Give Thanks

(November 21-25, 2023)

Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We went up to Idaho because it is close-ish and we wanted to run into extended family, namely the married cousins and spouses. The older girls did not have much time off from work, so we went in two groups. Tyler went up on Tuesday with the younger three, and June, Beau and I came up on Wednesday night after June got off work. You can see here that the earlier visitors took advantage of their extra time...by watching movies. :) And playing some games. (I think they watched the entire Season 1 of Wednesday with Granny V.)

Nova was left behind, as usual, so we could love on Granny V's dogs. I believe Abu is the favorite, or perhaps he just snuggles better. 

But Odie is very cute and gets in your business whether you like it or not.

Thursday was the only day we were all up there. Granny V put out the regular breakfast of pies. Basically, you can just get pie whenever you want all day.

She also inspired what I hope will be a continuing tradition. She hosted a Salsa Competition. There were five entries. June and I made salsa the day before and brought it up. Tyler and KJ made their salsa first thing in the morning. And I have no idea when Kaysen made his. Everything looked yummy.

Tyler made a unique but basic salsa with some serrano and mango. He called it Serrano Serenade. There was some good heat, but nothing overwhelming, like you might expect from Tyler. KJ made guacamole, which is cheating in my opinion, since I think guac is better than salsa. Kaysen made a sweet salsa that had pineapple and mango. I made an avocado salsa, which is NOT guacamole, thanks for asking. And June made a roasted habanero mango salsa that was easily the hottest of the group. 

Granny V had guests judges come in. I was a little nervous when a whole bunch of old people walked through the door. I was worried that June's salsa might kill one of them. Luckily, those who disliked extra heat were warned away. (Sorry I don't have pictures of the judges.)

When all was said and done and eaten, the winner was Tyler. His salsa was very flavorful and delicious. Runner up was KJ, because guess what...the judges love guacamole. :)

Then we all dug in. It was nice to have chips and salsa to snack on before the main event. Great idea Granny V and we all liked the little salsa bowl that was the prize.

The rest of the day was super chill. Dinner wasn't until the evening, so everyone chatted, napped, read, played games, and hung out. 

June's first companion in the DR happens to be going to school out at BYUI, so June drove up to grab her and bring her down for the feasting. It was so fun to have Hermana Fernandes, now Karla, come share in the festivities.

People were assigned different food tasks and worked on them when necessary. I was assigned yams which turned out very well, for my first time trying them. Kolby and Tyler are always involved with the meat. Beau worked on gravy and Ivory knabbed June and Karla to help her with the mini loaves. 

Then...time to feast. Everything was delicious as usual.

In the evening we had more fun talking and hanging out. Karla got to try the oculus which is always fun.

Did you notice Daisy had blue eyes? Not sure you could really see them in other pictures.

The majority of us left that night so we could sleep in the next day. That may not have been the best choice. It was a very scary, snowy, icy drive, in which I almost lost control and almost fell asleep. The girls aren't the best at staying awake to entertain the driver. But no one died and I didn't even crash, so Yay! Next time, I'll drive during the day if possible.

Tyler stayed with the littles for another day to spend time with family. Got to soak up everything you can. And this picture from a video of Kolby is pretty worth it too. :)

Oh, the girls even helped Grandma put up a new tree. It looks lovely. I like how one holiday melts into the next.