Thanksgiving 2010

We traveled 14 hours to Utah to be with my family for Thanksgiving. We arrived late Wed. night. It was fun to see everyone. Layne, Jayme, Payce & Tayo came up from Vegas. Lynette traveled in from Boise, and us from Wenatchee. It was fun to all be together. Lori & Hank & klan came up from Orem. We had 27 of us for Thanksgiving dinner. (Lynette had brought 2 friend with her). We had a very enjoyable time being together. If you can't tell I enjoy being together with my family. :-)
We had great food, fun, and laughter. The next day we had our family pictures taken outside my parents home in the snow. It was cold!! The photographer did a great job. Here are some examples of his work:












It was fun. After pictures, we went bowling. Had a lot of fun!! Later that night we had our friends the Wilkinson's and their families over for pizza and soda. We enjoyed visiting and meeting new parts of the family. We had a tradition in Great Falls, MT. Where we would have Thanksgiving or Christmas with the Wilkinson's, so it was great to reunite and do it again.
Santa & Mrs. Claus came and surprised us all. It was fun. The kids and some of the adults sat on his lap and received a present from Santa. Just like old times.
Thanks Santa & Mrs. Claus for coming to visit us. :-)

Sat. --Just spent time together and played games and enjoyed each other.
Sun. --Went to church and had dinner together.
Monday-We made the long trek back to home, took 16 hours. We had an almost 2 hour delay at the Utah/Idaho border, they had closed the road.
We brought our friend, Jamie Kershner home with us, and she was there for her grandpa's funeral and was looking for a ride home. Glad we were there and able to help her. We had fun visiting on the way home.
That was our vacation to Utah for Thanksgiving. Thanks Mom & Dad for hosting us in your home, and for all the food and fun! You are the bestest parents ever!!

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.