Gobble, gobble, gobble!

All 8 of the Goodsell Turkeys!

Karlie and Keira

The wonderful Host and Hostess! I love you Mom & George.

Do you think Karlie could fit anymore food into her cheeks?

Karisa & Justin

Four hungry Turkeys

Keira enjoyed rolls and pumpkin pie

Mark and Jaime






Carson eating the best part of the feast, pumpkin pie!

Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and family were the highlights of our Thanksgiving Day celebrations! Feasting with family was the most delightful part of Thanksgiving! This year we had a total of 18 gathering around the table! Last year our total was 25!! We sure did miss the Fryers, Dad, and Tanner!

My day started off to Mark telling me how grateful he was for me and all that I do! I think he was hoping to get breakfast in bed for that one:-) That compliment gave me enough energy to make it to the 8:45 am cycling class where I burned a whopping 600 calories to make room for the feast to come. Thanks Mark for the motivation! After class I found myself in the kitchen cooking up some yummy food for the 1:00 pm feast! The rest of our day was spent feasting, resting, watching football, playing video games,watching movies and feasting a little more! We love Thanksgiving Day and the opportunity it gives us to reflect and give thanks for all our many blessings!

Only 360.1 days until Thanksgiving 2009!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast!

Carson pictured with a few of his fellow Preschool Pilgrims!

The Preschool Pilgrims getting ready to gobble, gobble, gobble!

This is one of the things Carson is thankful for!

Turkey in one hand, pumpkin pie in the other! That's my boy!

Carson playing the Turkey version of Duck, Duck, Goose! Yes, that is Keira in the red!
Keira and I were able to attend Carson's Preschool Thanksgiving Feast the day before Thanksgiving! The class looked so cute dressed up as little Pilgrim boys and girls. The kiddos did such a great job reciting their Turkey poem (see video below) and song! There was a nice spread of food that the kids and parents enjoyed! Keira loved participating in all the events with the class. Carson's teachers did such a great job teaching the kids about Thanksgiving with all the fun books, crafts, songs and activities. As you can tell from Carson's artwork, he is very thankful to have a wonderful group of teachers!

Video: Carson & class reciting their Turkey Poem!

Adventures in Paradise - November 15, 2008, Day 2

This is what we woke up to on Day 2! Paradise!

What a great view we had from our room!
And What a good looking man I found in my bed!

The Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea Canyon.

Mark and I taking in the beauty of Waimea Canyon.

The Waipo'o Falls!




What a beauty! The canyon that is:-)

A cloudy view of the private island Ni'ihau.

The Shrimp Station is where we found food paradise!







Mark eating his Coconut Shrimp!

Aloha! After getting into Kauai very late the night before, we still managed to wake up bright and early! I opened up our window and felt like I had died and gone to Heaven! Our resort was right on the beautiful Kalapaki Beach in Lihue. We couldn't have asked for a better view. We went down to eat the breakfast buffet at our resort, but decided to pass when they wanted $24 bucks per person (crazy)! Instead we opted to eat at an adorable roadside stand called Kalapaki Beach Hut($20 for the two of us)!

After breakfast we headed to the west side of the island to check out Waimea Canyon. Mark and I had both been to the canyon back in 2005, but were still amazed our second time around! Words really can't describe what a beautiful area Waimea Canyon truly is.

Next we drove along the coast to check out the west shore sights! We ended our visit to the west side of the island at the Shrimp Station. Yes, we had shrimp the night before, but we had a craving for more. I swear the Coconut Shrimp at the Shrimp Station are out of this World . Mark still thinks my Mom's coconut shrimp is better:-) We spent the rest of the day at our resort and catching up on some much needed rest. Did I mention that Mark decided to go to the 12:00 am showing of Quantum of Solace just a few hours before we had to be to the airport to leave for Hawaii, and that I stayed awake as well packing and cleaning? With a three hour time difference, I bet you can imagine how tired we were! It felt great to sleep and not have a care in the world! By night time we felt the urge to head down south to have some dinner at Keoki's Paradise. We didn't eat shrimp, but did have some great fish!

Adventures in Paradise - November 14, 2008 Day 1

Mark standing on the USS Arizona Memorial, perched over the sunken ship.

