Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving was quiet here.  Matt was still recovering from surgery and really not feeling well at all.  I made the traditional dinner but sadly Matt ate one bite and was finished. 

We bought Chase an Xbox (it was Matt's bribery to get him to move to the smaller room so he could have the study).  I'm pretty sure he would have moved without bribery, but he was one happy kid.

The kids spent more hours than they should have playing video games, and Matt spent the time resting which was hard for him.

We ended our Thanksgiving by watching our traditional movie, Elf and enjoying our new fireplace.

Matt eased back into work the day after Thanksgiving.  He brought Kelsey home that night from school (she had to work on Thanksgiving).  Although he wasn't back to 100% we couldn't pass up these box seat tickets given to him for the last UNR football game of the season.

It was the battle for the cannon against our rivalry team, University of Las Vegas.  Happy to say the cannon will stay blue as we pulled off the win 23-16.

We put up the tree and the kids had fun decorating it and putting on all their ornaments they have collected over the years.

Sadi was the only one who had a new ornament yet to hang this year.  She picked out the perfect ornament, a cheerleader megaphone.

Later they worked on letters to Santa.  The girls didn't know what they wanted for Christmas.  Chase however knew exactly what he wanted.

They did finally come up with a few things to ask for.  Kelsey went all in...

New iPhone

 North face jacket

Teal Hydro flask

  Sweaters

an SUV

Chase was VERY specific about what he wants, he even added in where Santa could buy it...you know in case he needed to give those elves a day off :)

Lucid sound Ls20 powered gaming headset(white at Costco)

Star wars Battlefront 2-deluxe edition

Halo:The Master Chief collection

Amazon Basics dual charging station

X Rocker gaming chair(Black-Target)

Xbox live gold-12 month membership

Sadi was all over the place on what she wanted (she really couldn't think of anything).  She did make sure to emphasize she was mostly good/maybe and adding that she is naughty sometimes.  She said she had to be honest...keeping it real.  She did manage to think of a few things to ask for:

A few canvases

bottles of paint/paint brushes

lots of glue

white art desk

wheely chair

stuffed penguin

wood ?

We sealed them up with a letter letting Santa know that we had moved.  Hopefully they have made it to the North Pole by now, and Santa will be able to find his way to our new house this year!

Scapel Please

A few days prior to Thanksgiving Matt was scheduled for surgery.  He has had a hernia he had been putting off for some time and finally decided it was time to take care of it. 

We got checked in and he was playing it cool until the nurse brought in the needles, then he didn't look so tough.

Something I didn't know is that Matt has never had an IV before or even been in a hospital for any kind of procedure, so lucky I was there to document :)

The Dr. was running hours behind schedule so we sat in our little "cubby" watching t.v. until it was time for him to get his "I don't care" medicine put in.

I anxiously waited in the waiting room for him to be finished.  Although he doesn't remember anything after his happy medicine he was having a good time teasing the nurses after he came out of it.  Glad it is over, and hoping his recover is quick.

Weekend Getaway

Veteran's Day weekend we rented a cabin at camp Richardson, Lake Tahoe.   Although Chase and Sadi had no school on Friday Matt worked all day and then picked up Kelsey on his way home.  We grabbed dinner on the way to the cabin which was a good thing, because of the time change we arrived in the dark.

I had started feeling under the weather Friday morning and spent the weekend being sick (no fun).  We had the cutest little cabin in the woods, the Studebaker.

It had a large open kitchen where although I wasn't feeling great, I still got up and made omelets for everyone. 

The kitchen shared space with this living room which was nice to have so much room for everyone to sit comfortably.  It also had a fireplace that I'm sure we ran the whole time we were there.

It was a two bedroom cabin so Matt and I shared a room.  Luckily there were two beds so I didn't have to share my sick germs with him.

The girls claimed the other bedroom which had two double beds.

Although Sadi offered to share a bed with anyone, no one wanted to take her up on that offer (she is a wild sleeper). Chase was more than happy to claim the pullout sofa sleeper.

Our cabin was literally yards from the beach.

Matt enjoyed his morning drinking coffee and reading the news in the forest.

The weather was great, blue skies and sunshine and temperature in the low 50's which was warmer than I expected.

I felt okay-ish to walk around for part of the day, which was nice.

We had fun playing around and laughing.

Kelsey found some broken tree branch she made into deer antlers.

The kids spent hours watching movies and relaxing together.  Matt, Kelsey, and I walked next door to the Beacon for dinner.  I got brave an actually ate dinner which turned out to be a mistake and I spent the rest of the night in pain.

Although I wish I had felt better, I know the rest of the family had a great time. 

A Special Veteran's Day

A few weeks ago Sadi brought home an invitation for a Veteran's day celebration they were having at her school.  She had asked Matt's Uncle Rick if he would like to come.  Although he was going to be back in Virginia he made a special trip back to Nevada just for this day.

They started the morning with a breakfast for all the Veterans.

After breakfast was a special assembly where they announced those who attended and with who:  "Sergent Major Rick Denning here with Sadi Denning".  Then their was a singing program with lots of patriotic music.  Sadi's 5th grade sang the National anthem, My country tis' of thee, and God bless the U.S.A.  

I love that her school put this on, and that she was able to invite such a special guest to join her.  She even let Mom and Dad tag along.

Competition Weekend

We have been working towards this weekend for months.  Months of practice, dedication, and excitement, and if FINALLY arrived.  Leading up to cheer competition we had a preview showcase with all of the teams to show off our routine to all the parents and other cheer teams.

After our final practice the day before competition it was time for a little fun.  Our team got together in Reno for a dinner the night before.  We met at Circus Circus Reno (where most of the team were staying for the night).  These girls were not shy about putting away the carbs the night before :)

Then it was time to hit Midway Mania, or as I call it the money pit.

All the girls had fun playing for hours and watching us parents throw away more money than we cared too.

Sadi scored more stuffies than I care to even look at.  Her collection seems to multiply more rapidly than I can stand, and they are all just too "special".

Once our pockets were empty it was time to for us to get to bed.  We stayed in the hotel with lots of the other girls, but our room was in another tower due to Daddy getting us a nice upgrade (perks of the job).  We had an early morning the day of competition.  Sadi's coach's had left a little good luck sign on our door while we were sleeping which was a fun surprise for Sadi to wake up too.

We started getting hair done at 7.  Due to the elaborate hair style they picked 99 percent of the Mom's wouldn't even attempt it so we had 24 girls lined up in one room to do a round robin of hair teasing, poofing, and braiding.  It was crazy!

A few hours later and we were ready to go

Poof, braids, tease, and a LOT of hairspray!

This year the competition was held at the Reno Convention center which was a bummer since it is usually at U.N.R. and Kelsey is able to just walk over and join us.  Sadi really missed having her there.  These girls were nervously excited.

We left them in good hands with their coach's and fought the crowds to find a seat in the packed arena.  This year the theme was "My heart beats in 8 counts", perfect for our girls who are constantly counting to 8, over and over and OVER.

It was hours before our team hit the mat to lay it all out.  They had a great performance!

Their hard worked paid off, and they brought home FIRST PLACE! 

Sadi had a great trio of coach's this year, who worked so hard and made it fun.

Love this girl from Bow to Toe!

She was pretty excited about showing off this first place medal.  She literally wants to wear it everywhere.

We let her choose where she wanted to go celebrate for dinner.  She chose Texas Roadhouse, because she said she had been "craving some peanuts".  Pretty sure every picture I take for some time I will be seeing this medal in :)