Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving group felt small this year. With Dean/Candice's family having just moved, Lexie in Arizona and Grandma celebrating in heaven, we had 18 people...extra room at the table.

Even so, we were grateful to be with family.

Jason and Abree were my potato helpers.

Even after following directions from the internet and packaging, the turkey was done WAY ahead of schedule. This seems to be a trend for me, over the last few years. What am I missing? --I guess to have it done ahead of schedule, is better than behind. Over-cooked turkey, is better than raw turkey, any day. :)

Ten pounds of potatoes...never looks like enough at this point. :)

We enjoyed our time together and ate a delicious meal that everyone contributed to.

Happy Thanksgiving!

PS- That night Tim and Karen announced that they are pregnant with #4.  Wahoo! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year.

I have to admit I was a little off that day. The Sunday before, was my first official day of being the new primary president. My brain was buzzing and my world spinning. (I know a calling shouldn't do that to you, but it did me....and is still doing it somewhat.) It probably didn't help that I was also doing a push to the end of a Biggest Loser-type challenge, so was eating no/little carbs and no sugar. My "dinner" consisted of raw veggies, some fruit, a deviled egg and turkey. Oh how I missed eating Karen's yummy rolls and Candice's corn souffle.

I am THANKFUL for a wonderful family who are forgiving, laid-back and helpful. Everyone volunteered to bring food and wares, so we could have a great dinner.

We cooked the turkey (donated by Mom-- Thanks!), baked pumpkin pies and mashed the potatoes. Rylee, Jason and Taylee doing some pre-dinner shopping.

Mom came early and made the yummy gravy.

Abree says, "Happy Thanksgiving everyone!"

...showing off her toothless grin.

Tyrel and Mom join the add shopping.

When everyone was gathered....

...it was time to eat!

Look at all the yummy food everyone brought (and I got to look at). :) j/k

After dinner, the adults talked about playing a game...but never did.

Instead, a friendly game of dog-pile-on-Treyson broke out... and we watched...to make sure it stayed friendly.

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkeys to yours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey was thawed, the herb/salt rub combined.

Next potatoes peeled,

it was almost time.

The pot set to boil,

when the turkey was done.

An M&M game ready,

for us to have fun.

Water pitchers filled,

as our guests arrived.

A little pre-dinner shopping,

a another "Black Friday" to survive.

We ate our dinner,

'til we couldn't no more.

Such a pleasant gathering,

right down to the core!

We had a quaint little gathering of only 17 people this year. We missed those of you who were not with us, but it was fun to have Karen's mom, Cheryl here. We truly have a lot to be thankful for and have been very blessed. We love our family and are so glad to be great friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I Tweaked!

I resisted.......... then I tweaked!

I talked to Treyson a few days earlier and mentioned how awesome I thought it was that he surprised me with putting away Halloween and decorating for Thanksgiving.
Then I told him that I'd like to do some decorating too. He said, "Why? It's already done." I told him it was fun for me and I didn't get to have any fun decorating for Thanksgiving.

He watched me as I tweaked and seemed ok with the changes.

Whew!

Tweak!

To tweak..... or not to tweak..... that is the question.

One morning, as I was still in bed, I heard Treyson rustling around. I didn't think much of it, until I emerged. When I came out, I noticed he had put away all the Halloween decorations and replaced them with our Thanksgiving decorations.

Awww, sweet boy.

I've left them untouched for about a week now (not usually in my nature), but I'm not sure if I can hold out much longer.... especially since we have family/friends coming to Thanksgiving dinner.

So maybe the question isn't, "to tweak or not to tweak?", but "how long do I wait UNTIL I tweak?"

A Happy Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

I am guilty of hustling and bustling through the holidays and not fully focusing on what is most important. It's easy for me to get caught up in the details of projects, decorating and gifting rather then enjoying, relaxing and serving the people in my life. (Actually, I'm guilty of this all year round if I want to be perfectly honest about it.) This Thanksgiving WAS an exception to that.

We gathered at the Clawson's home for a delicious dinner, contributed by all. During dinner, we took turns asking "conversation starter" questions that sparked stories and experiences past and present. We heard one of Jason's most embarrassing stories of accidentally walking into the girl's locker room, Tawnya's earliest memory of trying to find her lost shoe before mom found out and got mad and talked about historical events that would have been cool to witness, among other things.

We went around the table and shared what we were thankful for. I enjoyed listening to the gratitude of our many blessings including; the gospel, good schools, FOOD! (mentioned several times by kiddos), family members, an income, good health, family safety, and much more. It was sweet to feel the spirit and wonderful to feel the love we have for one another. It was especially sweet to have Grandma Ison there and to hear her testimony. She expressed her love for each one of us and told us how proud she was of us. I soaked up the togetherness and savored the moment.

Many of us stayed late into the night, playing games, talking and just enjoying one another. It was a full day of family togetherness... A Happy Thanksgiving!

PS- Thank you Clawson's for hosting.
PPS-We missed you Tim and Karen!

Turkeys!

My turkeys... made these turkeys.
As a part of FHE, we drew an activity out of our Attitude of Gratitude jar.
"We are thankful for turkeys. Make a turkey."
So we got out the craft supplies and went to work. I thought it was funny that Taylee named her turkey Mike. I'm not sure why... but his name was Mike.

The Great Gathering

Last weekend, we went to Odgen for "The Great Gathering".

A festivus of many celebrations and holidays...

1. Early Thanksgiving dinner.

2. Nate and Cathy were baptizing their son, Bob.

3. Nate and Cathy blessing their new baby girl, Sarah Anne.

4. Jeff, Amy and family moving to Texas (for jobs) and wouldn't be able to visit for a while.

5. Early Christmas gift exchange with cousins.

6. Many, many family birthdays in the month of November.

Sweet Sarah Anne

Robert... a.k.a. Bob, the newest member of the church, in his ward.

Gifts were shared, turkey and pie was eaten and ordinances were done.

It was a quick, but nice gathering.