Our Month of Things to Be Grateful For

 First up, The Iron Chef competition in our ward.  They match  you up with several ladies and give you the "secret ingredient" moments before the event begins ( it ended up being pureed pumpkin). You have to use the ingredient in an entree and a dessert item.  Maybe it was beginners luck, but I'd say it was just pure skill that our team took first place.  Go us! Lime, coconut, pumpkin chicken and rice with oreo, peanut butter pie and pumpkin whipped cream for dessert.  Mmmmm :) Don't knock it til you try it. Ha ha.

 On the 50th day of school, the kindergartners dress up like a person from the 50s.  This was our desperate attempt at a costume for Jaren.  Hey, we tried.

Tyce looking cute on a windy day at the park. 

 Mallory chose to research Ida B. Wells for the wax museum.  She was a great woman who did lots for women's rights and the rights of African Americans.  Doesn't she look adorable?

 One of the many outfits of Tyce.

 We skipped out on a couple days of school and went to Iowa for Thanksgiving.  The roads on the way there were not pretty.  We had a few scary moments.

 This Grandma is so patient and kind with this wrestler/climber.  Wow! Everyone was so happy to be at Grandma and Papa's house.  Jaren even conned Papa into taking him into their attic.  For some reason, he really needed to see it.

 Getting some Iowa gear at Gordman's.

 Bowling for FHE after dinner at a local restaurant.  We musn't forget that when the waitress asked Jaren what he'd like to drink, he replied, "Rootbeer.  No, not rootbeer. Just plain beer.  I want beer." Wow, we have a lot to learn...all of us!

 With the cold weather, we had several opportunities to use the church for basketball and some soccer.  Tyce wanted to be right in the mix.  Mostly adorable, kinda frightening, and also frustrating.

 We took a walk up to Kelbie's work where she sells homemade chocolates. Fun/dangerous place to be employed.  Of course we needed to sample their creations.  Jaren insisted on getting this white chocolate ear of corn.

 Macy entertaining Tyce by helping him with his backward somersaults.

 On Thanksgiving Day we headed out into the rain for a 5k.  Luckily, the rain stopped briefly while we ran.  Papa finished first by a long shot in his age division! Sweet!

 Libbie coming in for a strong finish.

 Mallory trying not to smile.  Was she happy to see the finish line?

 Macy making the hard push.

 Mia and Rich...WOO!

 Little Claire even raced.  Thank you Rich for being her running buddy.

 Playing trolls upstairs.

 Before our trip, Tyce was refusing to wear anything but gym shorts. I didn't pack any for the trip hoping he'd forget about this obsession. It's winter for goodness sake.  Well, he found a substitution...Jaren's underwear.  He walked around in undies for days straight.  When we got home from Iowa, I had to put away all the shorts and hide Jaren's underwear.

 Uncle Rich was nice enough to host another installment of Chopped for the kids.  He even let Jaren be a guest taste-tester.  I think this was to stop Jaren from preparing anymore messes he had to try. Rich is such a great sport with all Jaren's antics.

Things not pictured we did were, a trip to Kalona for mini marshmallows, oat muffins, and treats, tag in the science building, thanksgiving dinner, lots of bowls of M&Ms consumed nearly entirely by me, games of hand and foot,  a trip to the Silver Spider, a state football game for the older kids, and much more I'm probably forgetting.  Thank you everyone for the fun time!  See, we do have a lot to be grateful for in November.