Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Ry and I switch off years from my side to his.
This year it was the
Brown side Thanksgiving.
10 kids, 30 plus grandkids.
Unfortunately It was time...
Time for the "classic church thanksgiving!"
But I have to say it was a hit!
Probably one of our best Thanksgiving ever!
Great job M and D!
My mom was so worried that a Thanksgiving at the church would not feel like "home."
But it was fab-u-lous!
It was great to have all of us there.
The families: Greg's, Jan's, Misty's, Amber's, Troy's, Tawny's, Brookes, Brie's and Brett's! (we missed Brandon and Emily and Ry!)
It was a beautiful sunny day
we all met around 1:00, set up tables, decor, and got all the food prepared!
We then gathered in a circle and gave T H A N K S!
WE all have so much to be thankful for...so many blessings and good things in life...
especially eachother.
We said the prayer and then we were off:
food, food, and more food!
It was divine!
Besides the usual turkey and mash potatoes,
us girls loooove salads.
We made sure we had plenty of fancy salads and yummy rolls.
it was so good....great job everybody!!
I was missing Ry! By the time I got my food, most people were done.
But that's okay...I was just happy to be there.
I ate with my sissy Brooke, Amber and my dad.
I was loving having so much family time....chatting and catching up.
and yes, I had to blur my skirt out with words...why didn't anyone tell me???
Brie's cute friend, Whitney, helped me out with Mace! She was my hero that day. In fact, the 3 pack, are in LOVE with that girl.
They played with her all day.
I really really appreciate ALL the love Whit gave our boys.
AND the Brown's were happy to have you with us!
Look how dang cute this pic is:
After dinner my mom had planned games and a talent show. She wanted Thanksgiving to be more than just eating.
she wanted to create "fun" for the kids and then create "memories" with the talent show.
Let me just say, it was a hit!
The kids loved this game! Their was money prizes at the end...so they were not messing around. They had to roll doubles and then they could suck the skittles from their straw to their cups....the person with the most wins! My mom handed out $2 bills as prizes!
Even the adults played....I video taped them. It was hilarous to see grown people on the floor sucking their candy on the straws. Everyone was having a great time. I have so many pics to, but can't post them..too many
The guys played round the world. In my family we are very competitive and good at sports. All my brothers played sports growing up, so this was a good game.swish after swish
who won???
Not sure. I was running around helping Mace and chattin with the girls!
I love my bro's and bro in laws!!
Then all the girlies started to play! They were good!!
My nieces are so adorable.
they are becoming sis's to all of us!
Where are you Jan? Whenever I pull out my camera, lots of people run!
So sorry I am the picture taking queen.
BUT, when we are old, you will ALL thank me when we are not so cute anymore! :)
Aren't my nieces so cute??? maddy and ALi (Jan and Misty's girls!)
Like I said, I am blessed.
I feel so grateful to know I have all these people in
my life
who will always have my back.
Our family has been through some tough times lately and I feel we have all pulled closer together. I think we all realize (as we are older now), how lucky we are to have eachother to rely on.
What a blessing! Love you guys.
Okay with the games over,
Off to the talent show....
Anybody could perform....my mom wanted each family to come up with something....serious or not....We were A L L pessimistic at first....talent???
We have no talent!
But let me just say it was so darn fun to see
what everyone came up with!!
my kids started to get excited and thought of a few things themselves.
Here are a few of the talents:
Jake and Lexi!
They practiced this song with actions for days! They sang and danced to the Christmas song! It was so cute!
Carson (3) and Gracie (5) !Holy smokes they sang the cutest primary song by themselves...their voices were so sweet and pure....they had us all in lil' tears by the time they were done!
Kristin, they did SO good!
Their dad, Troy,(my twin bro) went next.
He was hilarious....he stood up and told jokes.
He has always been known in our family to have great jokes...
ummm A N D some BAD jokes...
He told lots of BYU and UTAH coed jokes.....wowsies!
I was offended b/c I was a BYU coed at one point...:)
Our family is completely divided down the middle between
BYU and UTAH...
it is a great rivalry!
(and the game was AWESOME...go cougs!!!)
Oh man the next act was a HIT!Joshy turned on the tunes and started to break dance!
He was so good! He was doing spins all over the floor....I have it video taped!
He kept dancing and dancing....he is such a cute kid!
Okay this next act brought the house down.
The monsens did a Saturday Night Live skit.
buying Russian Brides....Brayden had to decide between Stetzlana or Ariana??
Which one does NOT belong....it was great!
I was laughing sooooo hard...my cheeks HURT!!
Off to the magician, my dad, and his lovely assistant, Brie
5 magic acts...let me just say...
HE TRIED hard! The kids loved it!!!
We L O V E you dad!!!!
Next was Obama, I mean Brendan.
He is a 6 foot 4 senior in highschool...drop dead handsome!
