These Pilgrim Days: February 2012

It's been hard to find time to write on my blog lately because life has been...FULL. I was going to say "busy" but I am really enjoying the blessing of having lots of good work to do and great people to spend time with. So I've decided to view life right now as full because I wouldn't want to change any of the things I'm doing. Well, maybe I would change the existence of laundry, but that's all.

My blog is also empty because I suffer from visions of grandeur. It's like a disorder (yeah, I suffer from VOGD). I make up elaborate posts in my head and then never get around to writing them. I also have visions of grandeur about pretty much everything: How I'm going to spend my days cleaning the tile with a toothbrush or going through all the of the kids' baby books with great thought and care or how I'm going to make some craft I saw on someone's blog or how I am going to teach my kids to make friendship bracelets or what great deals I'm going to find if I go to all my favorite thrift stores...if you were in my brain you would be shocked at the ideas that sprout up and then die a horrible death when I realize that another day is over and I still haven't even hauled the bag of trash that has been sitting by my front door to the trash can for the sixth day in a row, much less sorted all of my children's old socks or started the book I want to write. So I think my days seem even fuller and more stressful than they actually are because of all the noise in my head. Phew, it's tiring being me! (And I haven't even joined pinterest yet...can you imagine what THAT would do to me?!)

So here are the pictures from the funny Thanksgiving post I never got around to writing:

Here's a small fraction of what Thanksgiving looks like (though it gets all the attention):
The actual dinner

Here's what Thanksgiving actually looks like, at least in my family

My mom's silly but fun idea of something to do together after dinner

Oh, if you couldn't tell, we went to San Diego for Thanksgiving. The kids usually end up doing something Navy-ish while we're there.

And I usually make everyone do something especially festive, even if we are tired and cold

The hotel we stayed at by Aunt Kendra's house...not too shabby!

My sister and I playing the part of rich ladies at the spa...my lips look like that because I was pretending to have just had my lips done. I think my sister is just using the pose as an excuse to look something up on her phone.

Back in Flagstaff...

Silly snuggle time on top of the bunk bed. I just ignored the pee smell
and the cardboard mattress.

Gamma and Pa J came for a visit:

Here's Gamma and Annie reading about Annie's hair on this blog.

Back to California for the youth group trip to Disneyland.

The kids stayed with my parents while Jeremy and I went to Disneyland. I imagined Samuel telling his class back in Flagstaff, "Yeah, we drove all the way to California and my parents went to Disneyland without us."

I remember doing exactly what Sam is doing in this picture when I was a kid...pretending to be Krampa (my dad)...I could never figure out what was so interesting in the newspaper.

Annie got to meet her "cousin" Mikaela (my cousin Jenny's daughter). They went through many stages of clothes on and clothes off as they played together in the backyard.

Mikaela, Jenny, Jon, and Kendra

While in California, I saw some old friends from church, yeah!

Tricia and Diane

April

Evan stayed in California "on my very own special trip for 9 days without Sam or Annie or mommy or daddy just by mineself." He got to play with Grandma and Krampa's neighbors, go to a children's museum, go to the beach, make a new friend, go sandboarding, ride a big ferris wheel and fly on an airplane with Grandma. Rough life.