I've decided that this blog is really about just every day living and my attempt at trying to remember what's happening in my life. Time has a way of getting away from me and the longer I go without pausing to recall past events, the harder it is to remember.
Thanksgiving was celebrated with the Petersons (Rob, Tamsen, Burke, Hewitt, Tosh and Liv) in Arizona. Alisa joined us for some of it, too. We enjoyed lovely warm weather, fun times with the grandchildren, and plenty of delicious food. Tamsen commented that with an extra pair of hands (mine) she could have everything she wanted for dinner...and we did (turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, pretzel jello, and broccoli). We put off dessert until a little later when Kurt Fisher (Rog's sister's son) and his family joined us. We had three choices (and who could not try a little of each) of pumpkin pie, chocolate mousse pie, and a chocolate/cream trifle with crushed candy bar in one layer. It was all very delicious, but I felt a lot like the turkey...stuffed. Liv tried to help with the preparation of the jello by opening and then consuming the jello powder, hence her rather red fingers and face. Her mother was able to remove most of the red from the carpet. We also enjoyed a Grandparents breakfast at the boy's school as well as watching Hewitt in his class play about the first Thanksgiving. He was a great Squanto (see previous post for picture). We enjoyed walks and visits to local play structures. Rog was able to get out for some bike riding. The weather is certainly conducive to outdoor activities. We just may have to do this again...soon!
We came home for a week and we were off again...this time to Oregon. Rog tried his hand at fishing on the Indian reservation on the Quinalt, but didn't have much luck, or you might say, a "little luck". We did have one nice dinner with their catch, but we were hoping for about a dozen or more dinners. Our oldest children, JaneAnne and John were performing in a community choir, Cantico, singing wonderful Christmas music. They even did a couple of duets, so parents were popping some buttons. Our 7 year old granddaughter, Anna, put on an art show with a friend and our oldest grandson received his Eagle Scout award. We also sandwiched in a quick lunch with long time friends, the Lathens. It was fun to help with Christmas preparations and I especially enjoyed the smell of fresh Christmas trees as we decorated them and cookies fresh from the oven.
Right after we returned home, we were able to get together with some former Armenian missionaries, the Jones' (home about two weeks) and the Pincocks. It was so fun to reminisce and talk about our shared experiences.
Christmas found us busily preparing a dinner on Christmas Eve, doing the nativity with the family, singing in the choir...all things which help us to enjoy and remember the reason we celebrate the season. We're so grateful for our Savior and his birth. I've taken a couple of pictures from Jana's blog as I apparently didn't remember to use my camera.
2011 has been a wonderful year. It's been a year to serve family and others; a year in which we enjoyed being missionaries, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ; a year to count our blessing, especially those of good health and good doctors. We appreciate the love and support we've felt from family and friends and wish everyone a happy, healthy, New Year!
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| Hewitt and Burke at Breakfast |
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| Grandparent's breakfast at their school |
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| Liv with "jello" fingers |
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| Hewitt at playground |
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| Burke at play ground |
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| Liv loves dressing up. She's quite the girl! |
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| View of sunset as we returned to Utah |
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| St. Helens and Rainier from our flight to Portland |
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| Richard Bolton, John, Jake, Patti, Rog Peterson |
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| Pincocks, Petersons, Jones's at Red Robin lunch |
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| Anna's art work |
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| Kiefer and August playing Santa |
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| Nativity actors, Joseph and Shepherd |
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| Two beautiful angels, Kate and Merit |
