Thanksgiving in pictures.

What’s Thanksgiving without “Easy Cheese”?

 

Or olives…

(I ate the ones with green olives, and grossed my dad out, like usual.)

Peyton grossed us out using “other” methods.

Mom’s semi-homemade stuffing..

  

The next set is for those who love to eat the skin..

Grandma would freak out whenever we ate the skin..  “You’re going to die of a heart attack just like your mother!”

Our favorite tradition (second to eating skin) is making gingerbread houses at Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher’s.

Peyton enjoys eating them…

Day 25: A Day of Thanksgiving.

I found myself thankful for many things today..

- Spending the morning with my girls, eating breakfast, watching the Thanksgiving Day parade together.  Seeing their excitement at certain floats (Sesame Street, Cookie Monster really..  Buzz Lightyear..).

- The girls wanting to go visit the cemetery to “see” Grandma, even though Grandma’s headstone is covered in ice and snow.

- Spending part of our morning with mom and dad.  Talking cameras with dad, talking everything else with mom.  I am thankful to have their help, interest, and support.

- Seeing my brothers and their families.  (Missed you Kev & Rand!)  It’s not often that we are ALL together, it has been a while.  I was thankful to see my nephews, be shot by them, to hold my sweet niece (who is suddenly too big..) and to enjoy a face-to-face (as opposed to phone-to-phone, or facebook message-to- facebook message) with my sweet sister-in-law (who is more like an actual sister to me).  I am thankful that we all live so close, that we can see each other often.

- Being able to come home and prepare a Thanksgiving meal for my little family.  I am thankful for all that my mom taught me, for all that my grandma taught me, so I would know how!  I am also thankful for the desire I have, that I enjoy being a homemaker. 

- I am thankful that even though Merrill was working today, he is close enough, that we could go spend some time with him while dinner was in the oven.  I am thankful for the job he has.

- I am thankful for three little girls who run when they hear the garage door shut, running to attack their dad with hugs and kisses because he is home.  (Even if it was just a little over an hour since they last saw him..)

- I am thankful for a husband who offers beautiful prayers everyday.  For the prayer of Thanksgiving he offered before our dinner tonight.  For his gratitude for all our Heavenly Father has given us, for asking that our family continue to be blessed.  I am thankful that he invoked the spirit to be in our home this Christmas season.

- I am thankful for the sweet things my girls said they were thankful for at the dinner table..  family, parents, home, sisters, good food, strong bodies, the earth, Christ & Heavenly Father, themselves.  Ashley was so cute, “Aren’t you thankful for yourself mom?”

- I am thankful to have a sweet husband, who helps me clean up dinner.  Who helps me to pick the turkey clean.  (All while watching “The Godfather”.)

- I am thankful for the traditions that continue on with our extended family.  For Darlene always gathering us together to laugh and create.  The girls ALWAYS look forward to making gingerbread houses (Peyton looks forward to eating them..) and grandma always comes through.

- I am thankful that I am always greeted with a kiss to the forehead and a hug from Dixon.

- I am thankful for the rest of this holiday season, for the feelings in our home, for the life that becomes more centered on our Savior. 

We have truly been blessed, we continue to be blessed.  At times I feel totally undeserving, but then realize that that in itself is a testimony of how much our Heavenly Father loves us.  He wants to, and waits to bless us.  I am so thankful for the gospel in my life, for the many blessings my family enjoys because of it.

November 25th..

She gets the love of good turkey skin from me!

Thanksgiving-ness..

This year, we had two Thanksgivings.
Merrill (the anti-social weirdo that he is.. love you Merrill!) dislikes family gatherings of all kind, so he opted to work Thanksgiving, thus leaving me free to take the children to my family's Thanksgiving dinner.
It was a nice day, but just didn't feel like Thanksgiving.  We have had almost 10 years of our own Thanksgivings, and that is what I am used to..
It was nice, just not what I am used to Thanksgiving being.

The girls enjoyed running around and playing with all of their cousins.  Everyone was there, except Joe and Jaclyn, who were hosting Dixon and Kaitlyn (Darlene was out of town with MiKell who was cheering in the Macy's Parade..) but they came later.  I did have to have a discussion with Lynn before going to mom and dad's about how Josh is her cousin for all intents and purposes at this time.  They are not blood relation, but that is just too confusing a concept to try to explain right now.  There is too much talk about kissing and such.  Lines must be drawn!
We all enjoyed seeing how Promises tummy is now poking out, holding baby Chace (whose name Peyton has not stopped saying since...) and enjoying all the good food.

 The kids ended-up playing in the basement, telling stories in the dark, by the light of flashlight, something Lynn and James came up with, I am sure. 

