Check out this brood! All of my siblings live within a half days drive from Mom and Dad now that they moved to Atlanta. So, for Thanksgiving, they all went to stay in Mom's big fancy house. They went and had their photo done and I wanted to share it. They dressed in color code, but the photographer arranged them according to size. Too bad we weren't there. Don't know what color we would have had though. Orange? Under the photo I'll give a brief rundown of who everyone is.
Mom and Dad in RED.
David & Stephanie's family is in BLACK. They have 4 kids. Emma, Ethan, Breanna, and David Jr.
Jamie & John's family is in WHITE. They have 6 kids. Devin, Mary, Jacob, Orrin, Kaylee, & Aidan.
Bobbie & Jeff's family is in BLUE. They have 2 kids. Mckenzie & Max.
Nate & Kristina are in GREEN. Braelinn is the cutie in front with the bow in her hair. They are expecting a baby boy in just over a month.

So that's everyone. 13 of the 16 grandkids. Pretty impressive bunch I would say. (o:

Turkey, Snow, and Black Friday

Thanksgiving was good. Travis's dad came over and we had quite a feast. Then, we borrowed his PT Cruiser while he took a nap and we drove the boys up to Snoqualmie all the way up to the summit to see some snow. There was a tiny drop, as you will see in the pictures. It was very cold up there. Then we came home, lit a fire in the fireplace and had egg nog. Very nice. Then, I got up at 2:30am to get ready to go to work on Black Friday. The store opened at 4am and I have never seen such a huge crowd of sleepy looking crazy shoppers. For the most part it was a lot of fun. The lines were insane and I got to be the lucky line control person. I made a lot of new friends while standing around the line and I even made a couple of enemies, cause, well, you know, going to a huge sale with a thousand other people at the same time~I can totally see the surprise at the long line! Brother! I came home at 1:30, and Travis left at 1:32. He got home 12 hours later. It was a very interesting day.

I have a few pictures below of our fabulous holiday. Hope yours was great as well!
The famous Butterball!! It was good, but it really did just taste like turkey. (o:

Here they are, eating their yummy dinner. It was very informal this year.

The family picture we took while playing up on the summit.

Very cold little boys.

Just playing around.

Trying to get Connor to handle the snow. He said it was too cold!

This is the scene from the summit. The mountain on the right is the one Travis and his dad call the Matterhorn cause it looks like our favorite Disney ride mountain. (don't ya think?)

The Turkey

Why is it so super exciting to go buy a big, frozen solid, dead bird? And why does it have to be so hard to find just the right one? Yesterday I took the boys over to Fred Meyer to do our Thanksgiving dinner shopping. We grabbed a pumpkin pie (usually I make a sugar free-crustless one, but with the fact that I'll be working the night before~store bought will have to do), we got the stuffing mix, we got the cranberry sauce. Then we headed over to get our turkey. Now, most stores have this little deal. Freddies is no different. Spend a certain amount of money, get your turkey for dirt cheap. But, it has to be a specific type of turkey~usually the store brand. I have always said~hey, a turkey's a turkey, right? Well, last night we went over to the freezer section and there were NO TURKEYS! Well, there were plenty of expensive ones that were on sale for $1.40 a pound, but none of my precious turkeys that I would be able to get for 39cents a pound!!! I rang the little meat guy bell. Out came the meat guy. Sorry~we're all out. I begged him to please tell me that they were doing substitutes. He said talk to a manager. So off I went with my three boys, a cart full of food, searching for a manager. Never found one. I asked a cashier and she told me I would have to bring in my receipt early the next morning and hope that I could snatch up one of the special turkeys. But the meat guy said there wouldn't be anymore! Oh, well, you better still try. That was her answer. Well, we still needed all that other stuff, so I just as well go pay for it and try to figure out what we would do. See, my freezer's not big enough to go get the turkey weeks in advance. I thought 4 days would be good enough. Apparently that's what everyone else thought. We went to pay. The cashier~who's name is Mila and who we have always really liked~told me that they were substituting turkeys and the other cashier didn't know what she was talking about. Guess what they brought me as a substitution. A Butterball! (a $34 one and I paid $8.19!!~I paid more for the 2 Duraflame logs!!) I've always wanted to try a Butterball, but they were way too expensive, and a turkey's a turkey, right? Well, I guess that's only a theory when the only thing you get is the store brand. A justification or something. But now, I have a 21 pound Butterball in my refrigerator! I'm so excited!

