Wicked

On Friday Isabella and I went to 'The Village', a very nice outdoor shopping mall, to see the movie version of 'Wicked'.  I had totally not taken into account that it was 'Black Friday' and 'The Village' is very popular. 

I am not exaggerating when I say that we spent 35 minutes, mostly stopped in traffic gridlock, looking for a spot.  Just about the time the movie was going to start, Isabella said, "There is a spot".  Unfortunately for me, it required parallel parking.  And I hate parallel parking. In fact I avoid parallel parking at all costs BUT the movie was about to start so I attempted it.  I admit that I was probably 3 feet from the curve and I spent the entire movie hoping my car wouldn't be towed or side swiped.  And it wasn't!  Isabella told me that her Daddy could park in the spot easily in one try and I don't doubt that.  Without comparing myself to John or to George, I was pretty proud of myself.  

And we loved the movie.  Isabella gave it a 10 out of 10.

I give any time spent with this girl at 10 out of 10 - even in traffic gridlock and with parallel parking.

 

Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving was perfectly lovely! Truthfully I was thinking of taking the family to Chuck-A-Rama like we did a couple of years ago when only Monica, John and Isabella were joining us. The variety of foods was a big hit for everyone and the quality of the food was better than I remembered,  Chuck-A-Rama was one of George's Dad's favorite places. He made sure to get his money's worth by piling his plate high and even stuffing rolls in his pockets.

My original plan changed when Matt told us that he was not going to Wyoming with Cady to her Grandmother's 90th birthday because he knew we would be in Peru next Thanksgiving and he wanted to spend this one with us.  When I heard that I knew I had to fix a traditional meal with all the foods we love.

And that is what I did!

Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad and rolls.

Followed by cherry and pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream for dessert!

Served on the china my Daddy bought in Occupied Japan with the silver that was once my mother's, the water glasses that belonged to my great grandmother and George's mother's bread bowl. 

A multi generational table setting.

Isabella did the centerpiece and also helped with dinner preparations.

I googled 'best mashed potatoes' and found a recipe that called for a 2 sticks of butter for 5 pounds of potatoes.   Isabella cut them into small pieces and added them to the potatoes.  I told her to count to 20 between each addition and she very carefully did just that.

And the potatoes were definitely the best ever....tons of butter tends to make everything 'the best'.

I love these people more than I can adequately express.

Sure glad they are mine!

We followed this advice.

And we don't even feel guilty!

A Different Thanksgiving

 Mary and Mark were celebrating with his family in West Virginia.  Matt and his girlfriend drove to Portland to be with her family and also with Scott so we were just going to have John, Monica and Isabella for Thanksgiving dinner.  Cooking a big dinner for a such a small group didn't sound like a good plan so we went to Chuck-a-Rama.  We all have lots of good memories of enjoying the big buffet with George's Dad.  He loved places that were reasonably priced where you could load up your plate and even put some rolls in your pocket to take home! 

Seems like lots of people had the same idea.  I was surprised but the hour long wait to be seated wasn't that bad.  Being with family makes everything better!

The food was actually very good and the huge selection meant that there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Isabella ate chicken and French fries but she especially loved the slushy drinks.  

A 'two fisted' drinker!  With this plan you don't have to pick just one flavor.

The rolls were delicious, especially with the honey butter.  I WAS tempted to put a couple in my pocket but I resisted!

Such a great meal with fun conversation and no dishes to do when it was over!

We were all stuffed and happy!

Afterwards we played games at our house....and eventually ate some pie that I had made.

One of the  'girls" won each of the 6 Uno games so we were the Champions of the World, much to Isabella's delight!

Then we played a new one, a geometric cube matching game which proved to be a hit as well.  We didn't keep score so no world champions for this one!

And we ended the night with some time playing pool.

I think the hat made John look like a pool shark!

Grandpa gave Isabella some pointers.

She will be better when she gets a bit taller but it was still fun. 

Isabella also spent some time with a tried and true favorite, the Frozen magnets.  

She has decided that she loves wearing glasses. 

A quick Isabella story - Last Sunday she and I sat down with the book that contained all the 'thankful turkey feathers' that we have written over the years.  She was especially interested in the ones her Daddy has written starting when he was about 3 years old.  When he was on his mission he signed his feather, "John AKA Elder Lewis'.  We didn't talk about what that meant, we just read it together.  I was surprised when she wrote out her thank you feather and signed it, "Isabella AKA Izzy'.  She explained that one boy in her 1st grade class calls her Izzy.  I love the connections her mind makes and how quickly she learns and remembers things.  Grandpa explained what AKA meant but somehow she had figured that out and remembered just from the signature from her Dad's mission.

Just a bit of Grandma bragging about my smart little granddaughter. 

It's Who Is Around the Table

 

The older I get the more truth I see in this statement!  Although what is ON the table for Thanksgiving dinner is definitely wonderful, it is those beloved faces in the chairs that makes me the happiest.

I used the china that my Daddy bought back from occupied Japan at the end of World War II, George's mother's silver bread bowl, my aunt Mary's table runner and the silver flatware that belonged to my mother.  That makes those loved people feel a part of our celebration.

I must tease Scott a little. He said that he was very excited to have some of my mashed potatoes.  

Here's his plate!

I cooked 6 pounds of potatoes and all were gone by mid day on Friday.  

