, what's the point. We took a family vote and decided to leave the tree packed away in the garage.

Confession #2- I haven't gotten my Christmas shopping done. In fact, I've barely made a dent in my list. I just can't seem to get motivated. It has to be done by Thursday and I work all day and have things to do every night. Maybe some little elves will do it for me while I sleep. Now that would be a Christmas miracle.

Confession #3- I've been eating these little Christmas cookies that I found in the cafe at church all morning. They are shaped like little Santas and are yummy!

Confession #4- I didn't send out Christmas cards again. Actually I've never sent out Christmas cards. Why break with tradition?! Plus, I figure that this blog is my year long Christmas card. If people really want to know they can read this. I do enjoy getting Christmas cards though so friends, please keep sending them!!

Confession #5- Last Friday was the only time that I have missed teaching. There was always this huge buildup to Christmas break and when it finally got here it was so exciting! Kind of missed that. Seemed very anti climatic this year.

That's all the confessions I am going to share for now. Better get back to work.

Day #12- Favorite Cookie Recipe

Here it is. The last day of the 12 Days of Christmas blog challenge. Struggled with a few of these and today is no exception. I am supposed to inspire you with my favorite holiday cookie recipe, but I figure why reinvent the wheel. I might as well leave it to the experts... and who is more of an expert on cookies than this guy?


I believe that the Pillsbury Doughboy makes a delicious cookie on par with those you will find at any fine bakery. So...hats off you to Mr. Doughboy and your slice and bake, easy to make yummy cookies! Thanks for saving me hours in the kitchen!

Sports Update

Last game of the year was this Saturday. Kayla's soccer team beat Flagstaff 2-0. I feel bad for them. I bet they are sick of driving all the way down from Flagstaff and then losing to us again. This makes the 3rd time in a month. They are a good team. Tough competitors.

Anna has high school practice this week from 7:30-9:30am. No sleeping in this week. Kayla has practice on Tuesday and then we have a break until Jan. 4. What will we do with ourselves?!?

Day #11- New Year's Resolutions

I have no idea. I still have a few weeks to decide. I will get back to you with these on Jan. 1.

Day #10- Favorite Christmas Songs

The girls and I have been listening to 99.9 and their continuous Christmas music. Helps get into the holiday spirit. Here are a few of our favs.

Feliz Navidad
Tennessee Christmas
I'll Be Home for Christmas
O Holy Night
Last Christmas
Silent Night

Mountain Ridge Secret Santa Strikes Again

This summer, after I started working at Mountain Ridge, I went in to my office and found a brand new MacBook Pro on my desk. It had a note that said, "Welcome to Mountain Ridge. Looking forward to partnering with you in ministry." I have no idea where it came from and no one would admit to leaving the AMAZING gift!

Well...the Secret Santa struck again the other day. This time Beth, one of our wonderful secretaries, walked into the office to find a brand new Kindle on her desk. There was a note, but no signature. She was so excited I thought she was going to cry.

We have no idea who this secret giver of joy could be but from both Beth and myself...THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Day #9- The Best Christmas Gift

The best Christmas gift ever is the gift of Jesus Christ.

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

This year let's remember the real reason for the season!

Justice for Bieber

The other day I did 2 things I never thought I'd do.
1. I went shopping at Justice
2. I bought a Justin Bieber calendar.

If you're not familiar with Justice, it's a store for girly girls...so....needless to say the Goebel girls don't usually darken their doorway. And...although we are fans of Justin Rieber (Hi Justin!) we are NOT fans of Justin Bieber. So why was I out on a beautiful 75* day in December doing crazy things??? Well, I was on a mission. A secret Santa mission. Kayla's soccer secret Santa Shelsea (say that 10 times fast) LOVES Justin Beiber and I heard that Justice was the place to go for all things Beiber. So I went, she loved it...Mission accomplished. I can check that off my list of things to do before Christmas.

Day #8- Least Favorite Thing About the Holidays

I love everything about the holidays...well almost everything. There's one thing that really bugs me. Why...please tell me why....people put reindeer antlers on their car? I just don't get it.

