Thanksgiving / Christmas Tree

Thanks to both sides of the family for making Thanksgiving so fun this year. I loved having the Harrison/Harmer meal at the library. The theater was the best and I wish we could have stayed longer to watch the movies. The kids thought making the gingerbread houses was the best part though.

The Jenkins decided to do a more laid back meal and I think it worked out great. Lots of visiting and munching. It was great to see everyone again.

Gretchie did come down with a stomach flu on Thursday night, but was over it by the morning. Bailey had earlier in the week, but so far, the rest of us have been spared.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to concentrate on Christmas. I did a little shopping over the holiday weekend. But instead of braving the crowds on Black Friday, my family went merrily up the mountains and found the Jenkins family Christmas tree. It took us an hour or so, but we found the most beautiful 18 ft tree. Luckily we remembered a saw. We put the tree up, but haven't decorated it yet, so I'll post a picture once it has all the trimmings on it.

One big thing that happened over the weekend was that Bailey decided to start walking. She isn't real consistent, but she is getting better and better. It's so fun to see her grow. I have some pictures that I'll post as well.

Cute Kid Pictures

I decided to take pictures of the kids on Friday last week, so I could get my Christmas cards ordered. I also decided to take some of Bailey, since I've been lax in getting her 1 year pictures done. I'll get some professionally done soon, but here are the ones I took. (I think they turned out cute!!)

Happy 1st Birthday Bailey!!!!!

11-10-09 was Bailey's first birthday. We celebrated by having both the Jenkins and Harrison side of the family over for soup, salad, bread sticks and cake. It was a total blast!!!! Thanks to everyone who brought stuff. It was yummy and I know Bailey had a great time.

Bailey did a pretty good job opening presents. She loved picking small pieces of paper off and handing them to Aaron to put in the trash. She snuggled most of the clothes as she unwrapped them and we have spent the last few days playing with her toys. She loves the little people, the purse and the stacking barrels. We have also read all the books that Grandma / Grandpa Harrison brought. What fun to be a baby!!!

Happy Birthday Bailey!!! We love you tons and are so glad you're a part of our family. You complete us. :-)

Here are pictures of everyone that came to celebrate with us!!!

Cody and Jen

Grandma / Grandpa Jenkins, Grandma-Great Andrus

Grandpa / Grandma Harrison

Kristen, Ben and Jenna

Marni, McKay and Miley
Bret, Brittany and Corbin (and baby Jenkins - no born yet)

Heath and HayLee

J. Michael, Preston, Brittney, Leslie and Parker

Rusty

We had a very sad day in the Jenkins house last night. The girls and I came home last night and found our family cat of 15 years had passed away on the kitchen floor.

I piled the girls back into the car and we drove around until Aaron got home from the airport and was able to take Rusty outside. We had a small funeral and buried him under a blue spruce in the backyard.

A few memories of Rustalynn-Tittensaurus-Rex:

• Snake charmer titten - In our house in Pleasant Grove, he loved to catch baby snakes and toss them in the air like a snake charmer. He thought they were very tasty too.
• Jeremy's presents - Joel and I loved to send Jeremy gifts made of Rusty's fur. I'm sure Jer's mission companions thought we were a little strange, but we sure got a kick out of it.
  
• Rusty the lounge chair - All three of my girls loved to lay on top of the cat. He was so patient and let them do it.
  
• Rusty the pull toy - Bailey enjoyed grabbing Rusty by his fur and pulling him across the floor so he was closer to her. She then would bury her face in his neck and give him big loves. Rusty usually lasted about 10 seconds and then bolted for the front room to hide behind the couch.
• A paper bag and a fly swatter - When Rusty was younger, it was really fun to open a paper sack and tap the outside of it and watch Rusty come tearing across the floor and dive inside the back to see what was making the noise. It never failed to amuse all who were around. He also liked to chase the fly swatter. We'd drag the fly swatter on the ground in front of him and he'd run after it. If you picked the fly swatter up and made an arch over him and made it land behind him, he would usually do a back flip to try and catch it.

What a great cat. We will all miss him.

Kids Halloween pictures

Just wanted to post a few pictures of the kids Halloween costumes. Shelby was a spunky witch, Gretchen was Spongebob and Bailey was a monkey.

A happy monkey!!!
If you would like a tutu like Shelby's, check out the link on the right side of my blog for "Little Miss Tutu Boutique".



This is up at Grandma Jenkins' house. It is Shelby, Bailey, McKay, Miley and Gretchen. It took us a while to get this shot. None of the kids were very happy about posing. :-)