Kris and Doug have been here for a couple of weeks due to a super-computing convention Doug attended. I know, sounds super-smart and super-nerdy, I know. They extended their stay to include Thanksgiving. I took a little holiday from Adcock family life and stayed the first weekend they were here at mom and dad's with them. I even got a substitute for primary and went to church with them. It was nice to be a kid and not a mom.
Later in the week, we went to see "To Kill a Mockingbird" on the big screen. It's a classic book and most excellent movie. Jen, Kris and I all love the movie. We were in HEAVEN! It was Jen, Kris, Doug, Allison and I who went. We just sat and enjoyed every minute of the newly digitally-remastered masterpiece! How we love Atticus, Jem, Scout, Dill and Boo. The role of Atticus Finch was Gregory Peck's favorite role ever.
The day before Thanksgiving, I got my food assignments prepared. I was in charge of apple pie, green salad, veggie platter and stuffing. I also made a pie to take to Deb's house on Wednesday. I was busy washing and cutting veggies. Thanks to Mel's help, the apple pie came together quickly. She used my handy apple-peeler-corer-slicer that uncle Mike had given me to prep the apples and I made the pie in record time. Yippee! We went to Deb's house that night for pie with all her kids that were in town. Jon and Sarah were there with their 4 kiddos. They came from Washington state. Kenna and Klint and kids and Clark and kids came from their nearby homes. Vanessa, Clark's wife, was working. We enjoyed visiting and eating pie.
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| Melia and Emily Sykes - Cousins! |
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| More Cousins! Allie and Em |
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One more member added to the Aarl Club -
Members now include Spencer Aarl Amundson, Aarl R Hunter and James Aarl Sykes |
Thanksgiving was great! I got up and walked with my buddy, Sherie Ritchie. I love her. She is a good friend. Loyal, understanding, kind and wise. Sandy didn't join us because she had foot surgery and is in Arizona. She won't be walking for a while, though. After walking and showering, it was time to go to Jen's to join everyone for FOOD and FUN! We ate around 1:30 because Mel and Keenan had to head back home by 5:00 so Mel could get on the road with the Watkins for a soccer tournament in St. George. Mike Reason, Jen and Scott's friend from college, and Eryn Peck, Allison DeVuyst's friend from elementary school, joined us. We had a great time eating, playing games and visiting. The funny event was when we were playing cards after dinner. Jen had put a disk in her player grand piano and there was lovely Christmas music coming from the living room. After one song, Keenan said "That sounds great, Em!" Em responded from the office "thanks." Keenan thought she had been playing, while it was a player piano all along. We got a good laugh out of that.
Another highlight was the dead bird in the bushes outside of Jen's family room window. We don't know how long it had been there, but it looked pretty bad. Ewww!
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| The Bird! |
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| Emily Sykes and Allie |
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| Photo-bombing James DeVuyst |
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| I love this pic of Melia and Allie |
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| Allie, me, James, Allison and Grandma talking before dinner |
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| Reason brought treats for us all - the kids love this kind of stuff! |
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| Glad we had G-Unit to make the gravy |
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| Allie had wanted a salad with dressing on it. I made a recipe from Sandy Hewlett. It had homemade dressing on it. |
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| Ode to Weight Watchers - Veggie Platter |
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| Me, Dad and Mike Reason |
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| Cute - "Little Jimmy", Andrew, Allison and Eryn |
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| Watch out! Rod is armed! |
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| Mel and Allie |
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| Allie and kinda Mel |
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| Melia messing around |
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| Emily was actually playing the piano in this one |
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| Cute Allison |
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| Scott and Doug napping after dinner |
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| Aunt Kris and Allie |
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| Cute Grandpa |
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| Jenny impersonating Uncle Richard |
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| Em, Allie, Mel and Keenan |
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| teaching Reason how to play 5 Crowns - Allie won! |
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| One of my hands |
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| A winning hand |
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| Dessert! |
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| I love it when Allie plays with my hair |
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| Christian and Allie in their yoga pants |
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| Little Jimmy, Reason and Keenan |
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| Doesn't mom look cute? |
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| Frist Snowman of the season |
Keenan and I took a nap from 9:00 to 11:00 pm then went out to try to get free loot at Sports Authority. The first 80 people in line get a scratch card worth 10 - 500 dollars. When we drove up, it was evident we wouldn't be among the first 80, so we went back home to bed. Allie, in the meantime, was out shopping with her friend Kiana. They had a great time and completed their Christmas shopping. I have fond memories of Black Friday shopping with Keenan's sister, our sister-in-law Renee, and Keenan's mom when we lived in Texas. We have also enjoyed it the last two years in Denver. It seems weird to have "missed out". That's the beauty of going to Disneyland for Christmas. I don't have to do any shopping. My shopping is DONE!
I woke temporarily to see what Allie and Kiana had purchased, then I went back to bed til around 9:30 when Karen called me from her marathon shopping.
Mel has won their first game in the tournament. Next game is at 3:30. In case you are wondering about Kamiko, he went to California to spend the holiday with Walter Frank and the rest of the Eng bunch. I'm sure they are having a blast.
