22nd Annual Shopping Day.............

Boo Hoo!! I can't believe another day after Thanksgiving shopping day with Melanie is all done!! I wait all year for it and I get sad before it ever starts, knowing it will end all too soon:(
(See November 2006 post for more details)
Melanie and I had new matching sweaters again this year. The picture we took before we left the house (@3:50am) didn't look too good, so I'm not posting it. She had someone take one of us while we waited in line at GI Joes, but it's on her camera phone and she doesn't know how to send it to my computer.
We couldn't believe how CRAZY we were to get up so early this year. But, we decided to get going while the going was good, and with 2 1/2 hours sleep we rolled out of our beds and headed down the road. 12 hours later, we said our goodbyes. We have been shopping like this for 22 of the 35 years we've been friends.
It's always fun to run into so many people I don't always see throughout the year as they too are crazy like we are.
We were much more conservative this year than in years past, buying more necessities than anything else, but we had a grand time. Donuts and juice at Fred Meyer's, breakfast at Jack in the Box and lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.....the important stuff you know!
May you all have a wonderful beginning to the holidays. Around here, Josh is keeping us on our toes....he begged us to get our outside lights up before Thanksgiving and is now pushing me to get the inside done. My life would be very boring without him:)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

I will eat my share of turkey on Thursday, but honestly....aren't turkeys beautiful!!
I'm thankful for all my many blessings........for everything I have comes from Heavenly Father. It would take my entire blog to list all the things I am thankful for, but you can relate because I know you are thankful too:)

WHAT???????

I know this is a strange picture to post....... but I'm sure some of you can relate to it!!
I don't know if it's that I turned another year older on Saturday BUT........
I was teaching a primary class of 11-12 year old girls for a friend of mine on Sunday and I noticed they all had black shoes on. I casually mentioned that we all had black shoes on and I lifted up my feet as I said it, only to be MORTIFIED that I DIDN"T have 2 black shoes....I had ONE BLACK rounded toe and ONE BLUE square toed shoe on!!! This picture does not do the situtation justice (click on it to enlarge and get a better view). The girls and I had a good laugh and as we walked to sharing time I walked between the girls so they could hide my feet:)
I am so silly!!!!

The Seasons of Life

The seasons continually pass by. Another fall is here. The air is moist and crisp and has the smell of burning logs on the fire. Time is just speeding by, but I still enjoy the seasons. That is....the seasons of life. The kids are growing and leaving home. Our house is down to 3...but life is still very full. I get tired, but I wouldn't trade my life for anything!! Every day is filled with something new.
The weekend after my trip to see "The College Guy", Jenny surprised her Dad and Josh with a visit. I knew about it, but she came earlier in the morning and surprised me too!
Our time together was short. We had Friday and most of Sunday to catch up on things. Saturday I was heavily involved with the marching band competition our school was hosting, so Jenny spent the day with friends.
On our only free Saturday of the month Josh wanted to go to get a pumpkin. I figured he was in high school now, so we could just go to the store to get it. Instead, he wanted to go to Bizi Farms, where we've gone to get pumpkins a few times before. I told him he could invite a friend, but he said he was fine just going with me.
I thought what a lucky mom I am, that my 14 year old son would want to spend time going to a pumpkin patch with me. It's not just a place to get pumpkins. He spent time climbing and crawling on the huge haystack they have there. We had fun time trying to catapult pumpkins into big barrels. Josh got one in, but it split as it hit the side. There are prizes if it goes in.
We had a great time in the corn maze, which took about 45 minutes to get through. I had never been through one before. There's always a first time for everything.....and right now, we are throughly enjoying this season of our lives.