Thanksgiving Day

I love Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year. It was Dad's favorite too. And no wonder. Mom and Mary came over in the morning to make ten pies. Homemade all the way. Even the crust.

There were a few setbacks. We followed the wrong coconut pie recipe--but that didn't matter because the coconut filling (for six pies) spilled in Mom's van anyway. As usual, Mom handles setbacks with grace.

We went to my dear Aunt Gayle's who invited the whole Dennis Blackburn crew for dinner. We weren't all there. Travis and Tami were in California with her family. And we really missed Ben and Mindy who are living in Poland. I love Aunt Gayle's house. It is a dollhouse. She has the prettiest rooms with beautiful windows and I love her fireplace mantle and china cabinet. I forgot to take pictures. And she can cook like a storm.

Bonnie and Mary look adorable with Greg. Poor Greg. He was really put through the ringer today. He endured well, and when some of the family asked if they were going to see him again, he replied, "That's up to Bonnie."

Kent's daughters, Andrea and Jessica look gorgeous. Andrea is in Idaho on a softball scholarship and seems to be doing really well. Andrea once told me that Kent practiced with her an hour after school every day--it looks like it has paid off.

Beautiful women! Mary and Mom. Ah! And there's my china cabinet behind them. Do you see it? It's blue.

Ricky charmed his cousins with the way he said, "Eleven." He's not used to so much attention (sometimes we don't notice him for days at our house) so he was tickled to have so many beautiful girls laughting at everything he said.

We were so grateful to Aunt Gayle for having us. She is a dear. Her rolls were to die for. The turkey, potatoes, salad, and sweet potatoes were divine. And Katherine whipped up a pretty wicked hummus.

We had a beautiful devotional--so many of us shared our thoughts about Dad. Reed talked about how grateful he is for the priesthood. Philip shared a sweet Carbon County experience. Write it down Phil! Mom talked about how much he loved all of us.

The day passed so quickly. I was jolted out of the dream, when David said, "It's time to go home." What? Really? Already? But it was. "Our lives are like unto a dream." Thanksgiving was a dream.