Thanksgiving Day.

Betcha already thought you got the ol' Thanksgiving post. Well, ya didn't. We had our very first non-traditional Thanksgiving. We originally had many family/baking/turkey oriented plans for the big day but found ourselves stressing over making our life fit those plans. And when I say 'we,' naturally I mean, 'me!' Since we never actually know when someone may come and look at our home for a showing, I couldn't bring myself to start the baking. What if I had to leave in right when the orange rolls were to come out? And there is the whole cleaning aspect of a showing with three kids home from school.

So, Thanksgiving here at home was out! We couldn't have gone up to see Nathan and Lindi for the holiday which would have rocked (have you seen her blog? Did you see all the awesome food she made?) but Ethan had a tonsillectomy two days before. Poor sweet guy. He's still having a really hard time of it today, so I'm glad we didn't try to travel.

So, Thanksgiving with family was also out. As usual, it was Sara who came up with the answer to my dilemma. Thanksgiving at the Ballantyne hotel. Oh yeah, baby. Talk about a buffet to remember! Sara's family was all travelling down for the holiday along with some friends and so she reserved us all seats for the big day. We took up a good section of the dining hall. The food was fabulous and there were plenty of very soft things for Ethan to nibble at. Mashed potatoes, creme brûlée, banana flambé on ice-cream. Yum. And the best part was that there were no dishes to clean up.

And here is the fantastic bread spread.


And one buffet table. They also had a table where they cut turkey, ham or roast beef in front of you as you passed.

And here we are in our Sunday best. I really should stop letting Ethan do his own hair for big events but I'm a sucker for his 'please' look. Curse that child's good looks! :)

And the three monsters. Ethan's giving a weird, 'come hither' look. Maybe it has to do with the bucket load of drugs he's currently on?
And the life of the party...(dramatic pause)...Aaron & Sara! Whahoo! The kids are there too, you just have to look real hard to see them.

Lastly, something that may never be capture on film again. Three very, very obedient children. Look how politely they walked down the hall (when they knew the camera was on them.) Although, I must admit, they were really good kiddies all day.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Jones Family!

This is a Saturday morning self portrait of the gang. Who needs make-up or hair brushes when you have smiles like this?

And as our gift to you, here are three Thanksgiving tips you'll be amazed you've lived this long without.

How to make a Thanksgiving Turkey

Ethan

Get some turkey from the store. Bring it home. Put on pineapple, sugar, salt and pepper and cook it up in the oven for 10 minutes. Then eat it up. That's the goodest part. Don't eat the bones. You put them on your plate.

Austin

Go to the farm and get a dead turkey. Take the feathers off with your hands and skin off with scissors. Take it home and put it in a pan with apples and some yummy stuff like cheese. Put it in the oven with a glove so you don't burn your hands. Cook it for 10 minutes.

Alaina

Get a turkey at the store where it is already cooked. I would put it in the oven because I like it a little bit hotter. I would put butter, a little bit of lemonade spice and some more spices on it. Then I would eat it with my whole family.

Sadly, it is Alaina's cooking tip that reflects my cooking the most. But not this year. This year we aren't going to the store at all. Instead, we are going to a hotel buffet. That's right. I know ya'll are totally jealous. Deal with it. I think I'm going to have about 10 helpings of creme brulee. Before dinner.

And here are two of my monsters refining the art of the waltz. As Jimmy kindly critiqued, it isn't actually a waltz number playing in the background. Apparently it was a 3/4 beat instead of a 4/4 beat. But the kids didn't seem to care. It is a longish one so after a few seconds feel free to fast forward to the final bows.



One more Saturday family shot. We got a little more of Austin's head and a little less of Ethan's.

And to end on, here is Austin's movie-star smile. He has informed me that he is much too talented to be a TV star. No. He WILL be a movie-star. He already has the attitude down. As long as he buys his mama a new house on a beach...I guess it really doesn't matter what he does.

