Let the Preparations begin.... and RPE

I am excited today to start my Thanksgiving Day preparations. I already have the turkey in the fridge to thaw, hoping that is working. :-)
I am going to make dough for the rolls and cook those today, and also make my pumpkin pie. I have the pie crust made and in the fridge, so just have to make the filling and cook it all together. Let's pray it works. ;-)
I will make my banana cream pie, green bean casserole, & start the cranberry salad tomorrow. Then on Thurs. cook the turkey with the stuffing, cook the carrots and glaze them, cook the green bean casserole,and finish the cranberry salad. Ta-da Thanksgiving day meal is served. Voila!!!! :-) Add a glass of sparkling apple cider and it makes a classic meal thru and thru. :-)
I am excited to eat what I make, and hope it all tastes very delicious.

Now you are all probably wondering what RPE stands for - Well, it is an orthodontic term for rapid Pallette expander, to which Jolyn will be receiving in just about 2 hours from now. She is not excited to have it done 2 days before Thanksgiving, but when I asked her if she would like me to change the appt., she said No, let's just get it over with. :-) Silly girl!!


I think Jolyn will be only eating applesauce, yogurt, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and any other soft food she can find for awhile. My poor little girl.:-(
Happy Thanksgiving to all. May we each remember the things we are grateful for on that day and always!!

Cooking a Turkey

Well.........this year we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house, and to this day I have NEVER cooked a turkey before.. YIKES!!! Any pointers would be most appreciated. Do you cook your stuffing in the turkey or separate? My mom always seemed to cook hers in the turkey.
What do you serve for Thanksgiving?
I was thinking turkey, of course, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (not yams), glazed carrots, cranberry salad(Jan's recipe), green bean casserole, and rolls. Any other thoughts on that?
Hope you all have a great week, and look forward to hearing your thoughts on Turkey.
Thanks.

Getting ready for Grandma Walle

Today was partly spent cleaning and rearranging the room downstairs in preparation for Gma Walle (Jeff's mom) to come and be with us for Thanksgiving. She is coming this Friday (Nov. 21st) We are excited to have her be able to come and join with us in celebrating this holiday. Jeff & the girls will be off the Friday after t-day, so we will have that extra day to spend with her. She won't be returning home until Monday 12/1. I enjoy having her come and stay with us. We haven't seen her in awhile so it will be nice to have the extra time with her.

I also did laundry and had the girls help pick up the family room downstairs. I made time to finish a book I was reading as well. All in all a pretty good day.

Tomorrow will bring more excitement and fun, I am sure. I would like to go to the temple, I will see if I can make that work. We shall see.

Blog help!!

Can anyone tell me why my new background doesn't cover the whole blog?? How do I fix that? I applied it just like it said....but...........???

Veterans Day, Doctor, Orthodontist, and More

It was a good day yesterday. It started at the doctors office, again, with Jalani. We are still trying to figure out why she has this cough. She has had it for over a week this time. There is no virus or anything with it, just the cough. Well the dr. this time, gave us a prescription for Singulair, to treat for asthma or allergies. There is a history from her birthmom for asthma. They are not saying she has it, just trying it to see if it will help. I hope so.
The girls and I went downtown to the Veteran's Day parade and ceremony and then had lunch with Jeff at Bob's Classic.
Then I took the girls to the church to practice basketball with a guy from our ward, he offered to help show Jolyn some stuff to help her with basket ball.
Then it was time for Jolyn's orthodontist appt. We are preparing for a Rapid Palette Expander. Our insurance doesn't kick in until Sept 2009 for ortho. , so this part is coming out of pocket. OUCH!! They took xrays, and molds and pictures. We go back in 2 weeks, for the next step. She says she is not excited about it, but I think in one way she is. :-)

On a sad note, a family in our ward lost their 24 yr. old son this week to cancer. The funeral is on Thurs. I get the opportunity to serve and make a lasagna for the funeral. I am glad I am able to help in this way.
I pray they family can find the comfort they need at this time.

Today I am at the library at WA Elem. volunteering. Which I love!!!
Have a great Wednesday!!

Halloween & more!!

Last night we had a trunk or treat at our church building. Our neighbor, Mary, and her daughter (5 yrs old) Natalie, came with us. It was fun. They blocked off the parking lot at 6:30 and began the trunking. Then after that they opened up the building for a small carnival and games. It was ok. I was ready to go home after the trunking. :-(
Call me Scrooge Halloween!! :-)
I am glad it is over.
Jalani was a Halloween Fairy with Foam ghosts for her wings. She looked cute. She had black & orange striped stockings, and and orange hat, orange hair. Unfortunately we took ZERO pictures of it all. Bad Parents!!! :-(
Jolyn started out as Marianne from Gilligan's Island (at her dr. appt) then after we got home before the trunk or treat she changed into a jock. Whatever that means!! :-S
Jeff was a lumberjack at work so he just stayed in that one. I dressed up as............MYSELF!!! How scary, is that???

Anyhow, it was good. On the way home from the church we stopped at 3-4 places we knew to go trick or treating. After we got home we had like 5 groups stop by for candy.
Got rid of it all!! Thank heavens.
Our dentist has a deal this year, that she will buy back candy at $1.00/lb. I want to try to convince the girls of that good deal, not sure they will go for it though.
Today we have been getting some things done around the house, and voting! Whew!! Glad that is over with!!