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WARNING: The following images are disturbing and should not be viewed by young children.




























Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!
Here's my dad at Halloween!

This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Here's more.


















Many of you don't know my dad, in which case, these pictures are still hilarious.

But if you do know him, this is hysterical! This man is UBER conservative.

Have I Fallen So Far?

I have a matter I need to discuss.

Yesterday I took Bethany to the Festival of Trees for a dance performance. She was great and I loved watching her. But I want to know why EVERY woman I saw there was dressed to the nines, had the most stylish handbags, had no hair out of place, and had faultless make-up---- including the ones with perfectly stylish babies and strollers.

I'm aware that I fell off the fashion train some time ago, but SHEESH! Where are these women coming from? What do they do all day? Does it come naturally to them? Do they do anything besides worry about what they're wearing and how they look?

Listen to me. I sound horrible, but I'm truly flabbergasted.

Honestly, I try to make myself lovely. I put on makeup everyday. I do my hair almost every day. I don't wear t-shirts and jeans with holes in them. I suppose I do wear my tennis shoes too often, but they are really comfy and I'm a busy woman. I exercise regularly.

So my question is-- Have I fallen so far off the fashion train that I cannot even sort of relate to these very "done up" women?

I take the time I need to get ready in the morning, but then that's it-- I'm done thinking about my clothes and hair. I've got my people to take care of; we've got school work to do, books to read, music to practice, scriptures to read, meals to make, jobs to do, friends to call, cardboard spaceships to build, hugs to give, ouchies to make better, a toddler to keep off the table, piano lessons to teach, callings to fulfill.

Years ago a friends told me what she told her daughter: "Pretty is as pretty does".

I don't think I'll be able to catch the "fashion train" again, but hopeful I can catch the "pretty train" by doing pretty things.

Faith Gets a Phone Call

Faith got her first phone call from her cousin, Eliza. Eliza is Baden and Mary's oldest child and they live in Spokane. Eliza and Faith have always had a special friendship. They are very attached whenever we get together. Eliza is a very articulate, talkative, and spirited. Faith is not so articulate, not usually very talkative and perhaps the sweetest little spirit ever born. They LOVE each other.

Abe snapped these pictures of Faith during her first phone call.


"Eliza? Is that really you? I can't believe it!"















"Okay, serious question. What are asking Santa for Christmas?"















"You don't say!"


















"Please, Dad, this is a private conversation."
















"You can't be serious!"















"Does your mother do that too? Mothers can be so exasperating!"















"I guess it is time for bed."

















"I'm so happy you're my cousin!"

The actual phone call lasted much longer. I think they would have kept on talking indefinitely, except that a much needed potty break on Faith's side ended the call.

Thanksgiving

Three bedrooms, one living room, and one family room.

Four adults, and 10 children- ten and under.

2 days and 2 nights.

A lot of food and one VERY DELICOUS turkey.

Not much peace and quiet, but a lot of good times and good memories.

Please forgive this horrible, beyond horrible picture of me. We can't all be beauty queens at every moment!

But I had to put this picture up to show you the secret way Emily taught me to cook a turkey. In an oiled paper bag.
No, it doesn't catch fire. We didn't do anything else to the turkey (except wash it). We put it in an oiled (with vegetable oil) paper bag and several hours later----WALAH!!! The moisted, most delicious turkey I've ever eaten.


Emily is one of those people who just knows how to do everything. She whips up perfect pies, she does construction and home improvement projects on her house. I get tons of homeschooling/mothering ideas from her. She is a good person to know!

Here was our masterpiece as we unwrapped it. Glorious!








Abe and Justin were childhood friends. Abe has a remarkable memory about his childhood, but Justin's memory put's Abe's to shame. This man remembers EVERYTHING; every detail about not only his own life, but everyone elses.
They love to tell stories about the past.
I'm kind of glad I didn't know Justin in my youth. I don't think I'd want to remember every detail about my past that he would remind me of.




Clark and Issac. The computer was generally a peaceful place for these two strong personalities.
Here you have two oldest children who each have masses of younger sisters.











They had a good time playing some Turkey Day football at the park.















And then there were girls. Lots and lots of little girls. In this picture they are helping clean the kitchen floor, "Pippi style", with baby wipes on their feet.
This is Abe's idea.












Little girls, little girls, everywhere I look I can see them.















The feast.
















The kiddos.
















Grandma and Grandpa Cannon to join us for the festivities. Grandpa showed those young boys and dads that he can still play football.













Oh, happy day! The pies.

It was a wonderful day.

"I'm Dreaming of a Golden Turkey"

That title is the precursor to "White Christmas".

