Thanksgiving Week

It may seem that all I do is paint, but I do have a few other things going on in addition to the joy of rentals. For example, on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Hailey and Makayla had half-day at school. That made it a perfect day to recruit my intrepid helpers for a few hours of labor at the duplex.

This neglected yard needed some attention between snow storms.

 

Today was a warmish day for November-maybe 30 degrees, perfect for a little outdoor exercise.

I offered to pay these two for their work so they could go to the mall and buy some Christmas presents for their mom.

Hailey and Makayla dug right into the work, and it wasn't long before 

 

we made significant progress.

Hailey makes a great leaf tamper-downer.

We picked up leaves, rocks, logs, branches, a dozen gallons of dog poop from that dog-they-weren't-suppose-to have, as well as silverware, legos, socks, gloves, a pair of pants, cups, books, a couple of cookie sheets, a few dozen toys, and a set of keys.

We filled both garbage cans and could have filled a couple more.

Hailey is hanging on to a pair of sunglasses, a swimming mask, and a dog toy.

She's confident she's getting that dog for Christmas. I'm not going to be the party pooper who tells her differently.



 

Next stop: the mall, where we ate some of that healthy mall food for lunch. After some serious shopping, Hailey and Makayla each chose a gift for mom. They knew exactly what they wanted to buy, having spotted it last week when we were shoe shopping (and it cracked me up to see what they chose). I'd tell you what they bought, but I've been sworn to secrecy.



Makayla is hopefully holding a wish list from Build a Bear.

 

Our next stop was the motorized animals kiosk, where for a small fortune these two got 30 minutes of fun, with Grandma chasing behind.

We made an early visit to Santa, who Makayla initially declared a fraud because "he didn't have the right shirt on", but after Santa showed the girls a few magic tricks, Makayla solemnly announced, "He is real. He knows magic." For the record, Makayla wants a puppy, Hailey needs an ipad. Dream big girls!

 

 Santa gave them some antlers, then we checked out one more gift shop at the mall and headed home.

 

Stan and I did our annual early morning service project with Rotary Club, loading sacks with Thanksgiving food for distribution. This year they invited high-schoolers to come help.

 On Wednesday, Makayla, Hailey, and I hit the movies. We saw the 3-D version of Penguins of Madagascar.

The first five minutes of the movie were delightful. Then it disintegrated into a hyper-active mess. I highly don't recommend it.

 

We had a sleepover Thanksgiving Eve so that Amy could go to the late movie with friends. Hailey thoughtfully woke me up at 4:30 am because she is pretty sure that's the time she usually gets up.

Thanks, Hailey, there's nothing like spending the holidays in a sleepy haze.

 

 We had Thanksgiving dinner at Cliff and Diane's. There's Megan, David, Grandpa, and Kent chatting about the upcoming diet-killer.

Makayla was unhappy to be at the boy table. That will change in a few years.

Here's post-dinner Hailey, suffering through the effects of too much L-tryptophan. 

 

Of course, Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without the football game. Except for me. I totally skipped the game.

So fun to have these two in the house. I kind of like that little photo bomber, too.

We went to a swanky restaurant

and ate swanky food.

We checked out Scheels. They still have a cool fish tank.

Of course we had to ride

the Ferris wheel.

 

Megan and David pretended they hardly knew each other at the bottom

but the top was a compleeeetely different matter.

 

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

All too soon the turkey was eaten, the dishes washed, and these two headed from the frozen tundra of Billings to the frozen tundra of Rexburg.

See you two in a few weeks, Butlers!