Thankful

Ok let's get to November! Athena worked really hard to get straight A's the first quarter of 7th grade. She has never gotten below a B but really wanted to get all A's this time. She did it and earned the chance to apply to the National Junior Honor Society. She had to fill out an application and write an essay. She found out in November that she was chosen. Here are some blurry photos of the induction ceremony and her proud parents afterward.

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. I just love it! It's the only day I love to cook. Not sure what it is about this day that I enjoy it so much but I do. The funny thing is I hardly ever take a single picture to remember my favorite day. This year was another great one. the turkey turned out great and everything was delicious!

We had so much fun last year going out to the forest to cut down our tree we decided to do it again. The only weekend that this was going to be possible this year was Thanksgiving. Athena had so much going on at dance and with Shawn having a new on-call rotation at his new job it was the only way to make it happen. Luckily Thanksgiving was late this year so it worked out great! Our friends the Richardson's came too so that made it even more fun. You can tell Athena and her friend Annie are both city kids though, I had to teach them how to make a snowman. The snow wasn't the best for snowman making and they ended up with a snowcat in the end. A few days after the tree was home and decorated Shawn pointed out that it really looked like the tree from Nightmare Before Christmas. I was very tempted to take the decorations off and try to re-create it. Then I got busy making a bazillion boot covers for dance though and that never happened :) Cutting down a real tree that grows in the forest doesn't give you the most uniform, full perfect tree, but it sure is fun! I was all about making this Christmas about experiences and less about things.