I am about to attempt my first big turkey. I've done a turkey breast in the crockpot before, which I quite like and was tempted to do this year. But Abe encouraged me to try a big bird. It is defrosting in my fridge right now and I actually dreamt about my bird last night. I had to get out my roasting pan this morning to make sure it would fit. It does. Barely.

We are anxious for our good friends from Pocatello to join us for Thanksgiving. They have five little people. They homeschool. The dad is working his way through school. They are not rolling in the dough.

As you can see we have A LOT in common and we look forward to great conversation and lots of knowing laughs. But before that can happen, my little people and I must get this house in shape. I think we're calling off school for the whole week. I just decided that right now. Yep, stick a fork in me-- I'm done.

Random note: My high school history and government teacher had two sayings that I try to use whenever I get a chance. They just make me smile. As a Thanksgiving gift I will share them with you. Feel free to use them whenever you get a chance.

1. Stick a fork in him. He's done.

2. The chances are Slim to none, and Slim's out to lunch.

That's the great thing about a blog. It's yours and you can write anything you want. Even if it is completely ridiculous and you're in one of those moods. My apologies. I've got turkey on the brain.

Italian Thanksgiving

It was the third (or fourth, no one could remember) annual Italian Thanksgiving at the Clarks with our book club.

The food-- DIVINE

The company-- THE BEST

I praise the day that Christine bought her Bucco di Beppo cookbook and first had the idea of an Italian Thanksgiving.




The meal is always the same:
Betsy: foxylicious salad
Jennilyn: to-die-for-bread
Andrea: paper products (pretty ones)
Christine: personal pizzas for the kids, marinara sauce, pasta, meatballs, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (they may not be Italian, but who cares? They're yummy), and MACARONI-and-CHEESE--You would have to taste it to believe just how good it is. I think I would love to eat her macaroni and cheese everyday for the rest of my life. I would weigh 500 lbs if I did, but it is so good. . . it might be worth it.


Alan and Abe. Abe is usually the photographer, so we had to get one with him in it. I would be the photographer more often, except the camera and I are still fighting. It hates me. That's okay. . . I hate it, too.











Andrea and Christine. Christine really does the lion's share of the work. But let this be a lesson to NEVER start a tradition that requires you to do most of the work. I'm sorry Christine, you are just too good of a cook. If you make yucky food, we wouldn't expect you to do it anymore! Word to the wise.








One more picture.

Notice how Cannon is securely strapped in his stroller.

We did let him out his confinement at regular intervals, but the Clark's house is WAY fancier than our house and Cannon was finding WAY too many fun things to destroy.
This was a better arrangement for everyone involved.

Three Rooms of his Own?

Poor Clark. He's having trouble settling in.

You see, for most of his life he has had his own room. The girls have pretty much always shared. Bethany, Elinor, and Faith share one room-- quite happily, I might add. They can't get close enough. They often all pile onto one twin size bunk bed.

Clark has a room upstairs, albeit one he now shares with Cannon, who is a very light sleeper. Consequently, no light or books on tape at night.

Clark has a room down in the basement, albeit one that is not finished, is very cold in the winter, and is two flights of stairs away from a bathroom. It's very good in the summer, however.

I admit neither are great options. So he has now claimed the family room and is camping with his sleeping bag. He has set up the card table as his makeshift desk. I guess I'm okay with this.
He tells me he will conquer the whole house next. I don't think I'll be okay with that.

Around the World in 80 Days

We recently did our monthly kids' book club. The book was Around the World in 80 days and Cannon got into the spirit of it. You can see my dad in the background. He came down and brought some money from different countries for the kids to see.










I'm sorry I didn't get any other pictures of our activity, but it was great! The kids all brought some kind of snack/treat from another country to share. We had goat cheese from Norway, rice candy from Japan, cookies from England, french bread, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

What? Why Kentucky Fried Chicken?

In the story they pass through Utah on a train and get quite a lesson in Mormonism. The first KFC was in Salt Lake City. It was a hit--the kids loved it.

We also had a geography bee based on questions from the book. It was boys vs. girls because in our family room we have two couches that face each other. All the girls crowd on one side and all the boys crowd on the other. We're talking 8-11 year olds. They are at that age where cooties are a real concern. "Circle, circle, dot dot. Now you've got the cootie shot". A few more years and I'll be wishing they didn't want to sit by each other.

Sadly for the girls, the boys were on average about 2 years older than the girls, so the boys wiped the floor with the girls. But the girls sure screamed loud when they did get one right! We threatened the girls that if they kept screaming so loud we would have to take points away. That's when we thought it would be a little more even. I didn't have the heart to actually take any points away. Consequently, the screaming continued.
Next month, A Christmas Carol.