So, that was our turkey buying excitement. I wasn't able to get any egg nog cause they were sold out and my turkey bags were gone too, so I'll have to send Travis out on a turkey bag hunt for me tomorrow, but otherwise, I am all set to go. Travis's parents were supposed to come to dinner, but Travis's only living grandparent, Grandma Peterson (who is 92) is pretty much in the last days of her life, so Travis's mom is down in Utah to be with her mom. We will have his dad over though. We always have a good time with him.

The only draw back to anything as far as me and turkey day is I have to work the night before and then I have to be to Kohl's at 3:30am to be ready to greet all those insane shoppers that will breaking down our doors at 4am!

Better go. Connor just made his own toast. This is a first. Better go make sure the house doesn't explode!

Connor and his Big Boys

So, Connor just turned 3 and potty training is only half-way done. Not really a big deal to me because Joseph refused to potty train until he was 4 1/2 and that was a HUGE struggle. I have learned that it's not worth it to force or fight it. We all grew up to poop and pee in the toilet eventually, so I'm not concerned. What I am concerned with, though, is Connor's half naked self running around half the day. Every time he goes to the bathroom (which is a lot lately cause he gets so much satisfaction from us cheering when he goes) he takes off his pants and his pull-up or big boys and then doesn't bother to put them back on. So, he runs around the house with a cute little naked butt and there is a big old pile of pull ups and little Cars underwear in the bathroom. (Most of which, are dry!) Right this very moment his is jumping on the mini-trampoline naked and singing! First of all, I admire his self confidence in his own body. Won't catch me running around and jumping on trampolines naked. YUCK! (o: Needless to say, Connor has taken a different approach to this whole potty training thing than both of his brothers. I just love seeing the differences of each of my children. They all have such unique personalities. It's so fun to watch. Joseph is our oldest so he is always concerned for everyone and kinda bossy, but very loving. Spencer, our middle child, is quiet, loves to do things by himself, and is very dreamy. Connor is the happiest kid you'll ever meet. He is extremely curious and loves making huge messes, but is always happy. The best part is they are each others best friends. They get along so well. That's my proudest accomplishment yet. I'm sure it won't last forever, but I can hope.

Gotta go fix some lunch and then we are going to the library. Joseph and Spencer both have their own library cards now, so we are going to go pick up some of the things they picked out that we put on hold. Everyone have a super Thursday!

Oh! And Happy Birthday to Travis's mom~Deone! Her birthday is tomorrow. We love her very much!

My Co-Workers

I promised I would put up some pictures from work. I took the camera and after we finished with our sets I started snapping pictures. Our boss, Tammy, threw us a little thank you party for all of our hard work that week. Almost half of the team is brand new and we were able to have the store looking really great for our Corporate visit. So, here are some pictures of my new friends. (o:

This is my boss, Tammy. Notice the signs in her hand. That is what we place all night long. Signs like those. So, next time you go to Kohl's, look at the price signs that look like those and think of me. (o:

This is Patricia and Tran. Tran has been at the store since it opened and did a lot of training with me. She's the best in the business!This was taken in the main office. Travis sees a whole lot of this office, since it is where the upper management has their desks. Oh~notice the sign that says sale on the desk there? That's ours. Christy is the one standing, Barb in front. Barb was my first trainer. She is going to be leaving us to work days in shoes soon. We'll miss her. Christy is one of the happiest people I know. Her positive attitude is extremely contagious!

Here we are having our little party. It was 11pm at this time. Great time of day to have a party! (o: We were actually getting ready to leave very early. Every other night I have worked I have not left there before 1:30am. We were gone by 11:30 that night.

I'm Tired!

I know that my postings are scarce right now, but I have a good reason. I'm exhausted! I started my new job last week at Kohl's. I love it! I think it's fun and the people I work with are super nice. I really enjoy working alone in an area. The quiet is very nice. Plus, I work from 7-1am. The store closes at 10 or 11 (depending what day it is), so for a couple of hours, I am working with no customers around. Half the store lights are off, and the music is playing overhead. It's actually quite relaxing. With that being said, though, getting to bed at 2:30am and then having to get up at 6 or 7...that is beginning to wear. Today I turned on the tv, and told the kids I was taking a nap and to just play quietly or watch tv. I curled up on the couch and took a pretty good little nap, but now I have a house to clean, school to teach, and children who want something other than pbj's to eat...with less time to do it in since I slept away some of my precious time. I am only working 3-4 days a week though, so I will be able to catch up a little this weekend. The worst parts of the job is 1.Having to say goodbye to the boys every night. 2. Never getting to see Travis. I told him that his co-workers have seen more of him than I have this week. One other good thing though, is that I am walking and standing for 7 hours at a time. My body is very sore, but I have to be earning a lot of activity points! I'll be seeing a nice drop in my weight soon.

