Thanksgiving Recap

I admit it.
I'm behind.
Why spend my time online when I can be busy with my dear family???
They were here a whole week enjoying the fabulous Phoenix weather and activities for Thanksgiving. The Nams generously moved into the MacKays and my family moved in with us.
We have officially dubbed the Nam's home "Nam-elback Inn" in lieu of the famous landmark Marriott hotel here in Phoenix called the Camelback Inn. My family laughed as we listed the amenities: individual rooms, comfortable beds, gourmet foods, great restaraunts, great shopping, free vehicles, swimming, cheap golf, tennis, a hot tub and endless free, instant movies (Thank you Scott for the Roku!!!).
Not to mention the spread we had at Steve and Janis' for Thanksgiving. They hosted a wonderful meal and day, filled with surprises and gifts. Despite the rainy weather, they entertained all 33 of us for dinner and activities with their usual class and grace.
My personal highlight was using my mom's new driver and having my first real drive on the golf course go farther than Chuck thought it would! I even bogied a real hole! If I had my mom's driver I would be at the golf course a whole lot more...I guess all the golf knowledge floating around here at the house has rubbed off on me more than I thought!
My family highlights included shopping at Target with Emily and my mom, sorting through the clearance section and the pile of clothes we dragged into the dressing room to try on and laugh through. Another highlight was seeing my brothers enjoy Kate, as they didn't have as much time with her in Maryland over the trip. Lastly, running with (or shall I say trying to keep up with) my little brother Brett in the new semi-annual JamKay 5K we ran on Thanksgiving morning (the name stands for Jansen, Shank and MacKay participants).
Here's a slideshow from the week:

Official end of fall...

Thanksgiving day always ends with a Jansen tradition...BOND...
I had to wait until Friday night, but we finally got out to see Quantum of Solace.
Now I am officially in Christmas mode.

First Foods

Aren't green beans delicious??

Where is the power for today?

I love what Martin Lloyd Jones says in his book Spiritual Depression. It encouraged me so much as I think of how to battle my heart and the "battle against the flesh".

We are not living on ourselves. We must not think of ourselves as ordinary people. WE are not natural men; we are born again. God has given His Holy Spirit and He is the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind

Camping

You'll fit in a two person tent. No problem.-- Jeff and Tina Zigler

It took an hour and a half to set up.
When Travis laid down in it, his feet stuck out six inches of the door.
We tried our hardest to fit a queen air mattress inside to no avail.
The wind picked up and Travis' air mattress deflated outside.
Then at one am, Travis crawled into our tent.
Coyotes were howling. The wind continued to whip around the tent.
Chuck was snoring and Ashley was giggling.
We tried to fit all three of us on a twin air mattress, which led to stripping all our extra layers off because we were so hot. Imagine that in the tent you'll see in the slideshow :)
After much shifting and trial, Travis then left the tent at 2 am for the car.
Then we slept.
Kate only woke up twice-- mostly because we were moving around so much.

Camping Essentials.

On Friday morning, the dialog went something like this:

ALL: Isn't the weather awesome?
CHUCK: It makes you want to have a fire. Or go camping.
NORA: I know! I was thinking about it the other day and this coming weekend is like the only one we have left before the holidays.
CHUCK : Love, where could we go camping?
(Ashley's already on the computer)
ASHLEY: There's Usury Park like 10 minutes around the corner. Fifteen dollars a night!
(Nora's on the phone with Travis, who shockingly says yes.)
CHUCK: Taylor, let's make a list. We'll need more sleeping bags...
ASHLEY: All right! If we're going camping, we'll need to make rice.

Yes, we went spontaneous camping. Not only did we go camping but one of the first things our dear Namies said they needed to do was MAKE RICE!! We couldn't stop laughing. The whole trip was a big farce. More on that later.

Motherless Mondays

My dear Kate has been enjoying herself with Grammie and the Nams the last three Mondays while I went to work. They have reported the following: rolling, scooching, cooing and laughing. Connor Nam made her laugh with his funny noise and Ashley caught it on her cellphone. I show this to everyone who asks about her because it just makes everyone burst into the biggest smile.