Thanksgiving

I do not have many photos of Thanksgiving at all. I don't know why - maybe we were too busy cooking and eating? Too busy spending so much time with nieces and nephews? Being overwhelmed? Being wiped out? I don't know. But it appears that I have a grand total of THREE pictures from Thanksgiving Day, 2025. That is very lame.

Photo number 1 - me holding my gimongous bowl that I got for Christmas last year. I was in charge of making the stuffing and I wanted there to be enough. It was a Preslar year, and of course wonderful Kathleen was the hostess and wonderful Sam was the turkey chef. They had invited quite a few extra people - the missionaries, their sons' girlfriends and their families - it seemed like we were going to have a big bunch of people. And I was going to make sure we all had all the stuffing we wanted!

You know, I like to think of myself as a good cook with lots of experience and the ability to make food for a lot of people What I just have not yet mastered is how to not make way too much food for folks. I always overdo it. That bowl held more stuffing than 30 people wanted to eat. I think we got through about half of what I made. 

Photo number 2 - the much beloved charcuterie board. I think this was only the second year Kathleen served a charcuterie board but it's already become a favorite. We arrive at the house a few hours before dinner, and we start the day by arranging a ton of food artistically and beautifully on a giant wooden board. Then we look at it for about five seconds, maybe take a photo, then we dive in. It helps us keep up our strength until the turkey is ready. 

Photo number 3 - the Preslar women coma. This was long before dinner was ready - folks were still munching on the charcuterie. But all three of us just collapsed onto the couch and were out cold for a while. That was one delicious nap!

I feel bad I don't have pictures of the rest of the guests or the amazing Thanksgiving buffet. It was a lovely day - Sam and Kathleen work hard to host us all and really make it special. I'm grateful to them. I'm also so grateful I was even there! Now that I work at a hospital, there will be years that I'm scheduled to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This was one of those years - I was supposed to be on duty on Thanksgiving Day. I was very grateful for my sweet coworker who didn't have Thanksgiving plans and was very interested in the premium pay and offered to take my spot. I didn't have to miss out on Sam's smoked turkey with sausage or Kathleen's green beans! Phew! Many thanks and next time I'll take more pictures. 

Nieces and Nephews, Nephews and Nieces

I adore being an aunty, I really do. And I'm lucky enough to have this range of nieces and nephews - from little Sam who is only 10 to Kate who is I think 31. (Wow. That's weird. She was born as I was on an airplane making my way to my mission in Korea.) And I had so many fun chances to see them in November.

No only did Margaret and Mary Grace come to Emma's play early in November, but later in the month she joined us again along with Kate and Cameron, who were visiting from Connecticut. We just have such a special bond with those guys. I don't think Chase had seen Kate and Cameron since before his mission, so that was a really fun reunion. 

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Emma and I took a road trip together to St. George. This was significant because Emma drove the whole way there. She was such a trooper! We got up very early in the morning and she drove on the freeway in the dark and got us there safely. Here we are making a stop at Wendy's for a little brekky once the sun started to come up. 

 

The reason we were going down was because Siena was playing the role of the Fairy Godmother in her high school production of Cinderella - the good one by Rodgers and Hammerstein. To make it extra special, Sheri was in charge of putting together a fundraiser for the theater department which was a tea party before the afternoon matinee. 

It was so cute - all the theater kids dressed up and played host and hostess to all the guests. There was a town crier who announced us each as we came in the party, and a bunch more kids were dressed up as various fairy tale princesses. And of course the stars of the party were Cinderella and her Prince, who sat for photos and were sweet with all the little kids there. 

Siena absolutely knocked it out of the park. She sings like she's already a Broadway star. She made an excellent Fairy Godmother - and truly has the acting chops to really have fun with the part. She's going to be amazing at SUU.

It just so happened that our trip coincided with my baby brother's birthday. His favorite thing in the world is carrot cake, especially my mom's recipe. I brought the ingredients with me and in the afternoon between the matinee and evening performances of the show I made Peter's cake. When it was done, he and I cut giant pieces for ourselves and sat down together to enjoy it. 

We took great big bites and went......HMMMMM. Yum? I think? Wait something isn't right. I can taste too much baking soda or something. Then I looked around the kitchen as I was pondering what wasn't quite right with this cake when my eyes landed on the sugar canister. Oh. Yeah. I forgot to add the sugar! Peter and I both finished our cake - in fact, I nibbled at it all weekend. It was like really soft moist bread. Not super sweet, that's for sure. I can not believe I made that cake with no sugar. I felt really dumb. But it was not gross, just not...cake. I owe Peter another attempt.

The cat Daphne was still on the rampage, but not quite as bad as our trip in September. My eyebrows were not so tempting for his this time. And I got a very good snuggle with him on Sunday morning.

The night before Thanksgiving, we had yet another visit from Mary Grace, and this time she brought her sister Hannah with her! Hannah is the sister I see probably least of all - she lives in Philly and is quite busy in her cool new job at Anthropologie, which we got to hear all about. 

It was a hectic week to be sure, but I couldn't help but gobble up time with my sweet and wonderful nieces and nephews. It's still weird to see them all growing up - I still picture them all as really little kids. Not any more!

