The Oven Bag that Saved Thanksgiving!

But before we get to THAT . . . look what a gorgeous view we had during our Thanksgiving Dinner! Awesome, huh? Definitely one of the many things I am thankful for in my life.

And the VIEW was definitely enhanced by the people who surrounded me!

So . . .on to the Story . . .

My sis-in-law, Heather, is a fabulous blogger,

and she has saved me some valuable pre-Christmas time

by sharing a very important Thanksgiving Story,

that will probably be retold for years to come in our family.

And, provide us with plenty of 'the best medicine' (i.e., laughter :-)

All in all, it was a Thanksgiving to be remembered.

A gorgeous day in a stunning setting

with many of my favorite people.

(Missed you dood!)

Among the many things for which I am so grateful today,

are my parents,

who gave me life & then stuck with me,

and with each other,

through thick & thin.

Here's Porter & some cousins "digesting" their thanksgiving dinner.

I, however, was reclining on a towel on the sand!

Blissful Youth

I had no idea how EXCITED a group of 14 & 15 yr old girls

could get over WEDDING DRESSES.

I kinda knew, but the full extent of their enthusiasm for the subject

was somehow initially lost on me.

Now I know!

I taught a lesson at our church youth group mid-week activity recently

about how important who you marry is;

and about how important it is to make choices now that will help you

become the type of person you expect your future husband to be;

as well as the blessings that come to those who remain pure & chaste

and worthy to be married in the temple.

I hope they remember something about all that . . .

. . . but here's where the real excitement came in.

I had borrowed a bunch of my friends' wedding dresses (thanks, btw!)

for the girls to try on after our lesson, and here's how it went!

liz, in mine

(how on earth did i ever wear that?)

time for refreshments!

And if the girls have any concerns about WHO they will marry...

here's a couple of suggestions from me!

Porter & his buddy Riley played the part of the Prince (it was double cast) in "Character Matters", their 4th grade class play, last week.

They were darling - and had impeccable timing in their joke delivery!

Although, this is who my girls are thinking most about this week...in anticipation of the release of "New Moon" today.

And so as not to leave Kenzie out of this post...here she is busy at work at Kids Factory, where she spends every afternoon. (Hopefully she'll be able to stay awake today, after staying up all night to see the midnight showing of New Moon last night.)

Happy Candy-Gathering...uh, I mean Halloween!

Halloween has been thoroughly celebrated at the Coe house.

Kenzie & Abbie went to plenty of parties & dances.

Guess how last-minute this costume was . . .?

Porter, who is a FINE salesman, did some extra trick-or-treating with one of our favorite neighbors to collect candy to be donated to the military (a $2000 prize has been offered by a dental group to the school who's students donate the most candy!)

Porter said most people gave him one piece, until he gave them his spiel about where the candy was going, and then many gave him extra handfuls (some even dumped the rest of their bowl into his bag.) He & Kailee came home with 15 lbs EACH, so they will be dropping off 30 lbs of candy tomorrow . . . hope the soldiers don't get a tummy ache!

Here's Porter with some of his cache!

Thrifty Sue

I have learned a new skill to aid me in my role as

"Head of Procurement of All Things Household"

I never have been one to pass up a bargain -- and I've always felt it was one of my responsibilities as a stay-at-home mom to make an extra effort to stretch the hard earned $$ of my husband. Recently I have learned how to combine sale prices with coupons in order to obtain things we need for minimal money out-of-pocket.

Some shopping trips are more fruitful than others, and it does take some pre-planning time (which I don't always have), but sometimes I walk out of the store feeling like the lady on the Ikea commercial coming out the the store with her bags, shouting to her husband in their VW van, "Start the car! Start the car!"

Here's a recent haul from Walgreens. All of these items would have cost $48, but with coupons & sale prices, I paid $7.40, and received a Walgreens voucher for $5. So essentially, I spent $2.40 & got all the halloween candy we needed, plus a few other items. Pretty thrifty!

I call myself frugal, btw, not cheap :-)

Saturday Night at the Coe's

Sad to see Carrie & Taylor head back to Australia, we squeezed in one last dinner together (thanks to our matriarch - grammy) on Saturday evening.