 They all got so cold, Lynn and James decided to make use of the blanket that was available to them.  The blanket was also serving the purpose of covering all their Christmas toys, toys from Grandpa and Grandma.  Mom decided to check on them at just the right moment, but they had no clue what was lying next to them, now uncovered.
We stayed a while, then came home and went for a swim down at the hotel.

We had our own Thanksgiving (and it really felt like it this time..) the next day complete with all of our traditions..
Sparkling cider..

Putting up the tree..
Watching "It's a Wonderful Life"..
Making a gingerbread house..

And eating it the same night is our new tradition, thanks to Peyton. :)

 

I wasn't feeling well (still) and didn't really feel like standing and washing all the China, so we didn't partake in that tradition, and I felt guilty wanting it to be perfect for our first Thanksgiving in the house..  but then again, it really wasn't Thanksgiving, and I soon got over it. :)
As for decorating the house..
We did have to make a few alterations to our tree..
We do not have our 14 foot + ceilings in this house, and therefore, had to trim off 7 inches of the center pole.  We also had to leave off the two bottom rows of branches. 
It was kind of sad.
But it all works!  Hopefully I can get some pictures soon...
I was looking forward to starting off life in our new home right with the holiday season, get it feeling like home, making memories right away..  ya know..  so far, it's working out pretty well.
We enjoyed watching more Christmas movies throughout the weekend.  We especially enjoy hearing Peyton say "HOHOHO!!!"  She sounds an awful lot like the nasty Santa on "A Christmas Story".  She also loved "The Santa Clause" and even said, "Bye bye Santa." at the end.
So many blessings to reflect on this year..  we are so blessed.

November 26th..

Funny stuff...

The kids have been on a roll lately... I need to post the funnies!
The girls have been so focused on the "eating meat = eating animals" thing. Every night, well, the nights we eat meat, they would ask, "What does this come from?" We would answer, pig, cow, chicken, etc. In astonishment, they would reply, "I don't want to eat a dead (chicken, cow, pig) body!"
So on Thanksgiving, the question was asked, "What does this come from?" to which we answered, "It's Turkey."
"Was it alive?"
"Yes, at one time."
"You want us to eat that?"
"You've had it before. You liked it."
"But it's a dead body!"
So Merrill eats a drumstick and traditionally, hands off the remainder to Ashley to pick clean. Ashley picks at it for a minute or two, then says, "What if the turkey wakes up, and looks down, and says: 'AHHHHH!! One of my legs is gone!!' Wouldn't that be crazy?!"
Later that day, at my mom's, she had the relish tray out. Ashley loves olives, let me tell you... and she ate every last olive from that relish tray. She very excitedly ran to me and exclaimed, "Mom! I JACKED all of grammy's olives! I am an olive girl..."
Lynn starred as "Baby Jesus" in the "Book of Mormon" movie, a fact that she is ever aware of and very proud of. MiKell and one of her friends even gave her the title of "movie star", which she proudly calls herself now, thanks MiKell... Up at Merrill's parents on Thanksgiving, Dixon was showing Ashley one of their Nativities, pointing out the different people in the scene. He got to baby Jesus, and said, "And there's baby Jesus."
Lynn was walking past and said, pointing down at her own head, "Yup, here's baby Jesus... that's me!"
Last night we were enjoying our family home evening, we don't always get a structured lesson in, but have an evening of no TV and fun. We have been trying to sing the books of the New Testament song, saying the names of the books correctly :), and were having quite a bit of fun singing it in silly voices. Afterwards, we popped some popcorn in the hot air popper. We have done this so many times, and Lynn is still amazed at the contents of an un-popped kernel of corn. As the kernels got hot enough to pop, Lynn got so excited. "Mom! They are just exploding all over the place! The corn is turning into popcorn!"

Our Thanksgiving...

I have to admit, that Wednesday was a harder day than I thought it would be. It's the first Thanksgiving without Grandma... I had my saddest moment when I was making my pies... I just couldn't get the crust right. I stood there, over my pumpkin pie crust, remembering her hands gently molding and forming the pie crusts' edges into beautiful designs. Watching her make the lattice top for the cherry pie was always my favorite... I had to call mom. She was going through the same thing I was.
Thursday was like every other year... with the challenge of Peyton wanting to be in the middle of the tree decorating. She was so excited about every detail.. it was a fun difference. I had better not need to re-light the tree.. the lights are being possessed this year...
Love this pic of the girls just before dinner... Peyton has her first tooth, and a loose skin flap on her gum to prove it.
Lynn was thankful for: turkey skin, food, and the gospel. (She really said that...)
Ashley said she was thankful for: Dad, Mom, Pey, and Lynn, oh, and the turkey.
Peyton was thankful that her tooth finally cut and for the mashed potatoes and gravy.
Mer said he was thankful for his four angels :) and I am thankful that we are all together and it isn't as challenging as last year's Thanksgiving... wooh! Remember that one?...
Dinner... apparently Merrill enjoyed the turkey last year cause we had it again this year!
Our traditional pic of Ash...
We went to mom & dad's after we finished decorating the tree... I spanked everyone at Phase 10 then we took advantage of the circumstances, all of the grand kids together... and Celia too :)
We went to Mer's parents for the traditional gingerbread house making event... I think the girls ate more than they decorated...
And they are still eating off of it! It no longer looks like this...
We've been enjoying a relaxing day, just hanging out, working on a few projects, repairing quite a few Christmas decorations...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our home is a hopping....
Hope yours is too!

