Thanksgiving ReCap

We had a very nice, low-key Thanksgiving. Last year, everyone travelled to us to celebrate and the festivities seemed really big and a whole lot of the food travelled to us as well. This year, my parents were in Belize City on Thanksgiving enjoying a seven day cruise to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary (it was in September). So, C's parents and my sister B and boyfriend J came to our Thanksgiving. It was perfect in it's simplicity. C is great with the bird, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, I made two pies, B brought a third pie, the rolls, and green bean casserole, and C's parents brought L's seven-layer salad and some other yummies. We all ate too much because it really tasted good! I can't remember the conversation (because it really tasted good!).

This year, for some reason, I wanted it to look Thanksgiving, so I got the tablecloth and cloth napkins. Everything looked really nice with Grandma's china and the lead crystal candle holders C and I received as a wedding present.

J and sister B with the "starters." He asked for the peanut butter - it was not part of my beautiful plan. It's a good photo of sister B's really short hair - J's may be longer at this point! They are so cute!

Food collage: my apple pie (homemade), the tasty turkey, my pumpkin pie (mostly homemade), and L's awesome seven-layer salad. Then my beautiful table again.

The table, candle holders, and three glorious pies. The pies were gone within 48 hours.

Pheasant Hunting Out West

If you don't enjoy some good photos of bloody birds, I'm warning you that C went pheasant hunting. We went out west to LL's parents' place where the boys could shoot their fill of pheasant, which C LOVED doing. Saturday morning was gorgeous for pheasant - a lot of me went out and they were able to cover a large area and bring down thirteen or fourteen pheasant and then blow up some quail. I didn't realize that we came out on the weekend that LL's family celebrates Thanksgiving, so we also tucked in for a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving dinner Saturday evening. LL's mom made creamed pheasant and it is such a wonderful dish over mashed potatoes. You put the right food in front of me and I am the happiest girl ever. C was living a dream: hunting, followed by a giant dinner?! Yeah!

I think C actually enjoys cleaning game. He's good at it. And when he tells the story about butchering a deer with a knife in one hand and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the other, I gag a little bit in my mouth. But I assumed that these birds were going to taste good and they were just as pretty dead as they were alive (and they look a little bit like chicken once opened up), so none of this really bothered me.

More cleaning pictures. I didn't go with them because I really enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday morning after we arrived at 1130pm Friday night. So no HUNTING pictures here.

Ahh, more dead birds. The photo in the lower left corner really amuses me. J is funny. It was nice to see LL at home and J around his soon-to-be inlaws (they really like him).

The meat and the pretty tail feathers. I could have made a hat with the tail feathers, but the snow the next morning got them. Boys went out Sunday morning (I declined again) and were soaked with an hour or two. When C walked back into the house, the only part of him that was dry was his rear.

We had such a nice time with LL's family - they took C hunting and were super nice. They even let us crash their Thanksgiving (and boy can C eat!). LL got some more wedding stuff accomplished while home and we all got to see the beautiful church where she and J are getting married this May. Fun times!

Jeep Trip in Pike National Forest (The Jeeps)

Without further ado, the Jeeps!
Roll call:
Green Jeep Wrangler: belongs to JS, called the Green Monstah
Red CJ-7: belongs to J, called the Red Rider
Grey Grand Cherokee: belongs to me (and C), possibly called the Grey Ghost?

**All of these seemed trail ready and worthy with some last minute modifications. For the Grey Ghost, we added some Grabber tires about a year ago, a gifted two inch lift kit more recently, and are a little sad that we ran out of time to add some serious bumpers (could have been nice to have somewhere to attach tow hooks, should they have been necessary).

Someone, anyone, tell me those aren't awesome! Incredibly capable too - the Grey Ghost went everywhere the other two Jeeps did! C is so proud!

Red Rider in her glory. Super steep incline.

Did you really think the guys wouldn't find any mud? Here you go: the mud trails! They emptied most of the mud holes out with their enthusiasm.

Ready, set, stop and snack so the kids aren't whiny . . . and GO!

Jeep Trip in Pike National Forest (The Players and the Camping)

These are some quick collages of all the players that went on the Jeep trip with us. We did so much in a four day period: we drove out to CO, found a campsite in the mountains, ate really well, went four wheeling for two whole days, played with fire, slept in tents, pooped and showered outside, and basically had the time of our lives. The boys are talking about taking a men-only trip back in the spring. The morning after we drove in, C, J, and JS were telling us their bodies didn't ache and they were not worried about anything.

Let's see, you've got a couple of pictures of C and me up there, lots of J smiling like a goon (he had SUCH a GREAT time, there is JS, getting the hang of this Jeepin' thing. Some pictures of the scenery and of the six-year-old boys, G and B. Some relaxing, some chilling, some playing with Lego's, some wearing our super cool Dodge PowerWagon shirt. These people had a blast, you know!

Mostly just of the boys: J, JS, C, G, and B. Oh, there's T with her morning travel mug of hot chocolate (no one but JS, her dad, thought to bring hot chocolate). JS had to set up the girls' tent. C started most of the fires and the small boys, G and B, had to be told MULTIPLE times to stay out of the fire, stop throwing things in the fire, PLEASE do not start a forest fire, etc. Lots of tents were set up and I'm sure we were setting up our own little compound in someone else's favorite campsite. You know what though? They trashed the place and we definitely left it cleaner than we found it - which merit badge do we get for that?

I know you all were waiting for these: C and A (me!). We had a lot of fun, but I will not consider this my much delayed honeymoon. I would like showers and toilets on that vacation!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my 26th birthday and really, my mom deserves the credit. Thanks for all the happy birthdays and thank you all for making me feel special!

The awesome yellow/Jello cake that C made me! He's never made me a cake before and the frosting is just Cool Whip and strawberries and raspberries. It was so tasty!

Me. I'm a goober and still recovering from an awful sunburn. I was also watching a movie (HP and the Order of the Phoenix - which C got me for my birthday) which explains the glasses.

Desperation & Cupcakes & Hummus

Do you see the desperation in the little one's eyes? Boris and Bella were SO upset that their dad left in his truck without them. C took the boat to the lake and went fishing with N. These guys sat by the door for at least two hours after C was gone. They work themselves into a frenzy when they hear the diesel start up or when they hear it coming down the street.

Boris is pathetic and I needed to show C just how bad it gets when he leaves in his truck.

I, being completely insensitive to the dogs' angst, made yellow cupcakes. I tossed a few in N's truck for him and A to enjoy.

In the family I grew up in, we appreciate frosting, but not as much as everyone else. So we usually leave half of a cake, or a fourth of the cupcakes, unfrosted. Because sometimes you just aren't in the mood for frosting.

I made hummus and it tastes good! It is entirely thanks to K's recipes, that is super simple, and she was generous enough to pass along. The last time I made hummus, it was so awful that I had to throw it away. I just don't have good luck with tahini or something. This version does not call for tahini, but it does have cilantro, cumin, and curry in it - all of my favorite things! I still didn't quite follow the recipe correctly (I seem unable to do so), but it tastes great and I froze some!