Thanksgiving 2017

Happy Thanksgiving from our Home to yours. 🦃
This is the first year we've done a "family" dinner and made everything at home.
Also the first year I've ever cooked a Turkey... It turned out ok saying I cooked it about 3 hours too long 😶 

I was in charge of cooking the Turkey, and that was an adventure I dont think I will volunteer to do again. I bought a 13# Turkey, and put it in the fridge to start thawing on Monday. That sucker was still solid Wednesday night. So I had to do a "quick thaw" and put in in the kitchen sink with cold water. But because the water had to stay Very cold to keep the meat from going bad, I had to get up EVERY 2 HOURS all night long and fill the sink with ice. 

Then at 7 am I got up, pulled all the gross insides out, and got it in the oven. The bag said it would be cooked in a few hours.

So a few hours go by and I get my brand new meat thermometer out and test it. It was nowhere near 165 degrees. I put it back in and tested in every 45 mins to an hour. And hour after hour it remained around 130 degrees. 

Finally after 6 AND A HALF HOURS, I tested the temperature and it said it was 120 degrees??

Turns out the gauge was defective. 

Its a miricle that Turkey wasnt crispy when we took it out. But it ended up being pretty good and we had a nice dinner.

 Our Traditional family around the table picture. 

 Our little Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone choose thier favorite dish and made it. It was small and simple but very good!

Im glad we got to spend this Holliday together.

ThanksGiving Past

There is something extra magical about Hollidays when you are a kid.

Today, while we are 1,000 miles away from Home, having our own "Adult" Thanksgiving, I've been reminiscing on ThanksGivings we used to have. And I came across these photos from ThanksGiving 2012. 

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Mom would make an extra pumpkin pie the night before, so we could have it for breakfast on ThanksGiving day.

Our whole family would gather at either my parents, or my aunts House, because they were the only ones big enough to house our army. There was always a big debate on who would get to have it at their house, and both families always wanted it to be at their own. I don't understand why though, because looking back, who ever hosts has to clean the most.

 We had camping picnic tables set out, and we would all gather together near the TV where Grandpa's football game was on. He loves the Denver Bronocos. But no matter who was playing, the game was Always on.

With 12 kids, and 8-10 adults, there was always someone to sit by and talk to. It was loud and busy and messy, but that was the best part.

Every kid would get to make something, even the youngest. Usually a simple dessert or side dish. We would always fight over who got to make the ambrosia. I would insist it was my right as the oldest to get first dibs on what I wanted to make. I called it Amberosia, and I would get very angry if one of the cousins got to take a turn making this, especially if they modified the recipe and didn't make it how I deemed correct.

My Aunt Tara would always bring the best pies. Not the traditional kinds, but chocolate or pudding pies. 

Dad would make a ham, coated in Mustard/Brown Sugar mix.

My other Aunt and my dad would always get in an argument about each others kids behavior. There would always be at least some fight or drama between the cousins. 

Grandma would make the biggest, best dinner rolls every year, and she would try to set some aside just for me because they are my favorite. (Bread is life)

No matter who cooked the Turkey, Grandpa always cut it. 

And when dinner was ready all of the kids would line up youngest to oldest and get their food.

Its the simple little things that you remember that become cherished memories.

Radar Turns 2!

My cute little Furbaby turned 2 today!

It makes me so sad that he's not a tiny little furball anymore. But he still acts very mush like a puppy, just a little better behaved. And thankfully he Finally grew out of the chewing stage!

                Radar's 2nd Birthday                            Radar's 1st Birthday                

 This was the first picture we ever got of him, just a few days after he was born. Michael said he looked like a little piglet. 

This was his first Birthday "Party"

He still loves to snuggle! Any time you sit down he is either on your lap or at your feet.

He follows me everywhere, he doesn't like to be separated from you if he can help it. Luckily he doesn't have bad separation anxiety from me, but if he cant see Wesley at all times he flips out.

He loves pulling peoples socks off and chewing on them, but he only seems interested if he cant take them off your feet first. lol For some reason he is Terrified of the sound when someone blows in a bottle, and will run and hide under furniture if you even put a bottle close to your mouth.

And he lives true to his name, sounding an alarm every time he hears the slightest noise.

Im glad Ive kept so many pictures and videos over the last 2 years. I love watching him grow.

Family Bowling Night

Tonight we went to Xtreme bowling.

Which is just bowling in the dark with lazer/disco lights and really annoying music.

It was really fun. This is the first time since we've moved here that I have gone.

 I never understood why they make bowling shoes so ugly?

Sam is surprisingly very good at bowling, and won both games. Michael is really terrible at it. He had multiple balls go into the gutter, and decided it must be the ball. But after trading it in for a new "luckier" ball. He didnt get much better. lol

Christmas comes Early

Today I asked Michael if he would do a Vlog with me for our YouTube channel.

I told him it would be a "Get to Know You" like video where we answer questions about ourselfs so we could look back on it.

Mike had been dreaming and obsessing over the IphoneX since rumor of the 10th anniversary phone came out. He is addicted to Apple products. He has probably seen every video and read every review on the internet about this phone. He even had a picture he printed off of the Silver IphoneX hanging in his office. (He's a bit excessive)

But I told him we couldnt afford it and he would have to wait until at Least April, when we could Try to get it for his birthday.

Every time he came up with an idea or way to get the phone I would tell him that there was no way and kill any hopes he had of getting this phone any time soon.

At Midnight PST I preordered the phone from 3 different places, Verizon, Bestbuy, and the Apple Store.

My BestBuy order was availible November 3rd. All the others were 2-3 weeks out. Luckily Best buy had my back and I was able to pick this up yesterday.

I thought for sure that between getting up "Sick" in the middle of the night on preorder day. To going shopping with my sister for a "girls only" trip on release day, that he must think something was up.

But he was totally surprised!

He thought it was some kind of joke. lol

I handed him the wrapped box and told him this was his Christmas present and he could choose to wait to open it on Christmas, or open it now.

So Merry Early Christmas Michael!

I hope you stay excited about this one!!!

To Watch the video click below or check out our Channel YouTube.com/MikeAndMe