Who you callin' turkey???

Yummy Thanksgiving breakfast!




The following post was written right after Thanksgiving, but due to camera connecting to computer issues I totally got out of blogger mode:

Thanksgiving was SO MUCH FUN at our house this year. Actually, Thanksgiving day itself was crazy warm (shocker) and we spent the whole day in the kitchen just to have a very anti-climactic dinner with way too tired children. Somehow things began to run late in the middle of the day and we knew we weren't going to be eating until closer to 6:30, not the 4:30 or 5 I had originally informed everyone. Justin wanted to use the new fabulous thermometer that came with the oven which you stick in a piece of meat (turkey) and then plug into a socket inside the oven so that it can continuously give you reads of the temperature of the meat. Justin was so excited to use it, I however am happy as a clam (that one's for you Jess) to just use the little plastic thing that pops out of a turkey when it's done.


That is the face that Justin makes for the camera each year while putting in the turkey, I don't know why.



Anyway, to make a long story short, by the time the turkey was done so was Ruby. She had had enough. Truthfully, all of the kids were wondering why we were eating so much later than usual and why it was pitch black outside. I was trying to make gravy and juggle all of the side dishes that were coming out of the oven while also insisting that the guests (Jessie and Taylor) dig in and enjoy the meal, but instead they were trying to help the kids and wait for me and Justin to begin eating. Finally we decided to put the kids to bed and then enjoy our own food. It was great to just sit around and talk and eat...and eat some more. Jessie would take long breaks, waiting for more room inside her cramped baby belly so that she could fit in more food that looked good to her. She even made room for some midnight pumpkin pie, yum!

Needless to say, there was way too much food. In years past I have cooked for my family, the Burton's, my Dad and Josh, and some years Jess. So, usually there are a lot of adults to eat all of the food, plus I would usually make enough so that the other families could take home leftovers. I made the exact same amount of everything this year than in years past. What was I thinking? The only thing I cut back on was desserts and I'm glad that I did because there are still one and a half pumpkin pies in the fridge. I think that I was too busy wolfing down Utah's famous green Jell-O (which may as well be a dessert) to worry about having any pie. In fact, Jessie did point out during dinner that more dishes on the table did have marshmallows than did not...not good. I found that very odd since I do not cook with mini marshmallows for any other dinner of the year, but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving at my house without my mom's delicious pomegranate salad, yams, or green Jell-O, all of which have marshmallows in the recipe. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised since a little boy at the grocery store the week before had said "Gee, you sure do have a lot of marshmallows!"

While Jess and I were cooking the husbands took the kids over to a park near our house, the same park I had taken Tate too a few months back that is right next to our pool. The kids had a great time playing football and riding their bikes around until I insisted that Jess see the pool. We went through the little gate to the pool and before we knew it my kids started to strip down and wade in. We were content to let them fool around for a little while so that we could enjoy the beautiful weather and views from the pool (it sits up high on a hill overlooking several other tree-filled hills and valley's). I think that that's how we got behind on the turkey, we spent too much time at the pool. All of the kids had to be dragged away with promises that we would return later, or possibly the next day...or never (we never made it back).

Tate stripped down and ready to go!

We did soooo many other fun things while the Miller's were here. We went out on several date nights, which NEVER, EVER happens. We saw multiple movies in one week (yes, I DID sleep through 2 of the 3---James Bond and Four Christmases---I stayed awake for Twilight) and had fun going out dinner or even just hanging out around the house. When Taylor wasn't around (he stayed in SLC for the first few days to work) Jess was back to her old ways and hung out in our bed at night watching Conan, etc. with me and Justin----it was great to know that some things never change. A little sister is still a little sister...even when she's seven months pregnant.

We stopped on the way home from the airport at Rudy's BBQ so that Taylor could start things off right with some authentic barbecue. Jess seemed mortified by the amount of food he ordered (just 6 slices????) but we all enjoyed it once we got home.




I should mention though that that younger sister did get one year older while in town. Jess had her 25th birthday last Sunday while she was here. It was so fun to celebrate with her! She had to share the limelight with her namesake niece little Ruby Jane. Ruby's birthday isn't until Saturday but we celebrated early so that Ruby could have family around. Jess even had the great idea to make Ruby a special birthday onesie. It was a joint effort on our parts and turned out really cute!! We spent a lot of time laughing and trying to figure out how to use a new brand of applique that neither of us were familiar with. Jess has made a bunch of darling onesies for baby Brody when he arrives, what a creative mommy!

I am so grateful for such a wonderful family. In fact there is nothing that I am more thankful for during this season than my husband and kids. I am also very blessed to have had such wonderful parents and siblings. Justin and I are both so lucky to have loving and supportive families who take such an active role in our lives!! We love you all!!!

Alright, this is getting a little long, plus Justin has been out of town all week and I'm really pushing it with how much time I have to update the blog while allowing the kids to roam unattended. So, the last item for the blog is a matching game. The Lee family has a tradition of making apple turkey's and this year was no different. We all gathered around the table with bowls of marshmallows (I know, more marshmallows), raisins, gumdrops, toothpicks, and apples and set about making our turkeys. My kids love the activity as much as I did as a little girl. See if you can guess who made which turkey!! The participants were: Bracken, Abbie, Tate, Jess, Taylor, Justin, and me. I'll post who did which turkey in my next blog!







Ok, well, since it has been about a million years since I wrote this post I can't even remember who made which turkey...oops!