Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister Jody's house. However, a friend gave Stan and I a free turkey that was already defrosted, so we cooked it up at our house on Monday. Here is Stan injecting a cajun marinade. It was the first time either of us actually cooked a turkey and in turned out pretty good.

Here are Anna and Sara puttting the final touches on their mashed potatoes and Cranberry Jello.

Here are Janet and her mother LaVon.

And the hostess...Jody (with Anna & Sara)

Here is what the guys did...

Install Jody & Cace's new surround sound system

Miriam napped all through Thanksgiving dinner. Here is us later with the girls, looking online for Black Friday sales.

After lunch, the girls went into town to see the movie "New Moon" while the guys stayed with Miriam and worked on the surround sound. Overall, an enjoyable day. I am so thankful for a wonderful family and the time we are able to spend together. I am so thankful for my beautiful little girl and my wonderful husband, and for the Gospel in our lives.

Dress Up Fun

One of the most fun things about having a girl is getting to dress her up in pretty outfits and bows.

However, the bows and bands are getting costly, so the other day I bought some supplies at Hobby Lobby and am going to attempt to make some on my own. We'll see later how that works out, I haven't tried it yet.

Miriam is a week shy of 3 months old and is becoming more social and fun to interact with.
My favorite thing is when she smiles.

My next favorite thing is when she talks to me. Of course her talking is all gibberish, but it is SO adorable!

She loves the changing table--or rather, getting her diaper changed. Here is where we usually have the most fun.
Miriam's hair is turning more blonde and her eyes are most definitely blue.

She is sitting up and standing with help, but hasn't rolled over yet. She hates being left on her tummy, which may be why.
She was sleeping in her bassinet for the first 2 months, and then she decided she didn't like that and would wake up after only sleeping a little while. Now she sleeps in her car seat at night and she lasts a lot longer. Although, the last few nights she's decided to wake earlier, so we'll see what works next...

Sunset

Sunday evening, my brother Jared called on his way over to our house and said we needed to go outside and see the sight before it was gone. Stan captured a few good pictures of this awesome sunset.
We had a small family dinner that night, only 9 out of of the normal 22 were able to come. We missed all those absent, but it was nice in a few ways. First, we were all able to squeeze around the kitchen table to eat instead of spreading out all over the house. And second, everyone talked to each other, instead of several small side conversations. Meredith and Jeremy were in charge of the meal and we had yummy breakfast for dinner. Creme Brulee French toast, German pancakes and sausages. And the best part...they left all of the leftovers at our house--yum!

3rd Semi-annual Hornberger Run/Ride

Saturday at the Pea Ridge Military Park the weather was sunny and a warm 75 degrees. The members of the Hornberger family (and Spicer) stretched and prepared their ipods for the upcoming race.

My sister, Jody, started this twice-a-year race last November as a fun family event to get us all motivated to exercise and enjoy a little friendly competition. There is a 6 mile run, 12 mile bike ride and 1 mile kids' ride. However, the kids' race was canceled this year since they were quarantined with the chicken pox. Since I had been "training" for this run the past several weeks and Stan had not, he got to push Miriam around in her stroller and take pictures of the event. But before you feel too sorry for him, last time we had this race I was pregnant and did the picture-taking while Stan rode the bike race (and won most-improved, by the way).

Here is Jared, Cace, Meredith and Steven coming around on their bikes.

Jared only made it around one lap because of a flat tire and hurt leg (I think it was his leg, or ankle, or something...)

Then the runners came to the finish. The fierce competition each race is between Jody and my brother-in-law Tony. Last time Tony beat Jody, so we were sure she was going to pull ahead this time. And the winner is...

Tony!

And Jody not too far behind :-)

And a few minutes behind Jody was...

Me!

2 1/2 months after major surgery and a baby, I finished the race! Who-hoo!

And pulling up the rear was a close call between Anna & Sara...who will pull ahead?

