Thanksgiving

Ah.... Thanksgiving. The one day of the year that the gratitude journal is just begging for an entry. So I rounded up a few of my favorite quotes.

"An ungrateful man is like a hog under a tree eating acorns, but never looking up to see where they come from.” -Timothy Dexter

“A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness.” -James E. Faust

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." -Marcus Tullius Cicero

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John F. Kennedy

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."-William Arther Ward

"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose." -Woody Allen

I'm thankful for all my blessings, for all my trials, for all my friends, all my family, especially for my husband and daughter, and the opportunity to reflect on something I am grateful for every day.

What are you thankful for?

Good Friends

It's good to be crazy once in awhile. (Although you will notice we weren't quite crazy enough to go at midnight. Just enough to go opening day.)

Sun and Fog

How often do you get low-lying fog under blue skies and sunshine?!
(And yes, we still have green grass in November.)

Clean Up Time

We have Clean Up Time every night at 7:45 - quite possibly one of the best ideas I have had in a long time. We set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and everyone does something to help clean up. Rachael usually picks up her toys, and Ryan and I either help her or do things like unload the dishwasher or fold the laundry. When the timer beeps, we are done, even if the job isn't completely finished.

I put up a piece of paper with a clock at 7:45 so Rachael could help remind us when it was time for Clean Up. She decided she wanted her own reminder page, too!

Williams Sonoma

Today was my day to drive Clark and Rachael to preschool in Lexington. To occupy my time while I was in town, I went drooling [shopping] at Williams Sonoma. They had all things Thanksgiving around the store, and I even got a sample of some pumpkin pie and apple cider.

Wouldn't stuffing look beautiful in this copper au gratin pan? One day I would love to have an entire kitchen designed around using copper pans. (And while we're dreaming, let's throw in that $3000 refrigerator I found a few years ago, with embossed copper leaves on the front).

Something beautiful for the pumpkin pie...

And a cool new way to do the mashed potatoes - with a potato ricer!

Finish up the preparations by decorating with this pretty Thanksgiving tablecloth:

I'm coveting these to drink my hot chocolate on Christmas morning:

In the end, I picked up the one thing I went in for: Turkey Brine. Scrumptious! Bring on Thanksgiving.

Kitchen Helper

I know Rachael helping in the kitchen makes regular appearances on my blog, but she is just so much fun in the kitchen! Earlier this week we made breaded fish, and Rachael whisked up the egg all by herself. I was surprised!

Today she requested jello. I'm not sure how complicated she thought that would be, but she was kind of underwhelmed with the whole process. Or it might be because I told her it wouldn't be ready to eat until tomorrow. (We didn't start until 6:30 pm).

She has high ambitions, though... here is a picture of what she wants to try for Thanksgiving. I just wish she was old enough to try it without me...

Good Weather

What did you do with your beautiful Saturday afternoon?

Ryan spent a couple of hours stringing up the Christmas lights on the outside of the house.

It's a hard tradition to break, I guess: the first Saturday in November with decent weather (that is not otherwise already scheduled) we put up the Christmas lights.

Hooray for the holidays! Thanks sweetheart.

Service for Solomon

My friend Becky gave birth to her beautiful son Solomon four years ago today. He was born with HLHS, a congenital defect of the heart. He lived for 18 days before passing on to the next life. I'm touched by his birthday every year. Rachael is just a few months older, and it is a significant reminder of what a blessing she is in my life.

To honor Solomon, their family does 18 days of service from November 12 to November 30th. I'll be thinking of ways I can render service myself in the next three weeks.

Happy Birthday, Solomon!

Christmas Shopping

It's holiday shopping time! I'm so excited.

We're aiming for a debt-free Christmas and we are well on our way.

Happy Holidays!

A Night Out

A friend of mine managed to get tickets to a performance of "To Kill A Mockingbird" at the Norton Center in Danville. It was really good! I was surprised at what a nice facility it was. And we had amazing seats - orchestra section!

Her husband teased her about having a "date" with me but it was totally worth it. Thanks for a fun evening!

Baptism

This morning we had the opportunity to attend a baptism for someone in our ward. He decided that rather than be baptized in the font in the building (in warm water), he would like be baptized in a lake, with the sun coming up over the hills. It would have been a really great idea in August, but this is November, and it was 51 degrees outside. Brrrr!
Having said that, it was a beautiful service. And a very memorable occasion.

The worst part? Not the 51 degree air, not the freezing cold lake... it was after the two men were out of the lake and drying off, when they were informed that Brother Casseta was not entirely immersed and the ordinance would need to be repeated. In the lake. In the COLD. Back in they went - and the second time was thankfully a good one!

Good Health

A toast to all the healthy and happy years we have had and will continue to have!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Auntie Lorie!

Now that we have been to visit Aunt Lesley,
Rachael wants to know when we are coming
to California to visit.

Soon, we hope!

Hope you had a great day!

Sunrise

Knock Knock

Have you ever heard two four year olds tell each other knock knock jokes in the back of the car? It goes something like this, courtesy of Rachael and Clark...

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Egg
Egg who?
Aren't you glad I didn't get dropped on your head?

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Banana
Banana who?
Banana orange pickle.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Apple
Apple who?
Apple juice!

And so on. One day one of them will tell a joke correctly, and it won't seem nearly as funny.

Sisters

We had a really nice visit with my sister Lesley and her family. It always throws their normal routine to have visitors, but they made us feel welcome and comfortable. On top of everything else, Rachael had potty training accidents in her costume, and Lesley washed that dress not once but twice while we were there. And she loaned me two different pairs of Halloween socks!

I wasn't entirely selfish - we sent her and Chad out on a date for their 11th wedding anniversary.

Thanks so much Lesley!!