Everyone knows I went to Utah for Thanksgiving. I had so much fun with my family there and they were determined that I would have a good time. Mindy, Ruby, and Liam picked me up at the airport. We went to a little acquarium somewhere in the greater Salt Lake area. Here are a few pics from that outing

The first three days, I stayed with Marty & Mindy. They have the most comfortable blow up bed I have ever slept on. It loses air during the night, but not much and it's very comfortable the whole night long. I slept so good. Sometimes in the morning there was a little knock on my door and I would open it and there would be Ruby and Liam. Sometimes we just hung out and sometimes we.....watched movies, sometimes we watched Mindy excersize. Sometimes we played dress up or read books and ...... when no one was looking we snuck cookies out of the cookie bag. Ruby helped me make pies and the most awful thing kept following me around. You can see it pretty good in this picture. It scares me when I see it in a picture.

Every year we start in October thinking about what we will do for Thanksgiving. We pour over magazines and watch the Today Show to see if we can come up with something really spectacular and special, a new Recipe. It's not that there arn't plenty of ideas presented for the whole month of November on every talk show and every magazine, but we just are not sure. We contemplate how we will decorate, and the table setting. What about dessert. There has to be Pumpkin Pie. There has to be sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, even if no one eats it. It's Tradition. But, we still want to do something a little different. But you can't remove Tradition so we have Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, something green, sparkling cider, and cranberry sauce. And it is wonderful and we are really glad for Tradition The guests arrived (sorry Allie, I didn't take a picture of you but here you are, the belle of the ball ) The house was decorated The Table was set We ate and there are no pictures because I was busy eating.

After we rolled off of our chairs onto the floor. (Sorry, no pictures of this ) It was time to check the adds for Black Friday. While I was sleeping in the early morning hours, Becca was Christmas shopping. I tried shopping on black friday "once" and never again. I think you have to be young and a little crazy to do this.

Thanksgiving In Utah

Lydia has a lot of books. More importantly, she loves to share. Here we find her sharing a book with Auntie Allie. How wonderful to be wrapped in the arms of someone you love and sharing a story. Here is something I bet not all of you knew about Lydia, she loves to wear her mother's shoes. Especially Stilletos. She puts them on and then she steadies herself against the wall and then off she goes. She's pretty good at it too. I guess there are worse things than shoe fettishes. I just wish I could walk as well in high heels and look as good. Lydia, remember the big box of shoes I gave you when you were born. I told you then that you could never have more than enough shoes. I was right. I wish you were here to clomp around my house in whatever shoes you took a fancy to. Love you.

Halloween and Number 1

Some images from Halloween. The joker showed up at my house, but he wasn't completely put together yet. I wish I had a picture of him all in his glory. Our little pumpkin. Guess who was #1 Salesman in Utah/California for Enterprise Rent-a-Truck. I know you will never guess, so I'll tell you> >>>>>>>RYAN WRIGHT. That's who!!!

49 DAYS 'TILL CHRISTMAS

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS, SO BE GOOD AND DON'T BE A SCROOGE!! 55

Rainy days Ginger snaps and the Kitchen

We had a storm last week. Not wind blowing, and rain pouring, but close to biblical proportions of wind and rain. There were 10 inches of rain in the mountains and SJ got 2.5 inches of rain all in one little itty bitty day. There were trees downed and power out over 60% of the Bay area. And then it was over and the sun came out. Craziness!! I remember when Marty was a lad, he loved the wind and rain. He would get down on his little haunches by the sliding glass door and he would rub his hands together really fast with a happy smile on his face and he would say, I love it when the wind blows and it rains. I tried to catch pictures of the raindrops as they fell, but they don't show in these pictues. I don't have one of those fancy cameras and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to set it so the raindrops would show. But you have to use your imagination in these pictures and see the rain drops and the trees swaying in the wind. What else do you do on rainy days but bake cookies!!!

Ginger Snaps 3/4 C Butter 2 C Sugar 2 eggs 1/2 C molasses 2 tsp white vinegar 3 3/4 C flour (white or wheat) 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 3 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp cinnamon Mix together in order given Shape into one inch balls and roll in sugar Bake for 12 minutes at 325F YUM!!!

The kitchen is about 99 % finished. Everyone has run out of steam so it will take some time to get the job done 100%. Sorry that it looks messy, but I was baking and cooking but I wanted to get these on the blog. You know I'm not a perfect housekeeper anyway, so why pretend. I love the new colors. They are so bright and sunny and cheerful. Toodles!! l

Hoo Ray for Ryan

OK, I copied and pasted this from Becca's Blog http://www.thrilledbythethought.com/ because she said it so well and some of you may not read everyone's blog (even though you should). We are all very proud of Ryan and not just for doing so well on his test, but for so much more. Look at him, he's lot weight too.

Dear Handsome Hubby, I am so proud of you for passing your insanely hard test at work. And not only passing, but getting the second highest score EVER on one of the most difficult sections. Remember your first test with the company? How you also got the second highest score in Utah and Idaho EVER? A 98% Do you think I’m bragging? You bet I am. These test scores are unheard of in your history. ADHD has robbed you of an easy academic time. Most people don’t understand ADHD. They think it’s a funny joke. If somebody is a little spacey for a minute, a little forgetful for a minute, or a little extra hyper, you can be sure to hear a silly joke about that person having ADHD, whether it’s the truth or not. But ADHD is not just being a little spacey for a minute. ADHD is serious stuff. It inhibits your abilities. And then it makes you feel like you don’t have any abilities. It makes you wonder if you should even try. And I’m so proud of you for deciding to try. I’m so proud of you for studying so hard. I’m so proud of you for grabbing ADHD by the earlobes, kicking it in the back, and knocking it down. You sure showed ADHD with your high scores (higher than your peers- have I mentioned that yet?). With God’s help, we can turn our weaknesses into strengths. Thank you for showing me this principle in action. I am now motivated to turn my character flaws into character ahhhs. (Should I start with my joke making?) Since you have proven (TWICE) that overcoming weaknesses and actually turning them into strengths is not only a possibility, but a reality, I know it can be done. Love, Me P.S. I must apologize for celebrating your amazing achievements with poorly made construction paper banners. You must know you are worth so much more.

Girl Scout Cookie Time

It's that time of year again. Don't forget to buy your cookies, or else....