I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that all were able to enjoy some quality family time ~

 Dad and I had a really nice day with Adam and Cory in the afternoon, and Angella and the kids who came for pie later in the day.  Cory's sisters, Kelly and Staci, came. Kelly's husband, Chris, and daughter, Alyssa, were there, along with Andrew and Carter and their wives. Paul and Cheryl came down from Denver, and then, of course, we had 1 dog and 3 cats 😀 It was so nice to visit with Cory's family and enjoy some yummy food at the same time.  We came home, rested for a short while, and then Angella arrived with the girls and Ben.  

This year, I bought a pumpkin pie because that's Angella's favorite, and an apple pie for Dad. I made a pecan pie that Emma requested, and whipped up a peanut butter pie that Kate sent me the recipe for.  We sent all of the pumpkin pie home with Angella, and all of the pecan pie home with Emma, and slowly but surely the other two pies are disappearing . . . 😋

I love that everyone was able to gather with family and friends this year. 

 Angella cooked a turkey dinner with all of the trimmings (probably no sweet potatoes) and made the most delicious rolls.

After dinner, we played a wild game of "Sorry" in which Ben declared himself the "2nd Champion".

Kim and Chris had a Thanksgiving dinner of roasted Chicken (the best, from Sam's Club), Kim's delicious green beans with feta, and Chris made some rolls.  It was especially great that Max could be home, and so nice for Kim and Chris to have all of their kids around the table.

I know Kim hated to see Max leave, but it was good he was able to get on the last flight going to Salt Lake Friday night, before the snow started and flights were cancelled.

Kate and Jonathan invited their good friend, Miranda, and her two children to their Thanksgiving feast, which consisted of Jonathan's famous lasagna.  Lasagna always sounds good!  Kate said they had a fun night, played games, and ate peanut butter pie!

BEFORE I LEAVE THANKSGIVING BEHIND . . . .  Does anyone remember these turkey placemats???

 I got them at Pottery Barn Kids just right after we moved here.  (It was a sad day for Dad when I found that store 😁.)  Apparently, I only had four grandchildren coming for Thanksgiving that year - I also bought the small silverware sets for children to go with them.  

Well, it was a sad day for me last week, when I handed them over to a friend who lives around the corner and has four small children 😢 - sometimes, I do miss those little ones.

OTHER FAMILY NEWS ~

Kim and Kate got a good dose of snow this past weekend, and we may get some tonight - though, nothing like what got (I hope).  It looks like maybe 10 - 12 inches???

I'm sure there will be some coming our way soon!  It has been cold here today. In fact, I had my first hot chocolate of the season today after we got home from Church.  

ALSO . . . good news from this past week - Jonathan got his new trombone, and Sayre climbed a ladder to help decorate their Christmas Tree. 

Angella has her Christmas decorations up, and I'm sure Max, Spencer, Grant, and Blythe put up their tree early to tease their Dad.  Cory had her home decorated for Christmas, and everything looked so festive.  We are hoping to get a start on ours tomorrow. 

We got to have Hollie spend the weekend with us last week.  She got her first taste of Cafe Rio (and loved it), some time alone at the mall, and she dressed up super cute for Church on Sunday.  After Church, we went out to Adam's for dinner, and she made some new "cat" friends 🐈 with Stevie, Danno, and Lucy. I think she was in a little bit of Heaven - 

 It is always such a treat to have the kids come for a "playdate" 😁

 

 

Speaking of playdates, we brought Milo home on Thanksgiving Day so he could have a playdate with Sendai.  They are so funny together, and Sendai always gets mopey after he leaves.  This is what he did one morning after Kevin got out of bed - He had the whole bed and all of Dad's pillows to himself - this little guy knows how to live!

Love my girls . . . Blythe tried on her Mom's wedding dress 

 No, I don't think she has marriage on her mind right now 😊. She's making all kinds of plans for college and beyond.

Sammi stopped by one day before work and asked me to go to Dick's with her so she could get some new leggings. We had such a fun time!  Not only did she find the leggings she wanted, but we also found a really cute top for her, and then, what to you know, we just happened to run into Christmas Stanleys! We debated on the green with hollyberries, but decided the red ones were more versatile.  

   I have been going through some of the letters I mailed home from our first assignment to Okinawa.  I wish so much that we would have had the convenience and technology of cell phone cameras back then. We had so many fun adventures, and we missed taking photos of a lot of them.  Just a note from this letter I wrote to my Mom and Dad - 

 . . ."Last night we had tickets to go to a program put on by the Okinawa Choral Society. As we were turning the corner to leave the kids at the day care center, Adam threw up all over himself and me. So, Kevin just made a U-turn, and we came back home, changed clothes, and then took the kids for a ride and found a deserted beach. It was low tide, and Josh and Kimi had more fun picking up seashells. Last week, Adam had quite a nasty cough so we took him to the doctor and found he had an ear infection besides the cough. We had to wait a while to pick up his medicine, so the doctor took some time to weigh him, and he weighed just a little under 17 lbs."  Awwww

My closing thought for today is from President George Q. Cannon, "No matter how serious the trial, how

deep the distress, how great the affliction, God will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character to do so. He will always stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace; we may pass through deep waters, but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them.

  HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK! ❤