Giving Thanks

The day before Thanksgiving we had a great experience as a family. Grandma Anderson (Kristen's mom) thought it would be a great idea to go and feed some of the homeless in Salt Lake City, and she invited us to go with her. So with a basket full of homemade turkey sandwiches and cookies, we packed up the car, and headed to Liberty Park in downtown Salt Lake. We walked around the park and handed out sandwiches to anyone and everyone that wanted one. Although a little hesitant at first, the kids even got into handing out the sandwiches. And when we ran out of food, I was touched by their willingness to share with others that didn't get one, even though I'm sure they were hungry themselves. Their smiles, thank-you's, and "God blesses" made it a very rewarding experience for all of us. Thanks Grandma for helping us remember how very blessed we are, and that we have so much to be grateful for.

HALLOWEEN

Sorry, I know this is a little late, but I wanted to get some pics put on the blog. We love Halloween around our house. We host an annual family costume/pumpkin carving contest. However, it's gotten so big, that we've had to divide it between two different nights. We usually try to have some sort of theme with our costumes, and the kids are good to go along with what we want to do (even though they may not really like it). The only requirement to come to our party is that you have to have a costume. This year we were all Dr. Seuss characters. I was the Grinch, Kristen was the Cat in the Hat, Katelyn was Cindy Lou Who, Caleb was Yertle the Turtle, and Kaden was JoJo (from Horton hears a Who). Everyone else in the family was, well, you can see for yourself. We appreciate everyone humoring us and coming dressed up. We don't know if anyone else enjoys it as much as we do, but we sure have fun.

Cartwheels

Before Katelyn was 3 years old she taught herself to do cartwheels. She got so good at them that I tried to teach her how to do a handstand. Well, once she started doing handstands, for some strange reason, she couldn't do cartwheels anymore. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't do a cartwheel. We finally decided to put her in a little gymnastics class. The teacher told us that you're supposed to start with handstands and then cartwheels, or it messes them up. Now, how was I supposed to know that!?! Anyway, they got her straightened out so she could do both again. They decided to move her up to the older girl gymnastics class because the other girls in her class were just barely learning to do somersaults. It's fun to watch her because she gets so excited when she's doing her gymnastics. She really enjoys it. Everywhere we go, whether it's in a store, in a parking lot, or a restaurant, if you give her a few feet she'll start doing cartwheels. I can't get her to stop! :)

I didn't want to leave her out of the video action, so here's a clip of her practicing her cartwheels in her pajamas.