Team Twilight

Many MANY years ago, Troy and I went out to dinner with one of his best friends from high school, Mike, and his wife Misty. We had spent a little time together in the past, and I really liked both of them. But this one particular dinner started a new chapter for me and my friendship with Misty. She and I got talking and discovered that we were both avid readers. She told me about the website Goodreads, which I still faithfully use, and we shared lists of our favorite books. It was that night that she told me about a new book out in shops. It was called Twilight. The rest is is history - both my deep dive down the Twilight rabbit hole and a blossoming new friendship with Misty that has only strengthened over the years. I adore that woman.

And now, a new generation has jumped on the wagon. You know, I think I tried to get Romney to read Twilight about 7 years ago and it didn't take. She, like so many other girls in her generation, just could not buy into the story, and thought Bella was dumb and Edward was creepy. I was a little disappointed. But I let it go.

Misty tried the same thing with her girls. Two of her three held no interest. In fact, it might have leaned more towards contempt than disinterest. But one....daughter number two, child number three, dear dear Paige, was bit hard by the Twilight bug. She just absolutely fell in love with it. She read the books, she watched the movies, she visited Forks, she turns to them in times of need. 

Meanwhile, our two families have spent more and more time together. Somehow our kids just absolutely love each other. Paige and Chase hung out a bit before their missions. I have a fond relationship with all three of their girls and keep in touch over social media. Chase took guitar lessons from their son. And of course we always save a night in December for decorating gingerbread houses together. Paige especially has a close friendship with Chase and Romney, and I guess she talked Romney into watching all the Twilights together.

Can I just say that watching them watch Twilight was the absolutely sweetest thing ever? Romney just placed her disbelief on hold and bought into it. Paige was so excited. They just snuggled up on the couch and ate it up. I watched most of the shows with them, although I think they saw Breaking Dawn pt 1 in the theater. Elle joined us for one, maybe New Moon? She could hardly stop herself from giggling. Misty came for the original Twilight. And Chase hung around with them after the movies were over. 

We ended up with some of the funniest photos. We were all laughing ourselves sick. I just LOVE these people.

Also I had to record Romney's reaction during the final battle of Breaking Dawn pt. 2....

Not My Gumdrop Buttons!

It's always a shock to me when the school year begins and Emma's theater teacher holds auditions after about three days. Emma is always eager to get going though. The fall play was announced last spring - it was to be Shrek the musical, but with a little twist. This version was going to be half in Spanish and half in English. I think every single person I told said, ".....huh?" Yeah, it was hard to picture, but I appreciate what the director was trying to do, which was to be more inclusive in his casting and for the audience.

Emma was really hoping for the part of the dragon, but she ended up with a part that I think she suited perfectly. She landed the roll of Gingy, the tortured gingerbread cookie who lost its gumdrop buttons (as well as its legs) at the hand of the evil Lord Farquad. Although Emma was officially Gingy, Gingy was actually just a puppet. So when she carried the puppet around, she was dressed as The Fairy Godmother and I think that blue and purple curls look quiet charming on her.

The show was great - the kids, as always, worked so hard. Following the quick flipping back and forth between Spanish and English wasn't the easiest. But one evening as I was out covering the concessions stand I asked a fellow drama-kid mom who is Hispanic what she thought about it. She expressed that she was touched and thrilled and grateful. So I'm really glad it happened. 

My sister Margaret came to town to do some presenting at Primary Children's Hospital where I work and it was so fun to have her be able to join us, along with Mary Grace.

Emma's friend Parker who graduated last year was super sweet and gave Emma a little handmade gingerbread cookie doll.

I, once again, was quite impressed with Emma's singing voice. She sings all the time at home, but there's something about hearing her sing her guts out on stage that is just really fun. She sounded great.

Romney Proves Her Mother Wrong. Again.

Before getting to my story about how Romney was right and I was wrong, I have to share this very silly photo of me. For the months of October, November, and December, I worked in about five different areas of the hospital, covering for coworkers who were out with babies or illness or injury. One of my favorite places was working in Same Day Surgery - I just love how confident I feel there and how clear my job is and how many kids are there who need me. There's only one thing I hate about it. That would be wearing scrubs. You'd think they'd be comfortable but somehow they just make me so hot and sweaty and feel so dumpy. I hate them. Troy was teasing me about how hot I look in them. I sent him this selfie to prove my extreme cuteness in this delightful color and style. Blah.

Also I must share that fall turned so beautiful. This is our gingko tree, whose leaves turned a lovely bright yellow. This is what gingko leaves are supposed to do - be extremely yellow. But for a few years our leaves have been the nastiest dull tan color. I have no idea what the problem has been, but we were nervous that we were going to lose the tree. I was so happy to see the brilliant leaves return this year.

Ok, on to my story.

Romney has been through quite the series of haircuts over the past few years. She seems to always be wanting some new haircut that I'm certain she is going to hate. Sometimes I'm right, and she has shed some tears over haircuts. Sometimes I'm wrong, and she likes her new 'do, but only temporarily. And all the while she's threatened to shave her head. I mostly thought she was joking, but was always kind of worried that deep down she wasn't. 

Guess what. She wasn't. The day after Halloween a little birdie told me that she was going to shave her head. She came over for a visit and I hugged her and whispered in her ear, "You are NOT going to shave your head!" She was shocked and kind of mad at the little bird, and told me that yes indeed she was going to. Troy said, "Well, if anyone is going to shave your head it's going to be me." And they headed to the back porch and got started.

I was positive she was going to regret it. Stupid me. Not only was she grinning the whole time, she was delighted with the result. She loved it so much and could not stop smiling. Also...she looked adorable. Absolutley adorable. Sort of to my chagrin. That girl. She always gets the best of me!