My Arizona trip was SO much fun. Robert was absolutely amazing with taking on the role of single working dad for the week. He also got to be on-call in case anyone called to see the house. (no one called...so sad.)

I first met up with Noelle at the Montelucia Spa where her awesome Mom (who works there) got us this amazing suite for the day. The room opened up to the terrace next to the pool and had a wonderful view of the mountains. During the day we got treated to a manicure and fancy lunch (Also a treat from Noelle's Mom.) and hung out in the sauna, hot tub, steam room and this scary shower-like torture device that dropped freezing water on your head. I never had the guts to try it but I enjoyed watching Noelle and her friend Tara get drenched.

After the spa we went to Noelle & Kyle's home for a very tasty BBQ put on by Kyle's Mom & Grandma. That next morning we got our hair done, went over to beautiful Anthem golf resort and got pictures done. The wedding took place right at sunset. Noelle was gorgeous and the whole ceremony was perfect. But I think my favorite part was when Kyle and Noelle did the Tango for their first dance. It was very fancy and they performed it beautifully.

Here is the woman of the hour. Such a knock-out.
The cake.


The back of the dress.
Congratulations Noelle & Kyle! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of such a wonderful moment in your lives.

After the wedding I was able to spend a few days with Steph & Jim. It was so much fun being able to spend some time with the kiddies.


Bath time.


Steph and Yve.
Pretty girl!
The stare-down.


At the park.


Jim was able to come home right after work each day so that we were able to spend some good time together. The last night we were there I think we kept him up a little too long. Here he is assuming the position. (Rob's favorite place to sleep)
The last day I was there Lori drove down from Eager and met us at the park. She was able to bring her three youngest with her...yeah for me! Here is Oliver with Addison. She's got about six months on him but he's got a couple of inches over her.

Lori with sweet Andi.
Lori with Addison.
It's been about 4 years since we've seen each other. That's way too long.

And here I am with Charlie, Addison and Andi. I could just keep these three little ones. (I asked but Lori didn't let me.)

I guess after 5 days it was time to come back to reality. I should take a trip like that more often, though. I hope that we can come through Arizona again if we end up driving to Portland. That way the kids can get in on some of the fun as well.

Happy Halloween-a-licous Eve!

We had an awesome Halloween night to trick-or-treat in. It started out pretty miserable with a sudden cloud burst of rain. After about 1/2 hour of rain we decided to brave the weather. (Silly rob brought out our beach umbrella while I stuck with the normal kind. Strange thing is that all the kids like Rob's better. Weird.) After about 20 minutes of running around in the down pour, the rain suddenly stopped and this balmy misty-fog took over. It was warm and ideal spooky weather for the night.

The kids were perfectly matched with their personalities by their costumes. Ethan, my wild child, made a perfect Peter Pan. Every time I looked at him I though he'd found his calling in life.

Austin was the tin-man from Wizard of Oz. My tenderhearted child. With his dark skin, the light silver make-up came out super dark. Other than that, his outfit was perfection. (What you couldn't see was the silver sparkles in his hair. It looked great. Ethan had gold pixie-dust in his hair too!)

And my sassy diva...well you can just imagine what that little minx insisted on wearing. What a little princess!

And here they all are.

Peter-Pan


Tin Man


Princess?!
That's right. Although I had a super cute pink Japanese Princess kimono for my little angel. THIS is what she insisted on being. SPOOKY! She was the most scary little bag of bones I've ever seen. Getting her ready was pretty fun.

But the best part was after I got her finished and she first looked at herself in the mirror. She scared herself! Look at this face.

And here she is with her final look all put together.


Here is Robert with his crazy umbrella.

And the kids braving the rain for candy.

A VERY excited Ethan thinking, C-A-N-D-Y!!!!!!!

The boys with their favorite girl, Amisha.

And here are two more pumpkins that Rob carved. I think the word is 'intense' when it comes to Robert and Halloween.