The Evans Family Thanksgiving

First off I hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving. I hope the day was as blessed as ours was. The number one thing we were thankful for this year was having Jason here with us. It was a small and quiet Thanksgiving for us but we enjoyed every minute of it. I did drive Jason crazy with all the picture taking but he knows that's just me!

This is our 14 pound turkey prior to it being cooked...

Jason is stuffing the turkey with onions and celery and I'm injecting it with the marinade we put together...

Here I am injecting it some more...

Here I am checking and basting the turkey.

Jason taking the turkey out after 5 1/2 hours of cooking.

Our finished product, lol!! The turkey was so good!!! This was our first turkey we made together and we were both very excited and proud at how well it turned out. We got creative and it was perfect!!

Jason cutting the turkey...

Our family at the dinner table....so thankful to be together!!

Suzi had her share of our turkey dinner. I think her eyes say it all, ha!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!

My new do!

After putting it off for many months I finally had to go ahead and do it...I chopped 6 inches off my hair!! I am really glad I did because it's so much lighter on my head, haha!

Before....

After...

Back View

I absolutely love it!!

5 hours of fun!

Since we live in the middle of nowhere the family and friends who decide to come visit us must endure a long drive from on of the "nearby" airports! When I flew my mom in we decided to fly her into Vegas (way cheaper than any other airport!!) and when it was time for her to fly back home we decided to make a day of it. We got the kids up early and headed out to Vegas even though her flight didn't leave until later in the evening. We thought it'd be a fun way to spend our last day together plus the kids had never really seen Vegas before. We got to enjoy 5 hours of big building, crazy taxicab drivers and lots of photo opportunities!

This is me in front of New York New York.

We stopped to have lunch in the food court right next to the big M&M shop. Nothing too fancy but I did get to have one of my favorites...Weinershnitzel!! The kids begged Nanny into buying them some ice cream and of course she gave in, ha! They love chocoloate ice cream!!

We also stopped in the Coca Cola store and took a picture on the big Coca Cola Bear.

Right in front of New York New York they have a glass display case full of shirts showing appreciation and thought for what happened on 9/11. There is also a line of plaques with different quotes and this one caught my eye...

It really hit home with me of course because my husband was one of those men that had to 'undergo the fatigues' of supporting freedom. You have people who walk around every day taking for granted the freedom that we are givin when really the only ones who know the true meaning of it are the ones who are on the front lines fighting for it...for us!

Statue of Liberty

Me and the kids in front of NY NY.

Caitlyn loved this castle!! Had to take a picture in front of it for her. This was at Excalibur.

Mom in front of Excalibur.

Thanks Mom for coming!! We had so much fun having you here!! Can't wait till we can see you and Daddy again!

Knotts Berry Farm

On November 12 our family, along with some very close friends of ours, took a trip out to Knotts Berry Farm. The park was showing it's appreciation the the Veterans and gave awesome deals on getting in. So we took advantage of it and plus it was Cory's birthday so what better way to have some fun?!

This is me and Jason in front of the waterfall.
The Evans kids and The Johnson Kids
Nanny, Cory and Caitlyn in front of the toy store.
Cory dancing to Cowboy Troy
The Johnson Family and The Evans Family
Brian, Jenny and Briana
Me and Jason inside Camp Snoopy
One other thing that made the day that much more special was my mom being there. I flew her out to spend time with me and the kids. She was able to be there for Cory's birthday, our trip to Knotts Berry Farm as well as many other things.

Me and My Mom
We have been blessed to have many wonderful friends out here in 29 Palms. I have really been thankful for being able to meet some of them. Below is a picture of me and Jenn. She has become my best friend and is an amazing girl. We have got to do many fun things together with us and our families. I'm so glad we got to enjoy this day together!!

The kids had an absolute blast. It's always fun going to a theme park but when you have your friends there to share it with it makes it that much more enjoyable. The kids were able to ride the rides and run throughout the park enjoying eachothers company the whole day!

Cory, Brit and Matthew playing in the water.

While Jason and Brian went on a rollercoaster us girls and the kids waited. While we waited Jenn and I took the older kids (while Nanny watched baby Briana) on a stagecoach ride. Not as much fun as the guys had I'm sure but we did have fun!

Cindy

Jenny

Caitlyn

Matthew

Cory
Brittany


We all enjoyed this day because we were able to share it with eachother!! The kids had a blast and us adults had a blast as well!!

Cory's 7th Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Cory's 7th Birthday. We held it at a park near by off base. It is one of Cory's favorite places because it has a skatepark. He invited all his friends and they had a really good time! This is just the beginning of Cory's weekend birthday celebration.

This is his cake.

Cory blowing out the candles.

All the kids enjoyed an hour of fun on the ramps at the skatepark. Cory loves to go here and I think having all his friends with him made it way cooler!!

Cory on the ramp!

He got a lot of really great gifts! Everybody knew exactly what he liked and he was so excited to see all the different things from all his friends.

A gift and money from his friend, Talon.

Cory opening one of his gifts and his friends watching.

Cory hitting the pinata.

The kids grabbing all the candy.

This is Cory and all his buddies with their skateboards.

(From Left to Right....Colton *red shirt*, Caleb, Darshaun, Corey B., Dakota, Cory, Matthew, Talon and Roy *black shirt*)

Cory is really into skateboarding. I mean he really takes it serious. It is pretty much his whole life and his birthday showed that. He had a Tony Hawk birthday. Decorations were all revolved skateboarding.

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures!!

Happy Birthday Cory!