Jaime at Pearl Harbor visiting the USS Arizona Memorial.
Visiting Pearl Harbor is a must-do in Oahu!

Jaime & Mark at the Laie Hawaii Temple.

Lisa (Mark's sister), and I posing at the Laie Hawaii Temple up on the North shore of Oahu.

Mark, Jaime, Lisa and our brother-in-law Jon at the beautiful Temple grounds.

Mark and his little sister, Lisa.

Mark and I got a smoking deal on our rental car in Oahu! Mark loved the thrill of driving this flashy ride around!

Mark and Lisa getting ready to order at Romy's Kahuka Shrimp Hut.

Romy's harvest their shrimp right behind their little red hut, and the freshness shows.

Mark ordered the garlic butter shrimp and was burping it for days! I ordered the sweet and hot shrimp! Yummy!



Aloha! Mark and I spent six awesome days in Paradise (Hawaii) and are now back home suffering from Polynesian Paralysis! The first day we flew into Honolulu on the island of Oahu. After getting our steal of a deal, exotic rental car we headed down to Pearl Harbor. It was such a neat experience to visit this history packed area. We toured the Arizona museum and bookstore, watched an excellent 23-minute film, and then took a short boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial. What a feeling standing out on that Memorial knowing that there are hundreds of men entombed under our feet.

Mark's sister, Lisa, and her husband Jon happened to be vacationing from Henderson, Nevada up on the North shore of Oahu! We decided to take a drive up there and spend some time with them. Mark and I were drooling over the beautiful beaches and scenery as we made our way to the North side of the island. Forget the big city of Waikiki and Honolulu, the North Shore is the place to experience the real Hawaii.

Our first stop was the city of La'ie home of BYU Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the La'ie Temple. All three places were beautiful and well worth a visit! I left the town wondering why I chose to attend freezing BYU Idaho, Utah and not the warm and tropical school in Hawaii! Next stop was the town of Kahuku that is famous for its shrimp trucks and shacks. Dinner at Romy's was 'Ono (Delicious, the best in Hawaiian). Our final stop before we said goodbye to Jon and Lisa was Ted's Bakery up by Turtle Bay and Sunset Beach. Their chocolate/haupia (coconut) pie is legendary on the island and I would say it is dang good! After pie, Mark and I continued up the North shore and back down and around to Honolulu. We caught a late night plane to our final destination.......... the island of Kauai!

Take Me To Paradise!

Cayden's All Day Birthday Celebration!

The birthday boy up bright and early to open up some of his gifts!

Cayden kicked off the day with his favorite place to have breakfast, IHOP! This was his second cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream!

The Birthday Boy's Breakfast: Pumpkin spice pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 sausage links, scrambled eggs and hash browns!

Keira monkeying around at IHOP!


Cayen at Toys "R" Us ready to spend his birthday gift card! Can you guess what he bought?

The birthday boy at Harkins Theater after watching Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa! For lunch we went to McDonald's to get the Madagascar Happy Meal!

It wouldn't be a birthday without a dozen free glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme!

Mmm, I loves doughnuts!

The birthday boy chose Texas Roadhouse for his birthday celebration dinner! Ribs are Cayden's favorite!

Cayden sitting on the saddle while getting a big ol' birthday yeehaw!








Birthday cake time at Grandma & George's house! Cayden requested a homemade chocolate cake with vanilla frosting! Grandma had only one lucky candle for the cake!

Enjoying some birthday cake!

Cousin Mitch & Cayden playing with the Star Wars action figures that Mitch picked out for Cayden!

Look! Cayden is almost as tall as Aunt Shannon! I'm guessing by his tenth birthday he will be Shannon's height! Cousin Nash is getting so big too (he turns 1 next month)!

It's my Birthday! Kids don't go to school on their Birthday! ~Cayden M. Fryer

After Cayden so nicely explained to me that kids don't go to school on their birthdays, I just couldn't disagree with him and send him to school! So.... Cayden played hookie and felt no guilt in skipping school on his birthday!

Cayden planned his birthday celebration to last the whole entire day and boy, was it a busy day of events! I didn't get much accomplished around the house, but that was okay with me! I love how Cayden gets into his birthday each year and knows that it is his special day!