Happy Thanksgiving

My mom was raised in Herriman, before anything existed in Herriman. She, and all 3 of her sisters, have stayed in the Salt Lake area. Every year for Thanksgiving we all head over to my Aunt Launa's house. She has hosted it as long as I can remember. Thanksgiving brings back memories of when we lived in Southern California and we used to make the drive to SLC. Later, we lived in Michigan and it was too far to come every year. Because we moved alot when I was younger, I sort of crave consistency and routine. I like the predictability of the holiday, the tradition.



When we were younger, my sisters, cousins, and I used to put on talent shows on Thanksgiving. We would make up dance routines or sing some turkey song we learned at school. The years that my mom or aunts were feeling creative, we would make pilgrim and native indian hats and sing "America, the Beautiful." A few years ago, as our children started getting older, one of the aunts suggested that we bring back the talent show. It's been a lot of fun. Above is a photo of everyone getting prepared to watch the talent show.



Here is Austin playing Christmas songs. He had decided he was going to do juggling for his talent. (Yes, go ahead and laugh) I knew this would not go well, so I tried to gently encourage him to do something else. A few weeks ago he was playing some Christmas songs and I told him that would be a great talent to share. Thankfully, he agreed and has been practicing since then. He did a great job playing Jingle Bells, Jolly Old Saint Nick, and something else I can't remember right now... Olivia and Ashley have also been practicing for weeks, although you couldn't quite tell by their "freestyle" dance performance. Let's just say it turned out just as I thought it would. They danced to "I just can't wait to be King" from The Lion King. It was great entertainment value. Whitney showed some of her creative artwork, Landon recited "The Night Before Christmas" from memory (very impressive), Sophie and Zoe sang a cute song, Lauren showed a picture she drew, Cooper did a ninja demonstration, and Emma danced and said, "Welcome to the Talent Show!" in a very adorable way, about 10 times. Oh, I can't forget Levi's impressive demo of the Ab-Crunch contraption from 1982. It would have only been better if "Let's get Physical" was playing in the background. I think Mom had to supress the urge to grab her phone and "Call now!" I didn't get a photo b/c I was laughing too hard.



The kids also played a pin the feather on the turkey game. They were so loud and crazy, I can't believe little Maddie was sleeping in the room 3 feet away. She's obviously a great 3rd child. Congratulations to Alisha and Amy who are both expecting next spring. Better you than me! Hee hee.



Just kidding, I love my little ones. We took these photos just before we left for Thanksgiving. They just love taking turns with the camera, it was hard for me to get one of them! I have finally gotten to the point where I can let them take photos, with my supervision. I don't want to stifle their little inner photographers, but I almost have a heart attack every time they're touching my camera. They took about 30 pictures of each other and me. Thank goodness for digital cameras! Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete...

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I feel like it's already Christmas. It comes so fast every year. I keep having to remind myself it's not December yet!! Jared and I went out at 5 am on Friday (yes, we're crazy) but I have to say we did get some good deals on a few items we wanted. I came home and had a nap that afternoon. We tried to see Australia that night, got there too late, then went into James Bond, only to find that the seats were gone, and ended up in Transporter 3. Let me tell you, if you happen to find yourself in Transporter 3 by default... just leave. Jason Statham is hot, but not that hot. (Sorry Jason)

Here's a little recipe I found from Oprah's trainer. Sounds great to me- if you happen to have any sweet potatoes leftover!

Sweet Potato Almond Soup
Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
2 cups leftover mashed sweet potatoes (or 1 pound cooked sweet potatoes, skins removed)
3 1/2 cups almond milk (unsweetened)
2 teaspoons thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Puree all ingredients in a food processor for 1 minute. Add pepper to taste. Gently heat in a small stock pot or large sauce pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.