Good times, Good people, Good food

Our computer that we download our pictures onto isn't working right now, so you are stuck with words for this post, sorry. I will will keep it short in hopes that people will actually read a post without pictures. We will see.

Thanksgiving was a ton of fun. We had a good friend, Ben, and his wife and kids stay with us. We haven't seen Ben for years. I met him the same day I met my Ben. Crazy!
I experienced the best summer of my life with these Ben's, and it was great to talk about one hilarious memory after the next. I can't believe we got any studying done that summer. If I were able to re-live any time in my life, before I was married...that summer would be it..hands down.

They got here on Wednesday and left Sunday morning. We talked, went to Garden of the Gods, shopped, talked, watched our kids go nuts, watched movies, talked, ate good food, and had a great time.

Thanksgiving was really nice. We had "the good neighbors" over to join our group. The 5 kids under the age of 5 behaved well for the most part, and we had a good time. The only major accident was when Mary decided to try a front flip over the kids table in order to get to her seat. You can imagine how that ended up.
The cooking was really easy this year, and there really wasn't any stress. It all worked out great! Mel's homemade pumpkin pie was the hit of the day. Yummy!

I have a picture of the three Ben's (my Ben, my little Benjamin Samuel, and Ben Caswell) , and it is so cute, but I guess it will come later. Dang.

Ben's wife Megan, my best friend Katie and I shopped our brains out on Black Friday. We got up at 3:30am (I had been in the bathroom puking since 1:00am with this random stomach bug) in order to get two very specific items that I HAD to get. The deals were just too good not to try to get. It was a very close call, but we got them!!!! Oh my goodness, I can't wait for Ben, Sam and Mary to get these gifts. We scored big time and came home with a Pathfinder loaded to the bursting point and grins plastered to our faces. It was an absolute BLAST!

Megan and I were dead on our feet after the 5th store, but I honestly think Katie could have gone all day. She is a crack up. Megan had her things taken from her at one point and put back on the shelf. By the time she could get to them, they were gone. I felt so bad! She was a good sport...but still. Not cool! It was fun to get to know her and her cute little boys. We miss them already.

Monday was a shocker when all of the sudden Ben was back to work, I was here at home standing in the middle of the aftermath of our fun, and life went on. We did get our Christmas tree though and our house smells wonderful! We are decorating it tonight. The spirit of Christmas is in the air and we are all so excited to get ready for it the next few weeks and we are really looking forward to being with our families.

I have a doc. appt. tomorrow and of course, I am a nervous wreck. I automatically plan on finding out that there is no heartbeat and I go through the motions in my head of how I will still try to make the holiday fun for the family. I wonder if the anxiety will ever end. I will be glad to have the appt. over with and to hopefully have some peace of mind.

Ben's pre-op appt. is also this week. We are hoping to find out more details about just how long the recovery will be and why the surgery takes 3 hours. I am kind of nervous and not sure of what to expect. We do know they are going through his stomach and working their way back to his kidney. That may be what will take so long. I am trying to arrange things so I can be with Ben before, during and after the surgery. I don't know if I will be able to stay the night with him though. I just hope it all goes well. I am not a fan of the unknown. I think he is a little nervous too.

So, there you have it. My very wordy post. I will try to get pictures up soon. I have a great one that I took of a "suprise" Mary made for me the other day. Stay tuned.