So long, for now

Today we had to say goodbye to Courtney,

But not for long, she's coming back in less

than a month for Christmas, yeah!

Not bad, she came with one suitcase and she's

going home with three, we did a little

Christmas shopping while she was here.

The Smith's

Courtney had to go over and see the Smith family

before she goes back home.  They love her and she loves them.

Today in church they saw her for the first time since 

she's been here, they were so excited.

She was so thrilled to hold Raya, she was just 1 month old

when she left.  Now she smiles like crazy.

"dear" in the headlights

This face is hilarious, she looks like she's smirking.

Then she zonked, so sleepy, so sweet!

Nathan took long enough to say hi, then he went back 

to his computer games.  He was upset because we brought 

Trix cereal but not the box, he wants us to bring the 

box back next time we come.

Keeping their attention long enough to get a picture is like. . . 

Evan was not happy,

This was a great shot.  They are terrific friends,

 they even served us lemon meringue pie, yum!

Cute Bangs

When we were having family prayer tonight I noticed

Courtney's bangs, they were sooo pretty.  So I took a picture.

Deck the Halls

I put Courtney to work while she was here and we broke out

the Christmas decorations.  We got as far as unpacking all

the boxes and then I lost her.  She went on a date.

So now, all I have is the garland up on the banister and

decorations strewn all through the house.

Now it's up to me to finish and put everything up,

thank goodness I love this part.

Thanksgiving, better late than never

Just because we could, we switched things up a bit.

Because I didn't want to cook all night the first night Courtney

was here, we moved our Thanksgiving dinner to Friday and

took Courtney Christmas shopping Thursday afternoon.

These are the after photos, we cooked all morning

I cooked the perfect turkey and Chris carved? it.

The meat just fell off the bone, actually.

The gravy was good,

I made homemade rolls and sweet rolls just like Vola's.

The meal was complete, dressing, rolls, gravy, pretzel salad,

turkey, candied yams, cranberries and potatoes.

Yum, yum!

What am I thankful for?. . . . .

It was so good to have Courtney with us this Thanksgiving,

we've really missed her.

Shopping

Shopping

We took Courtney Christmas shopping while she was 

here for Thanksgiving.  We had a wonderful time

spending the entire day with her.

We took her to the West Ed Mall.  They finally completed

the fountains on the main level. 

The lights change color

They were having lessons on the ice rink and for the first time, since

 we've been here, the water park was closed and completely empty.

But the decorations were up,

this poinsettia tree was breathtaking, 

and Santa was here, visiting from the North Pole.

Courtney didn't have to sit on Santa's lap, 

she just had to bat her eyes at Daddy,

and have at-ti-tude!

"You've Got A Friend in Me"

First thing Thursday morning. . . . early, the guys came over

and kidnapped Courtney.

They were taking her over to the mall to see Santa,

but they were off on the time so they went to Nathan's 

and had breakfast and then they came back to our house.

They played with my blocks, they always play with

my blocks.  It did say "Welcome Home Boo"

Now it says, "Travis and Nathan"

They are so confused, clueless and confused.

Hugs all around, or a Courtney sandwich.

True friends, Nathan and Travis, they've always been

good to Courtney.

She's good to them too, she hooked them up to her

muscle stimulator.

And made them feel pain, 

not really, it just made their muscles jump.

She was very happy to see them both,

I told them not to be strangers, come around anytime.

She's Baaaaack!

We have waited for this, for over 3 months,

she's coming, she's coming today!

We can hardly wait to see her.  I have been making meal

plans and activity plans for weeks.

 She's here!

Her flight got in a little early along with two other flights,

so we waited and waited.  This is way worse than waiting for

new missionaries.  We were just so darn excited to see her.

 There she is!

She looked great and after many warm hugs we took her to the car.

 She was starving, she hadn't really eaten all day and she had 

been up since around 3:00 AM.  So we took her to an American

Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  Go figure.

 We ate and talked and laughed, it was a great start

to her visit.

 She's so plain, her hamburger that is, 

she gets mustard, ketchup and pickle.  That's it.

 She's home, isn't this a wonderful sight?  ;)

Three Blind Mice!

 This is what happens when you put a blind

elder in charge of the fruit bowl. . . . 

ta da!

Not too bad.

He's not really blind, he was playing with the fruit while I was

interviewing new missionaries.  I kept hearing fruit dropping

on the floor.

I thought this was hilarious.