National Lampoons Thanksgiving Vacation!

The Girls Coreographed a dance for a little show they put on. All the girls are taking dance lessons right now with the exception of Hailey who's not quite 2. But she made up for it by stealing the show when the boys tried to do the "boys dance". Austin got mad and said "it's the boy's dance!" so when Alex tried to pull her away she started smacking her Dad in the face screaming "NO, NO, NO!" I think we have another little dancer girl not afraid of an audience.

The entire Clan at the Scenic overlook! You can tell by Dustin's closed eyes and Evan's crazy face what a fun time we had getting our kids to stand still. Jeremy, Duane's son got to come hang out with us too. What a treat getting to see him, Grandma Marie, and Aunt Dale.

The litte Men with a Knight after the Medievil Times show! They enjoyed swordfighting together the most. And we had fun watching them.

The Trailer Park! What a sight we were!

Motts and Tressler Kids ~ Great Friends and Neighbors! I don't know why the picture is teeny weeny!

Just got back this week from a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. We went to my Mom's house down in Annapolis. The only way we could all stay was to park two trailers in the driveway.There were 24 of us, and We looked like some crazy redneck family, or cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation. We had 2 huge trailers and like 6 SUV's. Fun times! Amy, John and their kids drove out. So brave! Katie, Alex, Maya and Hailey came out; And James and Kayleen and their two adorable boys. I almost stole their baby Makai because he's just so stinkin' cute. I would only have kept him till he was 2, then I would have TOTALLY given him back. But then... I remembered that all my kids are potty trained and I wouldn't want to give up the enjoyment of watching my Baby Brother have to change all those messy diapers knowing I don't have to! HA! I was relishing that! Sorry James, you know I love ya! And Kayleen, just hand those babies right over to James and say it's Erica's paybacks from wayback! HA!!! Hahaha! But watching James change diapers was only ALMOST my favorite thing about the trip. We went to the Broadneck Ward on Sunday, and I got to walk around the building seeing all my old haunts and seeing all my former teachers. We went to the DC Temple Vistors center and saw "The Testaments", my personal fav. We went to the Air and Space museum in VA. We saw the Enterprise space shuttle, and I humored Dustin while he spent at least 30 min. discussing the inner workings of an engine with John. The next day we went to the Capital Building and took a tour. It was really neat to see the statue of Ronald Reagan and the pieces of the Berlin wall that they incorporated into it. I couldn't help but reach out and touch the small pieces of a wall that kept so many excluded from the rest of the world. We went to the National Archives and saw the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I TRIED to see the National Art Museum, but left in a huff after the boys tried to touch a naked statue and Dustin made jokes about the Degas. Next time I'll take MYSELF on a date to the art museum :) We went to Port discovery the next day in Baltimore where the kids got to play for hours, totally entertained. I'm pretty sure I gave some change to a drug addict as we left, but she looked so mournful and said all she wanted to do was make it home for Thanksgiving, and here I am leaving the cold to go home to a most amazing meal. I don't know why but that girl got to me and I don't think I'll ever forget her face. You could tell she was really beautifull...before the drugs took hold of her...Ugh!! It made me so very Thankfull for All that I have. A wonderful Family, Mother, the Savior, my testimony of him, the Commandments, and the Word of Wisdom that keep me free from those awful chains that are so difficult to break.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal prepared by my awesome cook Mother who makes everything so special. We got to visit with our old neigbors, the Mott family and talked and talked about old times and new. And then we ended our visit with a trip to Medievil Times. The little guys loved the sword fights and the pooper scooper guys! All the little guys got into a sword fight at the end, and we had a blast watching them. Then we said our last goodbyes and my Sister Amy and her sweet family Drove away in her Tahoe...Waaaaah!

It was great to see my Sister's and Brothers and their spouses and families. I was sad to see it end, but glad we finally had an opportunity for all of us to be together in one house again. Can't wait for the next time!

I forgot my camera battery, so there aren't many pictures to share. Any that I share are mostly from others. Thanks! HA!