November 2024

 Kaylee got her braces off! It feels like she had them for a really long time since she had to get them twice. Beautiful smile is now braces free!!

Grandma came out to visit for a few days and we loved having her here. We did go to Scene 75 again, which the kids really love, and went out to eat and tried some new pastry shops. She also took McKenna shopping for her bday and ended up taking Kaylee shopping for Christmas since Kaylee didn't know what to have Grandma get for her. I wasn't feeling great and we didn't do much, but we always love spending time with her!

Kaylee finished off her cross country season with a fun surprise. We didn't think she had quite made the qualifications to make varsity, even though her running time was fast enough. But when they called up all the girls from JV, Kayee was not called and looked very worried. We were so happy when they called her up to give her a varsity letter for her freshman year! 

Our friends, the McKays do a pie night every year before Thanksgiving. Because they love pie so much, they think it doesn't get enough of a chance to shine at Thanksgiving with so many other foods so they invite a bunch of people over, everyone brings pies and we have a feast! Unfortunately, Richard had been sick and completely lost his voice and he decided not to go but the rest of us had a great time.

We headed to Holly's for Thanksgiving and unfortunately, we had to drive on Kenna's birthday. But when we arrived, they took us rock climbing and made her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting to make up for it! We also did her presents at home before we left. 

Thanksgiving day was great food and great company. That night, Holly had us all pick a song genre out of a hat and we had to dress up and lip sync or karaoke a song in that genre. It was actually really fun! Chase did rap, Holly did rat pack, Richard did diva, I was 80s, Brooklyn was pop, Kaylee was rock n' roll, Emery did opera, Madsy did country, and Kenna did boy bands. It was hilarious to watch everyone get really into it!

The next day we made sure to go to our favorite creepy thrift store and then went to see Wicked. Holly and I have seen the play together twice and it was so fun to experience the movie with her too. All of us thought it was amazing and we have been singing the songs nonstop!

Brooklyn loves getting her hair and makeup done by Madeline and Madsy is always happy to comply! Kaylee and Madsy also wore matching shirts without meaning to, which was adorable. It's fun to watch the cousins have different things that they enjoy doing together. Kenna wasn't feeling good most of the trip so she was down a lot and the other two got to have lots of Madsy time.

On Saturday, it was pretty cold but the kids decided to still go out on the lake to paddleboard and kayak. And if that wasn't enough to freeze them, the Andreason's talked us into doing their cold plunge! Kaylee, Brooklyn and I all tried it. Kaylee and Brooklyn didn't even flinch and sat there not moving the entire time, while I squealed my head off! It was pretty refreshing though...

We ended the night getting peppermint shakes from Chick-Fil-A and watching the first snowfall of the year and then we headed home the next morning. We always love spending Thanksgiving with the Andreasons!