Thanksgiving 2023

I spent Thanksgiving with my family (Sean came home from college but we were missing Tashena and her fiance Tucker who live in Washington) and it was a wonderful day.  We had a somewhat non-traditional dinner because we had ham instead of turkey but we did have all of the other side dishes including potatoes, yams, stuffing, asparagus, pomegranate salad (a family favorite), a relish tray, and rolls.  Everything was delicious!  In the evening we had pie and lots of other treats (my sisters are very good bakers) and then we played Shanghai rummy (an absolutely crazy card game that really gets going).  I am so grateful for my family and that I am able to spend so much time with them.  I hope that you had a happy Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Thanksgiving 2022

My family was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  This was our first Thanksgiving without our parents so it was really bittersweet but I know that they would both be so happy to see us all together and enjoying ourselves.  We had the traditional dinner with turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pomegranate salad (a family tradition), vegetables and dip, and rolls.  We had pie for dessert and lots of treats when we played Shanghai rummy later that night.  We ended up laughing all night and that felt really nice after the year we have all had!

I hope you were all able to spend Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Thanksgiving 2021

It has been a rough two weeks for my family because my Dad has been in the hospital for some unexplained symptoms.  He had to be put on a ventilator for several days and recovering from that has been rough on him.  None of us were really up for celebrating Thanksgiving (and all that it entails) this year but my sister had the idea of ordering everything from Cracker Barrel!  She picked everything up on Wednesday and then all we had to do yesterday was heat it up (they even gave very detailed instructions of when to put each item in the oven so everything would be ready at the same time).  The whole dinner tasted delicious but, more importantly, we all were able to get together (except for my Dad, who is still in the hospital, and Tashena, who is playing in a basketball tournament in Arizona) and have a much needed break from the stress.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Note:  We are thinking of ordering Thanksgiving from a restaurant from now on!

Thanksgiving 2020

Yesterday my family had a wonderful holiday (as you can see from Sean's expression ha ha!).  It was a little different than usual because we put all of the food out buffet-style and ate in the living room so that we could distance ourselves a bit more.  That ended up being a lot of fun with lots of conversations and laughter!

We had turkey and ham, stuffing, cheesy potatoes (here in Utah they are called funeral potatoes), rolls, pomegranate salad (a tradition in our family), and a vegetable tray with dip.  Everything tasted delicious!  We actually had pumpkin, pecan, and cherry pies but we were all so full that we didn't even get them out!

After dinner we played a crazy game of shanghai rummy!  We have not played this together since New Year's Eve and it felt really good to be doing something so normal after the year that we have had!  We got laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe!  Kristine won but I came in second, even after a disastrous early round (we are thinking of having a tournament over the Christmas break where we all buy in and winner takes all but that might make it even more ruthless than usual).  I think this is one of the best Thanksgivings we've had!

Note:  Tashena is going back up to school in Washington state today after being home since the pandemic started.  We will miss her so much but she'll be back for Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2019

Yesterday my family celebrated Thanksgiving and it was such a fun day!  My Mom, Marilyn, Tashena (she is home from college for the weekend and it is so good to see her), and I went out in the snow to see Frozen II in the afternoon and I loved it even more the second time!  They really liked it, too!

After the movie we had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner including both turkey and ham, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pomegranate salad, rolls, and a relish tray.  Everything tasted so good!  Here are the usual awkward photos that I get every year because my family won't cooperate.  You're welcome!

After dinner we all took a little nap and then played our favorite card game, Shanghai rummy!  Tashena won (but I came in second place).  After cards we had pie and then Marilyn, Tashena, and I went to see Frozen II yet again (because we are crazy).  It is so much fun going to movies late at night and we were quite giddy by the time we got home!  I really enjoyed spending time with my family yesterday and I am so glad that they are all as crazy as I am!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends doing the things you love!

Thanksgiving 2018

Yesterday my family was able to celebrate Thanksgiving and it was a lovely day.  We spent it much like other Thanksgiving holidays with a wonderful dinner, naps, and then pie while playing an epic game of Shanghai rummy (in which I got laughing so hard that I literally couldn't breathe!).  What I am most thankful for at this time of year is that I have such an amazing family that I get to spend so much time with.  However, they are not very cooperative when it comes to taking pictures so here are a few that I was able to get!

I hope you were able to have a lovely Thanksgiving, as well!

Thanksgiving 2017

Yesterday my family celebrated Thanksgiving and it was so wonderful!  Basically both of my sisters cooked the entire dinner (I brought rolls) which included both turkey and ham, cheesy potatoes, stuffing, yams, relish tray, and pomegranate salad (a tradition).  Everything tasted so good and we spent most of the time laughing.  After dinner we all took a nap and reconvened for our traditional game of Shanghai Rummy and pie.  This game was absolutely brutal (my brother-in-law Trent won) but the pie was amazing!  I am really thankful for this crazy family of mine and I am so glad we get to spend so much time with each other.  I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday as well!

Note:  Nobody in my family would cooperate for a photo!  The one above is literally the best one I could get!

Thanksgiving 2016

Yesterday was wonderful!  We had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house and everyone was assigned to bring something.  I was assigned rolls and I actually made them (Rhodes Bake and Serve) and they turned out great (I have burned them before).  We had turkey and ham, cheesy potatoes, stuffing, the aforementioned rolls, pomegranate salad (a tradition), and a relish tray.  Everything tasted great!

After dinner we all took naps for a few hours and then we reconvened for a ruthless game of shanghai rummy!  Everyone was assigned to bring a treat (we will play this game every night over the break).  I made caramel corn and we also had fudge, caramels, my Grandma Johnson's traditional scones, and, of course, pie!  Sean is modeling the whipped cream from the pie!

Marilyn is modeling the caramels.

This game is absolutely crazy!  Tashena won the last game we played so we were all gunning for her and she was not happy!

It is kill or be killed, Tashena!  I actually won but I know that everyone will be gunning for me when we play again!  It was so much fun to spend the day with my family!  I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving as well!

Thanksgiving 2015

This year, for the first time ever, I hosted Thanksgiving in my new house!  Of course, my sister Marilyn practically walked me through making everything while Kristine brought the rolls (they were from Kneader's bakery and they were delicious) and my parents brought the pies (from Village Inn).

What I was most excited about was using my dining room table!  I have wanted a table like this for a really long time and I loved seeing my whole family sitting around it!  Everything was so delicious and we had such a great day!

Note:  Sean and Tashena were especially happy to be celebrating at my house!

Thanksgiving 2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  I certainly did!  I had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house with my immediate family and my cousin Emily and it was delicious!

My sister Marilyn made the cornucopias at each place setting and my nephew Sean made the place cards (he was very proud of them).  We had Honey Baked ham, turkey, cheesy potatoes, stuffing, rolls, pomegranate salad (a tradition). and a relish tray with dip.  Everything tasted so good!  After dinner we played shanghai rummy (it was Emily's first time and I think we traumatized her a little bit).  This game gets really crazy but we love it and usually play it every holiday.  Then we had pie!  It was a lovely day!