Thanksgiving 2010

I have so many things to be thankful for, and I count my blessings daily. I remember one day, back when I was a teenager, and my mom and I were having a fight about something. She yelled at me saying, "Sometimes you are the most ungrateful little brat!" At that moment I didn't know what to say, I just felt bad for making my mom feel like I wasn't grateful for all the millions of things she has done for me over the years. Since that day, I try to express gratitude towards my mom, my husband, my Heavenly Father, and others who I love and care about. I've made it a habit to list all the things I'm thankful for on my way from work everyday, and it's become one of my favorite parts of my day. I also took time this month to make a list of all the things I'm thankful for and hung it on my fridge. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such great family and friends. Adam and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families. We spent the weekend at my parent's house, so that I could help my mom cook dinner and decorate for Christmas. We got to my parents on Wednesday night, and my mom and I got started on making the pies for Thanksgiving dinner. It's kind of become a tradition that I help my mom with Thanksgiving dinner. She makes the crusts for the pies and I make the filling. We always make a big mess, but there is never a dull moment with us in the kitchen.

I made my very first pie crust, but not without lots of help from my mom.

It was a cherry pie, and it turned out delicious!

After finishing up two pumpkin pies, two cherry pies and a pecan pie we were ready to go bed. The next morning we woke up early and started making the sides for Thanksgiving dinner.  We were busy for several hours making green bean casserole, dressing and fruit salad. Around noon my Aunt Kathy and Unc came over for dinner. Unc brought his delicious rolls he always makes, and Aunt Kathy brought a yummy grape salad. It was fun having them here, and we really love them. Dinner was so good! For a long time I didn't like a lot of the food at Thanksgiving, but maybe my taste buds are changing. The Patriots were playing during dinner, and Adam kept making up excuses that he needed to wash his hands, but he was really going to check the score.  After dinner I laid down because I was so tired from all the calories I'd just consumed. At 2:30 we went over to Adam's Aunt Elizabeth's house for Thanksgiving with all of his family. I couldn't get myself to eat one more thing, so we decided to just sit and talk with his family. We had a great Thanksgiving surrounded by lots of family. After dinner we went back to my house and Adam and Unc watched the rest of the Cowboys game. I think Adam was glad to have a man in the house that actually watches football because my dad does not. All the girls hid in the mom room and talked for a while. Later that night we played American Idol singing competition game on the Wii, and my mom won!

On Black Friday Adam made me get up at 4 a.m. and go to Wal-mart. I wasn't very happy about having to get up to fight crowds and stand in line for an hour! I wrapped our cat, Zoey up into a blanket and took her with us, and she kept me entertained. She didn't even meow very much. Adam had mapped out his whole shopping plan, and he got everything he wanted, except the waffle iron that I wanted. We were back home by six a.m. and I went back to bed for a few hours before getting up for work. After a long day of work I was ready to go to bed. On Saturday morning my mom and I got up and decorated outside. I hung the lights on the bushes and the trees while my mom trimmed bushes. It looks like Christmas outside! Zoey also had fun chasing my mom around, and eating the bushes. It's always fun decorating with my mom!

It's a lot of work trimming all of those bushes, but they look great!

Mom teasing Zoey

Wrapping several strands of lights around bushes and trees is time consuming!

Zoey loves having her picture taken

And how cute is she!

That afternoon I got ready for the day and met Adam at the park. His cousin Tiffani was taking our family pictures, and I was so excited. She is so talented, and we had so much fun with her. I can't wait to see them! When I got home my mom and I got out all the Christmas decorations and started decorating the house! I love unwrapping everything and finding all the treasures inside. My mom has SO much Christmas stuff, and we scatter it around the room every year.

Christmas Chaos

My dad and I have our own little Christmas tradition. Every year we drive up to Kolob and cut down our own tree. It's always fun talking to my dad, and playing in the snow. This year we weren't able to go to Kolob because of the "Artic Blast" and there was too much snow up there now. I was really sad, and now we have a domesticated Christmas tree. My dad bought a Christmas tree for the first time in a long time. On Sunday morning my mom and I woke up early and started decorating the tree.

Half way done! I always put the lights on the Christmas tree for my mom because she hates doing it, and I'm not letting her buy a pre-light fake tree.

We finally got everything set up and on the tree! Everything looks fabulous! My mom and I make a great team! We had a great weekend hanging out with my parents, and we can't wait for Christmas!

Zoey can't wait for Christmas either. She has been eating all the christmas decorations she can reach. It's been so much fun, and I'm sad to be going home. I miss laughing and goofin' off with my mommy.