Thanksgiving

It seems to me that Thanksgiving is becoming more of a stepping stool to Christmas. Everyone is so anxious to shop the black Friday sales (which have now started Thursday) and to start getting ready for Christmas. I will admit, that at times I get caught up in this. However, Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday! It's time to spend with family, eat, laugh, play games, and relax. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Tyler's family this year. His Aunt Mary Kay and Uncle Curt came from Utah, Aunt Kris and Uncle Jon came from Washington, Grandma Oldroyd from Beaverton, and Grandpa and Grandma Bendixsen. I am so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. I feel like I belong with them. I don't feel like I'm an unwanted addition. I know that I am loved by them and I love ALL of them as well.
With that said, Tyler and I were crazy enough to go to Wal-Mart at 10 pm to get some princess dolls for Addy that she will LOVE! We were also hoping to lay our hands on a trampoline for Tyler's mom... no luck. I think that was my first time ever going to Wal-Mart for black Friday, or Thursday in this case. I don't think I will ever do it again. There was not a single parking spot in all of the Wal-Mart parking lot, the attached parking lots belonging to Payless, McDonalds, and a few others were also completely jammed, as were the side streets. Anyway... I didn't take any pictures of the events of Thanksgiving... lame, I know! I just never got my camera out.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE...

THESE GIRLS!
I have no idea why we have waited over 3 years to have a serious girls night. We got a hotel, went to a fancy dinner, got fun drinks, painted nails, and stayed up talking 'til 3 am, followed by breakfast the next morning. We had a blast! I'm so grateful to have made such good friends here. I am sad to leave them in June. We will definitely be having more girls nights... I hope! I had many firsts that night... tried Sushi (which I loved!), experienced valet parking (also love), and being in Trader Joe's.













Thanks for a most fun weekend, girls! Love you all!

OMSI

Tyler was kind enough to ditch school today and hang out at home with us! It's nice that he can do that every once in awhile... or once. We decided to take the opportunity to go to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I have never been and Tyler hasn't been since he was a wee lad. There were an abundance of kids... we counted 17 buses in the parking lot! It was a little overwhelming and hard to play with all of the stuff, not to mention maneuvering a double stroller through there. They have a special area for kids 6 and under, it was nice to have a little reprieve. Addelyn LOVED it! They have a sand box, a water station, animals, and much more to look at! Lots of fun was had!

Georgia's On My Mind

I visited Georgia this past week to spend time with my Grandparents! It was an added bonus that my Aunt lives there and I got to see her! Also, my sister, Jenna, came at the same time! I have only driven through Georgia, so I can't say that I've been there before. After being there I have a small desire to live in the South. There is so much "Southern Charm". The houses are all gorgeous with large porches and the red brick. So pretty! The landscape is pretty, just very, very pretty!
During the days we went to a beautiful park and had a picnic lunch, went to Aiken and walked around downtown, played games, made dinner, celebrated 11/11/11 at 11:11, went to South Carolina a few times, went to breakfast with Aunt Laura and cousin Kiana, and just enjoyed being together. It was great having Jenna there with me. We stayed up til 3 am "bonding", my first night there.










My grandparents beautiful Georgia home!










My view from the plane on the way home!

PS... I am kidding about that being their home. It was just a really pretty house we saw on one of our drives!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful trip! I had a great time! It makes me want to visit more often!

Family Pictures

Our good friend, Danielle, was kind enough to take family pictures for us. I don't think they could have gone any better! The weather was perfect, Addy was smiling, and we all looked pretty good! Thanks Danielle!

Trick or Treat in the Village

We seized the opportunity of getting free candy and headed out to go Trick or Treat in Multnomah Village. It's a cute little area with lots of shops and they were handing out candy. The kiddos were great! No complaining, they walked the whole time, and had pretty good manners! Disclaimer: none of these pictures are that fabulous, but I still wanted to blog about it... Fun was had by all!

Happy Halloween!

We had our church "Trunk or Treat" and Chili Cookoff on Saturday. It was a lot of fun! I must say that I think our little family had the best themed costume! I might be a little biased. It was mostly thanks to Tyler putting on 150 pounds just for the night! See for yourself! We had such a fun night!


Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, and GusGus




Unfortunately, this is the only standing up picture I got of Tyler the whole night. At least you can see the full effect of his costume!


Addy playing games.






"Trick or treat!"


How Spencer and Addy spent dinnertime... playing under the table.


He could barely drive! Yikes!




Pretty Pretty Princess Addelyn!

Welcome Miss Emery Carleen Morris

Tyler's sister, Tess, and her husband, Holt, just welcomed their first addition to their little family. After a long labor Emery was born! She was born on October 26, 2011 at 4:30 am. Weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and was 19 inches long! She is adorable! I'm so glad that both mommy and baby are healthy! They are bringing her home from the hospital tonight! We can't wait to meet her! Congratulations Tess and Holt! We love you THREE! She is the third grandchild (all girls!) on the Bendixsen side!