In kid news~the boys have been doing well adjusting to having me gone and their dad home at night. They have established a couple of little routines while I'm gone. Spencer has been having lots of fun in the evenings learning new games on PBSkids.org, or playhousedisney.com. Joseph has been busy designing and building new play areas for Fluffy. (yes, he's still alive!) They both are really coming along with their reading in school. Joseph especially loves spelling. He's always excited when it's time to do a spelling test and he tries to help Spencer. I keep telling him it's a test, so no cheating, but he insists that he's just being a nice big brother. We have the same problem with Math though. Spencer is always telling Joseph the answer. At least they are working together. Connor has decided that the greatest toy in the world is my vacuum cleaner. He pushes it around and makes the motor sounds. Then he detaches the hose and puts the long attachments on and pretends to get in all the corners. I'm hoping he doesn't break the thing, but he has so much fun with it and thinks he's being so helpful! One day soon I'm going to see if he'll "play" with it while it's plugged in and turned on. (o:

Finally~Travis. He's doing really well at work. Just today he sent me an email that a customer
sent to Kohl's headquarters complimenting him by name at what a wonderful customer service person he is. I'm very proud of him! Hopefully this will help him get an Executive spot after the holidays. We just had a visit from some big wig Corporate people yesterday and they said nothing but good about Travis's area.

Okay, that's about all I can muster up out of my brain. Maybe this weekend I will be able to do some longer posts. I think I'll take my camera tonight and snap some pictures of my co-workers. They are really great. I have a fabulous boss~Tammy. She's nice, but doesn't mess around. My favorite kind of leader! So~see ya later everyone!

Halloween and Other Stuff

I know, I know...where are the Halloween pictures! It's been an interesting week though. Joseph's cold that he had last week...well, he so kindly shared it with the entire family. Connor, who throws up during a hang nail attack, got the fever and threw up for 2 days. Spencer just had the fever for a day. I had a small fever and a lot of achiness for a day, Travis had no fever, but his has hit him in his chest. Now everyone is walking around sniffling and coughing, but I am seeing an upward trend in recent days. Needless to say, Halloween was not the usual crazy holiday for us. Connor passed out on the floor a half hour before we were supposed to go to the church for Trunk or Treat. We skipped the chili dinner and party before the treating because we didn't want the kids out for too long. I ended up taking Joseph and Spencer and Travis stayed home with Connor. (who, by the way, slept until the next day) 20 minutes was all it took for the boys to get their buckets filled. Then we came home, lit a fire in the fireplace and counted the loot.

Spencer was so sick the day before Halloween that he really did not care what he would dress up like. About an hour before we left, he decided he wanted to be a fire fighter just like Joseph (who has had his costume for a month!). We dug out an old hat, slapped a cut out badge on one of Daddy's red jackets and, ta-da, instant fire fighter. Then, the entire time we were getting the candy, people would comment on how cute my little firemen were, and Spencer would correct them all and tell them he's just a kid...or...it's just a costume...or...that on Halloween he can dress up to be whatever he wants, but he's still just a kid. He's quite a character, I'll give him that. (o:

So, below are a couple of pictures of that night. The cute little butterfly princess is Janina. She is our neighbor and the only girl in Joseph's primary class. She is also the girl Joseph has announced he is going to marry in the Temple some day. Brother!

In other news, I have now been officially working at Kohl's for two days. Travis got to do the orientation that I was in. Kinda fun being at work with him for 4 hours. Last night he stayed home with the kids and I went in on my own. I was supposed to do mostly computer training, but the admin gal didn't get my info into the computer, so that didn't happen. I was on my feet all 7 hours recovering the aisles and changing out signs. It was fun and very nice to know so many of my new co-workers. Some people just called me Travis's wife, or Mrs. Travis, or one even called me the lady that bakes the cookies. (o: I go in again tonight at 8:30 and work until 1am. I'll be tired tomorrow for sure! Hopefully I don't fall asleep in church. They'll have to nudge me when it's time to get up and lead the music in Sacrament meeting.

Okay~have tons to do before going off to work, so I'll leave you with those pictures.