A Birthday and a trip to Oregon

Today is my cute baby sister's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!!! I wish you lived closer so I could have taken you out to lunch today. It would have been fun and I really could have used a break today! Can't wait to see you for Christmas!

Moving on. . . We had a fun but hectic trip to Oregon over Thanksgiving. We came home to a messy house, empty fridge, and no clean clothes, so I have spent the last two days trying to clean, cook and wash clothes. I just put the 13th load in the dryer and I am close, but still not finished. Who knew four boys could generate so much laundry when they have to be reminded to change socks on a daily basis. I think that half of the clothes I washed hadn't been worn, but they smelled less than fresh, so I had to wash them anyway! Grrrr.

Anyway, here is a re-cap of our trip.

We arrived on Wednesday night, spent some time visiting and relaxing, then ran to the store for a few groceries.

Thursday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy stuffing myself. That afternoon the kids all made graham cracker gingerbread houses. They absolutely love this activity and look forward to it every time. It is fun to watch them and see the different personalities. Some kids make beautiful, thought out, symmetrical houses with colorful patterns and shapes. Others just pile on as much candy as they can before the poor little crackers collapse under the weight. In case any of you are wondering, all 4 of my boys tend to lean towards the "pile on the candy" approach.

Friday the cousins played, the adults visited, and we all went to the movie "Madagascar 2".

Tyler and his cousin Chance had a great time playing chess with Kaden's chess set.

Justin and Mac spent almost an hour raking the leaves in grandma and grandpa's yard. They had a blast!

Saturday the girls spent all day planning the 50th Wedding Anniversary Party for Wes's parents. We aren't sure what the men did, but we're pretty sure it involved a lot of sitting on tushes and watching electronic devices of one type of another.

We did a 50's theme and I think it turned out really nice. We decorated in pink, white, and black with lots of old records. My brother-in-law Casey Deejayed the dance and made an awesome slide show that he has promised to send us a copy of. The rest of the men served ice cream at our make shift ice cream parlor. They all wore matching vests. It was the hit of the party. All of the guests came through and ordered ice cream sundaes. Thanks to my sister in law Patsy, they had about 20 toppings to choose from. It was an ice cream lover's heaven I tell you!

Don't they look cute handsome?

This is my great in-laws, who have been married for 50 years, sharing a dance together. We love you mom and dad!!