Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with our family and friends at the DeSantiago's home! We had a fabulous feast, that once we were finished eating still looked like we had hardly touched it. I was of course in charge of the baking- stuffing, homemade rolls, Pumpkin Almond Praline Pie, Pumpkin Crisp, and a cookie wreath (wish I had gotten a pic of that- it turned out great!), and my now famous Tart Cranberry dipping sauce! Frank and Ivana made turkey breasts and ham, and of course we had all the usual trimmings- and it was so great we never wanted to stop eating (hence the fact I had no room for dessert!)

The Kid's Table!Bird's Eye View!

Frank the Chef...

Yummy Yummy Yummy!!

'Tis the Season

Ok, so I'm admittedly a blogger slacker, but with good reason (I always have great excuses)... I will try to post pics soon, but I've been busy. Mom and Dad came to visit (Yahoo!) in the beginning of November and we had a fan-freaking-tastic weekend together (they spoiled us so much that we don't need to have Christmas- almost), then I've been trying to get ahead in making all sorts of Chrismas projects and presents, then I joined a team on our city Volleyball league.

Then I cleaned my house in preparation for the annual decking of the halls, which I started last Wednesday but am still not finished. I spent the entire Thanksgiving day in the kitchen- started at 8:30 am and paused for a quick shower at 4:45 pm (dinner was at 5)- but then enjoyed a fantastic feast at our friends the DeSantiago's. Came home and cleaned my kitchen, and made my shopping plan. I got up at 4:30 am for the annual Black Friday shopping spree (it was so nice that it wasn't freezing this year, until we got into Wal-Mart with 50,000 other shoppers who also didn't feel the need to shower at 4 in the morning but layered and prepped for cold, only to start sweating and stinking in unison- it smelled like smelly feet and armpits- Yuck!) But I got everything I really wanted so it was worth it. Then it was back to decking the halls Friday and Saturday... and Saturday we also enjoyed a spontaneous hangout with Sonny and Patty, and their friend Ray. Patty brought Potato Soup and bread bowls and we introduced them to RockBand (haha)... and then I took off on a quest for the score for Messiah (more on that later).

Sunday was a crazy day because I played the Cello in sacrament meeting (yes, I know you are all floored, but as it turns out, I can still do it, but I need to play a little more frequently I've decided). Zach had the flu... and he's a needy Momma's boy ;) Then Sonny and Patty and Caitlyn came over for a Thanksgiving encore ( I needed to make my own Turkey for my leftover Turkey fix). Then Patty and I left the dishes to the boys and headed up to Salt Lake to attend the Utah Symphony's annual Messiah Sing-In.... and it was absolutely fabulous! You wouldn't believe how great so many amateurs sound when they get together. After we strolled through the lights on Temple Square, which was great because we weren't freezing as usual, and got some pie and hot chocolate on the way home. It was so nice to hang out with Patty too.

Monday was admittedly a somewhat lazy day, but the highlight was playing Clue with the kids for FHE (thanks Mom and Dad for the game, it was so fun), and then playing RockBand with Chris after the kids went to bed. And now here we are and it's time to deck some more halls- because Chris got me the garland I needed to finish my entry, mantle, and stairs- And now you know why I've been busy not blogging... Fa La La La Laaaa- La La La La!