Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Our friends the Olsons hosted an "Orphan's Thanksgiving" and we were lucky enough to get invited.  In fact, everyone else we knew already had plans... we were the only orphan family with nowhere to go on Thanksgiving.  Oh, and Valdas, Ben's friend from Lithuania, joined us.  I'm glad they invited us.  The alternative was Denny's for us.  No joke. 

 So Ben made the sweet potato casserole (which was absolutely de-lish), I made green bean casserole, stuffing, and pies.  

Unfortunately, I was super lame with the photo taking.  I think I was too busy salivating over the food.  Here are just a few shots I did get:

The kids decorated the pineapple turkey with gummy spice candies.  You can see Caroline is thrilled to have her pic taken

And this is my favorite candid pic I caught of C... it pretty much sums up her relationship with food.  That is her empty plate in front of her.  And no, she did not have a single bite of Thanksgiving dinner.  So sad.

Apparently eating to her is a total drag... or she's trying to avoid putting on those holiday pounds

And a couple pics my friend Keeley took of us.  She's a professional photographer.  That is a handy trade, I tell ya what.  Unfortunately in my lameness I didn't get any pics of their family.  They are so wonderful, from Utah, with four kids.  He is going to be the assistant attache for the Air Force in Moscow.  They already told us we can come visit them while we're in Germany.  That will be an awesome blog post.  

And consider this our family Christmas picture because in all the chaos of our move I am not going to be able to pull of Christmas cards this year!  So, this is as good as it gets!

From the Mouth of Five Year Olds

Today I had the absolute pleasure of teaching the 5 year olds at church.  They're a lot more fun and a lot less pressure than teaching the adult class, that's for sure.

I basically laughed the entire time.  They said the funniest things left and right and I wish I had a recorder because I can't even remember half of the funny things.  But here are some that I do remember:

First they all had to brag to me about how many teeth they have lost.  "I've lost five teeth!!  See?!"  "Well, I've lost 8!!  Look here!"  And so forth and so forth until everyone had shown me their mouths and how many teeth were missing from each one.  Of course, I acted like it was the most exciting thing of all time.

Then I pulled out a world map as part of the lesson.

Me:  "What country do we live in?"
Kids:  "We live in America!!"
Me:  "Have any of you ever visited outside of the United States?"
Kids (all shouting in excitement):  I've been to Colorado!  I've been to North Carolina!"
Me:  Well, those are great places but they are IN the United States.  Has anybody been outside of the United States?
Tommy:  I have!!  I've been outside the United States! (Very proudly)  I've been to Albuquerque!

Me:  What are some of the things that Jesus taught when he was on earth?
Olivia:  To be kind to animals
(I didn't laugh at that one, I thought it was very sweet)

Me:  Who can tell me where Joseph Smith was from?
Hayley:  The Jungle!
Richard:  No, he was from Africa!
Olivia:  No, the jungle!

Me:  (After talking about the first vision):  Does anybody know how old Joseph Smith was when he saw God and Jesus?
Kids all at once:  Five?  Twenty-one.  One?

Me:  How many apostles did Jesus have?
The kids all guessing at once:  Five?  Thirty?  Eight?  Ten?
Lindsey: Eleven?
Me:  Close!  Close to Eleven!
Lindsey:  Two hundred and one!

Tommy:  (Random comment)  I'm afraid of Jesus.  I think he's scary

And they said 101 other funny things, which of course I can't remember.  But I would be perfectly happy to teach their class every week.  We had so much fun!

And of course I can't post an entry without a picture or two

Caroline cuddles in the laundry basket

Like Father Like Daughter.  Two couch potatoes in a pod

And I got these random Disney Princess tents and the girls insist on sleeping in them on their beds.  Like Em's leg?

Today marks three years since my dad's passing.  Doesn't he look great in this picture?  

I was a little bit homesick this past weekend, thinking of my family in Utah, six siblings and my mother, who were spending the day together to kind of commemorate the anniversary of my dad's passing.  They all went to the temple together and then celebrated my mom's 60th birthday with homemade pizza and games.  I hate it when I miss out on stuff like that.  

But, I think my dad was keenly aware of how I felt.  Strangely enough, I got asked to substitute teach Gospel Doctrine class on Sunday.  Actually, Ben was originally asked, and some outside force must have taken hold of me because as I heard Ben telling Brother Coombs over the phone that he wouldn't be able to do it, I chimed in, "I can do it!"  Like I said, something must have overcome me because who does that to themselves?  Brother Coombs seemed kind of surprised on the other end.  "Oh, that would be great!  You always make such great comments in class!"  Which is funny, because I've never once made a comment in his class.  

What does this have to do with my dad?

My dad was the Gospel Doctrine teacher when he passed away.  He LOVED that calling.  I have many early morning memories of him sitting at a table in his pajamas, hair sticking up, with his scriptures spread open and his notebook handy.  He was always studying the scriptures.  His class was small, mostly full of widows and people who were new in the church, a lot of humble, salt-of-the-earth people.  They loved my dad.  I enjoyed attending his class when I was home visiting, because the little 90-year-old ladies would volunteer to read passages and make sweet, insightful comments.  He really loved them and loved teaching.  

