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!

Costume Parade 2014

I spent Halloween at my parents' house waiting for some trick-or-treaters to come and show us their costumes.  While we waited, we had chili and donuts.  My Mom has made chili every Halloween since I was a little girl and we all look forward to it.

Tashena was a scarecrow.  She found everything for her costume at thrift stores and my sister found her scarecrow tattoos here.  I think she looked fantastic!  Tashena always comes up with interesting and unique ideas for Halloween.  She went trick-or-treating and then to a party with her friends.

Sean decided to be a skeleton again.  He gets a bonus for being a skeleton because it is a costume but, after Halloween, it is a jacket.  He was so excited to go trick-or-treating and he could barely lift his bag when he was finished.

Scarecrow and Skeleton 2014

Cinderella 2006

Witch 2007

Snow White 2008

Shrek and Princess Jasmine 2009

The Bride of Frankenstein and The Karate Kid 2010

Medusa and Ninja 2011

Yuki (from She Smells the Dead by E.J. Stevens) and Skeleton 2012

Secret Agent and Skeleton (at a Masquerade Ball) 2013

Labor Day Weekend 2014

Labor Day Weekend is billed as summer's last hurrah so my family took the motor home to our favorite KOA in Fillmore for some fun and relaxation.  I had such a great time!  While we were there we took a day trip to Capitol Reef National Park (which was a bit farther than we anticipated but definitely worth the drive).  I had never been there before and I loved all of the red rock formations (they reminded me of Zion National Park).  We were able to go four-wheeling through the gorge and that was pretty spectacular!

It was a great way to end the summer!  Now I am looking forward to fall which is my favorite season!

Independence Day 2014

Friday was absolutely wonderful!  I spent the holiday with my family and we had so much fun together.  We had a fabulous dinner of dutch oven chicken cordon bleu, corn on the cob, fruit salad, and rolls.  I think everything tastes so much better outside.

I made my traditional flag cake, which I have made every year since I was in high school.  It is so simple:  bake a white cake, spread a tub of whipped cream on top, and place blueberries and sliced strawberries in a flag pattern.  It is a really light and refreshing dessert which tastes a lot like strawberry shortcake.

I also made flag cupcakes at Sean's request.  He kept asking me if he could have one.  I think he eventually had four of them before the night was over!

While Sean went swimming, the rest of us played the board game Life.  This is actually one of our favorite games to play when we were kids (we also had epic Monopoly games that would last for days during every school holiday when were young).  It was so much fun to continue the tradition with Tashena.  We have a tendency to get really silly while playing cards or board games!

Sean had a hard time waiting for it to get dark to start the fireworks so we had the kiddos play with poppers and sparklers.  I think Sean would have been completely happy with just the poppers!  But we take fireworks very seriously in my family!  When we were kids we used to spend the 4th of July at my Grandma's house in Moroni.  My Dad used to provide a fireworks show for all of the grandchildren.  This usually necessitated a trip to Wyoming to get the good (illegal) stuff.  One year the sheriff pulled up in front of my grandma's house and we were afraid that my Dad would be in trouble.  Turns out, the sheriff just wanted to watch the show!  Now aerial fireworks are legal in Utah so Marilyn and I spent the equivalent of the GNP of a small country on fireworks this year but it was so worth it!

We had an epic show (although the expensive one I bought for the finale was kind of a dud).  One of our aerials malfunctioned and sent showers which exploded towards us!  One exploded right next to Marilyn and actually burned her leg a little bit.  She is such a pyromaniac that when we rushed to see if she was hurt, she yelled out, "That was awesome!"  After the fireworks display (we were competing with the people one street over and I think we won), we went inside for cake.  Then the kids wanted to go in the backyard and play another board game.  We ended up playing Clue (at midnight) and laughing so hard!  Another very memorable 4th of July!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends!

O Canada

Today is Canada Day!  While Canada is no longer my home, it is definitely my native land.  I have actually lived more years in the United States than I did in Canada and I am very grateful for all of the opportunities that I have had as an American citizen, but I am very proud of the fact that I am Canadian!  Canada is the land that I love!

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

Memorial Day weekend is the official start to summer so, of course, my family went on a camping trip.  This year we took the motor home to the KOA campground in Fillmore and it was absolutely wonderful!  The weather was simply gorgeous (sunny with a little bit of a breeze) and I especially loved the smell of the Russian olive trees (Marilyn, who suffers from allergies, did not) and the sound of birds chirping.  So relaxing!  We spent most of our time sitting in our camp chairs reading and talking in front of the fire.  We spent the rest of our time eating!  We had quite a few dutch oven meals and we also made tin foil dinners.  Everything was delicious.  I always think food tastes so much better outside.  I have really come to enjoy the RV lifestyle because the people that we meet are always so friendly and laid back.  It is always nice to get away from the stress of daily life to relax and appreciate nature.  I am definitely looking forward to more camping trips this summer.  I hope everyone had a enjoyable long weekend with friends and family!

Easter 2014

Easter weekend was absolutely wonderful!  Lots of sunshine, family, food, and fun!  Saturday morning Marilyn and I colored Easter eggs with Sean and Tashena.  We tried a new technique involving shaving cream and food coloring which ended up being extremely messy but we did end up with some beautiful eggs with two colors swirled together.  Sean spent more time playing with the shaving cream than he did coloring eggs!  After our egg adventure, we took the kiddos out for lunch.  Whenever they get to pick the restaurant, it is always Chuck-A-Rama so that's where we went.  Then it was time for presents!  Marilyn found those adorable bags on Pick Your Plum.  They were a hit!  The rest of the afternoon was spent outside.  Sunday morning Sean and Tashena had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard and found their baskets.  The Easter Bunny brought Tashena a longboard and Sean an impressive Amazon gift card (He is currently obsessed with spy gear and he had half of his gift card spent that afternoon on toys from his Amazon wish list.)  I think the Easter bunny has become considerably more generous since I was a kid!  Then my brother-in-law Trent fired up his griddle and we had French toast, bacon, and sausage for Easter brunch.  It was absolutely delicious.  I think food always tastes better outside.  After another afternoon spent outside, we had an Easter feast.  Kristine made Chicken Cordon Bleu in the dutch oven and it was so good!  We spent the rest of the evening in front of the fire pit with three different pies picked out by Sean from Village Inn.  I had the Lemon Supreme!  Yum!   As we lingered by the fire we all wished that the day would never end.  I love spending time with my family and I love being outdoors so it was the perfect Easter for me!

Note:  Go here for the recipe for the Lemon Chick Cookies.