Merry Christmas!

Santa definitely came! The kids had sprinkled reindeer food (from Krissy and Ray) out on the snow and this morning they thought they saw reindeer hoof prints on the roof! They all got many wonderful presents and we got to have Grandma and Grandpa here with us which was extra special!

The anticipation was killing them as they waited for Dad to finish plowing the driveway and for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive! It was definitely worth the wait!

Port checkin' out the gifts

And first comes the stocking of little Port, and Kenna, and Charley! Oh how Santa filled them well!

The traditional xmas morning backrub for Dad - a requirement before any gifts are open!

Grandpa had to get in on the action too!

The robot that flashes, talks, spins, walks and is loud enough to make just about anyone go crazy!

Sweater from Santa!

The anticipation is killer!

Pure chrismas heaven

The homemade gift from mom - a quiet book! So much thanks to Trish for ALL the help and sewing genius! We love you!

Trying out the new stationary, pens, stamps, etc.

Lovin' the Poly Pocket slide n splash from Santa!

A new cart and play food from good buddy Brookey!

The kids were ALL supposed to help with breakfast and serve Grandpa and Grandma, but it turned into Porter and Charley too busy playing to help Mom and Kenna in the kitchen! Makenna made Christmas Crepes - which were filled with berries and looked beautiful!

Christmas Eve

This year Krissy and Ray hosted Christmas Eve and we had so much fun! They had decked out their living room with white lights that hung from the ceiling and everything was so festive. We had tons of great food and games and entertainment. After yummy soup, bread bowls and more for dinner we started the activities. Uncle Ray had put together this fun game where you listen to Christmas movie clips and then have to figure out what movie it is. It was great! Each family prepared something to share - a song or something silly and Trish played her flute which is always a highlight. Grandpa read from Luke of Christ's birth while the kids each held a puppet or two that represented the story - an angel, a wise man, the baby Jesus, etc. We ended with our own version of a white elephant gift exchange - and I think everyone came away pretty happy. It was a fun night!

The kids had fun getting all tangled up in TWISTER!

Makenna sang "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" and sounded great!

Thanks Krissy and Ray for all the fun!

Back home we got the fire going and the kids got to open a present -

new chrismas jammies of course!

Can't wait 'til Santa comes!

A Polynesian Turkey Day

So it's taken me a while to find the time to blog our Thanksgiving! It was quite a memorable one as it was just us this year and Peter got the sweet idea of cooking our turkey in the ground. Our friend Fish who lives in UT does this every summer with a pig - he is Hawaiian and it's a great tradition, so we thought we'd start it for Thanksgiving! It was quite an adventure and an all day event! We didn't actually end up eating our turkey with our Thanksgiving dinner because it wasn't quite done! But when it was, boy was it good and juicy - we decided it was our best turkey ever BY FAR!

Peter and Porter used Grandpa's handy Kubota to dig the hole for the turkey

After the hole is dug then you lay rocks in the bottom - Port had fun with this

Once the rocks were in place it was time to prepare the fire

Port was such a big help to Dad - he was lovin' the whole process.

Here's he's helping tend the fire.

The cabbage bed.

Prep'ing the turkey with all kinds of yummy seasonings

and inside Peter put apples, onion and cinnamon for a wonderful flavor.

The turkey all ready, wrapped in cabbage leaves and wire mesh to hold it all together. The thermometer had a nice long wire so we could bury the turkey but still be able to read the temp. This was my one and only request - we had to be sure it was done!

As you can see the fire was burned down to hot coals -

ready for a big turkey to smother it.

You then cover it with wet burlap and we poked a little hole in it for the thermometer.

Covering it all with dirt! I helped - aren't you proud?!

(All I was doing was holding the cord to the thermometer so it wouldn't get buried.)

At about 9:30pm we decided to pull it out of the ground because the temp wasn't increasing very quickly after a certain point. We thought it would be better to finish it off in the oven.

Cutting through the wire mesh to free it

It only took about 45 min. to finish baking - itn't it purdee?!

By the way Peter won this turkey in the annual Sister's Branch Turkey Shoot -

he was the best shot and won an 18 pounder - that's my man!

Makenna's Thanksgiving Day project - Indian Headdress Napkin Holders
They turned out so cute! You can't see them, but she attached tiny little

homemade feathers to the back of each one.

The Grand Feast!
(Minus the turkey, but it was OK - we were so full w/o it!)

Definitely plate-licking good!

Come on over for a ho-ho-ho down!

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