Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I loooove Thanksgiving. I love it so much that I can sincerely say that it's tied with Christmas as my favorite holiday. Spending a day surrounded by family, feasting on scrumptious food? PERFECTION!
Mom and I started cooking Tuesday making, I think, pumpkin rolls and maybe something else. Did a bit more last night with apple pie, broccoli/cauliflower casserole, and, I think, some other stuff. Aaaand today, of course, we were in the kitchen a good portion of the morning.
I'm not complaining! I enjoy cooking! I was in company and we had some Christmas tunes on in the background. So lovely...
homemade apple pie
homemade pumpkin roll
my feast
Yuuuummm!
Aaron, Amy & boys were here for the day, which was stupendous...
Jackson really liked eating the mallows off this little turkey guy
Sethington eating his apple.
Emmett, looking dapper
Vance, Abby & family came for a bit, too, when they weren't with Abby's family...
gosh, Janie sure is a pretty little thing
Julie's been doing this little "O" thing with her lips lately...
And, of course, I sure missed these two kiddos (as Ryan and Janel were hosting to her family today):
here we see Marshall playing with his Angry Birds toys he got for his birthday a few weeks ago
(oh my goodness, how can he be six already?!)
Ah, my sweet little Kayleebug...
It's been such a great day! (Pictures from the park are forthcoming, wait for it ;)
Anyway, I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but guess what?
I'll tell you.
Dad's been craving biscuits and gravy for several days now, and since he has to get up at the crack of dawn to work Black Friday, Momma and I made him some.
Love you, Pops! I hope these biscuits and gravy, made with love, sustain you through your early, long workday tomorrow!!
Do you ever get to feeling that, although life is fantastic and you're grateful for all the blessings and people who surround you every day, you just GOTTA GET THE HECK OUTTA DODGE?
I'm not going to lie, I get like that every so often (but I'm not gonna say how often)...
Honestly? I love my life. Maybe I'm not exactly where I thought I'd be at the ripe-old age of 29 (married with a child or two?), but my life is awesome!
*Great job? (check)
*Amazing friends? (check, a million times over)
*Stupendous family? (check, check, check, check, check, check, CHECK!)
*Dependable car? (umm...sometimes? PS After my one post, I went to get my tires rotated, only to be told it was definitely time to purchase new tires. Several hundreds of dollars later...BLAH! Oh well, safety first! Oh yeah! CHECK!)
*A lovely home with lovely roommates? (check, check)
*Lots of other stuff? (check)
You get the idea: it's great to be me!
Having said that...the last weekend in October, I was definitely at the point where I needed to get away from my everyday life and to chillax in the land of my inheritance.
Spending time with my family is about the best thing I can even think of. And I got to see every member of my immediate family (plus all their offspring!) that weekend. Win/Win!!!
Dad, Vance and Jane came with me to babysit my awesome nephews in L-Town while Aaron and Amy went to SLC for Emily and Chris's sealing (so happy for them!).
I also got to spend extra time with Abby and Jane; they came with me to drive to Provo so I could hand deliver a (belated) birthday gifty to Lisa just after she finished her half marathon (darn me for not getting any pictures of me and Lisa!).
Then...I don't even really remember what else went down. (Maybe that sounds like a wasted trip to some of you, but I think sometimes those weekends are the best!)
Oh yeah...I watched True Grit with Vance, Abby and Brent. I thought I didn't really care to ever watch that show, but it turns out I was wrong. It's really pretty good! (That Jeff Bridges is a good actor.)
Also, I went to Regional Conference with my family.
Painted mom's toe nails and visited with her until most people would think we'd be sick of it, but we weren't, and we just kept right on chatting.
Dad was offered the job of his dreams! (You are lucky to have him, Deseret Book!)
Also, I stayed in town Sunday night and took Monday (Halloween) off. Just so I could spend some extra time with my stupendous family.
Yeah. Getting out of dodge was fantastic!
The proof is in the pictures, I suppose...
This fat little Emmett? He's got my heart.
Stealing kisses from Seth. He was totally asking for it...
Jumping Jackson...
This cute little cherub loves him some french fries...
Ah, Seth is such a handsome kiddo...
Me and my Janiebug
We went for a walk...and Jane liked keeping her hand on Emmett's fuzzy head, for some reason :)
On Friday night, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle showed up at Mom and Dad's place...
And lately, this little muffin has turned into a DANCING MACHINE! As soon as she hears music, she gets this adorable goofy grin on her sweet face, and she shakes her groove thang. So cute!
Also, Goose got Kaylee laughing pretty hard.
I love the sound of her laughter!
I got a few pictures of Janie and Aaron's family in their Halloween costumes, but I think I'll save those for my next post.
I sure did love my time in Brig! Thanks, family! I love you!!!
They're building a Temple in the land of my inheritance.
It was announced in October 2009.
They broke ground July 2010.
They haven't set a date as to when it will be finished,
(but I'm guessing it should be by March 2012 or so?).
I've been following the progress very carefully.
4/22/11
4/29/11
(just one week later; they mean business!)
5/18/11
5/19/11
(next day; they really mean business!)
6/3/11
6/13/11
6/30/11
On 7/12/11, they hoisted a 13' Angel Moroni on top of the East spire, which was kind of a big deal.
I went down for the day to watch it happen,
as a matter of fact...
The day started out pretty rainy, but that didn't stop the throngs of people from gathering all around to see it take place. I walked a few blocks from my parents' home with my folks, Brent, Vance, Abby and Jane, dressed for the cool, rainy weather...
Papa, Jane, and her "monkeyback"
(Can you tell my dad pretty much adores being a grampa?)
Everybody and their umbrellas
After a bit, the clouds parted and the rains stopped.