Nobody can get enough of Taylor - we will all miss him!!

After dinner it was time to help each other get ready for our evening commitments! Pete & Heather & the kids were headed for a 'trunk or treat' at church...

So, Jed, the army-guy, needed his face paint, masterfully done by his make-up artist papa!

Henry, the Joker, needed HIS face paint done by his talented mama! (And he LOVED the outcome! Stared at himself in the mirror quietly smiling for quite a while!)

Harriet, the colorful girl, who made her OWN costume, appropriately, took care of herself! (what, no pic? sorry, harriet)

And here's chain-gang Jack, making some extra noise (do you think we needed any of that?!) on the recorder!!

After saying our sad goodbyes to Carrie & Taylor

(& his "bob-bob" balloon),

g'ma & g'pa headed off to the airport with them . . .

. . . . and the toothless hockey player with a black eye

& his ref headed off to their halloween party.

(See mom, we went!!)

In case you are wondering where Abbie & Kenzie were . . . Kenzie spent the day taking the ACT, and working at the Mission Viejo 'Fall Festival' and Abbie won a couple lacrosse games & then had a few friends over to help her "brother-sit."

Again? . . . Already?

Happy Birthday No. 15 to Abbie!

For a bit more on Abbie's family birthday celebration,

see my sis-in-law's blog here!

Manly Beach / Shelly Beach (part 4)

SUCH A FUN and GORGEOUS DAY AT MANLY BEACH!  

And, Kenzie is in heaven with her second round of Aussie fish & chips w/vinegar!

second round of the trip; not the day

:-)

 ($75 worth of fish 'n chips, btw -- dang, stuff's expensive here!) 

Porter surfs in

(kinda looks like he's having fun, huh?)

uh, not really

And we are off to Shelly Beach!

Most Aussie beaches have these 'rock pools' -- the first one we encountered (at Bondi) had been drained for cleaning, which was a major disappointment to Porter.  

So he was very excited to explore this one during our walk to Shelly.

Lest you were wondering about the water temp --

It IS winter-time in August down under!

(Abbie DID eventually dive in & swim across - polar bear, that girl!)

Darling pewter sculptures along the path

Aussie Bubbler . . . Abbie's turn first!

Zach's up next!

Shell collecting on Shelly Beach

Such a contrast from nearby Manly's soft white fine sand; 

Shelly's 'sand' was coarse & full of tiny shells.

Just LOVE those two!

Australia Fair (part 3)

My wonderful tour guide sister hauled us all to "The Gap" -- the narrow opening from the ocean into Sydney Harbour. What beautiful cliffs. Carrie mentioned that standing there on those cliffs made her feel so far away - I felt it too. So much water & distance separates our continents. (Wah wah)

This picture is at The Gap, but looking toward the Harbour Bridge --

see it in the distance on the right?

Porter passes the time while we gaze.

And just so you know, Dogs are Totally Prohibited at The Gap.

TOTALLY . . . !

Next we were off to Bondi - the main Aussie beach I had heard of before our trip. It was not at all as I had pictured it -- much smaller & not so touristy. (we couldn't even find a souvenir!)

But the sand was soft & white and the water gorgeous aqua. Such a beautiful day - the sun was warm & the breeze was cool (just the way I like it!)

Porter was the only one of us brave enough for a winter ocean dip!

(video clip proof below!)

He was really looking forward to swimming in a rock pool (found at many aussie beaches - it fills with ocean water as the tide rises - below left), but unfortunately Bondi's was being drained for cleaning . . . it's not exactly the height of tourist season (just they way I like it!)

Anyhow, the rest of us were content to play in the sand

And eat our Aussie meat pies, while trying not to notice the topless sunbather next to us. (no picture, you're welcome, believe me...)

Abbie & I were particularly enthralled by the clever tomato (toe-'mah-toe) sauce packets. (i.e. ketchup). As Abbie demonstrates, they have two little pouches of ketchup on the bottom . . .

....so when you fold it in half, it squeezes out a tiny hole on the top! Coolio!

I know, we are easily entertained!

I also enjoyed how easy it was to remember where I was --

thank you kind budgee smuggler wearing grandpa!

As promised, here's Porter & new friend, Shaymus, in the Bondi surf!