Day #7- Christmas Crafts

One of my favorite crafts to do growing up was to make edible Christmas trees. It is super easy.
Instructions:
What You Will Need:
*Sugar Cone Ice Cream Cones
*Green Frosting
*Misc. Candy Items

Use food coloring and make some green frosting. Take a sugar cone and turn it upside down, cover it with a thick layer of green frosting. Before the frosting dries decorate it with "ornaments" (little candies or licorice), whatever you can find.

I'm not sure why I remember these so well, but I loved them! In fact...I think I might get these for our children's Christmas party at church tonight!

Sports Update

The Lady Eagles lost 2-1 last night! Freshman Andrea scored a goal! Woop!! She is on Anna's club team. Anna had a rough game. They marked her right away (big senior), clobbered her from behind and she got punched in the face! Punched! I was proud of her for keeping her cool. She had a few good shots on goal, but couldn't get one in. Oh well....Can't win them all. We are still proud of you girls!!!

Kayla's team got their championship medals last night from the San Tan tournament. They have a game on Saturday, practice on Tuesday and then they are on break for 2 weeks.

ps...Some of the parents on Anna's team started calling her Wheels because she is so fast!
pss....I got an O'Connor sweatshirt last night. Cross that one off my list.

Day #6 Gift Ideas- What I Want!

Oh I like this one....Here are my Top 10 lists. Yes, two lists. One is a "when pigs fly list" and the other is a "depends on who reads this blog" list.

Top 10 Gifts I Want, But Have No Chance Of Getting! (When Pigs Fly)
*these are in no particular order
1. SUNS season tickets (floor seats of course)
2. Tickets to the Women's World Cup in Germany this summer
3. A Volkswagon Van
4. HUGE diamond ring
5. Professional Soccer Team in Phoenix
6. Personal Chef
7. Maid and Pool Boy (had to throw that one in there)
8. Money to travel the world (and the time to do it)
9. A Stylist (so I would never have to go shopping for clothes again)
10. Time to slow down so my kids wouldn't grow so fast!

Top 10 Gifts I Want And Could Get Depending On Who Reads This Blog List
*once again in no particular order
1. Jingle Jammies
2. Bath and Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom stuff
3. Pedicure
4. O'Connor sweatshirt
5. Journal
6. White Castle gift certificates (hint hint)
7. new Reefs ( I lost one at Reach 11)
8. A working hot tub
9. I Tunes Card
10. skinny markers

Sports Update

Anna's team had their 1st home game tonight. They lost 2-1 but Anna got the one goal! The team they played beat them 8-0 last year so this year was a big improvement! I had to miss half of it because Kayla had a basketball game. They lost...Boo! Kayla didn't play very much. The other team was HUGE and I think the coach was afraid Kayla would get pummeled. Probably a good thing because she has a soccer game this weekend. Anna has another game tomorrow night! Go Eagles!

Day #5- Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Special

Here is my top 10 list in no particular order.

1. Elf
2. A Christmas Story
3. Christmas Vacation
4. A Charlie Brown Christmas
5. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
6. Frosty the Snowman
7. The Santa Clause
8. The Grinch
9. A Christmas Carol (the old one is better)
10. The Best Little Christmas Pagent Ever

San Tan Holiday Classic Champs

Kayla's team won the San Tan Holiday Classic Tournament this weekend. Kayla scored the first goal of the weekend. The girls won all of their games and back to back tournaments. Great job girls!

Day 4- Tips and Tricks To Budget Friendly Shopping

Make a list of people you need to buy for. Decide how much you are going to spend on each person and stick to it! Avoid impulse buys that you did not budget for. That's all I got.

Day #3- Favorite Holiday Recipes

If you know me or you've been reading my blog then it's no secret that I am not a cook. But...I saw this great holiday recipe for Cake Pops and wanted to try it. It looked easy enough and surprisingly it was. Here are the directions.

