The McDonald Update

Sorry to all my faithful blog followers for the absence of updates. It's been a couple of crazy weeks between story time at the library, play group, recipe group, primary activities, visiting teaching appointments, being creative with what's in the freezer and pantry, and trying not to spend any money until Pay Day. I am happy to report that we all survived. Hopefully the following entries of events from the past few weeks make up for my laziness and don't completely bore you to death.

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Dan and I had the opportunity the other day to remember what it is like to be a couple. My friend Brya was kind enough to keep Noah and Zoe for the day. Dan and I enjoyed a nice quiet ride into Reno. We were able to finish a conversation with out being interrupted. Listen to what we wanted to listen to. I got to drink my own soda, with out sharing any of it. We had a nice lunch and a fun shopping trip. It was very refreshing to spend time together with out any distractions. I was relieved to find out that we still like spending time together and have plenty of things, besides our kids, to talk about. We missed our kids, but know they had fun playing with their friends Wyatt, Dayton, and Jenna. They must have played really hard as they slept really well that night. Noah even slept through an entire trip to Walmart (and he loves Walmart) and Zoe fell asleep sitting up in the cart. I get to return the favor tomorrow, as her kids will be at my house and she gets the opportunity to spend time with her husband. It's a new thing we're trying out and I think it will be a great for both of us. Dates with your spouse are much more doable and affordable, if you don't have to pay a babysitter. We are hoping to make it a monthly occurrence.

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Noah's recent prayer additions:

thank you for kids
thank you for Thanksgiving
thank you for Christmas

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Zoe's sayings:

"Wha hit me!" (Noah hit me!)
"Weave me wone!" (leave me alone!)
"I nasty pig" -- when she's covered from head to toe with her breakfast, lunch, or dinner

To shop... Or not to shop.....

.......That is the question.

Zoe had fun looking at all the after Thanksgiving Sale Ads with me. She kept saying: "I'm looking at something," "'That's fun for me!"

In the end, we decided it wasn't worth getting out of our nice warm beds so early. Most of the stuff we were interested in was a 2-day sale and not a door buster.

From the looks of it, I think I will have a great early bird shopping partner in a few years.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We had a nice Thanksgiving with friends this year. A bunch of us who were sticking close to home, got together at the church to share the Holiday. I think we had about 15 adults and 16 kids (ranging in age from 2 months to 8 years). Everyone brought a portion of the meal, there was a ton of food and everything tasted amazing. It was so fun visiting with all the adults and getting to know everyone a little bit better. Plus, the kids seemed to all get along and entertain themselves. Thank You Summer for coordinating the fun Festivity; I'm thinking we should make it a tradition.

Here are some highlights captured from a nice afternoon spent with good food and great friends.

Time to Eat!!

Noah filling up his plate with some assistance from Dad..... Noah digging in....

Zoe digging in.......

Fun with Friends!!

Coloring Thanksgiving Turkeys; don't let her cute smile fool you, she loves hoarding the crayons....

Running around and playing in the gym waiting for the big feast.....

Noah preforming on the stage with his friends Dayton and Wyatt in the background....

T.J. enjoying dessert.....

Carson smiling for the camera.....

Noah caught opening the curtains......

Cole, Brigham, Dayton, Noah, and Felicity playing on the stage......

Dessert Time!

There were several pies, a cheesecake, and one of Costco's multilayer Chocolate cake. Can you tell which one is Zoe's favorite? My girl sure loves her chocolate, she cried and cried until she got her own plate. I'd have to agree with her, it was one of the best picks there.I love the look of pure joy and content....
Nice goatee.....

About 5 minutes after finishing her chocolate cake......

Game Time!!

After dinner and dessert, all the kids played bingo. Each family brought prizes and we played until all the kids won something. We weren't too surprised when Noah chose what we brought, a pooping reindeer. This provided tons of fun for all. As Noah said, "Don't worry it's not poop, just jelly beans!"

