Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving this year!

The weeks leading up to ours were really fun. Brooklynn and I decorated a box to look like a Turkey, and then cut out a whole bunch of leaves out of different colors of paper and throughout the month each member of our family could write down on a leaf something they felt thankful for and drop it into the box. For Family Home Evening the week before Thanksgiving, we played "Thankful Charades" and acted out what each person had written on their leaves. It was pretty funny.

Some of the things that were written were:

• Scissors


• Living near Kirtland


• the Stapler


• Intelligence


• Zippy (our cat)


• Family


• Visiting Teachers


• the Refrigerator

Imagine acting out a pair of scissors...or the stapler. Yes...you get the idea of how this could be entertaining!

On Thanksgiving Day, I scattered the leaves onto each person's plate and then we took turns reading what each person was thankful for. It was really fun for the kids. I think we'll do it again next year, I liked it a lot better than what we've done in the past, which is to just have each person go around the table and name something they're thankful for. This provided us with ample time to really think about all of the blessings we've been given and to really put some serious thought into it.

So everyone's in search of that perfect way to roast a turkey...and this way has worked pretty well for me that past few times I've done it. So once again this year, I found myself gritting my teeth and prepping the freezing cold bird...did I mention that stripes are in this year?

I mix butter with herbs and salt...and then loosen the skin of the turkey and coat the top of it with a thick layer of this butter and herb mixture.

It is not my favorite thing to do in the world...but it makes for very nice moist white meat that is seasoned and everything right off of the bones. Yum-m-m-y.

And I use the oven bags because they keep all of the moisture inside and still let it brown to a beautiful golden brown! Hooray!

So while Andy and I were working in the kitchen, the older three kids were popping in and out to sample food, and Matthew was watching the Macey's parade on the computer.

Here's Matthew all ready to eat...in his chair, bib on...where's the food?

And Brooklynn and Taylor are ready too...

Rachey...

And Mom and Dad of course!

What a fun day we had together!

After a nice relaxing afternoon, we went downstairs and played some Wii. Andy and I have the Wii sports package...and we did the thing that tells you your age based upon your performance on the sporting events. Well, according to the Wii...Andy is 34 (right on) and me? Ahem...apparently I have no speed, very little stamina but have pretty good balance...putting my Wii age at 50. Yes, 50 years old. Oh well...being in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy can't be helping that score. I did feel better though when we put in the Outdoor Challenge, and I beat Andy by several thousand points. I gave him a bad time that he got beat by a pregnant "50 year old"...not too shabby.

Later that night we started putting our gingerbread houses together...but I'll post about that in a few days!