Black Friday...

Thanksgiving was a good day. We ate too much, watched movies and were just together. I love my boys, I really loved being with them. Best of all nobody has to work and we have all weekend long. Just us.

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The teenager wanted to get up early and go Black Friday shopping, but since we had decided not to do much shopping this year, there really wasn't anything we needed to get out and brave the crowds for. I love that he is so ambitious though... he will make a future wife really happy one day when he offers to get up beyond early hours with her and drive her in the freezing cold from sale to sale braving the crowds with all the patience in the world.... he and I did it a couple of times together and had good luck both times, so he is hooked.

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I still ended up waking up early and had not even gotten out of my pj's on Thanksgiving Day (hence no pictures), so I jumped in the shower and cleaned up the kitchen and got laundry started. Then about 11am we decided to go out and do a little window shopping. Just to see what had been hit that morning.

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We started at Costco, it was so crazy there, everyone this side of the Mississippi was in Costco shopping! I grabbed a jug of laundry soap and went through the quick checkout and we got a hot dog and a drink and were on our way.

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We had been shopping for a new mattress for a while now, but we couldn't come to an agreement or decide that we REALLY needed it. We have a super nice bed that Jim's parents gave us and I just had a hard time believing a different one would be better on his back than that one. And I didn't want to spend the money it would take to get a decent one.

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But while we were out window shopping.... we went looking again... this time he tried some on!

We got on a roll then and the teenager was being really good and not complaining, and we were just enjoying being together... so we shopped at every bed store in the valley to see what kind of deal we might find on this big sale day.

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I saw this snowman serving tray and fell in love with him!

SO CUTE!!!!! But I left him there. If I had all the money in the world, he and his twin brother would have come home with me. My friend Amber would have had to have this, it reminded me of her and would have gone perfectly in her house!

LOOOOONNNNGGGG story short, we did find a bed and bought it and got it home.

Not necessarily a day off I would have planned out, but it was sooooo wonderful to be together! And laugh with my boys. And try on beds... I can't believe how exhausting that is...laying down on beds to see if they fit or not? Crazy tiring, I couldn't wait to get in it!

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I really wouldn't change a thing, except to help my boys remember and play the "grateful jar" with me.

Someone anonymously dropped off a gratitude jar the week before Thanksgiving with cards and a cute ribbon... and we were all supposed to write things over the week that we were thankful for and then we would read them together on Thanksgiving Day.

I loved that it kept me thinking all week of all the many many blessings in my life and all that I am grateful for. And I wrote and wrote and tried to get as many slips in the jar as possible. I tried to remind the boys everyday to remember to write down theirs and put them in the jar, telling them "it isn't going to be very fun to sit down on Thanksgiving and just read only what Mom is thankful for". Guilt trips never work around here. I secretly think they were just going to ad lib on Thanksgiving Day and just tell me what they are thankful for.

They never wrote theirs down, at some point when I would mention it, I was getting looks like I was being a nag about it (that's what it felt like anyway) so I quit prompting them. Thanksgiving came and went and I didn't bring up the gratitude jar, and nobody else did either. I don't know if that was wrong or right, it's just how I decided to deal with it.

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I sat quietly that night before I went to bed and read slips, I ended up writing a few more down. And that is really all I needed. It's good to hear what your loved ones are thankful for, and I was sad that everyone was not "on my stage" and performing the way I wanted them to... but it really ended up being enough to fill my own heart with gratitude and try my best to show in my actions to my family through my love and patience. At some point during the bed searching episode, my strong silent mysterious man looked at me and told me "thank you for being so patient and calm today"! After almost taking that comment the wrong way... ?? "what... calm, I am always calm?? what is he talking about??" ... that was my initial thought until I looked into his eyes. Then I knew what he meant. What a gift for that expression to come from him!

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I am so grateful for my family.

I am grateful for good friends, and for good health.

I am very grateful for all of the blessings I enjoy in my life.

I am grateful for a good nights rest, finally, it's been a long time.

I am grateful for our animals, who love us so unconditionally.

I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the peace I feel.

I am grateful for my testimony of the Gospel and the protection that it gives me.

I am very grateful for my faith in God and His grace in my life.

