Friday, Nov. 15
Mar and I {and our fave Stewart ladies} met for dinner, then attended CVHS's musical Chicago.
I had never seen the musical OR the movie, so was interested to see what it was all about. This was "the high school version," and I'm still not exactly sure what that means. :-)
Pretty much a story about adultery, murder, lying... and getting away with it. Hmmmm... nice morals for impressionable youth, amiright? I'll just say I'm glad we didn't take Bill, and I'm glad my daughter didn't have a starring role with all the hot pants and booty shaking going on.
It was done well, and I'll leave it at that.
Oh, Seminary.
It's so so good, but so so exhausting.
On this particular morning the activity was a success. Phew!
Saturday, Nov. 23
Bill and I went to the Castle Rock Star Lighting.
It was our first time, and it was pretty much as I expected:
lots of people, lots of drinking (mainly of beverages containing alcohol),lots of milling about, and cold. IF we were to go again, I'd bring a thermos of hot cocoa, and wouldn't bother going very early. We DID manage a decent parking spot, thank heavens, as we saw many people walking from far distances to attend.
We ran into our next-door-neighbors, but failed to find the booth sponsored by the Church.
We eventually ended up by a strip mall near where we parked our car. We could see the star AND the fireworks, then had a speedy exit plan to avoid the crowds and traffic. It worked like a charm.
Britt and her family drove in on Monday, the 25th. They had initially planned to drive on Tuesday, but a huge storm had been forecasted for that day. We were so glad they made the decision to come early, as Tuesday was crazy bad weather.
Tuesday, Nov. 26
The cousins got together for slime-making, dress-up, and general playtime.
Bill and I had purchased a few (7?...8?...) costumes on clearance at Sam's Club after Halloween for such a time as this. The kids really liked them, so I'll call that a Gigi/Little Billy success.
Shilo and Kody came in on Wednesday.
It wasn't a great weather day, but better than Tuesday.
Bill and Austin spatchcocked the turkeys in preparation for smoking them the next day.
Thursday, Nov. 28
Thanksgiving
We started the day off right by going to see Frozen II. We had tried to see it on Tuesday at the Castle Rock theater, but it was closed due to the snowy weather. When I went to get tickets for Thanksgiving Day, the Castle Rock theater was sold out, so I purchased them at the Arapahoe Crossing theater... with reclining seats. Turns out it was a tender mercy. It was literally perfect with our littles. L could walk around without getting in the way of others, which he freely did. Had we been at the Castle Rock theater (traditional tight stadium seating), it would have beena nightmare much more difficult. Plus this theater had an awesome backdrop to take pics by.
By the end of the show, V was louding singing along "Into the Unknown...." It was awesome.
Once we got home, we went into full dinner prep mode.
Those smoked turkeys were amazing.
The meal was delicious and the company was perfect.
The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Lex, Jase, and M with us too.
Lex's doctor had advised her not to travel so close to her due date
(she just texted today to say she's dilated to a 4!)
Friday, Nov. 29
Bill and Mar both worked an AM shift in the temple.
The rest of us focused on mixing, rolling, and baking gingerbread for the
Syddall Fam 1st Biennial Gingerbread House Contest.
Then everyone went out to shop for any specifics they might need to make their house a winner.
Then it was time to assemble and decorate. There was a $50 Amazon gift card on the line.
This was so fun.
The results:
So, we had a little glitch with our voting system - we gave everyone an individual vote, and we should have had each house entry have only one vote. With our flawed voting system (and a 5 point bonus given for the house that Scarlett voted for - and it wasn't her mom and dad's), Tay and Nae came out on top. All of the houses were super impressive, so Bill and I decided that EVERYONE deserved a prize. EVERYONE'S A WINNER. Yay!
Late that night Bill, Mar, Shi, Kody and I went to check out the Castle Rock lights.
Shi and Kody were going home the next day (Saturday), so we were soaking up all the time we could with them.
Saturday, Nov. 30
We visited at Tay and Nae's house, shopped a bit, and Austin took missionary pics for Mar.
We had a brief half-birthday celebration for Scarlett.
And last-minute playtime for these cute kids.
Cousins are the best.
Austin, Britt, and fam headed out Sunday morning.
I loved spending time with my family.
It was, quite literally, the best of times.
Thanksgiving
We started the day off right by going to see Frozen II. We had tried to see it on Tuesday at the Castle Rock theater, but it was closed due to the snowy weather. When I went to get tickets for Thanksgiving Day, the Castle Rock theater was sold out, so I purchased them at the Arapahoe Crossing theater... with reclining seats. Turns out it was a tender mercy. It was literally perfect with our littles. L could walk around without getting in the way of others, which he freely did. Had we been at the Castle Rock theater (traditional tight stadium seating), it would have been
By the end of the show, V was louding singing along "Into the Unknown...." It was awesome.
Once we got home, we went into full dinner prep mode.
Those smoked turkeys were amazing.
This was our first attempt at a "kid's table"... I'd call that a success, too!
The meal was delicious and the company was perfect.
The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Lex, Jase, and M with us too.
Lex's doctor had advised her not to travel so close to her due date
(she just texted today to say she's dilated to a 4!)
Friday, Nov. 29
Bill and Mar both worked an AM shift in the temple.
The rest of us focused on mixing, rolling, and baking gingerbread for the
Syddall Fam 1st Biennial Gingerbread House Contest.
Then everyone went out to shop for any specifics they might need to make their house a winner.
Then it was time to assemble and decorate. There was a $50 Amazon gift card on the line.
This was so fun.
The results:
So, we had a little glitch with our voting system - we gave everyone an individual vote, and we should have had each house entry have only one vote. With our flawed voting system (and a 5 point bonus given for the house that Scarlett voted for - and it wasn't her mom and dad's), Tay and Nae came out on top. All of the houses were super impressive, so Bill and I decided that EVERYONE deserved a prize. EVERYONE'S A WINNER. Yay!
Late that night Bill, Mar, Shi, Kody and I went to check out the Castle Rock lights.
Shi and Kody were going home the next day (Saturday), so we were soaking up all the time we could with them.
Saturday, Nov. 30
We visited at Tay and Nae's house, shopped a bit, and Austin took missionary pics for Mar.
We had a brief half-birthday celebration for Scarlett.
And last-minute playtime for these cute kids.
Cousins are the best.
Austin, Britt, and fam headed out Sunday morning.
I loved spending time with my family.
It was, quite literally, the best of times.
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