Gingerbread display Day

On November 25th we met up with the Berry's for a trip to the Gingerbread display at the Mormon Pioneer Trail Center. The kids love to get their 'can you find this item' game sheet and locate all the goodies on the list! Lucky Trevor was there to help Grant find the guitar!
It never fails...we always seem to run into friends from near and far. This year we bumped into the Hinckleys! Fun to catch up with them, both Valerie and I have know the Hinckley girls since they were little.
Thanks for the traditionally fun day Berry family!

Thanksgiving at the Gramma Sues

After our visit to Lincoln we traditionally spend Thanksgiving Eve at Gramma Sues! She makes amazing food and the kids love seeing their cousins too.
We have such a huge year span between the oldest cousin, Christina (21) to little Maya (2) but the kids just love to be and play together.
Chrisi and Trevor are GREAT examples to their cousins! I'm proud of the young adults they have become and know they will continue to be positive influences to all their little cousins!
Thanks Gramma Sue for feeding us every year...we love you!

Happy Thanksgiving at the Berrys

We were SO blessed and thankful this year to be able to spend Thanksgiving together with Berry family again! Not since my parents moved to St. George Utah have we traveled to Lincoln to be together for any holiday

This Thanksgiving was very special because my son Trevor "surprised" me by driving home from Idaho, instead of us traveling to Utah to meet him and spend Thanksgiving at my sister Mindy's home. Trevor drove straight through from Rexburg Idaho to Omaha Nebraska in 16 hours! I was on pins and needles waiting for Trevor to get home! I was SO happy to see him!

I was also so happy that Valerie agreed to feed us ALL! Lindsay and her family arrived and we ate GREAT food for the holiday!

We took family Christmas photos! Because I still had my tri-pod in my car from our family photo shoot, so imagine how excited my teens were to smile again! I LOVE the photo of us ALL!

Loved seeing the family photos this Christmas, when their cards arrived in my mailbox!

Family Photo Day

My family HATES having their pictures taken! Every year is a huge family fight! This year I told my kids,
"All I want for Christmas is a family photo"!
I bought matching outfits, which in-and-of itself, sent my teenagers over the edge. I spent two days shopping for our brown and green ensembles!
I booked a photo shoot at Portrait Innovations at 4:30pm but told my family it started at 3pm.
We piled in the car with our little niece Kaylee (whose turn it was to spend the night at Aunt Jill's house) and I directed Scott to Lanaha's nursery where a park across the street was the PERFECT location for some outdoor photos!
It was cold and windy on November 24th...but I MADE everybody get out of the warm car and pose like a HAPPY DANG FAMILY!
I set up the tri-pod and told Kaylee to press the silver button, over and over again!

Note: when I went to pick up these photo's at Walmart, they had called and asked for a photographer copyright signature allowing Walmart to print these "professional" photos (I love my Nikon camera).
I said I would have to get a hold of the little girl in pink to see if she would ok the printing!

A Happy Halloween Night

Happy Halloween 31 October 2009

This was a reunion of sorts for our Halloween tradition! When Tyler lived in Omaha five years ago they would come over to our house for chili and cinnamon rolls. We would trick-or-treat at the neighbors across the street, it was always decked to the nines, with scary creatures roaming the corner and scary images strewn across the lawn. We would have to carry Sarah to the door and take quick photo's of her scared for the night!

One year we hooked up the trailer to the Sorensen's 4-wheeler and went for a 'hay-rack ride' through the neighborhood, stopping at each house and unloading our goblins!

This year was very tough for me, having NO kids at home and still wishing for a night filled with kids, candy and doorbells, I was feeling sad! So, Scott and I headed to Lincoln to my brother Tyler's house where Lindsay and her family showed up and Uncle Michael came with us to walk the streets begging for sugar! Grant started out running from door to door...but as the night wore on he ended up on his Daddy's shoulders. I helped Kaylee with her makeup! And so sweet that Sarah is still hangin with the kids, put on an adorable costume and gathered enough candy to last till Easter!

I'm thankful to have family around at this season in my life. I know my nest is empty but my wings are still full...my nieces and nephews mean so much to me. I'm so blessed to have the best two children in the world and love to have my extended family to 'fill in' when I'm needing a hug!

An Awesome Halloween Party

Happy Halloween at the Patterson's home 30 October 2009

We had so much fun at the Patterson's home for a costume party the night before Halloween! I was so excited to go looking for a costume and wanted to be a witch-hmmm!

I looked on line at costumes and found this witches costume and loved it, then my BFF told me there was a great Halloween store in town and we should check it out. That is where I found the exact same costume I had found online...love the green witch costume!

We took a cheese ball/pumpkin with crackers for appetizer! There was GREAT food, desserts and more appetizers!

The Oakey's and Ray's won best and most original costumes for their psychedelic 60's look and elderly couple respectively!

We played the funniest game of 'Do you love your neighbor'! The following are some of the best responses: Yes, I love my neighbor but...

I do not love...anyone with not real breast- yep, Jeff Anderson and TJ Fenton switched for that one, and Bruce said many more would have moved if the economy wouldn't have been so bad this year!

I do not love...anyone with back hair-sadly my dear friend Mary Poppins ended up in the middle without a chair, I asked her 'why would you admit in having back hair', she said 'oh, I thought they said black hair'!!

I do not love...anyone who is a witch-after the three of us dressed in black hats switched it up, Jeff said, 'there should have been a lot more movement on that one'!

The last one of the night

I do not love...anyone who's been to a nude beach-I can't even tell you how many costumes moved on that one!!!

Thanks Pattersons

Vala's a Tradition in Omaha

Berry family, Sheely boys and Aunt Jill at Vala's pumpkin patch! 26 October 2009

We have loved going to Vala's Pumpkin Patch since our kids were little...

When we first started going to Vala's back in 1990 it was free to get in and you paid $1.00 for each haunted house, which was only two. You could take a ride on the trailers, pulled by little tractors, out to the acre or so of pumpkins, pick one then pay a dollar or two more, having had an amazingly cheap afternoon.

Now it is like going to Kansas City to World of Fun! It's expensive but still offers a lifetime of memories with whichever kids you can find to take! $12.00 to get in and much more for food, treats, pumpkins etc.

We had such a great day as family!