Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Thanksgiving started off with a fun Turkey Bowl for the boys and a nice long therapeutic run for me. 

We headed up to Heber around lunch time. I didn't get any pictures from dinner but I did take this cute one of the cousins. Marshall's employee, Diego and his wife Christina joined our Thanksgiving dinner and so that was a lot of fun. They have lived in the states for a few years but they are from Peru. They are not members and my Dad didn't know. He told them all about his mission and different stories of South America. Diego and Christina enjoyed talking to him and didn't mind it.

We will went for a walk after we cleaned up dinner. It was a sunny day but definitely chilly.

I walked at the front of the pack with my dad and got this picture of all of us. It was a nice walk.

We had pie after and watched a movie and then headed back. It was fun having Charlie's family there and so naturally we had sleepovers as much as possible. They slept over that night.

Black Friday I took the kids park hopping. It was sunny and felt good while the sun was out. The first two parks felt great but it was cloudy for the last two parks and so it was cold. It didn't phase the kids though. They had the best time going from park to park. I walked Chewie around each park. 

That night we went to the movie Zootopia 2. Huge thanks to Grandma for treating! We went to the theater by Ali's. Everyone enjoyed a combo box with popcorn, a drink and an airhead. 

That night these four went swing dancing in Provo. They had such a fun time! 

New Transmission

 Car problems are the worst! We had to get new tires and brakes in October which came unexpectedly. I thought we still had time. I definitely didn't think we would need a new transmission for another 20,000 miles. Our suburban had around 80,000 miles. It started acting funny and not shifting into first gear very easily. We took it to Big O and they told us it was the transmission. They referred us to a transmission place. We called them and they told us the couldn't get us in for another week or so and that it could possibly be a software problem. Then we called Labrum Chevrolet since we bought it from them. They got us on the schedule the next day. Huge thanks to my mom for picking me up and letting me hang out at her house for the day while my car was in the shop. 

They tried the software update but it wasn't that. Then they tried to replace the transmission fluid and that is when they noticed metal shavings in the fluid. It was not good at all. It was a definite sign that the transmission needed replaced. It was the day before Thanksgiving so they said the would keep the car and start working on it on Friday. They expected it to be done early the next week. My parents were so kind and let me drive their car home. They let us use their car until the transmission was replaced. They ended up getting the whole thing done on Friday so we got to pick it up on Saturday when we were there for Lily's bridal shower. It was a crazy whirlwind of a few days. 

$7,000 later our car was driveable again. Ugh, that really hurt financially a lot. When I started school I knew money would be tight. I also hoped and prayed that financially we would be able to stay on top. Tuition is expensive every semester but if everything stayed as is, we would be able to make it work. This was not the case. It was a bad year for Lowry Doors, plus car problems, plus no Christmas bonus, plus going into Christmas, plus not having work since there are no screenings or flu shots through the holidays. The only hope was to pick up Shifts through the agency Nursa. The hope was to work through December while I was in between semesters. 

There were a lot of tears shed by me this week and it made it hard to enjoy the holiday. Thankfully my kids were not phased. They were home all day off of school when I was in Heber dealing with the car problems. They were all safe and happy and were good that day and through Thanksgiving Break. 

Friendsgiving for Lynnlee and the Movies

Lynnlee and her friends had Friendsgiving. It was Italian themed and at Lexi's. You could only bring something Italian. She took garlic bread. It was perfect for Lynnlee because she doesn't love traditional Thanksgiving food. She would much rather have Italian food or Costa Vida. 

She wanted to see Wicked 2 but no one in our family planned to go. So she and her friend Eden went. James came through and gave them rides to and from the movie. I had planned to but ended up dealing with car troubles that day. 

Crazy Hair Day for Sienna

 It was crazy hair day or hat day. Sienna wanted to use her hair chalk. She wanted rainbow which wasn't a statement of any kind. Sienna has always loved rainbows and unfortunately rainbows have been ruined. I can't remember what we had that day, maybe a doctor's appointment but everyone commented on her hair and she had to tell them it was crazy hair day so they didn't think it was a normal hair day for her. 

Kade did not have crazy hair day at school but he did have some crazy hair that stuck straight up without any product so it needed documenting. 

Gingerbread Festival, Improv Broadway, and November Birthdays

We had a fun filled afternoon and evening starting off with the Gingerbread Festival at the Outlets. It was cold but we love the scavenger hunt so it was worth it. This year we had to hunt for different objects like a snowman, reindeer, ornament, etc. It was a lot harder than the gingerbread people in the windows that we looked for in previous years.  Betsy came with us and Lynnlee's friends. Cam's family met us there. We did have time to walk around the entrepreneur market and there were a lot of fun booths. We didn't stay for the tree lighting because we had plans to go to Improv Broadway. 

We ate at Chick Fil A on our way. Charlie's family got into town that day so they met us at Improv Broadway. James was at NXR so Betsy used his ticket. When we were choosing our seats the kids went to the couches on the front row and we sat behind them on chairs on the second row. Betsy asked if we should sit back a few rows so we wouldn't be picked for anything or called out by the comedians. I told her that we would be fine and that they didn't do that there. I told her they asked for audience ideas but more as a group not singled out. I couldn't have been more wrong! Haha! There is a different host every time and different comedians so we didn't recognize anyone from a year ago. I'm guessing that is why it was different. The host comedian was singling people out with everything. They asked Marshall his job and did a short game based off "worst garage door installer." It was a quick game. They asked Angeline about her worst date. After the intermission they asked me about something I wasn't happy about and thankfully the kids had just complained to me that they didn't take credit/debit cards, because Kade was trying to buy a drink with his debit card but he couldn't. So I said that to the host comedian. Otherwise my mind was blank. It is hard being put on the spot.  

So anyways, we had a good laugh after with Betsy since being on the second row definitely and getting singled out. 

The boys slept over that night and went to church with us. Lynnlee went to Heber and stayed over with Lydia. This was taken on the drive to Heber for November birthdays.

Family dinners are always a good time! Also, ninja turtle cake is still yummy and is a yummy birthday dessert. 

James at NXR

 James traveled to NXR in Mesa, Arizona with the XC team. They left early Thursday morning and made stops for food and to run. They ran in Buffalo Park. It was a chilly run but nice to stretch the legs. They arrived to their hotel on Thursday night. 

Friday they had free time at the mall and they played sardines. They also previewed the race course. 

They raced Saturday morning. They had live results but not a video stream. We followed James's race times. It was a hard course. He ran the boys championship race. He took 86th and his time was 15:35. He was happy with his race and enjoyed it. 

The coach took them to Cheesecake Factory that night. James said it was good and loved the lemonade. They drove back Sunday. He said it was a great trip! He had fun hanging out with his teammates, playing video games, and watching shows.

Sienna's Friend Karagan

Sienna's friend Karagan crashed really hard on her bike Wednesday night on her way home from activity days. Sienna has just split off down our cul-de-sac and then her friend crashed another 50 feet down the street so we had no idea it happened. She landed really hard on her left side so she broke her elbow, bruised her hip, and fractured her skull, and facial bones. It causes her left eye to be black and swollen shut. Sienna and her friends heard about it at school the next day and were so worried. 

Sienna's friends came over to our house Friday from school and they made cards. Some of the girls brought gifts. We made a sunshine basket for her. Then we walked over to Karagan's house and visited her and gave her the cards and gifts.

Such a cute group of girls! They love and care about Karagan so much and were so happy to visit her and see that she was ok. 

Math Tutor

Tag is Sienna's math tutor. One day they were playing school and Tag was the teacher and Sienna was doing her math homework. Tag helped her with every problem with the white board.