Christmas Tree Fun!

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we had a great time doing some decorating for Christmas!

I never knew that Santa had a reindeer named Lydia...nor that this reindeer's antlers were green!
And I bet you didn't know that Christmas tree branches could be used as lightsabers!

Our finished product!

I think this would have been Dad's favorite ornament!

Thanksgiving!

I thought I'd put up a few shots of all the delicious food we had at Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner...just to make my absent family jealous...

So many colors!

I made the deviled eggs! I also helped eat them...along with pretty much everything else...
More food! And all of it was set up on the the really cool marble buffet by the giant mirror in Grandma and Grandpa's new house...

After eating, everyone needed to take time to just sit and digest all that delicious food...

Just Hanging Out...

It was the day before Thanksgiving when....Katelynn, Lydia, and I decided to have some fun taking pictures of ourselves!!

Mexican Food!

On Saturday I got to go out for some delicious Mexican food with Vivianne and Linda!
And Vivianne looks very excited to eat her enchilada...

Surprise Birthday Party!

Today, in Chinese class, I and my classmates carried out a little surprise birthday party for our professor (who happens to have the same birthday as Shannon!)...

I decorated the cake with the Chinese version of "Happy Birthday" as you have probably already guessed!
Our professor was successfully surprised and happy about the party (so was the entire class because we got to eat cake while reading Chinese). Here he is lighting his 6 candles...

Christmas is coming!

...or at least that's what it seems like when I go to the store and see all the aisles of stocking stuffers! So I decided to set up the lovely miniature nativity scene that Lizzy gave me last year in order to decorate my room a little in honor of the season. Thank you, Lizzy!

Shannon's Birthday!

We celebrated Shannon's birthday yesterday...
Presents!

Nicole knew what to do with all the good food Aunt Mary made!

The birthday girl and me!

Fruits and Veggies!!

Aunt Sharon's fruit and vegetable=themed party was this weekend, and it was tremendously fun! Everyone dressed up like a fruit or vegetable, we ate lots of veggies, and the kids put on a very hilarious vegetable show!

Lydia and I are two cool apples. I had a sign on my back that read, "Down with Doctors," because, after all, apples keep doctors away!
Austin, who won the prize for best costume, was a bunch of grapes!
Andrew's box of raisins was voted the most original costume.

And Katelynn was a very cute pumpkin!

Of course we can't forget Chum, the dog from outerspace. He was supposed to be a yellow banana but everyone thought he looked more like an alien than a banana!

Let's go on a Hayride!

Yesterday I got together with the rest of the Spoelies in the area and some of my friends from college for some fall fun: a hayride and bonfire at Uncle Dale's, accompanied by much food and laughter!

Nicole shows us how best to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.
Jeffrey, Seth, and Andrew hang out with their new friend Haggai (a.k.a. Hay Guy)

Oh, this was the rival hay wagon. Our enemies! Don't worry, as soon as the hay ride was over we were friends again.

I get the feeling that Andrew was enjoying the hay.

Friends!

Grandma's Applesauce

Many of you have read my book, and therefore you have heard of this wonderful applesauce (by the way, if you haven't read my book, you can still buy copies from me or my family). Today, several bushels of delicious Courtland apples were turned into the pink sauce that I love so much.

Just a few of the jars that Grandma made today...
Alisha was one of Grandma's helpers...I think her job was adding comic relief...

And here I am with another one of Grandma's little helpers. I, on the other hand, was not very helpful except for cranking the Squeezo a couple times, since I was in class most of the day.

Poor apples, little do they know the fate in store for them...

Sears Tower

I went to Chicago on Saturday, and got to go to the Skydeck at Sears Tower. It was pretty cool to stand on top of the city at night...