MaeLyn's Musings

We're back! We woke up at 3am Wednesday morning, and 20 minutes later we were on the road. While the roads were clear, the mountains we drove through were cold and there was a lot of snow on the sides of the road. At one point the temperature was -9 degrees (F). The kids and I slept (or tried to sleep) for the first few hours, then had breakfast, watched movies, listened to music and Fablehaven on CD.      Around 11am or so, we arrived at Four Corners and we stopped there for a break. The kids ran around from one state to another, we looked at the Navajo jewelry and stuff that was on sale there, and we had lunch at a convenient picnic table. Then we were on the road again.    We arrived at Steven's mom's home in Phoenix, AZ around 6:00pm. We had dinner. The kids opened up gifts of puzzles from their Grandma. Steven's brother Andy and his family showed up a little later. Thanksgiving day was spent entirely at Grandma's house. Steven's grandparents...

Clothing packed? check. Sleeping bags? check. Snacks for the trip? check. Someone to watch the cats? check. We are almost ready! Tomorrow morning we plan to leave early, early in the morning, and we will drive to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with Steven's mom. As a result, there will be no regular blogs for the next few days. (I know you are disappointed.) Since I figured out how to post from my phone, you may get a very short message (the length of a text), or an occasional photo, if I feel like it, but there will be no lengthy discourses. I'm on vacation. Have a great Thanksgiving!

The past week or so has been wonderful! I have so much to be grateful for. Here are just a few of the many blessings which I have enjoyed this week. We had our Primary Program on Sunday (the 18th) and it went really well. (That was a huge load taken off my shoulders.) On Tuesday, I was able to travel to Utah with my sister's family. (Thanks Heather!!!) I was able to visit with my parents and siblings and have fun with them. (I'll never think of "reverse evolution" again without thinking about a certain game of Pictionary played with April and Heather.) I was able to attend a bridal shower for my new sister-in-law. (I'll have to practice making bridal bouquets out of newspaper, crepe paper, doilies, and rubber bands...)  In spite of the many people staying at my parent's house, I had a very quiet place to sleep - in the basement on Amber and Scott's remarkably comfortable sofa. (Thanks Amber and Scott!) I was able to have fun playing with my nieces ...

Last night I was feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. I had been trying to set up visiting teaching appointments only to realize I had lost the paper with the phone numbers for both my companion and one of the sisters we visit. (I had phone numbers elsewhere for the other two sisters we visit). One of the sisters had set up an appointment only to text me back a few hours later to say that wouldn't work after all, and she wouldn't be available again for two weeks... I had also been trying to contact my Primary secretary about picking up the pizzas for our primary program practice on Saturday, and she hadn't answered her phone, and she hadn't been at home when I'd stopped by there, and she had told me previously that she doesn't have time to check email anymore... I needed to talk to a friend in the ward about Thanksgiving dinner, because we were planning on having it with them, but we needed to figure out what we needed to bring. I was wondering what ou...

We've come a long way since the first time we ever cooked a turkey. See here for Steven's account of that. In spite of that discouraging beginning, we persisted in trying. A couple years ago, we came across an article in the Denver Post (Shaw, Tucker. "Get it Perfect." Denver Post [Denver] November 17, 2010, Features, D-01) that gave us a lot of good ideas. Searches online gave us some more ideas of how to do it. ( Unfortunately I don't have the references for those anymore. You can do your own search. ) The last couple years we have still had our hang ups, but once the turkey was cooked, it tasted wonderful! So here's what we do: 1. Saturday before Thanksgiving: Remove turkey from freezer, place in refrigerator so it can start thawing. 2. Tuesday morning: In a clean ice chest just large enough to fit turkey, mix 1 gallon cold water with 1 cup salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and some thyme, pepper, garlic and bay leaves. Unwrap turkey, remove any giblets from n...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We have a lot to be thankful for: After two weeks of frantically stripping, sanding, painting and repainting, I screwed on another batch of newly painted kitchen cabinet doors Thanksgiving morning. I just have the upper east side of my kitchen to go: four cupboards, seven doors. My new goal is to finish those by Christmas. I love having sisters living close enough to visit! Heather and her family returned to Colorado from Alabama, where they've been for the last six months, just in time to join us for Thanksgiving. April and her family also came up from Fort Carson to join us. We had thirteen people sitting around our tables for Thanksgiving, and I loved having them! (It's a good thing I'm not superstitious at all.) I'm also grateful that they didn't mind feasting mostly on side dishes while they waited for the turkey to finish cooking. Cousins gathered to watch Steven play a game on his cell phone.  I'm thankfu...

This has been a very enjoyable long holiday weekend. The kids had the day before Thanksgiving off school so I made them do good cleans of their assigned rooms, and as a reward I took them to get ice cream cones and play at the park in the afternoon (which also helped keep the house clean for a while). That evening we had Steven's scouts over to work on a graphics arts merit badge. I got to show them some of the basics of Photoshop, and the boys seemed to have fun with it. Thursday was a beautiful day! We locked the cats in the master suite and then revacuumed the entire house in an attempt to get rid of as much cat fur as possible before Heather and April and their families arrived. We really enjoyed their company, and the feast was delicious! (I didn't realize until today that we had forgotten to make any stuffing! We had so much food I didn't miss it at the time.) Tejay prepared the turkey, Heather made the drinks and April and Dean provided a fruit salad and rolls. All...

Thanksgiving. The holiday begun by Pilgrims and American Indians giving thanks for surviving their first few seasons in the new world has become so much more. It is a time for food, family, and for some, football. This year we had the feast at our house. At my sister's halloween party I found out that my Mom was coming to Colorado because my sister in Colorado Springs and my sister-in-law in Boulder were expecting little bundles of joy to arrive just before and just after the day of feasting. At the time I didn't expect that I'd be seeing much of her, because after all, I'm not one of those having a baby. As the time drew closer, I learned that my sister in C.S. was planning on having Thanksgiving dinner for everyone in the family in Colorado at her home, and that my Dad and unmarried siblings in Utah were planning on coming out to join us for the holiday. Thinking that it would be a bother for her and her husband to host a Thanksgiving dinner for so many people when s...