Family Trip to Jackson Hole!!!

Can you say freezing? It was a chilly 17 degrees while shopping on Saturday!
The only stop in the middle of nowhere, Joe decided it is time to pee!! Sometimes it is so good to be a boy!

The longest fry! Found in Evanston, WY!

Our cabin for 2 nights. It had all the comforts of home!!!
Kelsey and I run into a moose while shopping the streets of Jackson! Kelsey drinking orange juice and Julie and I drinking Mimosa's served at a local clothing store. We were not in Utah anymore!
Breakfast at the Bunnery!
Mexico flashbacks when the balloon clown showed up at breakfast! This is Joe's favorite part of the trip!
Beautiful town square Jackson Hole.

The Mangy Moose store! Lots of dead animals on the walls and on display!!!
We braved the cold, bundled up and went to see the lighting of town square for Christmas.
Joe with his beloved balloon animals. Our cabin kitchen in the background.
Chris, Joe and Alec at the Sports bar watching the Football game. Utah lost and we lost all our money to the Game room next door!!



We stopped by to visit Charlie and Jessica at their place at Bear Lake. Charlie built this beautiful home from the ground up!


The famous cowboy bar. We only got as far at the outside with all the kids in tow!
This was definitely a great trip!!!

Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We had a great holiday this year. It will be one to remember. We had the tri-fecta of housing problems that as can happen all occur on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Wednesday night before I left for work, our garage door opener broke, our power went out and this morning I came home to a freezing house because our furnace quit working!! John drove all over town looking for space heaters and kept the fire lit to keep warm. Later we went for a great meal and a warm home at Papoo and Yiaya's house. It was of course beautiful. They had great cocktails, wine and food! The kids were well behaved, although Joe doesn't eat anything!! He would have loved if the Pilgrims diet included juice boxes, gogurts and fruit snacks!!

Toula and Justin!
Alec practiced his good table manners and loved every bit of the meal! He even tried the Spanikopita!

All the boys on Thanksgiving night! Alec and Joe ready for dinner. Joe is holding the beautiful name card leaf.

Cynthia and Toula getting all the wonderful food ready.

Justin taking it easy!

Sushi Party!!!

Halloween

Joe's scary face for his Kindergarten Halloween party!
Joe walking at his Halloween Parade!
All the kids ready to go trick or treating!!!
Even the grown-ups got into the spirit!!

The field Trip

The car's inspection and emissions was up and it was the last day of the month (Halloween). I dropped the car off and it was such a nice day Joe and I went for a walk. We ended up at a nursery that also had a great pumpkin patch. We stopped, looked around, had a sandwich and then walked back to our car. Joe turned to me and said that "we needed to take more field trips together. They are so much fun". It made me realize that sometimes the most fun can be had when least expected!!

Wax Museum

It is Charles Goodyear, an American hero!! If you ever wanted to know anything about the man who invented Vulcanized Rubber--the stuff tires are made out of--just ask Melissa or Alec!! The 5Th grade class at Oakdale Elementary does an extensive project about American hero's. Everyone does research, a large poster, a report and then dresses up as the character they are assigned! On Halloween they come to school and stand in front of their poster and hold completely still until someone pushes the button next to them. Then they begin to talk in first person as that character. To say Alec took this serious would be an understatement. I walked into his class, Joe ran up to him and gave him a hug, and I was trying to talk to him. He didn't move. Now as a mom I am actually quite use to being ignored, but this was on a new level. Another Mom tapped me on the shoulder and said "push his go button" and Alec immediately started talking as if he was Charles Goodyear--"hi--did you know I am the inventor of Vulcanized rubber!" and so on! His performance was amazing. When done talking he went back into his catatonic state. Finally his teacher walked over and said he could go on break. Blood rushed back into his face!! We went for a walk outside, the suit was hot! He said "my stomach is upset, maybe it is a touch of stage fright Mom!" He did such a great job. I am so proud of him! It was also exciting because a couple of the news stations covered the Wax Museum show also. Alec was in the background of 1 shot!!

Saturday football--Can you believe the weather?

It was a crazy, snowy day for a game of football. Alec was excited to play in the snow and was one of the few kids that never complained or cried! I don't think he even realized it was snowing until after the game was over. Joe and I made it to half-time and then had to retreat to the car for shelter! John continued to his butterfly ways and drank Irish Cream and coffee with the parents on the sidelines. I don't know if he was more excited to have a drink to warm his hands or that he found a few parents that enjoy a little Irish cream once in a while!!
Joe was our helper!! He held the sugar for the coffee!!