He is also such a sweet boy....really good kid.
We are so happy Jan and Hugh moved back!
He did an Obama personation of all the great (NOT so) things he has accomplished in his presidency...my sis Jan is super smart and follows all this political madness....and she DISLIKES Obama...it was hilarious....good job Brendan!
His sister Savannah also did a piano solo..."The entertainer." Fabulous Job girl!!
Now this final act was the BEST! We saved it for LAST.
The 4 pack
(Quinn, McKay, Austin, and Cole) practiced for a week on this act!
My cute niece Ali who has danced forever, taught the boys their moves.
Presenting the Beyonce Boyz.
"If you like it, then you better put a ring on it...."
Seriously it was the cutest EVER..... to see these handsome boys inpersonating Beyonce and shaking their hips...we want to put it on YouTube!!!
Here is a collage of all their fancy moves!
and check out the bottom right pic!
The 3 boys picked up Coley and did the greatest move....oh man we were all blown away at how great they did!!!
LOved it. I love my boys. They are all best friends.
Me, Misty, Amber, and Jan are so lucky to have the same age of kids....we have a few groups of kids like that...so fun!
After the talent show my handed out $5 dollar bill prizes..
all the kids were happy!
Great job everybody now on to the pies!
Oh baby, our family loves pies:
banana cream pie, apple pie, coconut cream pie, pecan pie (my fav!!), pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, and it goes on and on.
They were alllll so good!
I just want to say that my mom did an incredible job
We all have nightmares of meeting at a church, with cold turkey, and kids running wild...
But, nope, not the case here.
We had a great time. It was amazing.
You put so much work and effort into it.
Thanks mom.
With new rumors that me and RY may have new adventures in our future,
I cherish every single moment I get to spend with them. period.
We have a gift of family and we know it.
Lastly, I am tired and this post was long!
But I wanted to end with a few pics of Thanksgiving we had with the Stott's side.
On Saturday, we had another Thanksgiving.
I offered to host it.
It was such a great day to be with the Stott's.
None of RY's siblings were here, so we enjoyed his parents, his Grandma (love you gma Grape!), and his cousins and families.
Ry and his parents ( a week after they got home from their mission....end of Sept '09)
With the table set and the Turkey cooking, we were almost ready.
I cooked artichoke dip, a fancy salad, and a pie!
More and more food....
And I didn't prepare the Turkey, Suzanne brought it over in the morning...I just cooked it!
It was so perty when it came out! and it tasted delicious!!
Ry's cousin Seth had the honors of cutting the turkey! He has a beautiful wife Heidi and a son Taft...(beautiful family!!). We were so glad they would come over and hang with us. He is almost finished with medical school at the U of U...smart boy!!!...then they are off for their residency.
It was a great day! I love Ry's extended family....his cousins are like bro's to him....
THe day was full of great conversations, food, and the BYU/UTAH game!!!!Holy smokes what a game!!!!!
But back to the turkey.
ll
I wish I had taken more pics of everyone....I was so busy hosting, that I didn't have time to snap away!
Imagine that!
Now off to the amazing, awesome BYU rocks game...
In Utah, this is the B I G G E S T game of the year...everybody watches and everybody is L O Y A L to their own teams....
even though my hubby and 2 sons were rooting for the U! (rude!)
The rest of us were pulling for BYU! 
It was intense!!!
The game was a nail-biter....It was hard to watch...Me and Laura (Dan's wife), and the kids hung out!!
We watched the game and then would go upstairs for a litte chatting break and then come back down....
(AND I wish I had a pic of her and her cute 4 kids!)
They are great friends to us. We love them!
man, at the end of the game it was crazy! We were all so nervous!
In the end,
the TRUE team WON!
Go BYU!!!
We were all so happy (minus Jake and Aus)
Look at that stampede!!!
What a game!! woohoo
Overall, we have had such a crazy, wonderful, busy, chaotic week:
( I love Thanksgiving week!!!)
Ry's surgery on Wednesday, Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, Thanksgiving Saturday and a talk and lesson on Sunday....
lots and lots of stress but also so so so much FUN.
This weekend I have had time to reflect on my blessings
and I am. simply. blessed.
As hard as my life can get, I still know I am a blessed person and need to always be mindful of where they came from....
I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my life, my family, and my friends!
Happy Thanksgiving.
my last two pics on Thanksgiving day!
Now off to Christmas craziness, let it all began..
it already has at my house...my next task..the Ward Christmas Party Friday. I am in charge of ALL the decorations for the entrance of the church, culture hall, and the stage! Oh man, I will need prayers! But I think it will be great... Now off I go!
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving week!!!
And we now have time=
The kids wanted to create a winter scene...a Christmas winter scene.
They wrote on each one to say what they were grateful for. 
When I get back, the trees go UP!
