Thanksgiving

 Grandpa Fred came over for our annual turkey name card making. Each year it's a little different project, always a funny one. 

 Ben & Grandpa watching Cars. They were so cute. 

 Ben's turkey had an extra eye;)

 The lovely name cards!

 Thanksgiving day crafts- Ben made race cars.

 Lauren & Hadley made bracelets.

 The whole gang!

 kids table (our neighbors joined us)

 Carson was the last kid at the kids table, but he didn't mind. He was happy with his roll! 

When going through my pics I had a few randoms that Ben took. This one cracks me up! I love the looks on both of our faces. The girls were having a little dispute over who got this baby doll (because the other 45 dolls just weren't good enough). 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Happy Birthday Grandma Charlene!

Couldn't let the day go by without sending a shout out to a lady that I miss every single day, and today a little more than normal. This picture was one of her all time favorites. I was less than thrilled to be wearing this old fashioned outfit and I was mad that Ryan got to wear a pink outfit and I had to wear a boyish looking one. Gee, I can't imagine where Lauren gets her attitude when it comes to what she wears?! Oh how I wish she was here to see her great grandkids. 

Video in the post below

I don't usually post things on this blog about being gluten free, I save that for my other blog. But I saw this video today and I just loved it. This girl did an amazing job of expressing what it feels like sometimes. Most of the time, I really don't think being gluten free is a big deal and it doesn't bother me that much and I'm thankful that I don't need drugs to make me feel better. But on special occasions, parties, pot lucks, and dinner parties, well it just plain sucks. It's no fun being the annoying person that asks the host a million questions and it's no fun watching everyone else eat food that looks amazing but I know will make me violently ill, not to mention cause long term damage. It's also no fun telling your daughter no to food because you know it will make her wake up in the night crying because of horrible tummy aches. I know there are a lot worse things out there and honestly I feel very blessed to have this be our only health obstacle so far. 

Anyway, I felt like sharing this tonight, I know it's a deviation from my typical pictures of our regular family life. I promise, I won't do it often:) 

**For some reason I couldn't add text to the video so it is in the post below this. It's only 3 minutes, a super quick 3 minutes that sums things up perfectly! 

Good Perspective on what it feels like sometimes

Miss Lauren

 Her artwork on display. Notice the fan she set up to dry off her artwork. 

 Veterinarian Lauren at your service. 

At age 5 1/2 she is finally learning to play by herself...for very short periods of time, but hey it's something! She set up this tea party for her and her bears. 

reunion

Last night we had Laurie, Kelly, & Alison over for dinner. The 4 of us (plus Missy who lives in AZ now) all lived together our sophomore year. It was fun to have a little reunion, it had been years since all 4 of us hung out together! Fun times! 

Ben can "read"

Kindergarten School Picture

Lauren Kok

age 5

Kindergarten

Stay Sweet:) 

Family Pictures

We had our pictures taken a few weeks back by the very talented Jessica Larson. Here are a few that didn't make the Christmas card cut but that I thought were pretty cute:) There were 96 and I loved a good majority, so I just picked a few for this post. Too many too chose from! 

Family Homework

 Lauren's family homework for this weekend was to disguise Tom the Turkey so that he won't get eaten for Thanksgiving. I was thinking ballerina, clown, something along those lines. Well of course Miss Lauren wasn't going for that, she insisted on Justin Bieber. She also insisted that she do it alone, so much for family homework (although she did let me do the hair!). Can I just tell you how much it is killing me that this is what she is taking to school tomorrow? Of course I already let her teacher know that we had nothing to do with this! (and no, those aren't boobs on his shirt, that are the pockets on his jacket...duh!)

Here is Turkey Justin's info, according to Lauren. 

Toy Story 3 on Ice

 Nana and Pa took the kids to see Toy Story 3 on ice yesterday. They had a blast and are still talking about it! What lucky kids they are!

Kevin's car experience

 While in Vegas Kevin signed up for a racing experience and got to drive an Audi R8 at the Vegas Speedway. He was like a kid on Christmas morning! 

 safety first:)

 getting ready

 off he goes

 The cars were all going well over 100mph, it was crazy to watch! Very exciting!

 Done! He LOVED it and is already talking about next time. 

There is an air force base right next door and the planes were so close. It was pretty amazing (and loud) to see all the super fast cars and the impressive planes all going by at once. Ben would have been in heaven, I was feeling pretty bad he wasn't there with us!

Vegas

 Kevin & I had a fun little getaway in Vegas last week (he was there on work, I tagged along). We took these pictures to show the kids the cool stingrays.

 just shopping for shoes- ha! I told Kelly I'd pick us up some shoes for her wedding here (joking of course) so we had to take a peek. Oh man, so outrageous, but fun! 

 Stef & I got to spend the whole day together shopping, eating, and relaxing. It was so much fun to have a kid free girl day! We enjoyed some giant nachos at Margaritaville (they were so gluten free friendly!) and some super strong margaritas as well as fabulous music. 

 In front of the Bellagio where we were lucky enough to stay! 

 The gardens at the Bellagio are so amazing, loved this pumpkin made out of flowers. 

 corn made out of corn

 The chocolate fountain!

 This whole picture is all living flowers. 

 One night we headed over to Stef & Greg's for a fabulous home cooked meal and some time with the family. It was so nice to see their new house and get to have a break from the craziness of the Vegas casinos! Ethan was showing us his cool quad, Ben would've been so jealous! 

 Miss Taylor was in love with Kevin and wanted to be with him at all times. 

 She especially wanted to cuddle. This girl is the biggest flirt, she is so so cute, we just can't get enough of her! 

My $20 cotton candy martini, I just couldn't get over the ridiculous prices in Vegas! 

We had a great time getting away, thanks to Oma & Opa and Nana & Pa for watching the kids while we were gone.