Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving Day was so much fun! We spent the day with the Strong family. That's Grandma, Grandpa, 6 aunts, 6 uncles, and 15 cousins. We got reunion shirts, which the kids loved. They said "Be Strong! 2010" on the front and "Strong Family Reunion, Mesa, AZ" with a turkey on the back.

This particular cousin was nice enought to listen to Connor read his snake book at least 2 or 3 times this week.

Grandma & Landon
The boys watching football

Dinner had 4 different tables. Here was ours...

Another one...

Some of the little girls...

The "big boys" got to eat outside by themselves... Landon woke up just as we sat down to eat and was pretty cranky all through dinner. He just wanted to be part of the family!

My sister-in-law made some really cute "place cards."

With so many babies and little ones occupying the bedrooms for naps Landon got to sleep under the table in the entryway. That way nobody would accidentally step on him.

Every year Aunt Melinda make the "Great Turkey." The kids love this tradition. It's a toy or clues to a toy wrapped in crepe paper to look like a turkey. Then they rip it apart to find it. This year the clues let to some new Potato Heads for Grandpa's house.

Nilssons at the park

On Wednesday evening we went to Freestone Park in Gilbert to see some of my mom's family. I got to see a couple of aunts and a few cousins. It's nice to see family that I haven't seen in years! Thanks for coming in the freezing cold to see me!

Landon & my aunt Marilee

Cousin Kris & his sweet wife Julie

Three of my cousins have little ones (one was sleeping), so it was fun to see all of the cute babies!
All the kids that were there playing in the dark and the cold...

Birthday BBQ

Last night we had a BBQ at the Montague's for Uncle Daniel's birthday. It was really fun time!

Connor of course found the dirt pile right when we got there.

The kids had fun playing tag. This little playhouse was "base."

Savannah & Grandma

Football strategy...

Landon slept inside on the floor for the entire dinner. He finally woke up about 10 minutes before we left.

Yesterday Dallin also took Connor out shopping. He is SO proud of his new "Diamonback Rattlesnake" shirt and showed it to everyone about 15 times last night.

Cousins!

I'm sure I'll have more cousin pictures...but here is the first batch. Monday we spent at the Strongs playing with some of the cousins. We have 15 cousins on the Strong side of the family. Dallin came up with a game to wear the kids out. He threw the dog's toy and the dog ran to get it. Then the kids had to chase down the dog and try to get the toy away from him. Whoever got the toy earned a point. The dog wore out before the kids did.

This cousin is Connor's age, and reminds me so much of Savannah 2 years ago. They look a lot alike and also have similar personalities.

A cool fort...

On Tuesday we went to the Mesa temple 2 different times. In the morning we took pictures just with our family of 7. In the afternoon we did the whole entire Strong family. It was crazy to say the least. The photographer was great with the kids though. Here is the oldest grandkid (age 11) dishing out Smarties one by one while we took a picture with all the adults.

Both of our boys got to hold babies for many pictures. This is Jacob with one of his little cousins.

The drive to Arizona

Our drive from Odessa to Phoenix took about 11 1/2 hours. The kids did great overall. We watched some movies and listened to the 2nd Fablehaven book on CD. We rotated who sat next to Landon to help break up some of the fighting and crankiness.

Savannah was definitely the most tired and cranky.

This little guy did awesome for how young he is. We pulled over occasionally to burp him and he took 2 long naps. He got a little fussy for the last hour or so, but that's understandable.

We're staying with my parents in Phoenix but will be spending most of this week with the Strongs. The kids are so excited to see cousins!!!

Odessa

We started our trip to Arizona! Our first stop was to visit my brother Steven, Sarah, and Max in Odessa, TX. This is our first chance to visit them there since they moved to Texas almost a year ago. It was nice to break up the drive too. It was about 6 hours and we got there at lunchtime, so we were able to spend the whole afternoon and evening. When we got there the kids immediately went outside to play. Max is such a friendly little guy and loved having them around.We went to a huge playground for a while too. The kids got to burn off all their energy from being trapped in the car all morning.
Max loved Savannah and was always trying to climb all over her. It was good practice for when Landon starts crawling.

Steven is a police officer for the city of Odessa. The kids thought it was so cool to see him all dressed up in his uniform. He is on the graveyard shift right now, so he left while we were all eating dinner and came home when we woke up.

Max gives the cutest kisses and is so friendly. This video was taken right when we got to their house.

Jacob's Museum Field Trip

Yesterday was Jacob's 4th Grade Field Trip. We went to the Texas State History Museum. For Social Studies this year they are learning all about Texas history, so the kids really enjoyed the field trip. They thought it was really cool to see some of the artifacts and movies about stuff they've been learning.Another mom and I had a group of 5 boys. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibits, only in the lobby. This was taken from the 3rd floor. Jacob is the one standing with his arms wide open.

They were supposed to see a little educational movie about Texas, but that theater was broken. So instead the museum let them see the space movie about the Hubble telescope in 3-D. Jacob LOVED it.

Everything is bigger in Texas. Jacob is sitting on the left side in the blue jacket.

I'm glad that I've been able to go on these field trips this year, and so thankful for the friends who have watched my kids to make it possible. It has been nice to have a little one-on-one time with my older kids.