Thanksgiving this year was so much fun and so relaxing. The day's events started around 8:00 a.m. when Spencer played in the Turkey Bowl with our ward at the local park. The turnout for players was great, and for those who weren't playing, we got to mingle by a fire with some delicious hot chocolate and muffins. The men were kind enough to let the little kids play with them, which they enjoyed. After we got home and everyone washed off the mud they were coated in, we had just enough time to prepare our contribution to our Thanksgiving meal. 
Thanksgiving dinner was held at Brandon & Eileen's house at 2:00 p.m. and we brought; Green Bean Casserole, Jellied Cranberries and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Our dinner was delicious and it was so much fun visiting with our relatives, all 25 of them. Every year we wonder if our family is getting too large to all get together and all of us kids protest and say No, it isn't. We love it!
After dinner we headed over to Spencer's parents house to peruse the ads for Black Friday. Spencer and I enjoy taking advantage of the sales on black Friday and feel that it's worth the hassle for the deals you get. We were fortunate to get Megan to spend the night so that we could get up early (3:30 a.m.) and travel into the city. We went with some friends of ours and after we hit the stores we wanted to and got the deals we seeked we stopped at IHOP for some breakfast and still made it home by 9:30 a.m. Guess that's what getting an early start will do for ya. The rest of the weekend was spent with family and decorating for Christmas.
I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the past week with my Dad. He lives in Utah and so we don't get to see each other more than a couple times a year. For most of our visit we stayed at the beach near Lincoln City. Spencer was able to spend Saturday through Monday with us and then he and Austin headed home while I stayed with our other two boys. Our weather was amazing!! Very little rain and no wind. Having no wind was actually a little bitter-sweet; we really looked forward to flying our kites, but truly there was not enough wind to do so. I found that unusual for the beach. We did get to play on the beach though and the waves were huge this time of year. Austin thought it would be fun to run from them, but he couldn't. Spencer brought his Dad's boat and so we went crabbing and caught a total of 14 keepers. 
We also hit the outlets in Lincoln City and found some amazing deals. Every evening I really enjoyed watching the sunsets. Because it was so clear out, the sky lit up so nice and bright. Once we came home from the beach my Dad had the opportunity to go sturgeon fishing with my Father in law. I was really wishing that he would be fortunate enough to catch one, but it just wasn't the case. I'm starting to wonder if he believes me that there really are sturgeon in the river. Regardless, I know he had fun and we had a great time with him. Unfortunately, my Step Mom wasn't able to come this trip, but we missed her greatly! 
The Company 
Over the summer I took the kids, including my wonderful niece Caylin, to the Zoo. The weather was perfect and all the animals were out basking in the sun. We kind of did our trip in reverse by starting out in the Africa section, my FAVORITE part! The coolest thing we saw was this Orangutan just chillin' right next to the glass. He/She even had what looked like a smile on her face and the kids were able to go right up to her and she didn't care. Gotta love Zoo animals!
My next favorite part was seeing this gorilla. He just laid there baring it all, in peace. I loved it.
The polar bears were by far the most playful. We had the opportunity to watch them play hard right in front of us. They would get a barrel, throw it into the water, and then jump high in the air and land on top of it. They were very entertaining and so much fun to watch. Before leaving, we had to make sure to feed the birds. They boys absolutely loved doing this. Cameron was a little nervous and needed some help holding the cup still. Austin had no problems. Caylin was sure nice to buy the kids a cup of nectar. Thank you Caylin! It was a great trip to the Zoo. 
Our time at Diamond Lake was wonderful! We spent the first full day touring Crater Lake. Oh my goodness, what a site Crater Lake is!! I was in awe at how beautiful the water is. The lake is such a vibrant color of blue and turquoise, so pretty. At one of the many pit stops along the course of the lake there is a hiking trail that leads up to a really cool lookout tower. The hike was a full mile up hill. Luckily, I was able to convince Spencer that we should all go up there, so we both took turns carrying Andrew. It was well worth it. The rest of the time was really relaxing. We went on a family bike ride around part of Diamond Lake, Spencer took the kids fishing and we just relaxed. It was really fun running into a friend of ours who was there spending time with his brothers. What a small world we live in :) 
Shady Cove was probably the most fun though! The Rogue River is so beautiful!! The RV park we stayed at has almost 1,000 feet of river front property with a rock path and park benches all along the way. It was very classy and nice. The Park also owns a hotel next door and all guests are allowed to use the pool and hot tub facilities, which was a bonus. I highly recommend this place to others. The highlight of this part of the trip was taking our kids on a rafting trip down the Rogue River. We went on a 4 hour float down the river which, surprisingly, had some pretty good rapids. Nothing strong enough to knock you out of the boat, but strong enough to get a little adrenaline pumping through the veins. Our boys LOVED it! Andrew was a little "cautious" at the beginning, but had no problem as he became more experienced. Every night we did family bike rides around the park. We took an afternoon and drove into Medford so I could say that I've officially seen it, and the boys (Spencer & Austin) did a lot of fly fishing on the river. 