Thursday Thanks

Thirteen reasons to be thankful over the last week and a half. Enjoy! Pictures to come...still in the camera :-)

1. Cousins. Katie and Anika arrived last Tuesday, and S and P were pretty much glued to their sides for the four nights they stayed over.
2. Just Dance 3. What's better than watching your five year old shake it for hours with her cousin while donned in pajamas?
3. Grandparents. Picking kids up from school. Providing after-school entertainment. Cooking dinner. Need I say more?
4. My job. I actually really love it, especially the people, and the flexibility to work part time and take five days off to be with my family.
5. Oven Ready Turkey. No giblet-thingies to deal with.
6. Rain. If I say it enough I might actually believe it.
7. Siblings. Thanks to number 3 above, Jim and I got to have a night out with Tom and Anne. We hit a brewery, an arcade, a bar, and a donut shop. Not bad for a bunch of forty-somethings!
8. Jon Stewart. For making the news bearable to watch.
9. Oregon Ballet Academy. Two very happy little gingerbread girls stole the show and melted my heart! OBA puts on really amazing productions.
10. Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm. $10 grand fir cut down with a chainsaw by a nice young man (please ignore the hand saw that will appear in Jim's hand on our Holiday Card), $25 custom wreath while you wait, wagon ride, and hot coffee made in a cute barn. LOVE that place!
11. Holiday lights and music-playing decorations. They provide a seemingly endless source of entertainment during the month we have them set up.
12. YOU! Thanks for reading this sporadically updated chronicle. I really intend to post more often and be all eloquent and such, but you know, I got stuff to do! :-)

Rainbows and Election Results

Here are the girls in their Rainbow Dash Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating at the neighbors' house.

And watching the election results rolling in.  Although I am very happy to see Obama elected to another term, I am sad to see how politically divided the country still is. Here's to hoping for bipartisan efforts to help the whole nation in the years to come. 

Lastly, we are the recent lucky recipients of a home FM system, thanks to another family from dance class who wasn't using theirs. This is such a gift! We are using it in the car, during dance class, and even around the house! Thanks Maren M. and Family!