Happy Thanksgiving!

Josh Jensen came over Monday afternoon to do a photo shoot of Sara in the rose fields near our house. It was a gorgeous, but super muddy field. We put bags on Sara's feet to protect her shoes. I was going to do the same, but Josh said, "It's not that bad," and jumped into the sinking mud. It was pretty squishy and his shoes were covered in seconds. I was more careful, but still got pretty muddy. We should have used the bags like Sara.  The sky and light just before sunset was perfect and he got some INCREDIBLE pictures!!! I can't wait to see them all. Josh is such a sweetie and was careful to make sure Sara didn't get scratched up or fall in the mud. She did get one little battle wound on her hand, but that wasn't too bad for spending 35 minutes in a rose field.

We decided the title for this photo should be, "behind" the scenes.

He helped her up on to a stool we brought.  

It was funny to see her grocery bagged feet as they took stunning pictures!

The stool was COVERED in mud! Josh washed off most of the mud in this irrigation ditch and then he and I put bags on our feet to keep the mud from getting all over the car.

After getting cleaned up and eating some dinner really fast, Josh, Sara, Rich and I met Gram and Papa at the Westgate theaters to see Bandstand, the musical, filmed live on stage with the original Broadway cast! The music was AMAZING as well as the dancing and artistic direction. It was a very emotionally touching story about a swing band created of 5 WWII vets and a widow. It dealt with survivors guilt and PTSD. It was really beautiful. However, it did have quite a few unnecessary swear words we could have done without.  We can't stop singing the songs and dancing around the house!

We had an incredibly great time out together!

These are the pictures Josh posted on Tuesday. This first one was just a silly teaser to get people's attention. He morphed his face with Sara's and stuck out his tongue. Lovely!

I can't believe how beautiful this turned out!!!

Tuesday afternoon, we met with the missionaries and Sebastian. It's always wonderful to talk gospel with these fellas. It was a fun surprise to have Elder Dano there. He was on exchanges with Elder Brooks for the day. Elder Dano used to be in our ward and he was crazy, excited to see Sara and I. He will be at Sebastian's baptism next week so he can see the rest of the family.

Elder Brooks and Elder Dano

Sara and I frequently end up in her bed talking at night. I love our girl time!

Wednesday, the last day of school before Thanksgiving! My buddies, Brigham and Lucas were jamming out on the piano as usual. I just wanted a picture to remember it by. Jon is standing at the piano on his phone.

After school, Sara went with me to a doctor's appointment. We waited about an hour for me to be seen, but we had a lot of fun being silly and tired.

Sara needed this picture for some reason. We were exhausted and ridiculous!

When we got home, the girls began working on a wreath to give to Tracy Kennedy for her birthday, which happened to be on Thanksgiving this year. They worked several hours on it cutting out leaves and flowers and then placing and gluing it all perfectly in place. It turned out beautifully!

In the meantime, the boys were playing video games and hanging out upstairs with Dad, 

Nic Summers and Josh Jordan.

Just after finishing!

Thanksgiving morning, we took the wreath and 4 dozen pink and white roses over to Tracy. She has been so kind to the girls and has had them over to help her decorate, play games or bake. It was nice for them to show her how much they love her too.

Josh and Leigh are so happy in Idaho. They prepared and had their own Thanksgiving dinner with friends in their home. I am grateful for all the photos Leigh sends to me so I can keep up with their fun life together. They are adorable!!!

Josh making the pie!

The finished dinner!

I love those smiles!!

The cutest!!!

Later that day, Mike Kennedy sent some pictures to me and thanked me and the girls for making Tracy's birthday so special. It was really sweet of him, and we were glad to know how much it meant to them.

Didn't the wreath turn out beautifully?!

Sebastian sent us this picture. Elder Brooks and Elder Allen came over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner and to visit with him. They talked about what is required to serve a mission. Sebastian is getting pretty serious about serving one. He loves the gospel and he loves to love and serve people. His mom even said that he has always been missionary minded and that if he prayed about it, that he would know what to do. She's awesome!

Friday, the boys took the playset down, moved it to Jessi's yard and reassembled it. Laney and Susie helped some too. It took all day, but they did it, with only a few spare parts left over at the end. Hopefully nothing major.  They girls and I spent the day working in the front yard cleaning up, pruning and planting flowers. 

It looks so much better.

Here it is at Jessi's house.

I made tortellini soup for dinner. I knew they would be starving after all the heavy lifting and labor. They were thrilled. Soup is a favorite at our house.

Saturday morning, when I woke up, I found Josh Jordan and Freddy sleeping like this. SO CUTE! Freddy told Josh's mom, Melissa, that Josh is his security blanket. Best friends are wonderful!

Sammy sent us a picture of his GORGEOUS wedding ring. It just came in. He loves it! The big day is coming quickly, just over a month left!

 Josh and Leigh bought their first Christmas Tree. So much fun!

Today, Sara and I drove out to Mesa for our MCO friend, Jared Hopkins', homecoming talk. He just got home on Wednesday from his mission in Argentina. He gave a beautiful talk and even cried a bit, which got us crying with him. He is such a fabulous human being. I am grateful we got to be there.

I will be doing separate posts for the Alger and Ely Thanksgiving gatherings. This last week was especially packed with fun and events and this next week is MCO concert week. We have 6 concerts and dress rehearsal, so it will be exhausting, but WONDERFUL!!!