Family Gathers Around The Table

The table was set, ready for my family to arrive, we would be minus my youngest daughter Heather and her family. Even though she is far away, she and her family were with us in spirit. We could only wish that they could live closer, but as most families go through this separation from some of their family members missing from special occasions, we do make up for it when we are all together. In our family it is called MUMA time. We did skype with her that evening. Thanks for the technology to do just that.
I had decided rather than go around the table saying what we are thankful for, I would have everyone write their thoughts on a paper leaf, originally thinking it would be part of the table decorations, I changed my mind, deciding to pass the leafs out at the end of meal, mixing them up, having each one read aloud the one they were given, proved to work perfect, as each person anxiously waited for theirs to be read.
Roger writing his Thankful note. This is a random list of what each person wrote:
Everything, life, family
Thankful for my family, siblings, work, support and friendship from family members
My family
My boys, my wife, my business
I am thankful for my mom and dad and God (Ashton's)
I am thankful for my four boys and very helpful husband
All family together (Bishops in spirit and in our hearts) makes me so thankful and happy
I am thankful for my mom
I am thankful for my family, my job, and my friends and Betty
I am thankful for mom
I am thankful for my family, my siblings, my health, my home and my Love!
Julie and Brayden having some snuggle time before dinner.
Kevin and Ashton playing a game before dinner.
The turkey was perfectly prepared by Roger, he has gotten it in down well.
Our table was perfect size for all of us, six adults and six children. I love to look at these photos from year to year to see who was here that year for the Thanksgiving dinner. Do you do that too?

With little ones at the table, there is always the finger stuffing olives, and of course Papa Roger had to help Jordan out!
After dinner I got to have some snuggle time with this newest addition to our family, Brayden, he has got to be the happiest baby in the world.
My home made apple pie for desert, made from my home canned apple pie filling. Yummy!
Cookies for the kids, and coffee made the old fashion way for the adults. I am kind of smitten with making coffee this way. How about you? Have you tried this method?
A perfect way to end the day with friends Mark and Erin stopping by to visit, sharing a glass of wine and a piece of pie. Hoping your Thanksgiving day was filled with lots of joy!

Getting Ready for The Holidays

Getting ready for the holidays, had Roger and I out getting the garland on the fence, hanging the Christmas lights on the house. With the whole family getting together right after Thanksgiving, the lights and some decorations had to be up. Heather and Jason and the babies would be traveling over the three mountain passes to get to us for a week long visit. Heather's sisters would be getting their homes ready for Christmas as well, our sort of pre- Christmas with Heather. Our week was full of activities, of which I plan to share on my blog, but in my mind I have to do this is some order, so you are getting a little smitten of some of what has been going on around here.
Here I am getting the lighted garland on the picket fence, I love it when the snow falls on the day I am to hang the garland, it just sets the mood for the holidays, don't you think? This was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I remember all those years in Hood River, Oregon, when we would always have some sort of snow on Thanksgiving day, setting the mood for Christmas to come.
Our holiday season started off with a great experience, my first 5K walk, and what better way to start your holiday, there were about 1200 people for this event, I just can't imagine one with many thousands of people, yikes!
Kristina here with me, is one of my co-workers, she has been a real source of inspiration to get me moving, she has some high expectations for me, I just keep saying, I will only be walking, she runs marathons, walking is my choice of exercise, I keep telling her.
This was our first 5K walk together, Yahoo!! Baby it was cold, thanks to walking and Roger's very warm down vest I kept very warm

After the Turkey Trot, Roger and I raced home, cleaned up, then went to the Senior Baker's for dinner. This was the year our girls do this holiday with their in-laws, we were invited to Jennifer's in-laws. Thank you Tim and Janet.
All of us women working in the kitchen getting the Thanks Giving dinner prepared. Janet, Apolina, Jennifer, Michelle and myself. This week went so fast, getting ready for Heather's family to come, it felt like a whirl wind of activities.
Heather's family getting to come right after Thanksgiving and just before Christmas, created a lot of family bonding time. There is more to post on our activities, I will just start here to begin with. What a great photo of ALL my Grandchildren. I was so pleased to get this photo.
Our sweet Talea, she was determined she was going to go for a ride on Papa's four wheeler, so the rule is any of the kids have to wear helmets, so if you look closer she has a helmet over her hat. Cute!
Jennifer having some girlie time with Talea, Jennifer has three boys and wants a girl really bad, so when she gets around her two nieces she spoils them to pieces.
These Trojan soldiers were a hit with my grandsons, you would of thought I found a gold mine. Honestly I did not really know what I had found at a garage sale this last summer. anyway this grandma made some brownie points with these boys.
My bribe to get the family photo and all the grandchildren together for a photo was fresh baked cookies. I think it worked.
The extended Muma family. This was a milestone to get everyone in one photo. Yahoo.

Thanksgiving Blessings

The table was set ready for all to come and enjoy good company and great conversations. The weather was safe for the travelers to come through the gorge to join us so that made us all happy. There have been years when the snow and ice have affected the travel, some of you all know who live here in the Pacific Northwest winter can sometimes change our travel plans.
The turkey was cooked to perfection by Roger, he cooked it in the Trager grill which does an awesome job, it was very moist and delicious. With all the other dishes we were certainly full after that meal. Thanks goes to all who helped to prepare this meal for all to enjoy.
Kathy holding a plate of Bruchetta one of our appetizers, Kathy was a great help to me this day, as well as Kim , at the end of the dinner they took care of the dishes, which is hard thing for me to let go of any of the responsibilities of the whole day. Thank you Kim and Kathy.
You can see we are pretty packed in here at the table, we decided to add all the kids to the big table which turned out just fine. When we have big dinners like this we do like to all be at the table together rather than do a buffet style, where you still visit but it is not quite the same.
A closer view of the opposite side of the table.
Kathy and Mike are Roger's sister and brother, they both live in Hood River, Oregon, we were blessed to have them come and bring their family with them.
Kim and Jessica are going through all the sales adds trying to figure what they want to put on their Christmas list.
You can see by the adds strewn all over the coffee table had been gone through well, except Chants and Ashton found it more important to play with the match book cars, that is way more cool to them.
Here Jennifer, Jeremy and Kevin checking out those adds to see where they are headed out to do their shopping early.
My oldest grandchildren, Jessica and Chants diggin on their desert, probably to them that was the best part of the dinner.
Jordan, Jennifer's son he is always styling, Jennifer does such a great job making sure the boys are dressed to the "T" I know there will come a time when she won't have much say, but for now she does and we all get to enjoy them in their handsome clothes.
My sister-in-law Kathy and I, we have been very close through all these years of knowing each other and I feel very blessed to have her as my sister, not mention her brother is my husband Roger. I hope your Thanksgiving was very memorable. Blessing to you all. Florence

Happy Thanksgiving

The table is set, the turkey is in its brine, and all those extra attention to detail is completed, now the morning is coming and the house will be filled with lots of people, I will have eleven adults and five grandchildren here for this holiday festivities, my home is small, but no one seems to care, perhaps a little more cozy that way, I have learned to just go with the flow, it would be easier to do a buffet style meal, but we have always chosen to have a sit down dinner for our special holidays and I am very glad that we do. I learned growing up about setting a proper table, as well as a pretty table, and the food is always delicious and lots of it. The last few years Roger has taken on the task of doing the turkey and that sure has made a big difference for me and all that I have to take care of. I will post more of the day later. In the mean time I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day creating your memories.