Bentley's Brain Puzzles

This boy is always creating some sort of puzzles it seems.  His brain is like a machine.  Here's his latest "game" for me to solve.  He keeps me busy, and also keeps me sharp on my math skills.  Thanks Bentley.

Post Thanksgiving Family Movie Date

With no extra family around for Thanksgiving, it has been nice to spend time together, but we are definitely itching to get out of the house!  A movie afternoon sounded like a great idea.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was completely nontraditional and strange, but very memorable and special as well.   Erin and Kike decided not to come to NM, so instead, my parents decided to go to Utah to have Thanksgiving with all my siblings there.  We wanted to go, but with Brad's recent surgery we just weren't feeling up for it.  So this year our family was solo and it was really strange.  So since it was already going to be different, Brad decided to really spice things up and suggested a Thanksgiving buffet at the casino too.  I was definitely ok with the idea of not cooking tons and tons of food for my tiny appetite family.  It was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember!

On our way out to dinner we stopped by the new house.  Framing continues even on Thanksgiving day apparently!  We are so excited!  Next year we will be hosting Thanksgiving here.

We ate at the TIWA Restaurant and Lounge in the Isleta Casino.

The kids thought it was fun to be at a buffet and pick what they wanted.  Mostly what they wanted though was not the traditional Thanksgiving food ha ha.

They were happy with the choices of desserts though.

Overall I'd say the experience was a good one, but it just didn't feel like Thanksgiving.  I've known this, but this year confirmed for me that I'm just not that into Thanksgiving food in general, but the holiday for me is so magical because of the people we get to spend it with.  I missed our families.  Thanksgiving wasn't the same without some extended family with us.  We are excited for a Justice family Thanksgiving next year in our new home.

Our "gratitude door" looked awesome by the end of the month.  There were all kinds of good things there that we are thankful for.

Here are some of my favorites:

I love this time of year, and my family too - immediate and extended.  Now, bring on Christmas!!

Sleep Study

This girl is awesome.  She has to go through some pretty annoying things, but she continues to have such a good attitude about it.  I love her and all the good things she teaches me.

Her sleep is not good.  She really struggles getting good airflow at night and her snoring and gasping is difficult to hear so I can't imagine how she must feel trying to get quality rest.  I know she isn't feeling rested and rejuvenated in the mornings and she doesn't complain about it, but it's really bothering me.  At this point it's so hard to know what is causing this.  She has had so much work done on her airway, and there are many trouble spots, including her lower airway.  It's always such a delicate decision making process with knowing when to intervene, but without causing further problems.  We shall see I guess.  In the meantime, thanks Eden for being so amazing through it all.

Karly's First Time at the Dentist

Karly was so excited she finally got her turn to be like the big kids!  She was so adorable in that chair.  As expected, she was a very good and cooperative patient. Yay for clean teeth!

Goodbye to Kevin

When we were on our Mediterrean Cruise, Brad's large gallstone was lovingly named Kevin.  Though he has been a faithful buddy for Brad, it's time for Kevin to go.   So, the night before the surgery we had a little goodbye party for Kevin, complete with a delicious chocolate cake.  The kids thought it was fun, but at first they were a little worried about the surgery and thought for a moment that we were saying goodbye to daddy.  Yikes.  Those nerves were calmed quickly and we were back to happiness with the chocolate cake.

All went well with surgery to remove the gallbladder the following morning.  Daddy was back home quickly, with one less organ inside.  And then the marathon of Star Wars movies commenced.  In the next few days of recovery, they all cozied up in the bed and watched every one of those movies.

Meanwhile, mom got lots done around the house, and occasionally delivered snacks to the Star Wars fans.

Goodbye gallbladder and Kevin!!

P.S. Brad -  no more Thanksgiving time surgeries....mmmmmm k?

Stamper Markers

Karly has discovered the fun of stamper markers and using her body as the canvas.  Here's just a few of the many examples of her body artwork.