Thanksgiving 2008

It has been a while since I have had time to add a post. I thought I would go back to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving was fun this year because all of the family was together including Great-Grandmother. I had the entire week off which was really nice. The week before Thanksgiving, Dr. Duong took off my braces. I picked my retainer color as green. In hindsight, I probably should have chosen a clear color because the green shows through my front teeth. This does show up in pictures! On Monday, I picked up my retainers. I have to wear them day and night for three months. I talk like I have lisp when I wear them. It sure has taken my students awhile to understand me when I talk while wearing them! I have gotten used to them so they are not too bad. I even talk better with them in now!

We had fun relaxing and preparing for Thanksgiving. Although, dinner was at my brother John's house, I did volunteer to feed the missionaries the following day. We ate a great dinner, had great conversations, watched the kids play the Wii, and walked to the park. Above is a picture of Garrett drinking soda with his cousin, JT. Below is a video of Noah with his Papa. I was in charge of the mashed potatoes and the pecan pie. This was relatively easy compared to cooking the entire Turkey dinner for the missionaries.

The day after Thanksgiving, I cooked for the missionaries. I cooked a full turkey dinner except for the homemade stuffing. I had no clue how to cook a turkey. I did however watch Martha Stewart on demand. It was very helpful. Julius also helped me clean and prepare the turkey. I also had found a really useful web page that helped me figure out how to cook my turkey. I cooked it on 450 for about 20 minutes. I then cooked it at 250 for about 5 hours. It worked really well because the meat was really juicy and fell off the bone. Of course, I had forgotten to buy a meat thermometer so I gave Jordan a good excuse to go to the Bass Pro Shop. I also cooked mash potatoes, dressing (from the box), salad, vegetables, rolls, and pies. Mary and Mike also ate dinner with use. Afterwards, we went to watch the Thunder play hockey.

We had a great time. I was really impressed with my ability to cook a turkey. I did not think it would turn out so well. I have been lucky that Thanksgiving was always at other family members' home. I never had to cook a whole turkey before this year. It worked so well that I cooked one on Christmas Day too! (that will be a post for another day).

My grandmother stayed the night with us on Saturday night and went to church with us the next morning. We had fun folding laundry and cooking dinner. She was able to read Garrett a story before bed. I shot video of Grandmother reading Garrett Hickory Dickory Dock. I tried up loading the video, but I think the file was too big to properly upload. I will try to do it again for another post. However, my Grandmother even survived going to church with a 4 year old and a 10 month old.

We had our big meal after church. After lunch, Grandmother played games with Garrett. They played Aggravation and Candy Land. Garrett thought it would be great to then play Catapult. This of course is a game daddy picked out for Garrett and is much too old for him to play the correct way. I think that Garrett really enjoys setting up the game and knocking it down.

It was really nice to have Grandmother visit us. We talked about memories she had as a child. She remembers that once year her father gave some of her dolls to a family that needed the dolls for their daughters. Grandmother remembers that the girls left the dolls outside and did not take care of them. That is always disappointing when once sacrifices for others, and the gift is not appreciated. Nonetheless, it was fun to listen to her stories.

We really liked our vacation especially since Jordan's days off corresponded with Thanksgiving. Garrett is really excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday. I would like to create some new traditions for our family. I have been talking to my friends to see what they do. I have found some new ideas. Some I will not be able to do this year. Maybe next. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.