What you will need:
1 (14.25 oz) box cake mix, any flavor
1 (16 oz) tub frosting, any flavor (you will not need all of it)
1 (24 oz) package of melting chocolate (I got several colors of this)
Sprinkles
Lollipop sticks
3″x4″ cello bags*
Curling ribbon

Directions:
Bake the cake mix according to package directions. Once it’s cool, crumble the cake into a large bowl. Place in a large bowl and stir in half of the frosting container. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Mix in additional frosting if necessary.

Roll mixture into 1″ balls and place on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.

Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the flat end of the cake balls.

Carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and softly tap and rotate the stick on the edge of the bowl until the excess chocolate falls off. Don’t tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too. Immediately cover with sprinkles before the chocolate has a chance to set, then insert in a styrofoam block to harden. Continue with remaining cake balls.

Once finished with all the cake pops, begin packaging them in the cello bags.

Here are some pics of the ones I made. The only problem I seemed to have was making the chocolate smooth on the cake balls. I tried to make some reindeer ones but they turned out a little sloppy. Anna didn't care. She ate 3!

Christmas Challenge Answers

White Christmas

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

O Holy Night

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

O Come All Ye Faithful

Away in a Manger

Deck the Halls

Little Drummer Boy

We Three Kings

Silent Night

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Let It Snow

Go Tell It On the Mountain

What Child is This?

Joy to the World

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

The 12 Days of Christmas

Sports Update

Ann'a team finished the tournament with 2 ties and a loss. Not a bad showing O'Connor!

Kayla's basketball team won again last night. They are 3 for 3 and tied for 1st place. The game last night was exciting. After the 1st quarter they were losing by 11 points. Kayla came in and played out of her mind. She had 4 assists and helped the team come back and take the lead. The girls were on fire! They ended up winning 35-25! That is their highest scoring game in the last 2 years! Go Bolts!

Day 2- Shopping Tips and Tricks

This one is going to be hard. I am NOT a shopper, but let me give it a go...

Tip #1
Black Friday is over rated! You may get a few good deals, but getting up early and waiting in long lines is so not worth it!

Tip #2
Shop online and take advantage of the free shipping deals. If you are traveling for the holidays, have the items shipped to your destination so you don't have to carry them with you and pay the extra baggage fees.

Tip #3
Make a list of people you need to buy for. Have an idea of what you are going to buy and a price range for each gift.

Tip#4
Set a budget for spending and stick to it!

Tip #5
Shop during off peak hours. Early in the norming or late at night are the best to help you avoid crowded stores and longs lines.

Tip #6
Check online or in ads before you go to see which stores have the best deals.

Tip #7
Save your receipts because it never fails that something will break, be the wrong size or needs to be returned for some reason.

Tip #8
It seems that I always forget someone or need a last minute gift. Buy a few extra generic gifts "just in case".


Tip #9
Watch the Today Show (I'm watching it now) or surf the internet to get great unique gift ideas.

Tip #10
You will be in a much better mood if you shop a little at a time instead of one HUGE shopping trip. Believe me I know from personal experience!

Well there you have it. Tips and Tricks for stress free holiday shopping. Leave a comment with your best holiday shopping tip.

Christmas Challenge

Can YOU name these Christmas carols?

1. Bleached Yule
2. Seeds Grilling in a Conflagration
3. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors
4. Righteous Evening
5. Arrival Time: 2400 hrs - Weather: Cloudless
6. Loyal Followers Advance
7. Far Off in a Feeder
8. Array the Corridor
9. Small Male Percussionist
10. Monarchial Triad
11. Nocturnal Quiet
12. Jehovah Deactivate Happy Chevaliers
13. Red Man En Route to City
14. Frozen Precipitation Commence
15. Proceed and Proclaim on the Pinnacle
16. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant
17. Delight for this Planet
18. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings
19. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Intervals

Check back tomorrow for the answers.

Day 1- Traditions

Here are just a few of the Christmas traditions we have:

1. Every Christmas we go to Indiana to visit Ryan's family. Because we have to be in town for the Christmas Eve service at church, we fly out on Christmas Day. We've found that it's actually a good day to fly. The airports aren't very crowded and everyone we meet is happy and full of Christmas spirit.

Kayla and Ryan at the airport.











