thanksgiving

first, check out these adorable photos from toby's preschool. the pre-k 5s had a mini-macy's thanksgiving day parade on wednesday. all the other classes came out to line the parade route (around the playground) and cheer everybody on. could not have been cuter. they even had rolled out cribs with 3 babies per crib standing out there too. toby was playing the recorder, the preschool director, pat sullivan, was the grand marshall, there were clowns, wagon floats, and even some big balloons. i love that he's waving to the crowds!!!

then, for thanksgiving itself, we had decided to make it a different year. matthew wanted to switch some things up, and so we cancelled the usual family commitments, to make our own day.

we started by donating our time at the salvation army in tempe. matthew and toby were serving meals, and i was busing the tables, getting drinks, etc. it was great to have toby there helping, and we have decided to make it a coates tradition to give our thanksgiving mornings.

added bonus- we watched the parade in the afternoon, and got to fast forward through all the cheesy banter and get to all the good stuff. i cooked us a modified dinner.

turkey, roasted red potatoes, steamed green beans, creamed corn, and pumpkin pie.

here's how the turkey came out.

to end the day, we went to a jester'z comedy show. it's an improv show with audience input, a la whose line is it anyway. but, it's a family friendly show- nothing racy, no cursing- just clean and still really funny.

couple more pics, from this weekend, toby's latest lego creation. a pretty awesome airplane- that career as a lego designer ever-closer.

and from last weekend, we saw santa for the first time (we go see him a lot!) at an event in downtown chandler.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-klahoma!

we were very fortunate to be able to attend the funeral for our sweet grandma betty in oklahoma city. it was important to us to go, and toby was so excited to go on an airplane!

i was worried about traveling for such a long time, then going straight to the service with a tired, cranky four year old. matthew wanted to make the most of such a far trip by adding some time after the family stuff to give ourselves a mini-trip. we were super blessed to be staying with family, matthew's father's first cousin, carol cooley. who toby would eventually name mimi.

here are a few pics of our family after the service, as well as some of mimi's house. (and precious dog, sassy!)

sassy and toby became fast friends and playmates.

family time after the service........

we also got to go visit my first university, oklahoma baptist. it was lovely to see all the things i remember, and to see all the new things i had been reading about in the alumni newsletters. it was one of those experiences where everything was a little different, but still just the same, too.my old dorm and raley chapel

look, arizona- actual fall!!!!

being silly....

going home........

stella elisabeth, and grandma betty.

i have been very distracted this fall, and feel i have been remiss in not sharing a couple of huge events that have happened in our close/extended family.

matthew's cousin liz and her partner pete had a baby girl. she arrived at 7:26pm monday October 6th, 2008. her name is stella elisabeth mcguinn. she looks just like pete, so far.

WELCOME, SWEET LITTLE ONE. WE ARE BLESSED TO HAVE YOU JOIN OUR FAMILY. WE LOOK FORWARD TO WATCHING YOU GROW- YOUR PARENTS ARE GONNA BE GREAT GUIDES, AND WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY, WITH PLENTY OF FUN ADDED IN!

the other major happening is much less joyful, but so important and sweet. matthew's dear grandmother, betty morris, passed away on november 7, 2008. she was the ideal matriarch of the coates clan. mother of 6, grandmother of 17, great-grandmother of 23 (not 100% on the last number). she was loving, and kind, baked like nobody's business. after battling emphysema for several years, we knew her time was short. we are sad that we have to lose her, but glad for her comfort and relief she now has in heaven- and we'll get to see her there. we will miss you dearly, grandma!

simple joys

we've been busy. we had an awesome halloween (see facebook for pics), and a couple of really fun weekends together.
this weekend, we decided to join in on the neighborhood garage sale. we knew there were gonna be roughly 100 homes having a garage sale in our square mile- sponsored by some other realtors in the area. so, we starting looking through some stuff we needed to unload. pulled some things out of storage, etc. when suddenly, matthew says, how about my pots and pans. the set he is referring to is the one we got when we got married. 10+ years, and many, many meals ago. i had told him about a year ago, that this set was getting pretty tired, but nothing had come of it 'til now. i asked him about what i would use to cook dinner if we sold all my pots and pans, he said, well, we'll go get some new ones. tomorrow? i reply. sure, he answers.
anyway, saturday comes, we sell all but 2 of my old pans, and i start getting excited.
matthew stopped at the grocery store for me, and brought home roses. nice, right?
we close up shop around 1, deciding to donate everything we didn't sell to a thrift shop.
then it was our turn to shop. i've been trying to convince matthew to buy a blackberry for a while. because he is a successful businessman who carries a phone that's at least 8 years old! i know! and a refurbished palm pilot. he's been researching and procrasitinating for about 3 months. so i say, let's do it today. big present for mommy, big present for daddy.
so i went to our neighborhood mervyns first, just in case they were clearance-ing (not a word, i know) any great sets. no such luck, just some no-name sets. you know, the kind with a few pots and some cheap utensils that they then add into the set number. 11 piece set! well, no, 3 pots with lids, 2 pans without lids, and 3 plastic spoon-type things.
we then head over to costco. i fall in love with and we buy the circulon anodized set. gorgeous, and very durable. matthew had to ask how long we'd have this set, to justify the price some. i assured him that if i could make our set last more than a year past its glory, i could make these last quite a while. a little more shopping (and sampling, of course) at costco, and it's off to the verizon store.
we get matthew's new toy, and finally head home. then, our friend jay comes over in the late afternoon to show and let matthew drive his convertible bmw! he was so excited, and jay really taught him some things about sports cars. (matthew wants to buy a "fancy" car in the next 6 months.
is that not one of the most fun sounding days? all good, except i was feeling cold and sickish. i felt it coming on friday, and am now dealing full on with a strong head cold/sore throat. i'm even typing this on nyquil, so if i fall asleep, don't be alarmed.
today was lovely, too. church was great, we got to give back in thanks for our lord's blessings in october. we hung out and napped in the early afternoon, then went out to charleston's for dinner, and dropped some things off at the storage unit before heading back for bath/bed time for toby.