Just a sampling of Riley's skills

:)

Thanksgiving 2010

It has been so great to have Kevin home for the holiday.

Here the young padawan is being taught by the Jedi Master...

He's a quick learner!

The force is strong with this one.

Others found a bed and spooned napped.

Both Jim and I heard a great turkey baking tip this year. I was all alone when I put the turkey in the oven, so I tried it. You dance a cha cha with the turkey before you lay it in the roasting pan. No. Jk. Really you coat the turkey with mayonnaise before baking. I did it and it was the juiciest turkey I've ever had in my life. Delish!!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures after dinner. We were all so stuffed! We enjoyed some old movies and videos. I would guess that the favorite of the night was watching a much younger Keith sing 'Silent Night' in sign language. Priceless.

Thanksgiving Eve!

Thanksgiving was at our house this year!! Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Paul, Aunt Susan, and Paige all came down to Bakersfield. Uncle Mike & Aunt Cathy were able to stop by and eat with us on Thanksgiving Eve too!
Good times and good food (even if I say so myself!!) On Thanksgiving eve we had chili, cornbread with honey-butter, and salad. Yum!!

A little computing and a little guitar hero...

Not to mention that we had ALL the kids home this year. I loved every single minute of it. :D

Uncle Mike & Cathy headed out right after dinner for Thanksgiving with Aunt Cathy's family.

It was a great night!

crazy girl

good times together (wink)

andee-claus?

sad panda face

who you callin' four eyes??

a little more of the birthday boy

The birthday boy with his chocolate champagne cake!

He successfully blew all 15 candles out!

an ihome for the itouch

Happy Birthday Riley!

A Belated Birthday Bow

Here's our birthday boy...
kind of tired :)

Here's Riley -- all muscles and such. He was feeling pretty mighty as he had just caught a snake!

Kids don't get much cuter than this!

Or this!!!!

If you can, try and zoom in on Riley's face in this family picture from yester-year. 1 word... adorable!

Riley is thankfully very forgiving...

I'm only late in posting about his birthday on the blog. I had it all together on the actual day, Nov. 5th, when he turned 15. He has 6 months to wait for the drivers permit. We have been missing having an extra driver around here-- so we are excited for Riley to be able to drive. (As is he... because he HATES walking home from school.)

15 years ago Jim was out water-skiing when my water started leaking. We cut his water-skiing trip short and headed to the hospital. I had no idea that day how unique my newest little boy would be. Riley has always done things his way. I know we all remember watching Bambi about 10 times a day. Every day. We couldn't convince him to watch anything else. I'm pretty sure that Jim, Kevin, Marissa, Jacquie, and I can quote just about any line from that movie :)

Riley is an amazing young man. He continues to do things his way. Which is great! He always takes the high road. He always does his best. He is an incredible student and loves learning. He is a loyal fan and a loyal friend.

Happy Birthday Riley!
We love you!

2010 World Champs!

and the winner is...

The San Francisco Giants!!

I know I've been bad a posting these last few weeks. But seriously, we've been watching baseball! It has been awesome. So many great games. Of course the best has been that our favorite team WON!!

We didn't stop believin'.

A perfect ending to a great season :)