2. For the past several years I have been buying all 4 of us Christmas shirts from Old Navy and we wear them when we fly to Indiana. We always get a lot of compliments on our matching shirts.




Christmas shirt.




3. This tradition dates back to when I was a little girl. My sister and I used to argue about who got to put the angel on top of the tree. To stop the fuss my mom decided that when it was an odd year (1979, 1985, etc,...) I got to put the angel up since I was born in an odd year. When it was an even year my sister, who was born in an even year, got to put on the angel. It worked! There was no more fighting over the angel. I use this with my own kids today although we have a star for a treep topper.

*Tip: She also used this to keep us from fighting over who got to sit in the front seat. My birthday odd days (19th) Amy even days (8th).


Anna putting on star.






















4. Another holiday tradition that we participate in is with our soccer team. We do a gift wrapping fundraiser at Barnes and Noble. BN provides all the paper and we just show up and wrap. We take donations in order to raise money for our team. We always have a great time.



















The girls wrapping.


Those are just a few of the traditions we have. Leave me a comment and tell me about your Christmas family traditions.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge

I just came across a cute 12 Days of Christmas blog challenge. I'm a little behind their schedule but still have plenty of time to get it done before Christmas. I did tweak it just a little. Feel free to leave comments about your traditions and ideas.

Day 1: Christmas/Holiday traditions
Day 2: General Shopping Tips & Tricks
Day 3: Favorite Holiday recipe
Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season
Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special
Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!)
Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY (If you don't make anything, what do you WISH you could make?)
Day 8: Least favorite thing about the Holidays
Day 9: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received
Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs/Caroles
Day 11: New Year Resolutions
Day 12: Favorite Cookie Recipe

If You Tie Tie Tie...

Another tie!! Ugh! Starting to feel like club season all over again. The team we played beat us last week 2-0. Grammy said the game tonight was played mostly in the mid field. While a tie is better than a loss, it may not be good enough to get into the finals. The girls have to win 3-0 tomorrow in order to advance and the team they are playing demolished every team they have played so far. Well it is a game and anything can happen in a game.

College Recruiting

I just started filling out a recruitment profile for Anna for college. College already? She's only a freshman, but apparently I'm supposed to be keeping track of all her stats. Goals...those are easy, but assists, shots on goal, etc,...I have no idea. Hopefully the coach is keeping track as well. I'm glad I found this out at the beginning of the season so I can keep on top of it. As for her club season that just passed...I have no idea. I also need to keep up with her academic career, service projects, clubs, awards, honors, etc,...I find it all very tedious and combined with the fact that I don't really know what I'm doing...it's very time consuming. Add pictures, add video clips...GEESH! I keeping hearing all kinds of conflicting reports as well. She needs to do ODP...she doesn't need to do ODP....she needs to go to college camps....they don't recruit out of high school. Blah, Blah, Blah! Hopefully I will know what I'm doing when Kayla starts high school next year. Maybe I should leave all this to Ryan...LOL!

(Unfortunately I've also discovered that not everyone is very honest on their profiles. You want your kid to look good but you can't LIE. Surely someone somewhere will check right?!)

Sports Update

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting an update on the girls' games this week so here it is:

Kayla's Basketball team won their game 22-13 this week. They are 2 for 2. Kayla started off a little slow but quickly warmed up and played great! She forced several turnovers, challenged a girl who weighed 100 lbs more than her (no joke) to get a jump ball (she got it) and made a beautiful run all the way down the court to put in a perfect layup. Everyone on the bench went wild! After the game Kayla said...."I didn't know I could do that!" The Ortiz family came to watch her play which she was excited about! Next game tomorrow at 5:15.

Anna's team played their first game of the Horizon tournament last night. That is probably the best game I have seen Anna play in awhile. She ran 3/4 of the way down the field and sent in a perfect left footed goal! The ref said that was the best goal he's seen so far. Anna also had several terrific crosses right to the feet of her teammate in front of the goal. They ended the game in a 3-3 tie. Next game tonight at 5:30. I have to miss it because of work. Bummer! It is a rematch against a team they lost to last week.
One of the best parts of last night was seeing all her club teammates who are all playing with their high school right now. We miss those guys!

