Thanksgiving: Double the Family, Double the Fun

This past Thanksgiving (still playing catch-up here...) we flew out to Utah to visit both the Temus side and the Merrill side for Thanksgiving. It was an extra special Thanksgiving because shortly afterwards my folks would leave for their 18-month self-reliance mission for our church. They were going to Ghana. For that reason the whole Temus clan got together to celebrate Thanksgiving and give big farewell hugs to Papa and Ama. After my Dad retired in June (on my birthday :) ) my parent's rented the house and drove to Alaska for the summer with their 5th-wheel. After that they drove back down to finish the last section of the Continental Divide. (Congrats Dad!!!) They drove around a bit after that and ended up at Sarah's where we all gathered for Thanksgiving. We flew in late Saturday night and church was at 9am the next morning. Needless to say it was a bit crazy but we got there. I thought Charlie was going to talk Ama's ear off on the walk back to Sarah's place after church.

One of the days before Thanksgiving we went to the aquarium in Sandy. It is a really neat place and the kids all seemed to enjoy it. Charlie liked the divers talk as they were in the shark tank and he loved that he got to see his favorite animal; the Pacific Mimic Octopus. Jane and I both had fun watching the penguins shoot through the water and flop on the rocks, though Jane was ready to go see other things before I was.

 There was a two-story room with a variety of creatures from South America. There were a few frogs that the kids were having fun climbing on and I pulled out my camera to get a few pictures. Jane wasn't going to have it. Ben was willing to smile at least.

 Bedtime stories. Poor Grant was super sad when Liz's kids left and he had no cousins to sleep in his room with him.


We had planned on leaving Molly at home with our neighbors. The closer it got to our departure date the harder it got for me to think about leaving her behind. So we paid extra, bought a soft-sided pet carrier and brought her along.

She and Frankie bonded over their shared love of sun spots.

 Hannah is a fan of them as well. (Let's face it, who doesn't love a good sun spot especially on a chilly day?)


 It wouldn't be Thanksgiving in Utah without the Branch's annual gingerbread village! This year's theme was Wonders of the World.

Jane and Charlie stuck with the classics and decorated houses to add to the "village."

 Ben carefully decorated the Great Pyramid for Christmas.

 Keith and I took on the Grand Canyon. Keith had the idea to add the rock strata, I included a side stream, Sarah made rafts, kayaks, and a drunk intertuber, and Liz recreated Lava Falls in incredible detail. Complete with Devil's Anvil above it, Tequila Beach (complete with celebratory gummy bear) below it, and Sarah's drunk intertuber tipped over right in the middle (see the bottom of the life saver?).

 Paul made the Christ statue that stands over Rio, Brazil. Alex and Zach worked on the leaning tower of Piza, complete with gummy bears attempting it pull it back up straight. Joe and Jessica, with technical assistance from Dad, worked on Mt Everest. As always, it was a whole lot of fun.

Thanksgiving day was the one day that we knew that we would all be there so plans had been made to have Sarah's friend take a few pictures of the whole family.

 Next to where we parked in the canyon there were lots of fun boulders to climb.
 
Some of the pictures were taken in a dry river bed that had lots of fun rocks. Charlie was bummed when we told him we couldn't take them home for his rock collection.

Considering the size of Sarah's kitchen, and the size of the group, Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch (except for lighting the marshmallows on fire, again.).

Liz's super cute turkey veggie tray.

 After Thanksgiving dinner we played games, worked on puzzles, and watched movies. Good relaxing family time. The next morning everyone left to various places except for Mom and Dad. They took the kids on a bike ride around the neighborhood while Keith and I finished loading the car (we had borrowed Grandpa Joe's). When they came back we hugged, waved good-bye and wished them all the best on their next grand adventure.

After leaving Sarah's house we drove to Orem to spend a week with Granny B and Grandpa Joe and to have another Thanksgiving on Saturday! Granny B put Charlie and Jane to work making sure there were no bad cranberries. They took their job very seriously.

 Granny B surprised Charlie with a huge jar of green olives. He was so excited! We hardly made a dent in it though so I bet they still have that jar of olives.

 Grandma Lowe came over and had Thanksgiving dinner with us on Saturday. She played several rounds of canasta with her grand sons and seemed to really enjoy herself. It was really great to have her there. Also pictured here is Sandra. At the time she was Shawn's girlfriend but as of New Year's Eve she has become his fiancee! I really had a great time getting to know her for the short time we were there.

