Thankful November

We have a lot to be thankful for this November.  We were sad we couldn't afford the gas to go anywhere to be with any of our family for Thanksgiving this year but we are so thankful for our families.  We love and miss you always!

We were very thankful to have a lot of days of beautiful sunny warm weather.  We played outside a lot and tried to be active after school every day.  We went and played at different parks all over Utah county.  We went to a pond and fed ducks and rolled down the hills.  We also went on a lot of walks and bike rides.  On the days the weather was too cold we tried to be active indoors.  We played dancing wii games and we also played running hide and seek.  We had to hide within 10 seconds and the person who was it had to run and find everyone.  It was fun!  Thank you November weather for being so nice:)

If you couldn't tell I was trying to be active this month.  At school I got the idea to do a Just Dance day with all my PE classes.  I worked with my friend the music teacher at my school and we downloaded a bunch of Just Dance videos from youtube.  We then projected them on the big screen in the gym.  We combined PE and music classes and we Just Danced ALL DAY!  It took 3 days to make sure every student in our school got a chance to do Just Dance.  Boy was I tired after dancing all 3 days.  But we had so much fun and the students loved it.  Some of the teachers came and danced with us and word got out so even some parents stopped by and danced with their kids.  I LOVE MY JOB and I am thankful for it.

After my active month I am proud to say I lost 7 pounds total this month.  I was worried about the week of Thanksgiving but I actually lost 3 of the 7 pounds this week!  BAM Take that Thanksgiving dinner and desserts!  To date I have officially lost 50 pounds since I was pregnant with Kayzee.  I am down 4 pant sizes and 1 ring size.  My wedding ring is too big;)  I am now only 30 pounds away from my goal of 80 pounds total weight loss.  I am so thankful for my health even though it has been a very rough year with all my health problems; I have come away fighting. 

We are very thankful for the riding lawn mower we got for FREE!  Danny has helped a coworker so much that he gave us the mower for free.  YAY!  It use to take us 2+ hours to mow our huge backyard so we are grateful for how much faster we get it done and we are not dying after ward;)  

Danny went elk hunting with his best friend and they got an elk.  Danny got half of it.  So now we have about 50 pounds of elk meat in our freezer.  We are so thankful for the meat that will last us all year.  We have yummy steaks and roasts for Sunday crock pot dinners.  

Memphis and Kayzee made thankful for trees at preschool and I had to share what they said...

*Memphis: my body, Jesus helping me not be scared, playgrounds, school, friends, teachers, mommy, shoes, food, helmets

*Kayzee: friends, mommy, daddy, markers, school, princesses, all my family 

I am so thankful for my kids.  I love them so much.  They always cheer me up and we have fun together every day.  I found a new way to get my kids to clean their rooms and help around the house.  We love to have dance parties and I have found that if music is playing we have fun dancing and cleaning the house as well:)  I am sneaky but it makes cleaning fun so the kids are more willing to help me!

Me: "Kids, go clean your rooms."

Kids: "No!" (whining and crying)

Me: "Let's go have a dance party in your rooms!"

Kids: "Ya!…wait there is no room because it's messy we better hurry and clean them."

(I have never seen them clean so fast!)

We are thankful for our house and all we have.  We love our little family of four:)

Thanksgiving this year felt really weird because it was only the four of us but it was very relaxing and fun and we had plenty of yummy food.  I have always been surrounded by lots of family and we have always traveled but I am thankful to have been able to sleep in my own bed and to have the chance to relax and have fun with my little family. 

This was the first time I have ever made Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out really well.  My mom gave me the idea to buy a bone-in turkey breast instead of a whole turkey.  It was perfect.  Not too much for just the four of us and it was a lot cheaper.  The food was yummy and I finally had a reason to use the really nice china I inherited from my grandma Thorpe.  Made the dinner that much more special to remember our families by.   

On black Friday we did not do any shopping.  I use to have to work it when I worked in retail and I hated the madness and I hate lines and crowds anyway so I will not shop it.  We decided to go out and have some fun as a family instead.  We found some coupons for bowling and for one of our favorite restaurants so out we went.  And we wanted to beat the crowds so we went early.  We first went bowling.  We got there right when they opened and had the place to ourselves.  Memphis did really well this time.  We also played some arcade games.  By the time we were leaving the bowling alley the line was out the door and all the lanes were full.  Crazy!  We also went to Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch.  Got there right when they opened so the pizza was fresh and they made whatever we wanted.  YUM!  We then went home and had a Lord of the Rings marathon and played Guitar Hero.  I am thankful for my family and all that we are able to do.

What a great thankful month!  Happy Holidays everyone.  Christmas will soon be here:)