I am grateful for my boys and their big hearts and willingness to serve others.

I am grateful for missionaries who are willing to serve and give of all their time and talents to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. I really would not be who I am without their unselfish service.

I am very grateful that my teenager is living his life to be worthy to serve as a missionary soon.

Annual Turkey Bowl...

Highlights from the annual turkey bowl game!

The teenager braved the 9 degree weather, but my strong silent mysterious man stayed home in bed.



I went just to take a few pics and then jumped back in the car and came home for hot cocoa to warm up. I have no idea how they stayed out there as long as they did in the freezing cold.

We had to giggle, the teenager pulled out his Seahawk jersey he wore when he was 8, "it still fits" he claims! ha ha Everything is a fashion statement to him...even the annual turkey bowl!

He did finally come home warmed up and I finished putting the rest of the food together (no more food flops Mom, yay).

And our turkey had a pop out button... Ive never had one of those before, it was so cute. I didn't really trust it though, and I put in my own meat thermometer just in case.

I used Alton Brown from the Food Networks Good Eats Roasted Turkey Recipe and then cooked it inside a roasting bag. They are just no fail.

It turned out great, and we had a really yummy meal together.

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I am so grateful to be home with my family.

My boys are awesome!

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After we ate, the tryptophan kicks in and we wanted to take naps.

But there was this crazy noise above my bedroom, was it those crazy squirrels that are always teasing my dogs?

No, it was a woodpecker, trying to take us down... one shingle at a time.

I will go deal with him and then come back for my nap and come back and blog about all the things I am so thankful for this year!

Dear Mom...

This is for my Mom!

The day BEFORE Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days.

I have the best memories of growing up and my Mom being home from work on this day.

You cooked and fixed the best food, sage dressing...there was always an extra pan of it, and I would pretend to help in the kitchen just so I could walk through and grab a square (I loved that you could pick it up and eat it on the go, that's the best). Rice and gravy, we always had rice instead of potatoes. I love the story you told me that since you grew up eating potatoes that Papa grew in the garden everyday... so rice was "special". Sweet potato and pecan pie... and most especially macaroni pie.

But this day was so much better than even Thanksgiving day itself.... I loved being with all my family, but it was better to have "you" all to myself. So this day holds my favorite memories.

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After we talked on the phone in the morning, I tried really hard to take pictures so I could take you on a walk through my favorite day to share it with you, even though we couldn't be together.

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I was flailing on what to do first... remember the pile of dishes, the errands, the dirty house, what to cook ahead?

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I decided on a shower. That was a good plan, I felt so much better after my shower, and I smelled like a flower.

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Then I went out to try and get the coupon deal on the dog treats and run by the store for those last minute things I had forgotten.

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It was beautiful outside, sunny, blue skies...

but very very cold...

Then back to the house...
next, I finally finished up all those pots and pans!
Thanks for the encouragement. I just can't cook in a dirty kitchen, I don't know why I always put the big stuff off until it's a mountain.

I wasn't alone... your grand puppies are always underfoot and anxious to help and they keep me really good company, and are the best taste testers. But because it is so cold, as soon as I let the sunshine in through the front window... well, it's their favorite place in the whole world to lay and look out.

Except for Rudy... he is in his usual place under a blanket.

I decided to make the pumpkin bars, and found out something that I have taken for granted all these years. Ground up spices! I was out of ground cinnamon, but I had this grinder (I got it free with a coupon a way long time ago thinking it would be fun to have ground cinnamon on top of hot cocoa), so I had to grind my own for this recipe... my arms were actually sore by the time I got enough to make a teaspoon full, and it took forever!! Just think of those Pilgrims having to grind up all of those spices. We are so spoiled. Even with the confusion of the measurements I told you about, these pumpkin bars turned out good enough to cut up and put on cute green plates, with a pretty silk orange ribbon (remember all the ribbon you wound up for me cleaning out my craft room?) to take over to my neighbor lady that is sooo nice to us. She had raked our leaves and I really needed to go tell her thank you! And let her know how much we appreciate her.

When I checked on the turkey who was supposed to be thawing in the garage, he was still frozen! Yikes! So I did the water in the sink trick... then Lynn called and suggested he would thaw even faster if I took all the wrapping off.

