Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a wonderful event this last year.  We were blessed that Aunt Taty was able to share Thanksgiving with us since she lives so close in Houston.  We also took the opportunity to have two Air Force Trainees to enjoy our dinner with us through a program called Operation Homecooking.  It was truly an honor to open our home to these two young women who have chosen to serve their country.  I also received a couple very nice thank you notes from family member who were grateful that their daughters/granddaughters were able to have a family around them during the holiday season.

So with so many guests for dinner I really wanted to go all out.  Although my turkey turns out good every year, I wanted to know if I could improve on it.  So this year I researched turkey recipes and ended up going with Alton Brown of Good Eats recipe.  After the smoke cleared......yes cleared, we were graced with the best turkey I have ever made.  Rich, tender, beautiful bird that has now made me a believer in the need to brine a turkey.  And yes I did cook it upside down.  I will need to do a better job on that next year.  Needless to say we enjoyed a wonderful meal with a pomegranate salad made by Aunt Taty.  (The boys have made ma promise that this will be on the menu next year)

It was so nice to have good food, good company, and a chance to give thanks for all those blessings that that Lord has given us.    

Kate's Senior Recital

After many years of study, Kate was able to give her Senior Recital at Brigham Young University Idaho last April.  I was blessed to be able to attend.  Until this night I have not been able to hear Kate in all her glory.  I've sat next to her in church and heard her sing hymns.  I've heard her practice scales.  I've truly wondered about her ability as she sings pop songs from the radio.  But I have not been able to experience the true talent that she possesses.

As a graduated senior of BYU-I in vocal performance, Kate only needed to give a senior recital to finish her program.  It was a beautiful night of music.  I only recorded one song to bring home for my guys to hear, but I think I picked the best.  And although Kate would probably be able to pick out every little mistake, I think it is perfect.

Hiking with Aunt Taty

The boys get a whole week off for Thanksgiving and since making that big dinner for the four of us didn't appeal to me, we headed back to Arizona to spend the holiday with family.  In fact it was great timing for our entire family.  Aunt Kate, or Aunt Taty to those in the know, had a week off of school too and arrived just an hour after we did.

The boys were so excited to spend time with the family and when Aunt Taty invited them to go hiking with her they were all over it.  I packed them up with snacks and water and they were off.

From my understanding of events, everything was just fine until the going got a little rough.  Then my big, tough boys decided they were hungry and wanted to head back.  But Aunt Taty was having none of it and to the top they went. 

They were happy once they made it and were really happy to come home to a shower.  (Yea, I have rubbed off a little!!!)  Thanks Aunt Taty for the fun!!!!