So Saturday night I prepared the lesson. Ben was out of town at a football game.  Unbeknownst to me he sent me a text saying for me not to worry about the lesson, that he would do it (I think he kind of felt bad I got stuck with it).  But, the text didn't show on my phone until Sunday after church.  Coincidence?  I think not.

So, standing up in front of a chapel full of church members (knees knocking) and teaching from the scriptures, oddly enough, drew me closer to my dad, as I participated in one of his favorite things to do.  I guess he doesn't have to actually be here physically in order for him and me to continue and build upon our relationship, which is a really nice thing to know. 

  

This video is for all to enjoy, but is especially for my dear friend Kat, one of the five people who check this blog.  The other day I was delighted to find in the mail a little package from Kat.  In it was a whoopee cushion, which brought a smile to my face.  You see, Kat was my sophisticated college roommate years ago, and we liked to play pranks with said whoopee cushion.  Lots of good memories. So, here are my daughters getting the biggest kick out of it.  Thank you Kat, for enlightening them.  This clip will be sure to brighten your day.  Plus it's under a minute.  

Cruisin'!!

So last month the Blackburn clan went on a Carnival Cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  Now don't get us Blackburns wrong, it's not every day we go on a cruise.  My mom wanted to go all out since  we're leaving to Germany for three years.  And like good children, we all obliged.  

Yes, it was a month ago, and I'm just now getting to it.  I'm about to have a nervous breakdown preparing for our overseas move, hence the blog neglect. 

But before I post all the fabulous pics, I have to show you my two favorite ones:

  

Did you know that there happened to be a HURRICANE while we were cruisin'?  Its name was Hurricane Paul and he wreaked havoc on the ship.  As in everyone blowing chunks havoc.  I'm sorry, my husband's vernacular is rubbing off on me in the worst sort of way.  But, yes, many many people got seasick, including me.  I have a new found respect for the seamen, I tell ya what. We were in its path for a full 24 hours.  Our itinerary had to be rerouted.  We were sure it was making headlines back in the States, but when we returned no one had heard anything about it.  Hm.  Weird.  But, I swear it really happened.  

The in-laws fared quite well, but the Blackburns not so much.

And the close-ups:

Is she not GREEN?  So happy to get back at my sis since she's always posting horrendous pics of me

My bro is so awesome

And my other favorite pic:

Oh, the misery!

Judging by these pics you would think we had a horrible time.  But, the contrary was true.  It was loads of fun!

The cousins just loved the pool and wanted to be there the whole time.  Forget Kids Carnival!  

Nothing like salt water in the eyes!

Caroline is 2.5 years old, and her new swimsuit was a 2T.  She drowned in it!  The strap was never on her shoulder the entire time.  

Despite getting lost three times on the ship, we were really glad Cousin Ricky came to pal around with Emily.  Yes, he really got lost three times.  Once during the hurricane.  

I think Davy speaks for everyone... the all-you-can-eat-ice-cream machine was the best feature on the ship

We had some really fun shore excursions.  The following was at Puerto Vallarta.  The semi-sketchy tour guide took us to a water hole/zip line location.  No pics of the zip line, which was a blast, but lots of great pics of the water hole.  

Cousin Neil

Em, Nana, and Cousin Josie

And some awesome action shots: 

Reed 

Ashley

Dennis

Greg

Phil

Me!!!

The only time when C will let someone else hold her

Can you sense Kathryn's enthusiasm?  

And this is the sketch beach our guide took us to... stray dogs and the restaurant couldn't make our food because they ran out of CHEESE!  What Mexican restaurant runs out of cheese?  So instead Em ate peanut butter, hypo-allergic Ricky sat next to Em, and eyes swelling shut ensued.  Had to rush back to ship to get epipen.  All because they ran out of cheese!

Sisters

The next day we found a better beach:

Despite going to the beach pretty regularly for over a year now, C still hasn't warmed up to the sand.  Can't handle getting it on her feet.  

My mom getting suckered by the local vendors



And this part was crazy!  They are all staring at a dead fish that washed up on shore with a live puffer fish stuck in its mouth!  He apparently choked on it.



Yes, that puffer fish was wiggling around in it!!

This local guy tried to get it out.  He eventually just shook it like crazy until the puffer fish got free.  Then he threw it back in the ocean, but it didn't look like it was doing too well.  So my bro went back out and caught it in a bucket of water.  The guy and his daughter were trying to save it.  It was sweet.  

Our second stop was Cabo San Lucas, but because of the itinerary change we only had FOUR hours there.  It was way sad because it was such an awesome, beautiful place.  We had enough time to go snorkeling and swim in the ocean.  So much fun!

DenAsh

Reed's first time snorkeling was a success

 Leaving Cabo.  I swear this wasn't photoshopped!

 And cute miscellaneous pics:

 Cousins on the dance floor

And if you made it this far, Congratulations!!  That is an accomplishment.  And now I'm happy to tell you this post is finally finished!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, a few days late, I know.  But better late than never.  

The girls were super excited to be fairies since they are totally into Tinkerbell.  The first two pictures were taken a couple weeks ago as they did a "dress rehearsal" for the big day.

Love this one in her Mama's shoes

 And, Halloween night:

  And yes, the airplanes that fly over our home are just as exciting as last year: