Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! Aaron and I had a pretty good Turkey day. I've always loved Thanksgiving, and although it was not anything like what I had growing up (we lacked about 45 extra bodies), it was still very nice. It was small, just the two of us, but we enjoyed the day. I woke up early and got started on the cooking, and cooked for a few hours and I have to say that just wore me out! But it was mostly from washing the dishes since we don't have enough space or dishes, and it got really hot in the house with the oven and stove going so that didn't help. But we got everything finished and had a nice dinner. We had turkey (of course), homemade cranberry sauce for the turkey, homemade stuffing, green been casserole, ambrosia salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, and sweet potato souffle. We have more food than you could possibly believe, which means we will be eating leftovers for some time. Aaron made the sweet potato souffle last night and I actually liked it. For those of you that don't know, I'm not a fan of yams at all. But it was mixed with a bunch of other things that really toned down the flavor of the yams and it was actually quite good. Today as I was cooking I thought of my Grandma Penrod a lot. We always had Thanksgiving with my mom's family and my Grandma and Grandpa Penrod always made it so special, and I don't know how my Grandma always managed to make such wonderful dinners for that many people, let alone how they stood all of us running around the house for the entire day. After today, I just decided that she must be Wonderwoman!

Even Remy and Cooper had Thanksgiving

After we ate and cleaned up the kitchen, I fell asleep on the couch while Aaron watched a football game. (Football always does that to me.) Then Aaron and I went and saw the movie Australia, it was very good, although they really could have found a way to make it shorter. All in all we had a great day! Most importantly, it was good to reflect on all of my blessings and all the things that I am thankful for. I have been given so much and I am so thankful for what I have been given. It is truly humbling when I think of everything that I have.

So Spoiled!

Yesterday was my birthday and I had such a fantastic day, but I have to say that I am so very spoiled!! I can't even hardly believe it! I woke up in the morning and went to let the bunnies out and to make them their breakfast. (Yes I make my bunnies breakfast...they are on a special diet to keep their poop coming...another story). On the table was a box of Sees chocolate, I was so very excited! Inside was my favorite...blueberry truffles, yes I know I talk about them all of the time, and some other flavors. I was very excited and they tasted so good. (No, I did not eat the whole box!)Then I went to work and had a great day at work. No crazy things happened, no emergencies came up, and no one called me a..... well you get the idea. It was a great day! I even got to leave a couple hours early since I worked most of Monday. Then Aaron took me to Caruso's which is a FABULOUS italian restaurant, it is my favorite! It was soo good. Aaron also baked my birthday cake, the one I have every year. Then I got more presents than you'd ever be able to imagine. I absolutely love every one of them and cannot believe how spoiled I am! Thank you to Mom and Dad, Joe and Lynn, Melissa, and of course my wonderful husband who spoils me rotten! Anyways, it was a great day!

Pumpkin Cravings

I have been craving sweets with pumpkin in them. I made pumpkin praline bars on Tuesday, this weekend I'm going to make a pumpkin roll, and of course for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. But I also really want pumpkin chocolate chip cookies or a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf. Does anyone have a really good tried and true recipe they could give me? I already have a recipe, but I'm not too terribly fond of it.

The Halloween Grinch

Yes, that is me, the Halloween Grinch. Let me explain. Yesterday at work, we have a Halloween party for the kids. We make a trail through the office and the kids stop at every cubicle and trick or treat so to speak. However, it is not that simple. Every inch of the DHS office was decorated to a tilt! When I got home from the funeral, this is what I saw by my cubicle...

And let me tell you, this isn't even close to what it looked like when every thing was finished. There were tunnels to walk through, scary music, automatic halloween "things" that moved and talked and the whole gammit. Then there was my cubicle....


As you can see, my cubicle isn't decorated one little tiny bit. Since I took off for a few days for my aunts funeral, I didn't have time to do anything to my cubicle. My cubicle was the only cubicle in the entire office that wasn't decorated... and I became known as the Halloween Grinch. My only saving grace Halloween afternoon was I bought a crazy wig that tons of kids starting laughing when they came by my cube and saw me. For some reason, they seemed to think it was very, very funny.

However, I did get into the Halloween spirit at least a little bit. Yes, I decorated my bunnies. As I was dressing them, I was laughing pretty hard, it was funny watching them hop around the house in their costumes! Funny thing was Remy handled it better than Cooper, and Cooper is usually the one who handles annoying things better. But they were so cute, and I laughed so hard because they acted so funny.


After taking pictures of my bunnies and me in our costumes, Aaron and I carved pumpkins. Aaron's pumpkin turned out awesome! It was a pack of wolves, although the picture isn't great. My pumpkin was stupid and wasn't worth taking a picture of, I don't have the skills that Aaron has.

Family

So I know it has been a really long time since I last blogged, but Aaron and I are still alive and kicking. This last week my aunt Lea passed away suddenly, and I was able to go down to Blanding to her funeral. I have had so many thoughts mulling around my brain over the last week regarding life and death. It was harder than I thought that it would be, but at the same time, I am so grateful for the opportunity to go back home and say goodbye to Lea and pay my last respects to her. I wish I had a picture to post of her. She was a great and noble lady. She was beloved by most people who knew her. In fact, the fourth ward choir who sang at her funeral, many of them were very tearful during her funeral, and I am sure she had a big impact on their lives as well. She was such a happy person and shared that happy personality with all who came into contact with her. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, friend, and neighbor. She was a wonderful teacher and an accomplished artist. She painted beautiful pictures. Lea was a perfect fit for my uncle Elmer, and they have always been there throughout my life. It broke my heart to see my uncle Elmer hurting as he was, especially since the Hurst's are not ones to show emotion. I am definitely more Penrod in that respect. It was good to see my family and to have closure. Thank you Dad and Mom for helping me to come home!

The only problem was that I missed my husband while I was away. But I have to brag about what a wonderful husband that I have. When I got home Aaron had the house all nice and clean, and he had a big bouquet of beautiful flowers for me. That melted my heart, and meant so much to me. Aaron is a very thoughtful person and has a way of providing little surprises that really help me. I love him so much and appreciate his kindness and thoughtfulness.