I'm so happy for them!

 Charlie and Jane always have fun rediscovering treasures in the Grandma's toy/book/game closet!

 The kids also opened their Christmas presents from Granny B and Grandpa Joe while we were there. One of them was play-doh food set. They kept everyone full with soups, pasta, salads, and more. It was like a play-doh version of Olive Garden!

I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Utah again without getting up to the mountains. All ideas and plans of hiking up in the canyons wouldn't work out for one reason or another so Monday morning we went up to the foothills just near the mouth of Provo Canyon.  

 Granny B took care of the kids so it was just Grandpa Joe, Keith and me. It felt great to be moving outside even if just for a little while and just above the city. Grandpa Joe looked for birds while Keith and I played around with the new camera we had just purchased on a Black Friday deal. It was rejuvenating.

Sadly all good things come to an end and so Wednesday morning we packed up and headed to the airport. But what a wonderful Thanksgiving trip we had and how great it is to have so much family to be thankful for!

Playing Catch-Up

A ton has happened since I last blogged. So I am going to just give a summary. There are a lot of pictures. Here we go...

The 3-generation pixie cut picture and Charlie helping Ama sing to Jane.

My mom stayed with us for two months while I recovered from surgery and tried to figure out the whole seizure thing. I am still having them but hopefully this new med will do the trick. Hopefully?


It snowed!


Mom helped Charlie (or is it the other way around?) build a snowman right outside our window so he could watch it get small, small, small.
Mom went home. :(


We did a little bit of yoga and went on few walks.

 

Aunt Liz and Ben came!

I love the picture on the left. It looks like they are deep in conversation.

So Jane got to meet her cousin Ben for the first time.

Ben likes to put his mouth on every cup or water bottle that his mommy does.

Charlie shared his cars and trucks with Ben, which means love.


Jane discovered her feet, which I think is super cute.


Charlie got a big boy bed (we just took one of the sides off his crib until we move the big bed that our multitude of guests have been sleeping on into his room), and is potty training! He can now keep his pants dry all day but has yet to poop in the potty. We have tried a lot of things but any advice is welcomed.


Charlie learned the hard way that you shouldn't run with your hands in your pockets.


Charlie also parked his cars on the piano (which he has done for quite some time I just have never been sneaky enough to get a picture of it), discovered basket ball (the hoops are high), and "helped" me make pie for pi-day (okay, so that picture is more recent, I just wanted to put it in).


Charlie did tummy time with Jane, Jane is learning to sit up (which she is very excited about until she does a face plant), and Jane discovered rain.



Keith got a few job offers and after narrowing it down to two (Fargo, ND and Kinston, NC) the company in Fargo flew us all out to check out the area. Charlie's first words after exiting the small airport in Fargo were "My face is cold." Yep, cold (very, very cold), windy, flat, with very few trees. Also has great people, good schools, and stores that carry a lot of Charlie's low-pro foods. But did I mention that it is cold and flat?

So we went back home and Keith accepted the job in Kinston, NC. But as soon as he did we both felt unsure about the decision. I just kept on thinking about it being incredibly cold in North Dakota.
Keith, who had a field site in Kinston, suggested that we take a drive there to see the area. So we did, and it was sad and scary. There were these big southern houses that were abandoned and falling apart. Crime was high and schools were terrible.


We did stop at a bar-b-que place that had very southern food. I got collards, fried okra (classic southern food) and carolina bar-b-que (of course). They also advertised fried chicken livers and fried chicken gizzards. I passed on those.

Then we hit Winterville which is a very small community outside of Greenville that was very nice. We kept on thinking of ways we could make living there work (the stores didn't carry any of Charlie's food so we could make trips to Raleigh once a month, etc). I realized on the drive back that if I lived in Winterville I would never want to venture outside of it due to how terrible the rest of the area is.
I reminded myself again of how cold it gets in Fargo and so when we picked Charlie up from our friends place we told them that we were pretty sure we were sticking with North Carolina.

That night, after the kids were asleep, Keith and I sat on the couch and thought things over. In the end we came to the conclusion that we should move to Fargo. Immediately we felt at peace. So Fargo here we come! (In September). Keith and I made a deal that every January/February, when I start going stir crazy I can fly to some place warmer.

Which isn't hard to do when the high with windchill is sometimes below -30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Oh Pumpkin!

