Thanksgiving!

All week leading up to Thanksgiving, someone was sick. We weren't sure if we would even be able to celebrate. I had Noah barfing on Monday night and Sam on Wednesday. Thankfully, both of them got over it quickly.

I honestly thought Sam's might have been due to all the congestion, as she literally got sick once and was fine. However, I felt it was time to put the extended family on alert. We canceled our Wednesday preparations. Thursday morning everything appeared fine, so I met my sister at 6 AM for our traditional Thanksgiving day shopping at Kmart. The doors opened at 7 and I was feeling a little off my game. I gathered a few things and began to feel sick. My sister helped me check out and I barely made it home in time. After getting sick, I felt so much better.

After full disclosure, everyone came over anyways. We had a lot to be thankful for and enjoyed the time together. As a result of the chaos, I realized we didn't take many pictures and left some people out all together. The girls (Faith, Lorelei and Autumn) were off playing and my mom (and sis) was working hard as usual.

After the Thanksgiving meal, my sister and I stategize about our Black Friday (red for us-lol) shopping. We headed out at 10:30PM and got back at 11:30 PM the next day. This is one of my favorite days of the year and I am incedibly thankful that I was well enough to do it. My sister and I have a blast. It is mostly about spending time together and has become a sport of sorts for us.

Griffith Observatory

Griffith Park - Travel Town

Luke's First Haircut!

Luke's hair was getting way too long. We took him to Classic Kids in Camarillo for his first cut. Marie did a great job! As you can see, Luke was a little scared at first. Overall, he did a good job. After his haircut, he enjoyed playing with all the cool toys and games in the shop. Daddy, Noah and Faith enjoyed it too! Sam took pictures and was helpful with Luke.

Halloween

Luke was a cute little scarecrow. It took him a little while to get the hang of the bucket, but he quickly filled his hands with candy. For a long time he just wanted to hold a lollipop in each hand, but eventually he bacame interested in rummaging through the bucket. He did not say "Trick or Treat" or "Thank You", but it did say "Mine" and "No" to any candy invaders. He did scared a couple of times, but he was mostly just taking it all in.

Faith was cuter than Mulan herself. As I think about Mulan, I realize that Faith possesses some of the same traits. She has a natural beauty yet she has courage. She is tough and loveable. She is our Chinese princess.

Noah was a Ninja and Sam was Cleopatra. Noah seemed to have a lot of fun and enjoyed being a ninja. Admitedly, I know nothing about ninjas. I captured a couple of good pictures of his eyes. Samantha was a great Cleopatra. She looked beautiful!

We spent the early part of the day at the soccer fields. Around 3 PM we went "trick or treating" at the outlet mall with Gram, Gramps and the Larsons. This has become an annual tradition! Afterwards we came back to the house for some KFC and passed out some candy. Sam went out with a couple of friends. Upon her return, we loaded the kids in the car and headed over to visit the Utts family, which is another annual tradition. It is always great to catch up with friends.

Groovy! Noah goes Hippie in the School Play!

Noah is one of the lead characters in the school play. His first performance was great! The entire cast did an awesome job! I was a very proud mom. I can't wait to go back and see the play again

tonight.