Sam the Service Turkey

Today I came up with a fantastic new Thanksgiving tradition. Sadly I feel Thanksgiving gets majorly skipped over... it's like the stores discount their Halloween stuff and move directly into Christmas. I love Christmas, of course, but I also LOVE Thanksgiving... the food, the colors, the leaves, the cute sweaters unmasked by big coats, the perfect weather, and most of all a time focused solely on gratitude. So today I decided I needed to come up with a fun kid tradition for our family (as well as a sharing time activity for church on Sunday with the kiddies). The answer... Sam the Service Turkey! The idea just popped in my head. Here he is:

How he works: We discuss that people can show their gratitude by serving others. Sam the Service Turkey is missing his feathers and by Thanksgiving he needs to have them all... but he has to earn each one. Each time we do something kind for others we get to put a feather in Sam. On the back of each feather I wrote an idea of something kind to do to help others. On Sunday I plan to have the kids act out the ideas on the feathers and have the others guess and then pass out a feather to each kid to remind them to do service at home this month.

How to make Sam: I went to the craft store and his creation cost less than $10 including tax! Granted his neck and legs are made of 1 toilet paper roll, but I had to be frugal. Obviously by the looks of him all you need is 2 Styrofoam balls, 1 piece of red foam paper, 1 toilet paper roll, a piece of ribbon, 2 googly eyes, feathers, brown & yellow paint, and hot glue. Simple.
(Note: His head/beak is actually carved from a small block of floral foam because it was $2 cheaper than the ball)

I Think I Have Alzheimers!

I just realized that I am absolutely, positively horrible. You see last year James signed us up to bring 48 rolls to The Hunger Dinner for the homeless that our church puts on. I had just had MaryKate less than 2 weeks earlier, but went and purchased the rolls at Costco just to get myself out of the house. On the day of the banquet I completely forgot to bring them. No one called, but the following week when I noticed moldy rolls on top of the fridge, I just about died. I forgot to feed the poor & needy! Aaah!
So this year when the sign up list came around I specifically signed up for rolls again as some form of penance for having forgotten last year. But this year I vowed to make fresh, homemade rolls. (That should make up for it, right?!) I wrote it on my calendar and called my friend for her roll recipe. I even practiced making them for my book club earlier in the week to make sure I knew how to make them just right. Then Friday came around, I took James to the airport for his conference, and completely forgot until today at church they thanked all the families for their donations to the Hunger Banquet. Aaah! No! I forgot again...

2nd Halloween Pics

Last Halloween MaryKate was almost 2 weeks old & looked like this:

So little & difficult to get a good picture of. She was a ballerina & a tiger.

This year she was a BYU Cheerleader & although we missed trick or treating because we were in the car driving back from California, we did go to a Church Trunk or Treat party. Here are some pictures from that.

Below is a picture of MK & Anderson(my sister's nephew). He is more than 6 months older!

And this is MK with all of Mary's & Cherice's kids (cousins & pseudo cousins). It was so fun!

Hasn't she grown so much!
This year she didn't really understand the concept of trick or treating. Next year will be the year. She just loved walking with all the kids at the party. The dum-dum she ate changed her life. I don't think 1 little sucker will be all she wants in years to come. Happy Belated Halloween!

MaryKate's 1st Birthday at the Farm

My sister, Mary's family took us to Del Osso Farms in Latherop, CA to go along with her farm themed birthday. It was crowded, but still fun & worth the drive.

MaryKate loves her Daddy.

MK & the 2 little piggies in the petting area of the farm.

This is my favorite picture! I loved how the goat & goose look like they're about to kiss her cheeks.

MK warmed up to the baby goats because they weren't as huge & frightening as the bigger ones.

This cake was made by my nephew Jordan & my niece Annika. They are "Cake Bosses"! Mary & I helped a little, but I think they did an incredible job. Thanks guys! The kids loved it.

I helped her blow out her candle on her farm cake.

She was so full after dinner that she hardly could eat her cupcake. But she loved the frosting!

We sang Old McDonald's Farm with some animal signs I made.

MaryKate loved pulling her presents out of a box. Notice her 1st piggy tail ever! It's about 1/2 inch long. But her bald head is starting to finally grow hair. Hooray!

James is interning for the next few weeks in San Mateo, California. So we've been having a blast in the bay area, staying with my sister's family. We've gone to the beach and into the city. We love San Francisco & the Lee Family.

Walking & Fair Fun Footage!

Yes! We finally have a film of MaryKate walking. She gets better everyday! So sit back & enjoy her wobbly, wide, stumbling steps.
(FYI- The video seems to work in Internet Explorer but not on my Mozilla.)

My favorite quote about first steps:
"Make up your mind to be happy- even when you don't have money, even when you don't have a clear complexion, even when you don't have the Nobel Peace Prize. Some of the happiest people I know have none of these things the world insists are necessary for satisfaction and joy. Why are they happy?... They glory in the beauty of the earth. They glory in the love of their families, the stumbling steps of a toddler, the wise and tender smile of the elderly... One thing I know for certain: the time we have here goes by far too quickly. Don't waste any more time sitting on the bench watching life pass you by. "
-Joseph B. Worthlin (May 2001, 35)

We also went to the Utah State Fair this month. Here are some of the highlights:

MaryKate was scared to touch the animals but she was so curious she just had to!

After eating over priced terrible foods like funnel cake & looking at amazing art, vegetables, etc. we then went to the free "Boys II Men" concert. James got a 2nd row ticket, but it was too loud for MK, so we stood back on the bleachers.

She loved to dance & seriously loved her first concert! She couldn't stop clapping & smiling.

You can tell, she loves her Daddy. DaDa is the word she says night & day!

The fair wore her out and I'll be honest... I think it wore us out too! But it was so fun!