Thanksgiving Weekend

We had company this weekend for Thanksgiving.  Shawn's mom and dad flew in Tuesday evening and we had a great time with them.  The boys had fun playing chess with Grandpa, and Liv and Grandma played a few other games.

Ethan became so confident in his chess abilities over this weekend, that at school yesterday he challenged one of his friends.  He didn't realize until after, but this friend is in the Chess club at school and took 3rd in the school competition.  Ethan didn't win that round :) but he continues to play and have fun.

We decided to head out for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We went to Maggiano's for the all-you-can eat dinner.  It was delicious and we came home with a fridge full of wonderful leftovers.

We set up our Christmas tree and went to the store and bought our annual christmas ornaments.

Shawn: Pepe Le Pew (from Looney Tunes)

Jenn:  Baloo and Mowgli (from the Jungle Book)

Ethan: Gore (49ers player)

Cole: Aaron Rogers (Packers QB)

Liv: Christmas Pinball game

We spent some time over the weekend at SkyZone to burn off some energy.

 Here is Liv and her friend Isa.

Liv figured out that she could do several back handsprings in a row at Sky Zone.  She spent most of her time doing that.  I warned her to slow down and take a break so she wouldn't get sick, but she refused to listen.  She came home later and spent the rest of the day throwing up :)

 Shawn and I went to Cole' school today and watched him participate in the Wax Museum.  He dressed up as a famous person and gave a report.  Cole chose Elvis Presley and did a great job.

The last thing we did this week was start our daily Christmas Advent Wreath.  This is a new thing this year where we will light a candle and read a scripture every night until Christmas Eve about the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

There is an old man who comes every day to the place where Liv takes gymnastics.  His name is Grandpa Pete.  His granddaughter used to take gymnastics there and he would come to watch her, but she has since quit.  He is retired and bored most of the day.  He found that he enjoyed watching the girls practice.  So he still comes every day.  He brings popsicles in the summer for the girls after practice and boxes of candy bars in the winter.  The girls love him.  He comes to their meets and he has a notebook where he keeps track of the girls progress.  At first I thought it was a little creepy, but as I have gotten to know him I actually think its really sweet.  

There is a boy in Cole's school class named Jeremiah.  He has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.  He is nonverbal and uses visual cards to help communicate.  Cole started talking about Jeremiah shortly after the first day of class.  Cole has such a soft heart and is truly concerned about him.  His teacher told me at parent teacher conference how amazingly helpful Cole is with Jeremiah.  He is always trying to help him and on one occasion when his aid wasn't paying attention, Cole was able to step in and help Jeremiah when he was becoming agitated and very frustrated.  

So proud of Cole and his big heart !