I really wanted to have dinner ready for the boys when they got home from work. I never remember going hungry, even when you had your hands full making all these thanksgiving dishes.

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So I took your advice and went for the Mac n cheese crock pot recipe.

Trying to tend to too many things at once... I over cooked the macaroni :(

But decided to use it anyway... I couldn't let it go to waste.

And it only barley burnt on the very bottom.

But somehow something went very wrong... even if the mac wouldn't have been over cooked, the cheese curdled or something on me.

The boys ate a small helping, and my strong silent mysterious man, kept saying he was sure you can't use cheddar cheese in mac n cheese, you have to use Velveeta (ahhhhh#$%&#&#) but I don't believe that was the trouble, even though he has a food science degree from the 2 SECONDS he spends in the kitchen a year :) (major sarcasm... I don't take advice well when I screw up things in the kitchen).

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But the puppies are really enjoying it over their food for a thanksgiving day treat, so all is not totally lost.

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The cherries thickened up nicely with cornstarch just like you said, but I tried to read up on how to do the lattice work on the Internet, and it would have worked nicely had the dough not start to immediately melt when I put it on top of the hot pie filling.

And if I would have actually used a pie tin, instead of... idk what this is for? but it works well for cornbread. So the cherry pie tastes good (because it was half gone before the turkey went in the oven at 5am this morning) but it doesn't look very pretty on top and is in some freakish deep pan.

I got the brine for the turkey cooked up without dumping it on the ground... cooled and the turkey was thawed and soaking before 10pm.

The apple crisp, that I made with caramel "pear" pie filling turned perfect. But I am guessing I will get some complaints for not having apple.

It's all good, I am getting really tough skin in the kitchen department.

So far so good... the turkey is cooking.

The teenager is off to play football at the annual turkey bowl at the church.

And I will run over and get some pics for you and then come home and cuddle up to watch the Parade. Before I finish putting together some other dishes.

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Thanks Mom for all the wonderful "day before Thanksgiving" memories. I think it is really why I just miss you guys on Thanksgiving, but I don't go into a complete meltdown. I hope I am making those same beautiful memories with Jacob and he doesn't remember all my food flops!

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Love and Hugs, your darling dimpled daughter from Dumdeedle!

Girls Luncheon...

I had the most fun girls luncheon.

We had bread, fruit and cheese... one of my favorite picnic meals.

In hindsight, soup and bread might have been more appropriate since it is sooo cold outside.

But I was really in the mood for it... and Rachel made the bestest smoothies!

Great food, great converstation, great friends!

Just what I needed :)

Enchanted...

This weekend I finally watched "Enchanted". Such a great Disney movie. Jacob and I used to watch the Disney movies over and over and over again together! So I finally talked him into it, promising that if he could endure through some of the singing in the beginning, it would be worth it. He almost bailed out on me a couple of times. He is pretty much over the Disney songs now. But he endured and once he got to the point where the prince starts bolting out in song and gets run over by a swarm of bicyclists, he laughed so hard.... he thought it was a good movie and worth his time.

But I have to giggle and tease him because he has "True Love's First Kiss" stuck in his head every since! He just keeps putting on his head phones and blasting his itune music in his head to get rid of it. But somehow the acoustics in the shower bring it back to memory all over again, ha ha!

And what is funnier than hearing him singing in the shower, is that you know when you hear one of those songs that get stuck in your head... well along with the song, there is the dance moves you have to do while singing it! Like the swooping knee bend and both hands clutched over your heart! LOL!!

I love our teenager, and I am so grateful that when Dad is away, as much as he pretents to hate it, he gives in and acts like a kid again when it's just US. Good times!

Wabbit Twouble...

The wascaly wabbits (or elk in this case) alluded Elmer Fudd on his hunting trip this weekend.

This is the only picture he brought back home... any empty space where he was hoping to see the mother herd! He had such a golden year last year and we just finished up eating that wonderful meat it provided us. It was sooo good, and with some practice I finally learned how to cook it right.

He enjoyed the beauty of God's country.

And I quietly celebrate with all the little elk families that will be together for another week!