The night before Thanksgiving.

The night before Thanksgiving is basically always the same, I am convinced that I will get to bed early and of course I will have all of the pies done in plenty of time. That will be because I have bought all of my groceries during the week previous.

Fine! So we went to the store tonight to get some “last minutes things?” It only took 4 of us an hour to buy everything we were missing. $349 dollars later we were on our way to another store, because the first one was out of Corn Starch and I had forgotten the Ice.

I have made 7 pies so far and it is only 12:45 am. I was smart enough to assign everyone a couple of main dishes, a pie each and either soda or sparkling cider. It is so bad that Mark is making 90 home made rolls for us and has brought over 2 different kinds of olives…and he isn’t even coming for dinner.

We have also made another change to our Thanksgiving schedule; we are not having dinner until 6:30 pm. We usually eat around 2 and graze all day, but life changes as you have married children, there are in-laws to share time with.

I miss my own family most during the holidays, I miss watching my grandma Massey putter around the kitchen, and my mom made the best pies ever! I was always amazed at her skill to make home made cranberry relish. She would stay up until around 2 am so she could put the “bird” in and slow bake it all night. We would wake up to the wonderful smell of roasting turkey. It was a warm feeling that all was well in your world.

When Joshua married Kaylene, he told us about a tradition his family had of showing their gratefulness. We have adopted the tradition with very little change. We put a cranberry on everyone’s plate and when we all sit down, we pass a special crystal glass around to everyone and they drop their cranberry as they say what they are most thankful for. We then place the glass on the fireplace mantle where it can be seen for the whole next week. What a great way to remind us that we all have much to be thankful for.

I am most thankful for my children. They have all picked wonderful spouses that have added a little of their life into ours. They have given me the best thing of all, my grandchildren that fulfills a portion my patriarchal blessing which reads: “you will be given all you need to make your life rich, sweet and complete.” And it is.

Have you ever decided to paint a single wall in your house? It can’t be done. It is a little like eating spaghetti…the more you eat the more spaghetti you have in your bowl. Our project started out as a simple accent wall in the basement.

We now have painted a bedroom, bathroom, downstairs family room, entry way to the basement, all of the apartment downstairs for Kathleen, and the list goes on. We go to bed seeing cans of paint in our dreams. Steve and Tammy have been the troupers in all of this.

My grandfather was a professional painter, we were allowed to clean his paint brushes, but never paint. As a result; I can’t paint worth beans. I have a deal with Tammy, I do the first coat and she does the finish coat(s). I am not sure if I am really a help or a hindrance, but at least I have been trying.

Kathleen didn’t have enough closet space so…We closed up a hall way and made her a new closet. We have progressed from a simple paint job to a major remodel. Of course we are now up against the clock, Thanksgiving is happening in less than a week, and right now, it looks iffy as to if it will ever get done.

In the middle of all this, we have also moved Jon and Tammy to Kathleen’s room; Kathleen to the Apartment. I am moving back up to the master bedroom, Jared and Steven are moving to my room, and Liam and Reed are moving to Jared and Steven’s room.

I blame Kerilyn and Clark for all of this, if they hadn’t moved out to their own place, we wouldn’t be in this mess!

Jack Bauer

You don’t have to know me very long to know that I don’t watch much T.V. on a weekly basis, with one big exception…

“24” is my big weakness and going almost 2 years without a new infusion has almost gotten the best of me. I would like to say that I am fine without Jack Bauer coming into my front room once a week, but I am not.

Tony has always sent me the previous year’s series on DVD for my birthday, but this year there was none. The writers strike of last year, I took as a personal attack. They held Jack Bauer hostage! Jack is always able to escape. He even escaped from the Chinese, who brutally beat him, but he couldn’t escape from the evil clutches of The Writers Guild of America. They should be sent to Iraq to finish the war there, they hold the true key to torture.

But this year they have given us a peace offering…a Prequel for the season that starts in January. Not that I am excited or anything, but I can tell you where I will be on Sunday Evening, November 23^rd… Jack and I have a date that I won’t be missing.

Never watched “24” and don’t know what the big deal is? Then you don’t know Jack!

Dutch Oven Cooking

In a household that changes in numbers as much as we do, all must take turns cooking and sharing a little in the day to day drudgery of it all. Mark loves to cook, and our favorite addition has been his fresh bread to most of our meals.

This week he brought over several of his Dutch Ovens for us to see and gave us some general instruction into the wonder of it all. Since we don’t own one and never had the urge to buy one, we were pretty oblivious.

Yesterday, Mark brought over two, very large pork Roast and the teaching begun…we learned the basics of spices and the importance of rubbing the spices into the meat. (This is very foreign to a family whose idea of seasoning is a large bottle of seasoning salt) He took the roasts back home to sit for the night, then he was back this morning at 9 am to show us how to heat the pan properly and how to begin the cooking process.

The smells were amazing, with whiffs of dinner, tickling our noses for the whole day. He came over several times during the day to check the process. It was worth the wait, he pulled the pork into wonderful tender pieces and we had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. We all ate way too much, and enjoyed every minute of it.

We have been taught well! However, we thought if we acted like we still didn’t understand the basics he might teach us even more. (Mark is cooking a Chicken for us on Monday night) YUM…

On Their Own

I am not sure that I deal with life changes well. I love having my children grow up and have families of their own. My heart just doesn’t know how to let go. Kerilyn, Clark, Amber and JuliAnne moved into their own home in Heber this week-end. I am thrilled for them, it is a beautiful home and they will be happy there.

It is me that I feel sorry for…I know, you would think I would like just having a few people leave our bulging at the seam house, but I feel just a little lost. I can probably count on one hand how many times I haven’t said good night to Amber, last night I walked into her room, and a familiar feeling hit. It was the same overwhelming feeling of loneliness that I felt when we got home from dropping Jason off at the MTC and I sat in Jon and Jason’s room and cried from the emptiness of not having my boys at home.

Amber’s smile can light up a room, and even though I will still spend as much time with them as possible, I know it will never be the same.

JuliAnne had to struggle so hard to just stay here in mortality; I hold her and feel her spirit. I have no doubt that she is ours and that we will all be a part of this family for ever.

Clark is my knight in shining armor. When life seemed unbearable as I first moved here to Utah, it was Clark who would come over on Monday nights so he and I could watch “24” together, and encourage Jack Bauer to beat the “Bad Guys”. It is also Clark that will rub my foot when the circulation is bad; it is Clark that crumbled my pain killer after my surgery so that I could keep it down. Clark is one of the most gentle and kind men I have ever met.

Kerilyn, I shall miss having her around the house most of all. We have lifted each other from the depth of depression. We have borne each others pains. There is nothing more infectious than her laugh.

I am thankful for the part of their lives I have, I will miss them on a daily basis. But as Robin Williams said in 'Hook', “To Live is the greatest of all adventures!” So enjoy your lives, love each other and don’t take anything for granted. Know that my life is a little lonelier, but my life is better because of you.