Giving Thanks 2009

The number one thing I'm thankful for is 25 years of marriage! We went out to eat and Christmas shop together. It's amazing how much we are part of each other and I'm humbled at how much he loves me. The reason for the picture above? When the kids were younger we had a Family Home Evening lesson on serving each other. In the story a little boy named Blaine decided to follow the Savior's example and be of service to others. He would leave little notes of SAJS (serve as Jesus served) around the house when he did something for someone else. For WEEKS I found little notes in empty dishwashers, on my made bed, in clean bathrooms... well, you get the picture. Sometimes months would go by but I'd still have a little SAJS note creep in somewhere. On the morning of my anniversary I woke up and Emily had made a gallon of my favorite Tropical Punch Crystal Light and, yes, there was an SAJS note on it. I still have the flannel board story if anyone wants to borrow it.



I have never been so grateful for my family. I can't imagine my life without my husband and children. While Steve and Chris had to go to work the day before Thanksgiving Allison, Emily and I went to work! I can't express enough the relief it was to have so much help in the kitchen. It was nice to have them home before Thanksgiving and able to help so much! We had a menu on the refrigerator and prioritized our time.



We assembled all the ingredients before we started and were diligent about cleaning and doing dishes as we went along. Later, as the men arrived home to the smell of fresh baked pie and rolls the kitchen was absolutely spotless. I mean no dishes anywhere! Swept floor! Clean counters! We were good! (frankly, I can't do it any other way without going insane!) The refrigerators were full of ready to go yams, green beans, dressing, cranberry relish,...



I made the crusts, Emily prepared the apples and pumpkin filling. Allison mixed the rolls and they even smelled yummy rising on the warm oven.



Emily couldn't resist taking pictures of our beautiful cooling pies.



No holiday dinner would be complete without my Mom's Butterhorn rolls. Allison was the mix master! My paranoia is in the forming of the rolls, but they turned out so beautifully! Only a few came undone. We especially like the "peeps" roll and the one that came totally undone and looked like a slice of pizza. The girls called dibs on those.

There were no complaints even as Alli handled the "icky, slimy" canned yams (no, I didn't take time to cook my own) and Em mixed in the brown sugar, etc. and fought the urge to "yak." We were exhausted but I've never appreciated them more. I think there was a great pride of ownership on their part the next day as we sat down to eat (with NO pictures, drat!).

Footnote: Hopefully no one will stick with the story this far but I have to add this one as the story has been leaked. No, the turkey wasn't done when we sat down to eat. I made a few really amateur mistakes (bleh!). It cooked a little longer, we ate everything else, and we still had enough to be sick of it four days later.