Well November has been a blur, hard to believe how quickly it goes by

Thanksgiving was lots of fun - Deirdre's cousin from Murray, Jamie, came to visit for a few days with her family and 4 kids, and it was fun getting to know them.  We don't know the Brown side of Deirdre's family as well, so it was great getting acquainted with the "Rand relatives".  We had Thanksgiving at our place, with Deirdre's family, Grandma Broderick and the Gardeners.  I played football that morning, so could barely move.  We went to our church to play hockey that evening, and to work off some pie.  Deirdre's turkey was yummy - she basted it every 30 minutes, and stuffed it full of sage & rosemary.  Deirdre also had "Pie Day" on the Wed before, and got together with her sisters and cousin to knock out all the pies - pecan, lemon meringue, berry, pumpkin, chocolate pecan, and I forget the rest.

Jack  has been busy with school and soccer, and has been reading lots.  He's getting straight A's at Meadows and is a good student.  He also loves to tease and cause trouble with his siblings, a real Eagar forte.  Jack will be playing in a soccer tournament this coming weekend - he has 3 games.  Jack, Jap, and Gav all started piano this month with Amelia Poll, Justin Poll's wife - she comes to our house and knocks them all out on Monday afternoon. 

Gavin's playoff games were postponed due to a big rainstorm that blew through Arizona the weekend before Thanksgiving, so this week they won their semifinal game, and then had their first loss all season in the championship game.  It was a bummer, but we're really pleased with Gavin's team and the group of kids he plays with.  Fun kids.  Gavin also ran the turkey trot earlier in November - he has been talking about this race all year, and when he was at the starting line, he wouldn't even acknowledge ;you because he had his game face one.  He was dead set on winning the race!  LOL.  Well Gavin completely smoked it - I mean he is a fast runner!  He was just flying at the end of the race, and literally there wasn't another kid even close to him.  He doesn't even seem that winded at the end of the race.  Gavin just loves to race and loves to be fast - running, rollerblading, ice skating, whatever - he puts that game face on and defies anyone to beat him!!!

Behind Gavin is the middle school kid (rabbit) who couldn't catch up with Gav!!

Jasper's growing pains have been easing up, and he's doing better running.  He continue in soccer, and also wanted to play basketball, so we capitulated and put him in a 2nd sport.  They needed basketball coaches at the last minute, so guess who's coaching hoops now?  Jasper has enjoyed practices and is getting ready for his first game, and also getting ready for his first soccer tournament.  Jasper also did the Turkey Trot, but because of his achilles and asthma finished 5th or something, which is really good but heartbreaking for this competitive kid.

Jaspers Birthday Donut, 10 YEARS OLD!!

Garth finished up soccer this month and just loved it, and was bummed when his last game got rained out - no makeup.  He's loving kindergarten, and loves to play with his brothers.  He doesn't like sharing a room with Oakley at times - hard to keep up with such a messy roommate.  Garth also ran the Turkey Trot, and was in the lead for the first 200 yards or so, and was even beating the "rabbit", which are middle school kids that come to run the race with the youngsters to keep them on the course.  Well he was running faster than the rabbit, and then he took a wrong turn, and took like 30 kids with him!  So by the time we got all the kids running in the right direction, Garth was at the back of the pack and was downtrodden, so never really got back into it.  Poor guy!  It was very funny though watching him take off in the wrong direction, with dozen of insane parents screaming at the top of their lungs.

Oakley my oh my is our little cranky crazy and domineering 3 year old.  He is a lot of fun.  He is talking like crazy, and sentences are starting to come out, although the words are kind of jumbled at times.  Things like "Planes watch" (I want to watch Planes) or "Hit me Gaaaar" (Garth hit me).  He's getting so big - what happened to all our babies?  We are having no luck with his potty training however - haven't been able to figure him out yet, although I think secretly Deirdre likes changing diapers, or having Wade change diapers.

Deirdre has been busy this month with planning Relief Society parties and  getting the house ready for Thanksgiving.  She's been running a bit more.  She chatted with one of our friend through soccer who's a PT, and he convinced her that she needs to stretch more.  Wade has been saying that for months, but evidently is not an authority figure.  So Wade now stretches smoochy poo every couple days, getting those hammies and glutes all loosened up.  

Wade has been playing in hockey and softball leagues, does lots of coaching, and has been busy with the YM as well.  He's doing President Packer's cake lesson for the YM this Sunday, so is excited about that.  The Tempe rental house had various issues this month, including a leak during the rain, so we just put a new roof on the flats.  Thankfully the other rentals have been pretty calm the last few months.  

We did some black friday shopping and have been getting ready for the holidays - with Target and Wal-mart so close we coudn't resist walking through the mayhem and looking for a couple deals.  We are late on decorating the house but will get to it shortly.  What a great time of year!