Giving Thanks

As a family, I wanted us to focus more on being thankful for what we have and to really recognize that everything we have is a gift and blessing from our Father in Heaven.  So for one family home evening in November we had a lesson on gratitude.  After the lesson we made a Turkey of Thanks.  Remembering things that we had talked about being thankful for each child, and even mommy and daddy decorated a turkey feather with something that we were most thankful for.  Neither Jacob nor Emma could decide on just one thing, so they put several things they were thankful for.  This is the end product for that project.

For our Thanksgiving dinner we went fairly simple this year in anticipation of the big feast between feasts.  We love to pan fry our potatoes year round so this year Jeremiah chose to apply that technique to yams. Instead of seasoning with garlic and salt we went with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Oh so good!  Originally, we tried it with marshmallow cream, but then switched to whipped cream because it cut down the sweetness.

These are the cinnamon glazed yams.

I also decided to try baking sausage stuffing in a pumpkin.  I figured there is a high moisture level in a pumpkin and that it would not only make for a moist stuffing, but also have a creative serving vessel.  It looked great, but the moistness I was looking for didn't really happen.  I am thinking that if i were to saute the onions and celery beforehand it would probably help.  

We went with smoking a chicken instead of turkey this go round.  Homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, stuffing, and of course the yams.

And finally, this was my plate.  I was able to fit everything on with minimal food space touching issues.  Those of you who know me, know how important this is to my well being. ;) 

It was a wonderful layed back day together with the family.  I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I have been blessed with.  I am amazed everyday at my children and the things they are learning.  I am grateful for Jeremiah, I love him so much and thank my Father in Heaven daily for bringing him into my life.

The Feast Between Feasts

We didn't go anywhere or have anyone come to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas, but that doesn't mean we didn't have a great feast with great people.  Because so many came from both sides of our family for Jacob's baptism we decided to have a big Thanksgiving/Christmas Feast while everyone was here.  It was so much fun.  

My parents came as well as my sister, Lisa's, family.  My brother Darin doesn't live very far away and was also able to come with his girlfriend, Christi, and her daughter.  Jeremiah's parents were also able to fly up with his sister, Jamie and her two kiddos.  Jeremiah's Uncle Dick and Aunt Diane made the trip down with their son Stephen, too.  It was definitely a full house, but oh so much fun.  

Just about everything was made from scratch.  We smoked a turkey and baked a ham.  They were perfectly done.  To go along with that we served green bean casserole, cranberries, cinnamon glazed yams with whip cream, sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Then of course there were the pies.  Pumpkin, because you can't do Thanksgiving without it. Peppermint Cream Pie, throwing out a bit of Christmas in the mingle.  Then there was a Coconut Cream Pie and a Chocolate Satin Pie.

Stephen and my dad

Stephen , my dad,, and Lisa

My mom and Jeremiah

The love of my life.  

Bill Dad, Jamie, Uncle Dick, Aunt Diane, Cheryl Mom, and William

It's Great to be Eight!

My little Jacob turned eight this year.  I can't believe how time flies so fast.  Sometimes it still feels like yesterday that I was waiting around in the hospital for him to come.  Apparently, his desire to come to our family early was stalled a bit by the fact that he wasn't quite ready.  November 22, 2004 my water broke unexpectedly, for he was not due till December 26th!  Because it was so early, I had to be taken up to Yakima Memorial Hospital so as to be close to their NICU.  However, during the long ride my contractions stopped.  By testing the fluid they discovered that his lungs were not yet fully developed, so they didn't want to get the contractions going again.  Finally, after nine days of waiting they started up again.  Other than the days in the hospital it was a short labor.  Starting at about 7pm, Jacob was born December 1st at 1:00am.  Now my boy is eight, and so grown up.

The month of December seemed to be all about Jacob.  We had a couple of parties and he received birthday gifts throughout the month.  Because Jacob's birthday was on the first Saturday of the month he got to be baptized on his birthday.  We had so many come to support and celebrate with him!  I hope to have pictures from the baptism soon to post here.  But, for now, I will post the birthday photos.

* Baptism photos

Jacob on his big day with Daddy.

Here is everybody that came!

Here is the birthday cake!  It looks a bit different here than it originally turned out.  I discovered that the little boys had eaten everything off of it the night before Jacob's birthday, so I made all new pieces for the cake.  I suppose I can be glad it was the night before and not an hour before.  :)

Jacob loved the cake.  He was pretty excited about it.

Jacob is really into science, so we got him a little kit to do experiments with regular household things.

A scripture case for his new scriptures!  He loves it, and makes sure to grab it every Sunday for church, and every night for family scripture study.  He has even set up his own system for marking verses with the colored pencils that came with the case. 

Loving the Legos!  Jacob can spend HOURS building and creating things.  He has gotten really good at it.

So that party was a big family party to share with everyone who was in town for the weekend.  I am so grateful that we have so many family members and that we are so close that we love being together and supporting one another.

Later we put on a party for Jacob to invite his friends for.  I continued on with the pirate theme, but instead of a cake I went the route of cupcakes.

I put together a treasure hunt.  I made clue cards for them to find till the got to the final prize.  This is the first clue card.  I had a lot of fun with my Cricut getting ready for this party.

I also made this banner.  Definitely something I can save for future birthdays.

Jacob had five of his friends from school and church come to his party.  They had so much fun.  We had a couple of other games to play.  There was a gift unwrapping game and a balloon stomping game.  It turned out really well, and Jacob and his friends had a great time!

Jaxon and Abbey

Jacob R.

Jacob R. , Dylan, and Logan  (Emma in the back )

This was definitely a memorable month for Jacob.  I can't believe he is already eight.  I love him so much and will remember all the moments we have had so far and look forward to the memories we will be making in the future.

Pomeroy Farm

This year I got to go on a field trip.  Jeremiah happened to take the day off that Emma's Kindergarten class went to Pomeroy Farm.  It was such a neat trip.  So many parents showed up to help out that we only had groups of two or three.  All the children were so excited.  It was fun to watch how Emma interacts with her friends and classmates.  The giggling girls, it was so cute.

When we got there we split up into groups.  Our group got to go to the pumpkin field first and pick out our pumpkins.  The kids could pick anything they could carry.

Emma on a search for the perfect pumpkin.  Believe  me this was no quick and easy task!

After picking our pumpkins we went on a hay ride through pumpkin lane.  I feel bad because it was so neat and I completely forgot to get out the camera!  They had pumpkin people ranging from our founding fathers to Batman and Superman.  

Following the hay ride they got to play a couple of games and run through the maze.

Here was a ball in water race.  They had a lot of fun with this relay.  

Then we moved on to see the animals.  We learned a lot about chickens.  They only lay one egg a day, and that is during a good laying season.  Chickens lay better when the days are longer and lighter.  

We even got to feed the chickens some corn.

There were also goats that we got to feed.  Emma, however, didn't want to have anything to do with those teeth coming so close to her hand. :O)

We then got to meet Ham and Bacon.  The kids learned that pigs are raised to be eaten.  Most took that well, but there were a few surprised kiddos on that one.

It was a really fun day at the farm.  I am so glad that Jeremiah had the time off so that I could go with Emma.

* Ok so this has taken a long time to post because I finished the post but didn't save it before my computer powered down.  So half of it was lost.  I finally got over the disappointment and finished it.