THANKSGIVING 2021

 We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in Eagar this year with quite a few of our kids coming home. Chad & Luann, Bret & Suzy and 4 kids, Lisa & Barry and 3 kids, Kari & Kirk and 4 kids and Tami & Ryne and 3 kids. We had a houseful, it got pretty wild at times, noisy and messy a lot, but that's what family is all about. We had some mishaps, some more serious than others. I thought when I went to get my turkey out of the fridge after being in there to un-thaw for 5 days and finding out that it was still frozen solid was a catastrophe!  But, No, it wasn't! I put it frozen in a turkey bag and put it in the roaster on high for 5 hours, and it was actually a little over cooked! Chad made his famous pistachio salad and then forgot it at home in his refrigerator and had to re-buy all the ingredients and make it again. Then we had almost everyone get sick with a 12 hour stomach bug! It started with Lilly throwing up about 2:30am Friday morning. Then Ivory, who got it the worst and lasted the longest. Dempsey was next, then Colter and last was Gabriel. We thought it was just affecting the kids, but then Lisa was sick and Tami the next day. We had a day without anyone throwing up and then on Saturday night, Landon was sick and threw up all over the bed, Barry and the bathroom. Needless to say, my washer and dryer have been going non stop! All those are minor events compared to the last major mishap. LaVerl decided to take the boys fishing at Big Lake. Thanksgiving morning he took Kirk and Rivers and Elijah. They came back with 2 little fish, but they had fun. Friday morning Bret and Kingston went. They were gone a long time, but finally here they come. Bret comes rushing into the house to tell us that they all almost died, LaVerl had fallen asleep while driving and they went flying threw the air, truck and boat, and landed in a nose dive in an open field! It was probably the only spot on the road that they wouldn't have died going off the road at 50 mph!! I think both LaVerl and Bret have whiplash, but they are alive and well. The truck didn't fair so well. Our family has so very much to be thankful for this THANKSGIVING! 

Us girls started off Thursday morning at 6am Hi-fitness class! 

"Hi before Pie"!

We invited our friend Christine Saffell to join us. We had so much food!

The cousins had fun playing together!

Of course the boys watched a lot of football!

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And here's the truck after its landing, boat still attached! It doesn't look bad, but the front is all bent in pretty bad. This is LaVerl's second wreck on the road to Big Lake. The other bad news- they only caught one fish!!

BiRTHDAYS and BAPTISMS!!

 It was an eventful week. On Thursday, Nov. 18th little Lucy Grace turned 4 years old. We didn't make it to her party, but Lisa made her an amazing strawberry princess castle cake.

PRINCESS LUCY!

We weren't able to go to her birthday party because we were at Roosevelt finishing up our bathroom remodel. We came into Mesa on Friday for our eye appointments. Tami got Lasik eye surgery last week and now she can see 20/15 and is super excited to be able to see! We went to see if we qualify and sadly both of us have cataracts, so we need that type of surgery, but hopefully that will help us see better too! After a few stops to Home Depot we went to the Mesa Temple open house! It is so beautiful!

 We stayed with my folks and enjoyed our visit with them. Saturday was Ivory's baptism. They had lots of family come!

Chad and Luann drove from Snowflake.

My talk on the Holy Ghost is always requested because of all the candy and other stuff I give in the box.

Bret and Suzy fed us all afterwards! The food was delicious, the decorations amazing!

Lisa's family and Tami's family also went to the temple open house!

Unexpected trip to Oregon

Mom got a call that her little sister Hilda was not going to live much longer so we decided it would be great to take her to see her and her other 2 sisters so they could spend some time together. I quickly booked some flights and drove back down to Mesa. I had just been there Sunday and Monday and went back on Wednesday. We flew out on Thursday. Kathy meet us at the Portland airport. 

 

Mom was a trooper traveling at the age of 96!

 

 

This was Aunt Hilda 3 days before we got there.

 

 We had to stop for a little food and bathroom break at KFC.

 

We got to Bend, OR about 4pm after a wild ride over Mt. Hood in the rain and Paul picked up the sisters and rushed them off to see Aunt Hilda. They were able to see her and stay in the room and talk a couple of hours, but she was in a coma and wasn't responsive at all to them, but hopefully somehow she knew they were all there for her. The next morning, Friday at 10:15am we got a call telling us that she had passed. It was a sad day.  My sweet Aunt Hilda is gone and we will miss her!

 

 My cousin Vicky, her daughter, treated us royally! They put us up in a suite at the Garden Inn Hilton.

 

They brought us food from Costco and Vicky and I did a little shopping, so we didn't even have to leave our really nice room the whole time we were there. We were glad because it was cold!! 

Friday night Paul and Vicky brought home slides from their trip to Switzerland and old pictures of Aunt Hilda's family for us to watch!

 The sisters- Aunt Nita, Mom, (Lillian) and Aunt Violet

Me and Mom

 

 

We had some delicious Eberhard's eggnog and ice cream! They are our relatives!

 

We headed back to Scappoose on Saturday. This time we had snow going over Mt. Hood! We had Guy and Kathy, my cousin Jamie and his son Jared, Joel and his girlfriend Tina all come over that night for pizza. We all had a wonderful time visiting. Sunday Mom didn't feel real good, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the day together.

Monday, Kathy came and we all went to Tillamook to visit with Mom's cousin Alma Ableman, who is 6 months older than her.

 

 Alma is super paranoid of getting the Corona virus-Covid 19. She was wearing goggles, a clear shield and a mask! Kathy brought flowers!

 

 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye was hard. Mom said to her, "Alma, the next time I see you we'll probably be in another place!"

We decided to eat at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

We also took flowers to Swiss Gma's grave and we found my Mom's first baby's grave.  Donita Lee Dawes. She died Jan. 15, 1950

We got home around 7pm and Aunt Vi, my cousins Heidi and Brian came over to visit.

It was a super great day, spending time with my relatives and getting to go back to my hometown.

The whole 6 days we got to spend with our family was wonderful. I was so glad to be able to take my Mom to see her sisters so they could see each other once again, for maybe the last time. They are all getting pretty old, or as Mom says, 'ancient'!!