 
Keith's adviser and her family have a big pumpkin patch and back in September they invited us over to pick out a couple. When we got there they had picked them all and gathered them together. There were ones of all sizes and shades of green and orange. There were also every texture of pumpkin from smooth to the bumpiest pumpkins I have ever seen. So due to the variety and Charlie's thorough nature, it took a while for him to pick one. He touched them all, picked up a few, and eventually decided on one that was sufficiently bumpy and just barely light enough for him to carry without assistance (he absolutely did not want help with this process!).  Keith and I picked out a really big heavy one that his adviser recommended for baking purposes (I had plans for these pumpkins!). I really wish I had gotten pictures of that whole pumpkin picking process, but I was having too much fun watching Charlie.


So a couple days later I had Keith and Charlie take their pumpkins outside for pictures. Keith thought it was silly but went along with it, and Charlie was delighted at any chance to carry his pumpkin around. After the pictures though Charlie had decided that his pumpkin just wasn't big enough so he put great effort into trying to carry Keith's. Finally he realized that he just couldn't do it solo so he settled for helping Keith carry it back inside.


Over the next month those pumpkins were put to good use! This is just some of the puree I got out of those two pumpkins. Isn't that vibrant orange so pretty! It has been super tasty too! It was my first time making pumpkin puree and in case you are wondering, I used these directions: pumpkin puree. We still have pumpkin puree in the freezer, but here is what we have made over the past two months:

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (one burned batch and one that was perfection)
Pumpkin Pie (of course)
Pumpkin Butter (dare I say that I liked this even more than apple butter!?!)
Whole Grain Pumpkin Muffins (next time I will add more spices...)
Low-Phe Pumpkin Raisin Muffins for Charlie
Pumpkin Mac n Cheeze (the butternut squash version has become a favorite here)
Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Oatmeal Cookies (tasty and satisfying)
and last, most certainly not least:
Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream (I made it with half whole wheat flour and ran out of ingredients so I only made half of the frosting and still loved it!) Just the thought makes me salivate. Keith thought it was good but nothing special, but don't let that turn you away. I day dream about this bread. When I eat it I make those involuntary munching sounds and my eyes roll back and close. It is simply amazing.

Oh and there is more pumpkin goodness coming! Here is what that frozen puree is destined for:

Grain-free Mini Pumpkin Pie Tarts (gluten and refined sugar free for a special Christmas treat)
Pumpkin Hummus (because you can never have too much hummus)
Low-Phe Pumpkin Raisin Cookies for Charlie
Overnight Pumpkin Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Sugar Pecans (so I can eat pumpkin all day long)

And in case you were worried, no we have not turned orange, and no we did not eat all of the above goodness ourselves. We couldn't have all this pumpkin goodness and not share it!

So how about you all? Do you have any wonderful pumpkin recipes that you should tell me about? Because if you do, I am kind of on a pumpkin kick. (In case you didn't notice).

Just Peachy

Keith and I agree that peaches from the south (yes North Carolina is technically in the south) will be a staple in heaven. Along with Nutella, and Puyallup Valley strawberries, but that is a different post....
We can't get enough of these fuzzy, sweet, juicy bundles of deliciousness! And Charlie can go through the canned peaches like no other during the colder parts of the year. So the logical decision was made to delve into the canning world, beginning with peaches.

The handsome peach prepper himself.

 And that is exactly what we did last Saturday. All. Day. Long.

Our poor little kitchen had never seen such action!



And sweet Charlie never felt so couped up on a Saturday. He didn't understand why Mom and Dad spent almost the entire day in the kitchen. He did enjoy a fair bit of fresh peaches though! Our theme song for the day was appropriately "Peaches" (millions of peaches, peaches for me...)

After a long hot day of work we ended up with forty-four quarts of lovely peaches canned in fruit juice. Awesome.

And Charlie has found a new toy.

Homemade Sugar-Free Strawberry Freezer Jam

With all the tasty strawberries at the farmer's market lately I had to try my hand at some strawberry freezer jam. I have been freezing strawberries for the past few weeks and searching for a good and naturally sweetened strawberry freezer jam recipe, and I think I found a winner that is worth sharing with you.

I used this recipe and increased the pectin by a bit because the thawed berries were very juicy. I sweetened it with grape juice (though apple would work well too) and honey. Keith and Charlie agree that it tastes way better than store bought jam.
Cheap, incredibly yummy, easy, and healthy. Jam doesn't get better than that.