Thanksgiving Festivities

Today is Thanksgiving, and we started the day at Dan's house in Casa Grande. We were warmly greeted by Matthew, Emma, Chris and Dan. They had prepared a yummy meal. Dan is quite the chef and likes to embellish his favorite recipes. He made a turkey, which, prior to roasting, he covered with bacon strips. This served to both baste the turkey and keep it nice and juicy, but it also added a subtle smoky flavor to the meat. He also made the traditional green bean casserole, but he added cooked bacon near the end of the baking time. Yum! And he prepared Stove Top stuffing, but had sauteed sausage, onions and celery and added that and corn to the prepared stuffing and then he baked it. It was delicious, too! He also made a Bowler family favorite....green jello! He's the only one that's made it in the past 5 years. And he's got it down!! And he make some creamy mashed potatoes and gravy. It was a great meal. Mark and I supplied dessert...pies....which we slaved over all day....NOT! They were courtesy of Village Inn and Marie Callenders.



After lunch, Matthew, Emma, Dan and I worked on their gingerbread house. I had it constructed, but they did the decorating. As you can tell, they're quite talented and creative. We stuck around and visited a bit, and they gave me my birthday present and we gave Chris hers. Her birthday is on Monday. Happy Birthday, Chris!
Then we headed back to the valley and across town to the Trimbles' for dessert (again!) We provided pie, thanks to Village Inn, and Erin had some pumpkin dessert left from their earlier meal. It was delicious!! We visited a bit, Grandpa played "steamroller" with the girls and they ran, screamed and had a great time before time for bed. Then Mark and I came home. Now it's time for bed, since we plan to be up and out early for some sales tomorrow.
And a bit of extended family news...Kyle and Michelle Ashton had their twin girls today! Michelle's water broke this morning, so they headed back to Rexburg from her parents' home in Blackfood, ID, and they did a C-Section this morning. Both girls were here before lunch. I bet they didn't want to miss out on a good Thanksgiving meal! Everyone is doing fine, and the babies are both so cute. One weighed about 4.5 lbs. and the other one about 5 lbs. They haven't decided which name goes to which baby yet...probably tomorrow. Congratulations, Grandma Ellen, Aunt Audi, Uncle Ian, and Mom and Dad (Michelle and Kyle). What a memorable Thanksgiving!!

For This, I Am Grateful

Primary Program

Today was a fun day. We went to Casa Grande to watch Matthew and Emma participate in their ward's Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. They both did a great job on their individual parts and singing with the large group. They both seemed as though they knew all of the words to the songs well. I'm so proud of both of them. Emma was funny, though. After she said her part, she stepped away from the podium and held both of her hands up and shrugged her shoulders and said something. I'm not sure what she said, but it was a funny gesture! I think it was a little nervous energy.

We're looking forward to having Thanksgiving dinner with Dan, Chris, Matthew and Emma. Dan and Chris will be cooking....except we're bring the pies! They always do a great job trying out new twists on common dishes. And it's always very tasty and good. I look forward to what they come up with this year. Then we'll head north to Erin's and Brian's and have dessert with the Trimbles.

On Friday morning, Mark and I always manage to be at Joann's Fabric bright and early and take advantage of their flannel fabric sale. In the past, it's always been 99 cents/yard. But it's a bummer this year....it's $1.49/yd. Boo! Then on Friday night, we're having Ellie over for her birthday sleepover. She will get to choose where to have dinner that night and if she wants to bring along one of her sisters, she can. Then she'll spend the night and on Saturday morning, she'll get to choose some sort of fun activity and then we'll take her shopping for her birthday gift. She gets to choose what she wants. I have an idea that we'll have some sort of pizza or hamburger meal on Friday, go to Build a Bear for her activity and she'll probably choose some sort of baby doll. But you never know, she could totally surprise us all!