Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family.  

Thanksgiving is always a big event with many mouths to feed, and my mother is the master at feeding a large crowd.  Even after all of us kids were out of the house, my mother continued to cook for 8 even when it was just her and my dad.  I am not sure she knows how to cook for just a few.  Regardless, that skill pays off at Thanksgiving.  Mom, the food was delicious.

I am a little embarrassed that Sean is shirtless at the Thanksgiving table.  He is always shirtless and I obviously overlooked this that day.  Next year our goal will be to have a shirt on this wild kid for dinner and to get my brother Jared a seat with the adults.

Tom still pounded the honey bombs, but this years hit was his ability to spin my nephew Miles.  This is another example why Tom is the favorite among my nieces and nephews.

We spent the day after Thanksgiving shopping and hanging out.  After that, I am not sure what went on. Andrew and Sean both caught a bug and I spent the rest of the trip in a hotel room trying the get them well.  Never fails, when we all get together, someone always gets sick.

Dear Lisa,

Thank you for dropping off William for a few days.  Andrew and William have had a lot of fun and it is always a pleasure to have William around.  Before he returns home I have a few confessions.

They have pretty much been eating off the same pizza since Monday for almost every meal.  I did make dinner last night, so he gome some home cooking.  The video games and movies have pretty much been non-stop so if he seems a little out of it when he returns, you will know why.  Bed time was never before 10, that I know of, and I was sure to make them brush their teeth at least once a day.  He is wearing the same clothes he came in, and a shower was just not in the cards this trip.  

Hopefully you will let him come again.  Maybe next trip I won't be so slammed with work that I leave them completely on their own.

Lemon Bars

My family loves them and our friend Carolyn makes them occasionally for us.  

I have been trying for years to get her recipe, that she refuses to share.  This Sunday I tried to duplicate them, and I think I got them pretty close.  What I mostly discovered is the real reason why Carolyn Lee's lemon bars are so good, is that they are usually delivered to the door and I don't have to make them.  Lemon Bars require too much work for me to include these in my short list of regular recipes.  

Carolyn, we will remain at your mercy. 

My Beefcake.

This ID just makes me laugh.  He already looks like a beefcake football player and this is just pre-school.  Thankfully he is proving to have the brains as well as the braun with each day he grows.

For those who don't get to see it in person.

Kira's Field Show

This is why we hardly every see her, she is too busy marching and playing the sax at the same time.  These kids are really amazing.

And of course, the peanut gallery.
Enjoy.

Sean, the Singer

This is what happens when I leave Sean and Andrew in the chapel to arrange hymn books while I vacuum in the other room.  Sean exposes his confusion over whether he is a Child of God, a man, or a Superman.  Hopefully he will figure out the right answer soon. 

My Grape Pickin' Days

Growing up LDS in the Central Valley of California, I got to participate in the yearly grape picking at the Church's grape vineyard.  The grapes needed to be picked, and placed on paper to dry into raisins.  It was always hot, dusty, and of course sticky from the grape juice, but always a fun time.  I considered myself successful if I got through the morning with out a paper cut, from the paper used to place the grapes on to dry them into raisins.  You always got grapes dropped down your shirt and smashed into your back, you always came away so dirty it took a week to get all the dirt off, but always glad you did your part to help out.  My dad along with many that have lived there a long time have been participating in this for many, many years.  I just came across this article in the Hanford Sentinel with a picture of my Dad, working away at the vineyard and the memories came flooding back.  

Hanford Sentinel

Now that I am living in a more Metropolitan area, this type of service work is hard to find.  Perhaps I dogged the work by getting out of town, or maybe I just might yearn for a little dirt and grape juice every now and then?