Happy Thanksgiving

Wow, I have not been doing a very good job keeping this blog updated for past few weeks. The holidays have started and I, like most of you have been busy, busy, busy!

We have spent a lot of time in my hometown the past few weeks. We went into town last weekend for the Junior League Holiday Gift Market. I have been helping my mom with her booth at this market for the past 15 years, and we always have so much fun. This year I thought it would be a good idea for Stuart to bring Molly and Taylor up for the breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. The girls had a great time and Stuart…well, not so much. I think his exact words were, “I’m just glad I’m saved because I think this is about how I envision hell.” He’s a little overdramatic, but I guess lots of women and children in one building where the activities are centered on shopping, Santa, and holiday kids songs is just not his thing :o). I promised him next year that I will recruit my little sister to bring them up for this fun filled holiday outing.

Molly asking Santa for a Snow White dress and Taylor asking for a "Cinda-ella" dress...

My cousin Amanda drove to our house on Wednesday night and we all drove to my parent’s house on Thursday morning. Her parent’s and my grandpa went straight to my parent’s house on Wednesday. We had a full house for Thanksgiving. I am one of six and all but one of my siblings made it over for Thanksgiving. With spouses and children included my parent’s had 22 total guests. It was a lot of fun just eating, drinking and hanging out with everyone on Thursday.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Karen

Me, my mom Mary, sister Kim, and Aunt Karen

My sister Kim and brother Bryan

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree, two fell off and then there were three (Not really)...Molly, Taylor, and my nephew Thomas.

Grandpa Bill, Sister-in-Law Karena, Cousin Amanda, Taylor, Aunt Karen (love the boots),

and Molly

My niece Anna Claire

Grandpa Bill with Molly and Taylor...

Molly is proudly sporting my dads robe that he wore when he was about her age!

I love this pic!!!

The boys...Nephews Jonah, Braden, and Seth

On Friday I did some shopping with my cousin, she was looking for a cheesy Christmas sweater for a Christmas party that she is hosting in a few weeks, that really was a fun outing! While out and about, I got a little bit of Christmas shopping out of the way and then we headed back to my parent’s house. The girls were playing with Mimi’s jewelry when we got back and everyone was watching the Razorback game. GO HOGS!!!

Bryan and Karena and the boy’s came over for chili after the game. Bryan, Kristin and I took all of the kids outside to play hide and go seek after dinner…they are all getting to such a fun age. My sister decided that the girls can’t hide with her the next time we play because they like to give up their location by shouting “We are over here.” Too funny! It was such a fun week, I love getting together with my family. I am thankful that my parents are still willing to host these holidays as the family continues to grow. I’m sure that they were ready to get their house back to normal after having a house full of guest…Thanks mom and dad!

I hope that everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Quick Trip to Kansas City!!!

What a fun weekend we had. My brother Mark has been in town from Utah for the past week and a half and he finally made his way up to our area on Sunday for a visit. He brought along his girlfriend that he met while fighting wild fires this summer out west. Her name is Sarah, and she won the hearts of the entire Charlton family. We had dinner at our house on Sunday night and they were able to spend some time with Molly and Taylor.

Mark and Sarah

Early Monday morning Stuart met my mom so that she could keep Molly and Taylor for a couple of days. When Stuart got home, we loaded up in Marks truck and headed to Kansas City. My Grandpa has been having some medical problems the past few months, and my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill have been helping him out by taking him to doctor and staying with him after a few surgeries. My mom went up a while back to give them some help and while she was there my Aunt Karen proposed an idea to my grandpa that went over great. She asked my grandpa if he would be willing to sell the big house that he and my Grandma built 30 years ago and buy a little house that has been on the market that is right next door to my Aunt and Uncles house. My grandpa went along with the idea and they have been working on making this move ever since. They have already closed on the new house and have started packing up and cleaning his old house to get it ready to put on the market. They have hired a construction company to renovate the kitchen, living room, bathroom and sunroom in the new house to make it a more comfortable living space for Grandpa.

