Wordless Wednesday....

....at Riverfront Park

Post Thanksgiving Fun

The day after Thanksgiving McKay and Ashley went to the temple and left Brinlee home with Grandma.  You can tell from this picture of Brinlee's skiwampus pants, one missing sock, and toy-stuffed mouth to keep from herself from screaming in terror that I'm an expert at the babysitting stuff.

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 When the Pearson came home to rescue Brinlee, we gathered the crew and headed to Fudd's.

Brinlee watched with interest while Daddy showed her how to down that 1/3 pounder.

Next we headed to Shepherd for an exciting evening of bowling.

It's a great activity for young and old, and it's nice to have bumper pad lanes for those who may need a little extra help. Not you, Amy! Ok- you, Amy.

Makayla, I'm totally going to get you a pair of those rockin' shoes for Christmas.

 It was almost as fun to teach Makayla how to bowl

as it was to watch people teach her to bowl.

And don't forget the all-important high five.

Hailey and her personal bowling trainer.

Makayla particularly likes the Ashley method of bowling.

 Makayla is the new master of the backwards bowling.

Although you've got to get a little more speed going, Makayla!

Auntie Megan and Makayla discussing strategy.

Speaking of Megan, between lunches and dinners out with friends, she managed to find us and have some REAL fun.

And here she is, doing her famous "Don't Hate Me Cause I'm Beautiful" pose.

We had the entire bowling alley to ourselves--the parking lot was full, but everyone was over on the casino side.

McKay, demonstrating the way Ashley bowls. He totally has it down, except last time I checked, Ashley's right-handed.

Ashley demonstrating how Ashley bowls.

Final scores for team B. We let McKay win with 186 points. I'm the close second place with 102, and Stan is the distant 3rd with 101. That's Ashley in the 70's, generously offering to come in last. Someone has to be last, you know. I won't mention that Backwards Bowler Makayla beat me the first game and came pretty close to surpassing Ashley the second game.

All good things must come to an end. After church on Sunday, the Pearsons strapped Brinlee into her instrument of torture, causing her to fall into an instant coma. I'm sure she won't make a peep for the next 5 hours.

Good-bye everybody! It was fun to have you visit!

I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry.......

Thanksgiving

We had a few visitors who came home for Thanksgiving to save us from our empty nest-hood.

Ashley and 5 month old Brinlee

Makayla and Hailey stopped in to make sure Brinlee got plenty of mauling attention.

Brinlee pretended to enjoy all of the extra loving. Actually, she seemed to soak it up.

Makayla and Hailey instructing Ashley on the proper care and feeding of a baby. Yes, that's a miniature flashlight dangling from Princess Hailey's glasses.  You never know when you may need to find your tiara in the dark.

I was finally able to coax Makayla and Hailey away by letting them help make pumpkin pie. They happily cracked in the eggs and I think I managed to fish out 74% of the eggshells before it went into the oven.

It was fabulous to have Megan home again. She did seem a bit sleepy--as if she's been burning the candle at both ends. That, of course, is ridiculous. Megan is an adult now and would NEVER stay up past her bedtime.

It is amazing to see how much Brinlee has changed since I saw her in September. She is now 5 months old and is a happy, easy-going baby, joining the ranks of the cutest grandchild known to mankind, along with Kailyn, Jordan, Caden, Chase, Ava, Hailey, Makayla, and Krew.  It hardly seems fair to have cornered all the cuteness in the world into one family, does it?

How could you not love this cute little face??

Here are a couple of people who ate too much pie at the family Thanksgiving dinner today.

Crystal's little guy, Easton, was born two days after Brinlee. He currently appears to be 10.342 years older. Brinlee is about a tenth the size of Easton. She loves him anyway.

Snuggle-bunny Brinlee.

Brinlee with her Great Grandpa and Grandma Jones.

Brinlee was giggling like crazy at

her wild and crazy second cousins James and Ashlyn.

One thing Stan and I have quickly realized is that the holidays are much funner with family around.

Happy Thanksgiving!