Thanksgiving

I have a new appreciation for how hard people work to get Thanksgiving dinner out on a table. We headed out to Sioux City for the holiday to see my side of the family. My mom was sick with strep throat and bronchitis, and was too sick to make dinner, so my dad and I embraced the challenge. I was SO stressed out all day. Lack of sleep (I was up by 6am to help) combined with the stress of getting everything together and making sure everyone was quiet enough for my mom to rest, made for an interesting day. Mom made it out to eat with us for a little while, it was nice to see she was feeling a little better. Black Friday proved to be kind of disappointing, we still haven't quite determined what we'd like to get our families for Christmas so I wasn't really looking for anything. Got a couple new blankets for around the house though, and I was pleased to find the Willow Tree Nativity scene on sale, 30% off! Otherwise, it was just nice to spend time with family, we spent the last two days of the weekend in Anita with Jerod's family. Hope everyone else's holiday weekend was just as great!

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Fall Craziness

We have been SO busy these past few weeks! We had so many friends come into town and visit, and it was so nice, but we're ready for the Holidays to kick in and have some down time and quiet time with family and friends. Halloween was fun, we went out in costume two nights, Jerod was itching to show everyone his Macho Man costume, it was pretty good- and he sold it really well, too. Then we went to a tailgate when our friends came into town from California, it was really fun, both of us were sad to see the Hawkeyes winning streak end (yes....even me...). That doesn't mean I'm a Hawk fan, just that it was neat to see an Iowa team doing so well nationally. Anyway, we'll get to see family a lot these next couple weeks. My sister, Kristen made OPUS (middle school honor choir), a statewide thing, and she has a concert at Stephens Auditorium here in Ames. My parents are bringing her up...I'm not sure where they're going to sleep! Then, we're meeting my parents in Minneapolis on Saturday to do some shopping, see a football game Sunday, and celebrate 29 years of marriage for them...already thinking of what to do for them next year for their 30th. Then, of course, headed out to Sioux City and Greenfield for Thanksgiving weekend. I love this time of year, family and friends can't be beat!

Doug, Dylan, Jerod, and Spears, I apologize for Jerod's rude gestures!

My Sister and me before the 5k run/walk for Race for the Cure in Des Moines.

So much fun, totally recommend it!

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