ThAnKsGiViNg!

Sam, Pancho and Annie

I love Thanksgiving! It's all the fun of getting together with family without all of the "gift buying" pressure of Christmas. Of course it probably helps that my Mom always hosts an absolutely delicious meal at her house with the table beautifully decorated, so I just have to show up with my appetizer and green bean casserole and have fun! This year we had My brother Sean and his family and my brother Kevin and his wife Kate down from Seattle. We also had my cousin Michele and her family as well as 2 sets of Aunts and Uncles and their kids (my cousins). All in all there were about 32 of us. Once again, Thank goodness for Mom, I couldn't pull that one off! We always have so much fun together. We watched football, ate, talked, and laughed a lot. Of course it is never a meal at the Murray house until we all go around the table and answer one of Dad's questions!

I even talked my sisters-in-law into going shopping with me at Walmart at 5:00am the day after Thanksgiving! Yes-that means we got up at about 4:30. Everyone thought we were crazy! Actually it was kind of crazy when we got there. First we waited outside in the dark, cold rain. Then when they opened the doors it was a stampede! Kate and I were running for the camcorders (on sale for $250) We lost Francine, who ended up finding her way to the long line for GPS's (she scored one for Dad for Christmas). Then we were off and running for the Mp3's, toys, a vacuum and more! I LOVE shopping and I got even more invigorated by the competition of it all, everyone grabbing and running. Kate and I even got in some fighting words with a lady over a comforter at Target (which was stop #2). What fun! My one regret is that I don't have any pictures of our adventure, Oh well maybe next year (if I can talk them into going with me again!) I love my "sistas".

Morgen, Sam, Max, Annie, Will, Lucy, Kaillen and Keaten

Kate and Francine (my sister-in-laws or "sistas")


The cousins - Will, Annie, Lucy & Sam

LeTiCiA's BaBy SHoWeR!

Leticia and I have been friends since High School (along with Christy). Our husbands met in college (which is how I met Pancho). We have had all three of our kids within 2 or 3 months of each other. Cade and Max are 3 weeks apart, Sam and Gabrielle are 3 months apart and Lucy and Will are 2 1/2 months apart. So we have been pregnant together many times! But alas, Chad and Teesh took it one step farther than Pancho and I by going for child #4. Christy and I were so excited when we heard that there was going to be another baby in the group (since she and I are definitely past the baby stage). Another baby to hold!!! We were very happy to give her a shower along with her sister Amber. The three of us planned a pink and brown mother/daughter tea party!

We had it at my house and the guests included Leticias relatives and friends and all of their daughters. There was one daughter who was conspicuously absent though, that would be mine. Lucy wanted nothing to do with a girly baby shower. When she heard that the boys were going over to the Hakalas and she might get to play with her best friend Ethan, her decision was made. So much for my "girly" influence. The shower was really fun though. We ate, played games, opened presents and had tea. It was a lot of fun to put on and Teesh got so many nice things for her "baby girl"! We can't wait to meet her!

Gabrielle (big sis), Melissa and Natalie in front of the dessert table

Christy and I with the "mommy to be" Leticia

I think we had 32 guests in all! What a fun group!

Max's Football Team

Max has played soccer since he was in kindergarten. This was the first time that he asked to play football "like Dad". How could I turn that down? He wanted to play tackle football, but since he was in 3rd grade and this would be his first experience with football, I asked him to try flag for a year and if he really liked it, he could try tackle in 4th grade (mean mom - I know). The only problem was that our school didn't have a flag team, only a tackle team, so I put him on another school's team. He didn't know anyone. I was nervous for him, but nothing phases Max. He just walked out there and started playing! The coach didn't seem to sure about having this random kid on his team at first, but he soon changed his mind. Max played Tailback and ended up scoring most of the team's touchdowns. He is really fast, Pancho nicknamed him "lighting". Their team ended up going undefeated 11-0, and they even won the championships! It was so much fun to watch him whizzz by the other team and run into the end zone! He can't wait to play next year, and yes - I am going to give in and letting him try tackle.

Thunder and Lightning

Is it just me or do they look like the Bad News Bears?


Max getting a trophy from his coaches - they were begging him to be on the team again next year!

Superhero Halloween Party 2008

"SuperBabes" - Me, Christy, Sheri & Teesh

" Shazam" and "Isis"

Donnie and Christy

"Ace" and "Cat-woman"
Pancho and Julie

"Gary" and "Super-woman"
Chad and Teesh

Gary and Ace

What am I doing posting these pictures? Will my friends ever speak to me again? Will any of us ever get hired for a job again? (Note to potential employers that google us and end up on this page . . . we are all really good people who just do crazy things sometimes). Our friends Sheri and Keith have an annual Halloween party. This year it had a "Superhero" theme. Keith was dressed as Captain Underpants! Pancho and Chad knew what they were going to be right away. They LOVE the Gary and Ace cartoon from Saturday night live, so plans were in the works right away to find light blue long underwear and yellow towels for capes. The rest of us had a little more trouble coming up with the perfect Superhero costume. Christy loved the TV show Shazam when she was a little girl, so she hooked Donnie and herself up with some cool Shazam and Isis costumes. Teesh was about 7 months pregnant (most of us would be a little stressed about finding an outfit in that situation), but as you can see she looked absolutely adorable as a pregnant Superwoman. I could not think of anything to wear, so I finally went out looking and found these cute cat-woman glasses. I had the black pants, shirt & boots at home. So with a few little added touches that I can't mention in this Blog, I was Cat-woman (well really I was another name for cat that starts with a "p" - girl, which is why it says PG on my front). If you still dont get it ask me sometime.