More updates later this week!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Double Trouble

Anna's best friend has the cutest little twin brothers you have ever seen. They just turned 6 and boy are they a riot! Here are a few funny twin stories.

Say Cheese
Both of the boys have digital cameras of their own. The other day the twins' mom was uploading some pictures from twin #1's camera onto her computer...when what to her wondering eye did appear? Naked pics of her husband. Apparently twin #1 snuck into the bathroom while his dad was taking a shower and took some very revealing pictures! Needless to say the cameras got put on a shelf until the boys learn what kinds of pictures are ok to take.

Peeing in Nature
Awhile back the family was driving home from a trip when the twins decided they needed to use the bathroom. The next rest stop was miles away so their dad pulled the car over to the side of the road and took the boys behind some bushes. At first the twins were unsure about peeing in nature, but once their dad explained that they were men and that's what men do they were ok with it. A few weeks later their mom took them to Costco. Twin #2 had to use the restroom. He spotted a few potted trees in the aisle, pulled down his pants and started to go. When his mom freaked out he said, "It's ok mommy. I'm peeing in nature. That's what men do!" Trying not to laugh his mom explained that it wasn't nature, but the middle of Costco.

That Doesn't Stop Them
The boys were with their mom at Costco (they love that store) when a lady they knew came over to talk. Durning the conversation she asked the boys if their mom was going to have any more babies. Twin #1 replied, "No...daddy had a surgery'" to which #2 said..."But that doesn't stop them!" Their mom about died of embarrasement.!

Not WHEN...IF

Anna just got some new soccer boots. They are bright yellow. She was complaining about how another girl on her team wants to get the same pair and how she hates when people get "her" cleats. We just buy them off the rack at Dick's so not sure how that qualifies them as "hers". I told her that when she gets to be a famous soccer player she can have shoes designed just for her. Kayla chuckled in the back seat and said..."IF not WHEN. Don't you mean IF she becomes a famous soccer player?" While Ryan and I were amused by this Anna definitely was not. She slugged Kayla and Kayla said..."Well I'm just stating the obvious!"

Got to love little sisters.

2 and 2

Anna's HS team finished up the tournament 2 and 2. After a really bad start they rebounded well and are looking pretty good. They have one more tournament next week and then the regular season begins. So far Anna has 2 goal and 2 assists! She is playing great and everyone comments on how stinkin' fast she is. Someone asked if she ran track and her club coach said, "She better not!" Track season runs into state cup soccer time! I would love to see her run the 100 and 200. I bet she could put up some pretty good times. Ryan went down on the field last night and took some great pics. Here are a few.

Love This!

Student of the Month!

Kayla was student of the month at Desert Sky!! Woop! Woop! Go Kayla!

1st Basket

Kayla had her 1st basketball game last night and made her first basket of the year! It was a great game although I had to miss the most exciting part because I had to get back to church. Kayla's team was down pretty far at the half. The second half of the game they played well and were only down by four with seconds left when one of the girls got fouled. She made the first free throw and then the coach took a time out. He told the girl to miss the 2nd shot and get the rebound. So she missed the shot, someone got the rebound, threw it to the girl who was in 3 point range... she shot and made it! The game went in to over time and Kayla's team won by 2! They have never beaten this team before so it was even more exciting!!! Kayla played well although she did get two fouls. They were great fouls though!!! LOL!

1st Goal

Anna scored her first goal of her high school career last night. She started an 8-0 win against Shadow Mountain. 5 of the goals were made by freshman...WOOP WOOP! She was so excited that she scored the 1st goal for O'Connor this season! It was nice to be on the other end of a butt kicking. After the game Monday I was thinking it was going to be a LONG season, but the girls rebounded and played well on Tues. and Thus. It helped that some of the senior girls were back and healthy. The girls lost 2-0 on Tuesday, but played pretty well against a tough team, Arcadia. Anna has been starting at forward and playing the entire game. She loves her teammates. On Tuesday they all went out to dinner together and are planning a big slumber party next weekend. I think she is getting quite an education from the older girls, but I can't keep her in a bubble forever. They seem like nice girls, but there is a big difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old. I won't let Anna ride with the seniors yet, but neither will her other freshman friends' parents so that helps. Here are some highlights from the last two nights.

