Back to the Grind

What exactly does that statement mean? I'm really not quite sure, but it does conjure up vague images of coffee filters and Indian squaws smashing corn kernels.

Before I got "back to the grind," however, I had a stellar Thanksgiving weekend.

It began with HAIR! I decided to straighten my hair for the occasion, but had to blow-dry it first. Above was the result. After over an hour of Macy and Tori pulling at my head with flat irons, I ended up with stick-straight hair.

We went to the F's for the Thanksgiving feast, and had a wonderful time with them. After dinner, we children put on Little Red Riding Hoods for the parents, which was loads of fun.

Later in the evening we went to the park. (Note the straight hair.)

Once at the park we had lots of fun with the camera.

And jumping off picnic tables...

Tori and I spent the night so that we could wake up at 5:00 the next morning to go Black Friday shopping with Mrs F, Gabriela, and Renata. I get up at 5:30 every morning, but somehow the fact that we were at Old Navy at that hour made it seem a lot crazier. (Can you pick out the real people from amongst the mannequins?)

Best picture of Renata. Ever.

Later that same Friday, I drove Macy, Tori, Gabriela and Renata to go ice-skating outdoors along with a bunch of other people (like Emma :) from youth group.

As if the weekend hadn't been enough fun already, Macy had her Candy Land Sweet 16 Party on Saturday night.

The bathroom was a whirlwind of make-up brushes and bobby pins as we got ready for the evening and finally stepped out--the final product--into the night.

Christopher and Drew DJed the party.

If you hadn't guessed, it was a dance party.

A pretty "wild" one at that!

While the rap blared and the hips swayed in the studio, I chatted in the front room with these lovely ladies.

During the party we discovered that Caroline is a pretty impressive comedic dancer. Watching her prance around the floor was very entertaining, to say the least.

Best of all, Macy had a fabulous evening!

And the fun didn't end with the close of the party. After all the guests had left, we cleaned up the dance studio and headed home. Chris, Mollie, Andrew, and Calvin came along with us and we crowded into the living room to watch Macy open her boatload of presents. Once she'd unwrapped a vast array of lip gloss and nail polish, we just sat around and chatted--until 2:30 in the morning!

Still the party weekend continued. Since we didn't have youth group on Sunday evening, my sisters and I invited the youth over to our house for a bonfire in lieu of our usual meeting. Quite a few people came and we passed a very enjoyable evening roasting marshmallows, riding the zip-line, and passing Willanona from person to person.

Yet again I am reminded of how much I love my family ("adopted" siblings included). Although the Thanksgiving holiday has come to a close, I continue to give thanks for my crazy, spontaneous, open, wild, loving, beautiful family.