The highlight of the day was playing games with Isabella.  Scott challenged her to a Go Fish tournament

And Scott won!!!! We know how much she likes to WIN  but she still loved Scott!

And a big shout out to George who spent almost 2 hours doing dishes. There were a LOT of dishes and all those antiques can't go in the dishwasher!  

This Thanksgiving was definitely better than our quarantined celebration in 2020.

And it made me super excited for our Christmas celebration in just a few short weeks.  There will be 3 more beloved faces in the chairs for that!  Mary, Mark and Jackson!!!

Thanksgiving 2020

I'm thankful that we were able to still enjoy Thanksgiving while doing our part to slow the spread of Covid-19. We dropped off pies for Johnny and Monica (pumpkin for her and apple for him).

Then we had the full Thanksgiving dinner for George, Matt and me. It is a good thing we like leftovers. Also thankful that Scott enjoyed dinner with his roommates and Mary, Mark and boys with the Reynolds family.

 

Thankful Through the Years

Last year I did a blog post about our 31 years of 'We are thankful for...." feathers.  This year I decided that it was finally time to take them out of the zip lock bags and put them in a notebook so that we could easily read them. 

Customize-It sold these great notebooks that were perfect for what I wanted.

We now have 31 years of feathers safely protected, and easily accessible.
I've already read Isabella the feather from when her Daddy was 5 years old, just like she is!  Next she wanted to know what Uncle Scott and Uncle Matt and Aunt Mary had written on their feathers.  So fun to have these sweet treasures to share with her.

 

I am thankful for....

For the last 30 years one of our family traditions has been to ask each person at our Thanksgiving table to think of things for which they are thankful and then to write their list on a paper turkey feather.   We skipped a few years when we were traveling but still have an impressive number.  Some are written in Spanish, some in a small child's printing. From family and friends, short or long, all are  precious.

We have some fun ones from our little kids.  Like the year that little Johnny was thankful that '3+3=6'.  Or Scott's gratitude that Daddy was fat!  Matt was pretty consistent with being thankful for snow and snowboards and skateboards.  Mary was very eloquent in her gratitude for her family and their unconditional love.  Scott always expressed his love for horses and soccer.  John knew that he loved Monica 7 years before they were married.  

Among the most treasured are 3 from our parents.
 Grandpa Lewis, "I am thankful for the quiet calm of old age that gives me the chance to reflect on the undulations of life without the threat of recurring seasickness" 2001

 From my mother, "I am thankful for my wonderful family, my daughter, son-in-law and four 'great' grandchildren, for our happy times together, and our love for each other and our love for our God." 1993 

From George's Mom, "I am thankful for the gift of life, my testimony of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, for loving parents, for my righteous husband, Walt, and four children and our daughters-in-law, lovely grandchildren, a good home, my kind neighbors and friends."

I love that this year we added Isabella who was thankful for her Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandma, Uncles Matt and Scott, Mary and Baby Jackson, and for Isabella!

Now that I too am in the 'quiet calm of old age', I realize more than ever the things for which I am most grateful.  And I know that they are not 'things' but people!

Thanksgiving

I love everything about Thanksgiving! 

Setting the table with the the china my Daddy brought back from England in 1953 (the year I was born)and the handpainted dishes that my Great-great Aunt Blanche painted in 1921 for her brother, my great-grandfather S E Webster . 

Pies - this year cherry and  pumpkin

Homemade rolls that I didn't make myself - thanks John.  I think your rolls are a new Thanksgiving tradition!

And of course, sitting down at the table with some of the people I love the most. 

We missed Scott who had dinner with friends in Portland and Mark & Mary and their little guys who were celebrating with Mark's family. 

If I were to ask Bella her favorite things from dinner, I know what she'd say - Sparkling Cider and Whipped Cream!

 Seriously, don't you wish you could eat your pumpkin pie like this!

It was a very good day!

Thankful for Thanksgiving!

Thankful that Scott surprised me and flew over for the weekend

Thankful for Matt and George for making that happen

Thankful that I have the beautiful china my Daddy brought back from occupied Japan and the silver that was my mothers.

Thankful that John, Monica and Isabella came over the celebrate with us

Thankful that we get to enjoy our adult children and our granddaughter

Thankful that all the food tasted wonderful.

Thankful that Isabella loves turkey and mashed potatoes.

Thankful that Monica is a wonderful mother to our precious, little granddaughter

Thankful that Johnny took over the job of baking rolls and had great success.  The torch is passed!

Thankful that Monica is adapting so well to our distinctive American traditions.

Thankful that George did the dishes!

Thankful for games of Uno and Apples to Apples. 

Thankful for all the 'stuff' I've collected over the years.

Thankful for all my 'stuff' that makes Thanksgiving even more fun!

Thankful for Matt's help in putting all of the 'stuff' away!

Thankful for jumping!

Thankful that even though Isabella started the day dressed adorably with a ribbon in her hair.  She ended it a wild jumping Tarzan!

Thankful that Mary and Mark have their cute little bundle of joy.  Because he is a foster baby we can't show his face so you'll just have to trust me that he has squeezable chubby little face and an adorable smile.

Thankful that Mary and Mark could celebrate Thanksgiving with Mark's wonderful family since they can't be here with us.

Thankful for Thanksgiving - a holiday that makes us pause to remember all our many blessings.