Turkeys...

Mom made these cuties yesterday with the girls...
Rice crispy treat bodies, feet and feathers are the fudge striped cookies, corn candies, M&M's and chocolate frosting for the glue..
So simple (hello, Ashley and Lynn did them...), so yummy (um.. Ash ate hers on the way home...), and so cute (see the above pic?!)!

So here I am... Pregnant and enjoying a piece of pumpkin pie at almost 11 pm... Could it get any better?
While I am enjoying my slice of pie with LOTS of whipped cream, I am also enjoying the prospect that things will be a lot merrier this season around my home. My usually "Bah-Humbug" type husband has resolved to be a little more jolly this year. He told me that it just goes by too fast, and he wants to enjoy it more, for a little longer (you see, he usually gets into the spirit of things oh, say a week before it's all over...). He even says he wants TURKEY for Thanksgiving. This will be the first year EVER for that to be the main dish. He's been anti turkey for nearly seven years. Every other year we've done roasted chicken, spiral cut ham, or a tender very delicious chuck roast. So turkey is a big step.
The next step was to ask him if he'll be listening to his own music selection instead of Christmas tunes while we put up the tree on Thanksgiving day. He said he'll share in our joy, and listen to the Christmas stuff. He did note that he would not enjoy the "Beach Boys" holiday renditions, or the sappy songs like "Christmas Shoes". He always gives me a sideways glance with a smirk on his face when he hears the first few notes of, "Mary Did You Know?" It always makes me cry, but if he were a woman and had given birth, he just might understand!
Lynn was so cute tonight, singing to my belly, talking to Peyton. She would get so excited when Peyton would give her a wiggle or poke in response. She is already deciding what she'll say to her on their first meeting. She couldn't seem to go to sleep without her, "five musics". Merrill has been queueing-up five songs on his MP3 player for her to fall asleep to. He was at a concert tonight at Kilby Court (one that I really really REALLY wanted to go to, but the venue is standing only, really small, and my sciatic nerve was not going to allow me to enjoy it.) so bedtime was a little off for her. I told her I'd program some Phantom on my MP3, not her usual mix, so she could get her "musics". By the time I got it all done, she was out. Ashley meekly asked if she could listen to it though. She just grins. Doesn't seem to sing out loud like Lynn does. I did discover that there really is some of me in her, she's still, look wise, almost entirely Merrill Jr. (if he had had long hair at 3...). But she loves to enjoy some dark chocolate, and that's where I come in...

Gearing-up for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am feeling a little stressed, hoping to do everything that I want to for my family, within reason, yet feeling so blessed realizing that I have so much more than others. I want my kids to learn that there are others, who don't have the little things that they think are just part of life. For example, grocery shopping yesterday, ice cream is just part of the list, as is bubble gum, sometimes. They don't realize that for other kids, that don't live too far from us, this is a luxury.
Merrill and I are talking about what we can do that would be memorable and a learning experience for them now. We are talking about doing "Toys for Tots" or maybe having them each pick a child from an "Angel Tree". I feel the crunch this time of year, but I know that we have so much more than we even need. I know there are others in my own family who could use the help. It just gets me thinking...
To bring it all home, tonight Merrill was pretty insistent that we watch 20/20 on ABC. I am glad that we did and that he also made sure Lynn was right with us. They were doing a follow-up piece on a story they did a year ago. Families living in a community (although it's hardly that, community sounds too nice a word to describe it) in New Jersey. These families are living in conditions that, I feel a little naive in thinking they didn't exist in our country. Kids with no homes. I mean NO HOME. No food. There was a five year-old who began kindergarten and had no clue what names of the three meals we should eat everyday were. He was lucky to get one. Families living in homes where there was no heat or power. Cockroaches running around like I could never imagine. Holes in exterior walls. Beds on the floor, or a whole family sharing one couch as a bed. How humbling! Here I am worrying if I can do everything I would like for Christmas! Lynn got it. She was shocked that the little boy didn't have food or even a bed of his own. She felt bad that he didn't have his own bedroom with his own toys. She started to understand that ice cream is not necessary to her survival. I am thankful that she understood at least part of it.