Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving weekend. We had a lazy morning Thursday, then drove down to LA to Mark's brother Aaron's house. His brother Jon and family were also there, so we had 12 kids between us. It was a great, laid back day and the only thing I cooked was Dad's cheesecake, which turned out perfectly! I did miss having Dad's stuffing so I actually made it today with dinner!

Mark and I each took a turn battling black Friday crowds and got most of our shopping done. Walmart was a total bust, after fighting the throng of people I came up empty handed, but Kohl's, Target and Michaels were actually enjoyable. Mark figured out last year that the trick at Kohl's is to buy something at the jewelry counter and then you can check out there. So, I bought something inexpensive there and avoided the hour long line

to check out! For Friday evening, I had gotten discount tickets to winter wonderland at the the Ice Sports center. Mark brought all the kids (except Caleb) and a neighbor to go ice skating, play in the snow and meet Santa. They had a great time and Courtney came told me today that she thinks she has a future in ice skating! I'm sure she could, as she could have a future in anything she put her mind to!

Saturday we spent the morning working on banners for the girl scout float that will be in the Christmas parade this week. The afternoon was spent watching the BYU football game- a great one if you missed it- go Cougars! Then, Mark and I had gotten discount tickets to go to the David Archuleta Christmas concert. It was very enjoyable- his Christmas CD would be very good.

So,we had a busy and full weekend and are ready for a very busy week ahead with Christmas decorating, a visit to Meg and family, the girls in the Christmas parade, Courtney's school championship spelling bee, and all the normal activities! We get our family pictures back tomorrow, so I am excited to see them and will post some soon.

What has 4 wheels, 8 pedals and 7 Olsens?

We just got back from a great couple days at the beach. It is our November tradition for the last few years, to head to the coast for a night. Usually it is on a Friday, but Mark had to go to Oxnard for a site visit/consultation at Oxnard High, so the girls played hooky and we all tagged along. It was perfect weather, so the kids and I spent the day at the beach, then we stayed overnight and all played today. After some outlet shopping, we decided to rent this bike and cruise along the bike path in Santa Barbara. Quite a workout for mom and day, but we needed it an it was fun! The only complaint was that we didn't get enough time at the beach! A great couple of days and for me, the first time out of Bakersfield in 6 months!!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009

A little late on the Halloween pictures, but here they are. The day started with pumpkin carvings, 4 of our 6 pumpkins were from out garden ( two were actually another type of squash that was over ripe!)- we were excited to use our home grown ones.

Later, we went to our ward party and then most of the kids were pretty wiped out. We went home and Aubrey opted to stay and pass out candy with me and Caleb, while everyone else went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Friends from our old ward had invited us to come to their trunk or treat, but only Mark and Courtney made it over there. All in all too much candy, but a fun day.

In other news, Courtney got a 4.0 on her report card, which means she made principal's list. She had a fun field trip for gate, where they traveled to the Orange County ocean institute. They went out on a boat and collected marine life, then came back and studied it. She had a great time, I will get her to write about it. She also competed in the written spelling bee and was one of the top 10 for the entire 4-6 grade and is now preparing for the oral competition in December- she has 900 words to study, most of which I don't even know! And, she competed in the oral language competition on Friday, she did not place, but we were very proud of the hard work she put into her piece.

Aubrey also had a perfect report card and was the only one in her class to get a + on handwriting. Her only lower mark was for not always completing her work as neatly as possible. Apparently, she is very competitive and always wants to be the first one done instead of doing it neatly- I wonder where she got her competitiveness?!

The boys and I have been spending most of our days this week at the park with friends, this is the best time of year here, with beautiful weather. We squeeze in some preschool here and there and have fun!

Caleb is doing really well. He goes to the doctor again this week to start his RSV shots, so I

am always anxious to see what his weight is up to. He is is smiling and cooing now, which is a lot of fun for all of us.