Sara!

But the real excitement of the day was the end of the biker's race. My very determined sister-in-law Meredith had an asthma attack at the very end, but was determined to finish. Apparently she and her bike toppled over at the finish line. Stan helped her breathe through it and Jeremy doctored her up.
All in all, it was a fun day, ending with a Barbecue back at Jody & Cace's house. Here's how the stats came out...

Run:
1st Place-Tony (absent from the picture to go home to his sick family)
Most improved-Jenny

Bike Ride:
1st Place-Jeremy
Most improved-Meredith

We're all looking forward to another fun race next April--friends are welcome to compete with us!

p.s. As an honest aside, none of the runners improved their time from the last race, so I got the award as a sympathy vote for running this soon after surgery & Miriam :-)

Halloween

Saturday was a busy day. We left Friday night for Oklahoma City. Miriam slept most of the 3 1/2 hour drive. We stayed over night and the next morning Stan and I took turns doing some temple work while the other watched Miriam. Around noon a friend watched Miriam so Stan and I could go to the sealing of our good friends Mark and Renee. It was wonderful to be at the temple again.

After a quick lunch at one of Stan's favorite fast food places, Panda Express, we headed back. Again, Miriam slept most of the way while Stan and I listened to Harry Potter. We went to Dad and Janet's for the Hornberger Halloween party.

Thanks to Jody for organizing the fun. She had games for us to play as well as prizes for the costume contest. Most everyone dressed up. The winners were Janet (a hobo) and Hannah (a pirate). Somehow I got 3rd with 2 votes.

I had purchased our costumes last spring at the associate store for $1.50 a piece, which is why they're kind of random. Stan was a ghostbuster, I was a witch and Miriam was Tinkerbell.

Everyone brought fun foods and we ended the evening with a few rounds of the mystery game, Mafia. Several of the kids even joined in on the game and played key roles. It was a fun Halloween. Miriam's first, and she slept through all the fun (surprise) :-)
Her eyes are red because she had a fit right before this picture. Right after this, she had a nap. Oh, and the hands belong to her loving Aunt Rebecca who didn't want to be in the picture. Hard to believe, I know...

Deer Hit and Run

My sister Jody and her husband Cace came over for dinner and games a few nights ago. Suddenly Cace realized he was going to be late for a work meeting and wouldn't have time to take Jody home and come back into town. Stan decided to do a good deed and offered to take Jody home so she wouldn't have to come back late and pick Cace up. No good deed goes unpunished. On his way back, he had a run in with the local Pea Ridge deer. Hmmm...what's the lesson to be learned??
As a side note, this car has been through a lot. Three years ago it was in a much worse accident when on an icy morning, a white truck in the oncoming lane turned left in front of me. He didn't hardly get a scratch. You can see what I got though...

Another time, a friend was driving and he ran the mirror into one of those cement posts that keep you from running into things like the side of a building, a keypad entry for a gated community, etc.
And at last, one time I ran off an exit ramp over a curb and had to get a new rim on my driver's side front. I don't have a picture of that one, but every time I pass that exit on the freeway now, I feel really silly. In my defense, it was a cloverleaf exit, which I didn't realize in time. By the time I slammed on my brakes to slow, they locked, and off-roading we went!
Not only has it had a few dents and dings, but it's had the transmission and fuel pump replaced. My '03 Saturn is just barely approaching 100,000 miles and has had a rough life thus far.

Sweet Dreams

Miriam has some comical poses when she is sleeping. Here are just a few, posted in chronological order. It's amazing how much she's grown in 2 1/2 months.

What is she thinking so hard about?

Must be tasting something yummy in her sleep

She's not the only one that can sleep anywhere

Sleeping spread Eagle. I could never sleep this way. I would be constantly worried someone was going to tickle me.

Snuggling up to the couch

What is her left arm doing in the air?This is my favorite, I finally captured her smiling in her sleep.