Thanksgiving in Provo

How many men does it take to deep-fry a turkey?

 

Well, at least three! Tough job it looks like, too. . .  But us ladies were happy that the men were taking care of the turkey so we could handle the rest.

 

 Here's some of the crew putting together these cute napkin holders, a fun idea from Emily.

 

 

 Aunt Emily is the coolest, putting together a creative turkey-making station for the young ones.

 

 

 The boys skeptically tried a new marinade injection that I found online. Dan was particularly reluctant to try something new, but was graciously humbled when the flavor turned out moist and delicious!

 

 Ham, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, fruit salad, green salad, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry chutney. Mmm-mm... so good! Pumpkin, chocolate, and berry pies for dessert (And breakfast. and also lunch. .. . for the next couple days!)

 

Emily had a fun dinner conversation idea. After we ate, we each looked under our plate and had to answer the "get-to-know-you" type question attached at the bottom. Some of them were, "Most embarrassing moment, pet-peeve, clothing attire you would ban (skinny jeans for boys would have been top of MY list!) etc. It was really a lot of fun laughing at our answers and poking fun at each other. Thomas was the best sport of all, who was targeted for his choice of shirt for the evening:

 

There's actually nothing wrong with this shirt. Thomas is a nice dresser! But as soon as he walked into the house, I said, "You know you're a perfect target for Dan, right?" Dan and Thomas banter all the time about their drastically different clothing styles, and everyone else seemed to jump on board that day! Sorry, Thomas, but thanks for the fun time together!

 

 

 

 

Off to the park, post-Thanksgiving-lunch! 

 My two dads . . . ?

 

 

 This outfit makes me wish it were cold enough in Vegas for this clothing more often!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think everyone is here but Addie, Brax and Aiyana, who I happily put to bed early. She turned into such a stinker this trip, hitting her cousins and throwing daily tantrums. At least she sleeps great where ever we go!

 

 

Black Friday Shopping!

 

I've never done the 5 AM Black Friday shopping before and haven't ever had something I really wanted to get. But now that Aiyana is old enough to understand presents, I wanted to be a part of the crazy (if not shameful) Christmas shopping experience! This year, of course, Black Friday was more of an intrusion into Thanksgiving evening, but since all of us were doing it together (except Lynette, who didn't have anything super tempting on her list at Wal-Mart) it was still a fun, family affair.

 

Emily showed us all the ads online and even printed out Wal-Mart's store layout so we could better find our super deals. I'll admit, I was a little nervous about the stories I've heard in the past, with the elbowing and trampling of over-eager people, but also excited with the energy you can instantly feel even from the over-crowded parking lot.

 

The one major item on my list was a $50.00 play kitchen-set (usually priced $20-30 higher). However, as I finally found the item in the aisle, I observed it from behind a handful of people with protective hands on each stacked box. After a minute, one woman closest to the box said to me, "Are you trying to get one of these? 'Cause we've got a system and each of us is taking one of these." She pointed to the people closest to her. "So,"she continued, eying me with somewhat menacing humor, "you'll have to fight me for it."

 

I tried not to roll my eyes too much at her ridiculous threat, thinking it was too bad I was pregnant or I may not have walked away so easily. . . As it was, I scrounged around for smaller purchases and between Pawnee, Jen, Emily and me, we pulled together some great deals! And a lot of people were actually pretty nice, all things considered.

 



A shot Pawn took while Emily was getting the car for us.

(Sorry we didn't get another one with you in it, Em!)

 

 

 

Temple Square Lights

 

Another very fun, memorable evening was meeting up in Salt Lake for the lights. I haven't been in a few years and it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and intricate all those lights are. Great evening being together, and the kids were super!

 



 

 

 

 

The trip went by way too fast, even though I'd been up there since the Saturday evening before Thanksgiving so I could catch some time with friends. I did love getting together with a handful of friends in the Lehi to Salt Lake area. No pictures, but just happy that these friendships never change, even when we don't see each other all the time anymore. Love you guys!

 

We were sad to leave family in Utah. It's always so much fun being together. Too many fun times to write about (though I think we'll all remember Balderdash night and practically (ok, literally in my case) peeing our pants over some of the answers. May we always remember the synopsis to "SIZZLE", with thanks to Emily for her creativity.)

 

Kylana's "dead-fish" hug to her Uncle Dan. She's really going to miss him.