But then the wind picked up. As it turns out, placing a 13' statue on top of a steeple (I don't even know how high that is) is quite difficult and dangerous with high winds. Poor Janie had fallen asleep in her daddy's arms for about 20 minutes when we decided to head home until the wind died down. I volunteered to carry the sleeping beauty back to Mom and Dad's where Jane could sleep soundly, and where we all gathered for a nice, hot lunch...
She's so dang cute...
She ended up sleeping for 2+ hours...
A while after we finished eating, Abby got a phone call from her sister Becky (who stayed downtown), letting us know that the wind had died down enough that they were hoisting Moroni back up.
Vance went to his house for a nap; Brent stayed at home with Jane; Mom walked up to the corner to watch it take place from there; Dad, Abby and I ended up watching it take place from right across the street. (The weather actually ended up quite beautiful for the remainder of the day.)
I meant to do this post earlier; it all went down Christmas Eve-Eve, after all...
It's a little activity I've lovingly named Gutting the Christmas Eve Turkey. (Yeah, creativity failed me here, but it really paints a picture, doesn't it?)
I told my momma that I wanted to do the turkey by myself, because one day (I hope!) I'll be married, and I'll have to do it all by myself. One day...
Anyhoo, my momma stayed in the kitchen with me, to help direct me, and also to take pictures. (Darn tootin' that if I'm gonna gut a turkey, that there'll be proof of it on my blog!)
So. Here goes. The pictures:
This part was easy... (Yes. It's a frozen turkey. I can't even think about murdering and plucking one. I'm not barbaric.)
Removing the neck-fat to get inside...
Putting some muscle into it... (The turkey was still a little frozen.)
Here's a lovely image...
SUCCESS! (Extracting the neck)
Turkey Guts! (This is how I really feel about holding turkey guts)
Bagging the turkey...
Done aaaand...done! (21 lbs of bird in a plastic baggy is heavy!)
There you have it; my first turkey gutting experience. It's really too bad we didn't get a picture of the final product (all cooked and the likes). It was pretty much tender and delicious.
PS I really like that purple sweater with elbow patches I'm wearing in the pictures. In fact, I'm wearing it as I post this entry. It's a Brooker reject. For some reason, she got tired of it. (Thanks again, Brooker!) And yes, I realize it looks better if I keep the sleeves down, thus allowing the elbow patches to patch my elbows. I just didn't wanna get turkey goo on my loverly sweater...
Last weekend, I headed southward to Vegas for a friend's wedding (which will get its own post before too long). Since the land of my inheritance (Zion!) lies somewhere between here (North-of-Zion) and there (Sin City), I stopped in B-to-the-righam on my way there and back.
To visit my family, of course.
The saddest part about passing through town on my way elsewhere is that I didn't get to see Mr. Marshall at all. Not on Thursday, and not on Sunday either. SAD! On the other hand, I did get to see Miss Jane. And also, I stopped a bit further south to see Misters Jackson and Seth. (Also, I visited with Aaron and Amy. Of course.) So...I got to see 3 of my 4 children. (Crazy and exciting to think that within 3 months, I'll have another niece and nephew! One of each!)
Anyhoo...yeah. I got to see the chillins.
I love the chillins.
If you check out the pictures, you can totally understand why...
Aaron and I went for a walk with Seth and Luna. Honestly, Luna ended up pulling Seth behind her. Seth LOVED it.
But then Luna took off and (literally) dragged Seth behind her. Seth did NOT love it... (But I adore this picture with Seth and his pouty face!)
Handsome boy...
Up-side-down Jackson...
Baby Jane loves Gramma O so much. She goes into this content little trance when Gramma tickles her arms and legs. Like so...
"This is the way the lady rides." Janie loved this...
Anyhoo, those are 3 of my 4 loves. You kinda love them too, don't ya?
I had a delightful weekend in Zion, just so you know. I headed southward with Brent on Thursday afternoon and spent the entire weekend with my family.
Yep, three glorious days of O-family fun, which included (but was not limited to):
*Baby Jane crying any time we made eye contact on Thursday. (Okay, that part sucked, but she quickly got over it and remembered she loved me) *Taking a drive to Logan with Vance and Janie *Dyeing Easter eggs with Marshall (his first time ever!) *Getting to play with all my nieces and nephews!!! *A surprise visit from Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kathy *HOMEMADE PIZZA *General Conference!!! *Chatting with my folks *Going for a walk or two... *Other stuff...
Funny story: while all the boys were at Priesthood Session, I visited with Momma and Kathy. I told them about a time a few years ago when the boys had returned from the Priesthood Session, and I asked Aaron who had spoken and what they had said. Aaron responded with, "I can't tell you; the stuff they tell us at Priesthood Session is for men only." He kept on refusing to tell me, so I said, "Fine, I'll just wait until the Conference Report comes out next month," to which Aaron replied, "They change the talks for the Conference Report; you'll never know what they told us..." Mom and Kathy thought the exchange was funny, because that's SO like Aaron. About 30 minutes later, Brent and Uncle Kurt returned from the Priesthood Session, and I asked a similar question: "What did they talk about tonight?" And Uncle Kurt said, "I can't tell you because you don't hold the priesthood." Haha! I love my family...
Anyhoo, I actually took a ton of pictures this past weekend. (I've kinda started sucking at that when 2009 went away...) So here are some pictures of the people (and things) that made me smile all weekend long:
This child (and his cute little smirk)
This child (and his ecstasy over dyeing Easter eggs)
This child (and his love of Cars)
This child (and her long skinny tongue)
Papa reading to the boys...
Brightly colored Easter eggs...
Posing in Pink with this Pretty Princess...
An Easter bouquet...
Wishing you and yours a happy (almost belated!) Easter...