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater.....

So we had an extra Pumpkin around the house that needed to be used before it went bad. So, Noah and I made a yummy Pumpkin Dessert using it and a cake mix. It was my first attempt making Pumpkin Pie filling completely from scratch. It wasn't hard just a little time consuming. I had to tweak the recipe a little as my helpers were a little too helpful at times, but the kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the end results, but Noah didn't understand why it wasn't a pie.

After we cut it up and cleaned out the guts we baked it......

Then we scrapped out the flesh....

Then we blended it in the food processor...

Here's the smashed pumpkin (most people just open a can of Libby's Pumpkin)....

The pie filling, once you add the eggs, half and half, spices, and honey.....

The finished product......

Noah to the Rescue

The Subaru needed air in the front tire, while we were out and about the other night. Neither Dan or I had any quarters for the air pump (the free one in town was broken), but luckily Noah had his wallet full of quarters and a couple of dollar bills. We were so relieved when he was willing to spare a few; he sure enjoyed putting his quarters in the machine and "helping daddy" with the tire. He's been reminding us and talking about it ever since.

Old McDonald's

Noah had been begging to go to Old McDonald's for about a week and a half. So when Pay Day finally rolled around we treated the kids to dinner at McDonald's. They both got their own Happy Meal (we usually make them share a 6 piece value meal); who knew Chicken McNuggets, fries, chocolate milk, and a Madagascar 2 toy could be so exciting? I thought my Big Mac tasted pretty darn good too, a great reward for a tough two weeks.

People watching and a special visit

Sitting on an orange bus, gazing through the raindrop covered windows as it rides the rough cobblestone streets, in a coastal town, on an island, in the middle of the Mediterranean. The bus stops; a small group boards and I glance at their faces. Waiting at a terminal in Phoenix Sky Harbor as I stand in boarding group A, I watch a group of boys. Cousins? Friends? Brothers? College classes, Fisherman's Wharf, Denver, St. Louis, Las Vegas, New York- faces, eyes, ears, noses, personalities, mannerisms, voices; people watching. I think most people do it, (can you not?) and some not only like people watching, but see it as a past time. My people watching has always had another undertone however. Do they look like me? And while not a constant thought for thirty-two years it has always been a passing one.

I think everyone who comes and looks at our blog knows that I was adopted. I was raised by two loving and wonderful people who many never thought weren't my biological parents. Innumerable times I was told: "So your siblings are all adopted but not you, right?" or "You're just a chip off the old block" or " You look just like your Dad." I always wondered if I really did. The whole nature vs. nurture argument. If you people watch like I do you see some families look like carbon copies, others have a nose that skips a generation or ears that skip two. Chloe sounds just like great aunt Lucy when she answers the phone and Scott has grandpa's laugh.

For ten years I have had pieces, names mostly, some heavily read letters, some notions, opinions, stories, both my own and those of others. After several more letters sent to old or incorrect addresses, after numerous thoughts, and most importantly one e-mail message sent to an uncle who does not really know me but gave me an amazing gift in his reply and to whom I am so grateful; I got to speak to my biological mother, Annette. She gave me my prequel, or rather the preface to my current life story and an opportunity for additional chapters I look forward to.

So how does this tie into people watching? I have also had the opportunity to speak to Carolyn, my biological grandmother and then after two very long weeks the opportunity to finally see where my smile, my eyes, my height all come from. Through photos and an amazing visit I got to see what for thirty-two years I have wondered about as I ate lunch in Folsom, rode the train to Pompeii, flew home from Maui, and watched a family gazing at the fireworks display in Vancouver.

Excuse my personal entry on our family blog, but I figure most who read this are family or dear friends with whom I'd like to share this important entry in not only my life story, but in my family's life story. (please interpret family as loosely as you like as it applies in multiple contexts)
Here are some photos of that visit- I hope to add more in the future.