Bowling for Turkeys

Ben's school had a "turkey bowl" in conjunction with their book fair last night. The principal brought his Wii and the kids got to try to win a Thanksgiving turkey by bowling 3 strikes in a row. They had 5 frames in which they could try to get 3 strikes.

For the last few days, my kids have all begged me to let them practice on our Wii. Normally, I wouldn't allow video games during the school week, but since they only have to go to school 1/2 days because of teachers conferences (and since I hoped that by practicing they would WIN a turkey,) I gave in and let them practice after school.

The kids really had their hopes up that they could win one for the family. We've been trying to find ways of saving money so we can afford to go to Disneyland in February, and have been recording our efforts at saving money on the refrigerator. Each of the kids wanted to be the one to write down $15 on our Disneyland chart on the fridge!

Ben was the first from our kids to bowl. We were so excited when he bowled a STRIKE and then another STRIKE, and then were bummed when knocked 8 pins down. But then he bowled another STRIKE, and then he knocked 9 pins down. And then, he bowled another STRIKE, and then knocked down 8 pins. So, he bowled a great game, but didn't win the turkey. He was pretty sad. But the principal wrote down Ben's score and the rest of us tried our luck.

None of the rest of us won the turkey either. . . But that's not the end of the story. As I came out of the grocery store (where there's no cell reception) today, I called Steve. He said, "I hope you didn't buy a turkey!" I said, "That's the whole reason I went to the store--it has to start thawing!" He said, "Ben won a turkey!"

So, Ben ended up with one of the high scores of the night, and because they had extra turkeys left over, he won one. I only wish I could have been there to see Ben trudging up the hill from the bus with his 15 pound turkey and huge grin on his face! When I got home from the store, I took a picture of our provider, Ben! Way to go, Ben! (His favorite part, I'm sure, was being able to say, "See, Mom, playing video games pays off!")

Congratulations, Shannon and Brent and Allison!

Last weekend, we had a wonderful trip to Portland to attend my younger brother, Brent's, wedding, and to be in Portland for my "baby" sister, Shannon, as she went through the temple for the first time. We are so happy for all of them! It was amazing to be together with all of my brothers and sisters and Mom, Dad, Grandma, and aunts and uncle. I just wish it could have lasted longer!Thanks to my brother-in-law, David, we now have some family pictures. We hadn't taken any "official" family pictures since Kristy's wedding 7 1/2 years ago! We need to do a little Photoshop/cropping work before we actually print off a picture to put hang on the walls, but here are a couple of our favorites: The kids had fun over the weekend. Ben's favorite part of the day was the wedding luncheon all-you-can-eat buffet after the wedding! Here's the before shot:

And here's after:He was so full that at the reception that night, he was too full to eat the wedding cake!
The kids had fun swimming in the hotel pool, and Rachel had fun playing with her little cousin, Aimee. (This picture's taken at the wedding luncheon--notice Ben in the background stretching to fit more in!)