Thanksgiving & BLACK FRIDAY!

No pictures for this one either (I really need to just put the camera in my purse ALL of the time).

This year for Thanksgiving we were at Chris' dad's house. The night before Chris' brother Tim and his wife Julie stayed the night so that Tim and Chris could play football in the morning. So, while they were out playing Julie and I hung out and I prepared a bunch of stuff to take over to the Nadeau's. Anyway, it was a really good day and we enjoyed spending it with family. It is so great to have so many people around that you love spending time with.

After our Thanksgiving party we stopped home to get some stuff and then went and spent the night at my parents. Since we were getting up at 4am to go shopping, we thought it best to spend the night there so I didn't have to get up any earlier. Chris had to work that Friday (darn Federal Employees) so Allison and I went shopping with pretty much my entire family (minus Kevin & Brian whose families were not in town and of course Chris). It was a REALLY LONG day, but we had a great time and I got a ton of good deals. I spent way too much, of course, but I enjoyed every minute. Allison was such a trooper and made it until like 11:30 before she passed out and Dad took her home. What made it even better is that Mom, Sara and I went and saw Twilight again! I love BLACK FRIDAY!

Scrapbooking

I don't have any pictures for this post, but wanted to write this down so I wouldn't forget.

Every month the women on my Mom's side of the family gets together for scrapbooking. Here's the thing - only one or two people actually scrapbook, but there's so much talking and laughing going on that no one ever gets bored.

This month we couldn't go to the normal location at Squeaky Page Scrapbook, so we went to my Aunt Lucy's house in stead. It was just such a fun night. My cousin Sam was there and he and Allison became best buds. He's 13 (I think) and has Downs Syndrome and he is just the awesomest little boy ever. He and Allison played games and just hung out the entire time. She still talks about him and wants to go see him - good thing we're going back again next week so she can play again. My favorite part of the evening was when I went to check on her in the living room and Sam had put her to bed on their couch with pillows all around her. It was awesome!

Twilight!

At long last, Twilight came out on November 21st. I was so excited, but I had a few friends who saw it before me and warned me not to expect too much. So, I went with really low expectations and enjoyed every minute. It was just fun and I went with really good company, too. We had quite a large group - my Cousin Laura and a bunch of her friends, my Aunt Mary Jane, Sara, my Grandma Nielsen and Heather. It was a great night out except for when I spilled a LARGE popcorn all over my Grandma's feet. Whoops! Good thing there's free refills.

Head Injury!

On Saturday night, November 15th, Allison decided to prove that she is my clumsy child and run right into the corner of the wall and gash open her head. It really wasn't too bad, but it looked deep and bled a lot, so we decided it would be best to take her to the emergency room to have them look at it. I was so nervous that they would have to shave part of her head to do the stitches, but in the end, they just put in one staple so it didn't pull apart and sent us home. The funniest part was the bandage...you would have thought it was MUCH worse than it really was. She was such a trooper.

Family Fun

Lots of family came in to town for my Grandpa's funeral. It was so nice to have everyone here and spend some time together.

This is mommy and Allison before heading up to the funeral (Allison DID NOT do too well at the funeral - she must have felt the vibes!)
I love this little dress that she wore. It's way too big on her and will fit for a long time to come.

Oooh, stylin':

The kids love their uncle Kevin and loved climbing all over him.

Gotta get Crystal in there, too.

I don't know why I decided to post the following picks, but they just crack me up.

Allison:

Mark:

Taylor:

Kendall:

Anyway, it was awesome to have everyone home. We can't wait until Kevin & Chanel move back - PARTY ALL NIGHT, right Chanel?

Halloween

I'm back!

We had a great Halloween this year. The night before we had a youth combined activity that was a Halloween Party. I was a disco diva this year and Heather was Dorothy (obviously). The activity turned out really good and I think the kids had a lot of fun. By the way, I had no idea how itchy wigs are!
Allison was my little clown. This outfit actually did have pants that matched, but they were a little too big and my kid never stays dressed too long. My sister Robin actually made this outfit for her daughter out of old quilt squares. It was sooo cute and will probably fit Allison again next year - maybe she'll actually keep it on next time.

Even though my grandpa passed away on Halloween, we still decided to go ahead with our party. Our house was really noisy and really crowded, but I think everyone had a good time. Just wanted to share a few pictures..

Jeremiah:

Mom, Robin, and Sidse:

Kendall, Hannah, Chris & Jeremiah:

We're finding that holidays are so much fun with a two-year-old around. Allison loved Halloween and we had a great time, too.

Grandpa...

Robert (Bob) Nielsen

Grandpa and Allison shorty after she was born

My Grandpa passed away Friday morning. He had Alzheimer's and hadn't known who I was for at least 5 years, but he was still my grandpa and I miss him dearly. It's a very interesting situation - this whole Alzheimer's thing - because I feel like I lost him a long time ago, but now it's totally real.

My Grandpa was a wonderful man who loved his family and we loved him - and still do love him. I will definitely miss him...