Thanksgiving Weekend = So Much Fun!

As our first Thanksgiving away from family and familiarity approached, we were nervous and excited. Nervous we were going to miss doing our traditional family gatherings, and excited to do something new!

Thanksgiving morning came and we woke to a beautiful snowfall, it made us feel like we were in MN.

We got up and began our Thanksgiving by preparing our first turkey ever! We invited some of Ben's co-workers over for a Thanksgiving meal, prepared by newbie Holiday party havers! We had been thawing the turkey in the fridge since Sunday, which should have been ample time since it was only 16 lbs. Ben pulls it out Thursday morning and says, and I quote, "Ahhhh, Amanda I think we have a problem." Um, that is not exactly what I want to hear 5 hours before we are suppposed to be feeding 4 people I barely know, including Ben's boss. So I stay calm and positive by saying oh so cheerfully,"What's the problem babe!" He goes on to say the inside is completely frozen and icy and doesn't think it is going to be ready in time. At that point my stomach was turning and I wanted to cry, since I need everything to be just right when we are entertaining. But somehow God helped me to say, "Oh, it is going to be perfectly fine!" LIE! So, I immediately phone my one lifeline of the day...My Mom JoJo to the rescue! Long story short, mom reassured us that it was completely normal and fine. We just need to rinse out the inside of the turkey. Ben, being the rule follower that he is, did not want to do that because "on the butterball directions, it didn't say we could do that." :) I made him do it anyway! So we put it in and luckily our oven cooks unbelievably fast so our beautiful turkey ended up getting down in 2 1/2 hours. Thank you Jesus! The day, food and company was wonderful. And we were pretty proud of our first Thanksgiving meal together!



Notice the beautiful flower centerpiece that Tom and Pam sent us for our Thanksgiving away!

Thursday night we started our way down to Portland to see the Thuls (Pam's sister and family)! We got there about 10:00 and they welcomed us in and made us feel right at home. We were so excited to be in their home enjoying some family time. We stayed up and chatted until 12:00, planning our morning of shopping and being entertained by their dog Buddy!


Karen, Haley and I got up and did the Black Friday shopping. The boys had a "man's day" watching football all day, even enjoying some chili cheese nachos. Mike made us another amazing Thanksgiving meal that night with the best homemade apple pie. After our big meal Haley and Karen taught us to do a little cow calling...long story, but let's just say they(especially Haley) did a great job teaching is what a cow in distress sounds like:)

Saturday morning we headed downtown Portland to the Nike headquarters where Mike and Ben decided to do a little trespassing into the Tiger Woods Center.


As Karen, Haley and I sat in the car we noticed a security guard approaching. I automatically duck because I am a nervous nelly and Karen gets her game plan of what she is going to tell him. Luckily he walks right past and in...toward the boys! Shortly thereafter we see them coming out, being escorted out in handcuffs...Just Kidding! Even though us girls were thinking that may happen! They were just walking out with big goofy smiles on their face! Thank goodness!

Then we went to Niketown and a few other places.

That night the Thuls brought us downtown again to Morton's, an amazing steakhouse. After our belt loosening meal, we went across the street to a Christmas program called the Singing Christmas Tree. It was beautiful! It really got us in the "Christmas Spirit", as Mike said, it reminds us of the true meaning of this wonderful season, Jesus' birth.


We also helped them start their fabulous Christmas decorating!


I had to take a picture of Karen and Mike working away in the kitchen. I felt like that was all they were doing for us all weekend...amazing hosts, right?!

One of the best parts of the weekend was listening to all of Mike and Karen's stories! They are seriously the best story tellers I have ever met! I told Ben that I want us to be just like that, always laughing together and finding fun in everything they do. So, I made Ben practice telling me stories on our drive home! Hopefully, after spending the weekend with them, we have now made some of their future stories!

We had such a wonderful weekend with the Thuls, we DID NOT want to leave. They were such amazing hosts who made us feel like we are at a home away from home. They treated us much too well and we feel so blessed to have them in our lives. Thanks again Thuls, for your amazing hospitality and love toward us!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Who brought this weather?

The answer to that question is...Megan Thorp! We have had snow, freezing rain and 15 degree temp. since Friday. Megan Thorp just happened to be flying from MN that morning where they were having that same weather, I believe the weather followed her jet stream!! Ha, just kidding, but seriously this weather is crazy, the winds are like nothing we have seen OR heard before!

Anyways, forget the weather, we had such a great weekend! We were so blessed to have Megan come visit! It was so nice having family with us right before Thanksgiving! I picked up Megan from the airport Friday morning, yes I drove through downtown Seattle by myself, Megan (and I) were quite proud! It was pretty much just a weekend of hanging out! On Friday night Ben cooked us salmon on the grill and a few other mouth watering things! We also played Pass the Pigs, which is mindless yet so much fun...what I am saying is it was the perfect game for the three of us!

Then on Sat. we headed to downtown Bellingham, which we hadn't taken Megan to the last time she was here with Chad. We just shopped around in a few of the local stores. That night we went to the best German steakhouse ever! Ben and I enjoyed steak and Megan had their famous schnitzel.