My grandpa is not able to take all of the beautiful furniture and items that filled their home for the past 30 years to his much smaller house, so he decided to pass it on to all of his children and grandchildren. This started Grandpa’s Auction! My aunt took several pictures of furniture and goodies that he wanted to pass on, and sent out a mass email to the family with a disclaimer that read the first to respond got the item. Several items were claimed by myself, my parents and my brothers and sisters so we thought that this was the perfect excuse to take some time off to make a trip to Kansas City and haul it all back for everyone. We were also able to help pack some things up, and do a little bit of cleaning while getting to visit with family that we don’t get to see as often as we would like.

After an afternoon of packing and moving we headed out to a local pizza place called Shawnee Pizza…it was fabulous. We went with my Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle, and my cousin Amanda. Amanda brought along her boyfriend Brandon, who was a really nice guy. After dinner we headed back to my Grandpa’s and watched a video of Mark and Sarah’s fire tour.

Grandpa Bill

My Cousin Amanda and her boyfriend Branden...

After my aunt and uncle and cousin left and my Grandpa headed off to bed, Mark, Sarah, Stuart and I headed downstairs for a few for a few beers at the bar (yes, my grandparent’s have a bar in their house). My brother decided to invent a new game to play for our last evening at a house where we spent many holidays and party’s with family. And what better game than to see who can finish off a beer while riding up my grandparents stair chair (I know we were acting like we were 21, but I didn’t have kids for an evening, and we can get slightly immature when we all get together).

I have gone back and forth on whether or not to post these pictures, but I thought that they were pretty funny.

Stuart started us out...

I was next...

Mark on his way up the stairs...

And Sarah finished off our little game...

I got up the next morning and had breakfast with my grandpa while the rest of the crew showered up and got dressed. It was so nice to have this time to spend with my grandpa. He says that he is as excited as an 82 year old can be about all of it, but he is very thankful to have a wonderfully organized and smart daughter to put it all together.

I just want to say thank you to my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill for taking such good care of grandpa, and leading up this move. It really makes me sad that there are so many elderly people out there that don’t have family to take care of them the way that they have taken care of their parents. This is how it is supposed to be! You certainly lead a great example for all of us on how we should take care of our parent’s and loved ones as they get older and need the help.

Group Picture at Shawnee Pizza...

What a great trip. We were so glad to help out, even if it was just a 24 hour trip. I was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we will see them all soon at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas!

Remember to hug your loved one's often!!!

Halloween 2008

Halloween at our house was an all day event. Stuart is off on Friday’s and stays at home with the girls, so I decided to go ahead and take the day off so that we could have a Family Day! We woke up to thunderstorms on Friday morning; the girls came running downstairs and crawled into bed with us because they were scared of the thunder. I turned on a Halloween cartoon for them to watch so that Stuart and I could catch a little more sleep.

We went to chick-fil-a for lunch which is such a treat for the girls…they love them some chick-fil-a!!! We joked about how we were going to go to the McDonalds instead, and they actually started to get pretty upset. After lunch we took them home for a nap. Around 3 we took them up to my office to trick-or-treat, which was crazy. They got so much candy that we really could have wrapped it up for the day after we left, but we still had plans to hit our neighborhood later that night.

When I was growing up my mom always made sure that we had a nice warm “healthy” dinner before we headed out to trick-or-treat. I guess she did this to help control the candy binge that was to come later that night. This makes sense to me so we decided to make spaghetti, actually Stuart was nice enough to make it, and it was delicious! After dinner, we headed out for a night of trick or treating in our neighborhood. The girls really got into it this year. They had to be reminded a few times to actually say trick-or-treat when someone answered the door, and they did a good job taking turns ringing door bells. It was a fun day, and I’m glad that we got to celebrate it as a Family.

Now, I’m ready to get these Halloween decorations down, and start to bring out the Christmas Decorations! I guess I will hold off for a few weeks!

Molly on the way home from my office...

Taylor on the way home from my office...

Molly and Taylor before we head out for a night of trick-or-treating!!!

We had a visit from our friends Mike and Rebecca Harms when we got home, Austin and Abby looked so cute. Abby was sporting a southside cheerleader uniform...GO REBS!!! And Austin was a little Alligator!