High School Soccer

Well the high school season didn't start out very promising. The other team kicked our butts 7-0!!! Luckily it was just a tournament and not a regular season game. In our defense we were playing short. Several of the seniors were out with injuries and we brought up 3 JV players to help out. Over half the team were freshman playing in their first ever HS game. Hopefully they can get the kinks worked out before regular season. We have another game tonight and I hope it goes better than last night. I do not want to sit in the freezing cold to see another game like yesterday. Here are some pics from the game.

Between a Pigeon and a Falcon

The girls were spending the night at my parents when we got a frantic phone call. We had a hard time understanding what they were saying but something about a pigeon and a falcon. Apparently the falcon was attacking a pigeon in the backyard. When the girls went outside the falcon flew to the neighbors' roof and left the half dead pigeon on the pool deck. Mom didn't want to leave the pigeon on the deck but she was afraid to pick it up and have the falcon attack her. While they tried to figure out how to get rid of the pigeon without having their eyes pecked out by the falcon... the falcon was joined by a few feathered friends. They stared mom down from the rooftop as she stood between them and their half dead prey. At that point my parents did the only thing they could do in that situation. They called Ryan for help. Ryan assured them the bird was probably just a chicken hawk and would not peck their eyes out. Then he told them they just needed to scoop up the pigeon and throw it away. Took 4 of them to do it. Kayla armed herself with a rake, Anna a broom, Dad a shovel and mom a dust pan with a plastic bag. They put on their goggles to protect their eyes...just kidding...and eventually managed to scoop the bird into the plastic bag and into the trash can. And so ended another fun yet adventurous night at Grammy and GT's.

Black Friday

I just want to go on record saying that people that get up early to go shopping on Black Friday are NUTS! I hate shopping and I'm not about to get up at the crack of dawn to go. Long lines, crowds, pushy people....Yuck! I can't think of one thing that I want bad enough to stand in line for. On Black Friday I slept in (ok I got up at 8:30, but for me that's sleeping in) then I did my shopping right here on the couch. 5 minutes...5 clicks and I was done. That is the way to do Black Friday!

Sweet 16

Today is our 16th anniversary! Ryan and I went on a date. An actual date! Doesn't happen very often. We went and saw a movie an actual movie. That doesn't happen very often either. Unstoppable was really good, but then again it has Denzel in it and what movie with Denzel isn't good? After the movie we went to dinner at the Melting Pot. We've been wanting to go there for a long time. Wow...it's expensive, but it was good food and a fun way to spend a few hours. The best part was dessert. I am not really a fan of chocolate, but the white chocolate fondue was AMAZING! Add a little brownie...some strawberries....YUM! We had a great night! Happy anniversary Ryan! I love you!

Give Thanks

On this Thanksgiving day I am very thankful for...
My husband
My girls
My family and friends
A job
A house
My health

Happy Thanksgiving!

Banat vs Clovis Sharpshooters GU15 Final - LV Mayors Cup 10

Clip of Anna at the Las Vegas Mayor's Cup. She is #13 black headband.

Talking Turkey

Why was the turkey sent to the principal's office?
Because he was using "fowl" language.

What did the little turkey say to the big turkey?
Peck on someone your own size.

Did you know...
*Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining. (some say this is a myth)
*Benjamin Franklin wanted the National bird to be a turkey.
*The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.
*The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
*The male turkey is called a tom and the female turkey is called a hen.
*Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.
*Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited.
*Six hundred seventy-five million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the United States.

Turkey Terms
Caruncle - brightly colored growths on the throat region. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.
Gizzard - a part of a bird's stomach that contains tiny stones. It helps them grind up food for digestion.
Poult - a baby turkey. A chick.
Snood - the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey's beak. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.
Wattle - the flap of skin under the turkey's chin. Turns bright red when the turkey is upset or during courtship.