On Sunday we went to church. Ryan Hall was speaking and he was great! Ryan Hall is the fastest American Marathoner, he is crazy fast!
After church Megan and I got our crafting on. Megan had seen this really neat wreath on thenester.com. It was a wreath made out of coffee filters, insane right?! Megan and I worked all afternoon. We took pictures of each step so you can see how to do it.


Fold the coffee filter into quarters.

Use the hot glue gun on the tip of the folded part.

Make 3 rows, the coffee filter tips should be glued close to one another.

We had so much fun! I am so glad Megan got inspired!!! :)



We absolutely LOVED the finish product! I couldn't stop staring at it!



For Christmas I am going to add a big red bow, but I couldn't do that yet since we are having friends over for Thanksgiving.

Megan also was nice enough to take Ben and I out on a little photo shoot hoping to get a good picture to add to our Christmas card. Yes, as usual, we are nerds, but we had so much fun! Here is just one. I did a little editing to it, but not much of anything.

We were sad to see Megan go this morning, but it was ok knowing we would be heading home so soon! We are so excited for our long vacation at home for Christmas!

We pray you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are truly thankful for each and every one of you! I am also thankful for Christmas music on the radio before Thanksgiving! :) What are you thankful for?

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24

Teeth

Well, Emily told me our theme this week should definitely be teeth! Since that is all I have been thinking about this week and that has meant Ben has had to think about it too!

Most of you know, I got my wisdom teeth out a week ago last Friday. I assumed I would be the best case scenario and I would be up and moving AND eating by last Saturday or Sunday. Well, 8 days later I am still at home enjoying the effects of wisdom teeth removal, but feeling a million times better! Ben has now decided that no matter what I go through I will ALWAYS be enduring the side effects, not a very positive attitude huh?! :) But can I just mention that Ben took such good care of me, getting me whatever I needed. I felt so blessed to have such a sweet husband who just wanted me to feel better!

Since I have been at home, not moving around much I decided to do a couple fun things! I have been getting more into home remedies/ all natural for things. So my first one was an all natural exfoliate for my face...and Ben's...hehehe!! He even got to enjoy a facial from me. He is going to be so embarrased that I put that on here! I used just mashed up oats and warm water.

The second was just a really small, simple thing. I read you can use olive oil as an eye makeup remover and then you can put it on the base of your eyelid at night at, it is supposed to kind of brighten your eyes and be good for your eyelashes. Who really knows if it does that, but I like to try that kind of stuff!

Keep reading...one more new post.

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Habakkuk 3:17-18

So, Megan has been trying to get me to do a "What I Wore" post, I guess that is the cool new thing with blogs! People put up what they wore, where it is from, and some put the price if it was a "great" deal! So, I decided to do it since there is something "kind of special" about this outfit. Can you guess what it is? Hint, I am pointing to it...

So here goes nothing! Presenting my first...

What I Wore Wednesday
(But on Saturday, since I usually only dress up on the weekends!) :)


The "special" thing about my outfit is....drum roll please:)...I made my skirt! I finally got Pam's sewing machine working fantastically! I had tried a couple times, but the seamstress(me) could not get everything working properly, but I finally did it!


One last photo to leave you with! Ben's first "What I Wore..." post! :) :) :) Check out the manly beard!!

We love you and miss you all so much!! Hope you are enjoying the snow...those of you reading from Minnesota! We are definitely a little jealous, we probably won't stay that way for long! :)
"When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me." Psalm 142:3

Say What?!

Now, for those of you who know me, you are aware of how much I loathe Halloween. I love Fall festivities, but Halloween does not fit under that category for me. So, as much convincing as I have tried to do on my husband, he still likes Halloween. To clarify, he doesn't like the meaning of it and the weird scariness around it, but he just seems to have really fond memories of it. So, I decided to have a little "grace" and let him enjoy it for once.
This lovely presentation was awaiting him as he came out of the bathroom! SURPRISE! :)

Yes, I had a little Surprise Halloween (or Fall, as I liked to call it) Bash! There were games! There were prizes! There was candlelight! :) :) And there was yummy food!
The first game we took part in was Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin! And, yes, I took all these ideas straight out of my 2nd grade classroom! Please don't look too closely at the writing on the signs, I had to make them fast since I only had about an hour. I had to get it all organized while Ben was running!


Then we did the old school apple bobbing, which was my favorite of the day!



The last game we played was Draw a Monster. The other person had to describe the monster while the other drew. For example, I would say, one body, 7 legs, 3 heads, etc. :) Ben LOVED this one. He really took his time...nerd! :)






The Tasty Treats!!!! Mmmmmmm!!!

And Benny's kissable lips! :)

So, even though I don't love Halloween, Ben and I had so much fun at our awesome party!
Oh and the mood setting for the evening!:)



Nothing else too exciting here. I am getting my wisdom teeth out on Friday, yuck. I will be very glad when it is over. Have a wonderful first week of November! We love you and miss you all!
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10