Thanksgiving

Last year we spent our Thanksgiving surrounded by our good friends.  We helped create parts of our Thanksgiving feast and we weren't homesick for home at all because we were surrounded friends who had become like our family.

This year things were a bit different.  All of our friends and family went out of town.  I have a two week old baby.  I am still recovering from giving birth.  I am still adjusting to being a mother of three.  We had Thanksgiving while Ben's mom was here.  I don't have any idea how to cook a turkey.  So after making up a million excuses, I decided that I was not going to make a Thanksgiving feast for myself, Ben, Reese, and Benson.  What was the point?  My kids are picky eaters anyways, so really I would just be cooking for me and Ben.

A week before Thanksgiving someone dropped off a turkey and all the trimmings to a Thanksgiving meal at our door.  We debated what to do with the turkey.  Should we give it to a food bank?  Should we make Thanksgiving dinner now?  We would feel really guilty if we didn't.  Someone had bought and paid for our entire Thanksgiving dinner.

The day before Thanksgiving we finally decided that we were going to make a Thanksgiving dinner.  We were only going to make our favorite parts of Thanksgiving.  Ben was in charge of the turkey and stuffing. 

He had watched his mom make the turkey while she was here and he felt confident in trying to replicate what she had done.  I was going to make the rolls, mashed potatoes, and the green bean casserole.

We also decided that we weren't going to eat until dinner time so there was no rush in getting our feast ready.  That morning we were super lazy.  We watched Macy's Thanksgiving parade while cuddling with our sweet babe.

Reese and Benson had a great time dressing up.  Peter Pan visited our house and made a mess of their bedroom. 

We also had a little boy wearing a bunch of necklaces visit our home too.

After having a very relaxing morning we decided to finally get started on our Thanksgiving feast.  We cooked for several hours and all I know is I am very grateful for a husband who enjoys cooking.  We were quite the duo in the kitchen and when all was said and done we had a extremely delicious Thanksgiving feast!

Everyone chowed down and enjoyed a very yummy dinner.  Reese discovered that turkey is very yummy.

And Benson . . . all he would eat were rolls.  He ate about six rolls.  Everything else was yucky according to Benson.

And while all this was happening our little baby was fast asleep dreaming of milk and not realizing that he was missing out on a very wonderful feast.

I am so thankful for my little family.  It was very different being all alone this year.  I was a little sad when I found out we would be alone, but it ended up being a great Thanksgiving and one I will never forget!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Goodness

It's over.  I feel like I am having a turkey/food hangover!  Yesterday was insane, but let me backup to a few months ago.

When Ben and I moved our little family to Texas 7 months ago, we realized that we would not be able to go home for the holidays.  I got nervous just thinking about having to do our own Thanksgiving dinner.  I mean I can cook, but I cannot cook a turkey and all the sides.  Thanksgiving dinner is a little intimidating!  Ben told me we didn't need to have a Thanksgiving dinner, that we could just have pizza instead!  We HAVE to have a Thanksgiving dinner I told him.  As the months passed by Ben and I decided that we just needed to get ourselves invited to someones Thanksgiving dinner.  So that was the plan.

In July a new family moved into the ward.  Their names are the Carter's.  They have a little girl named Kennady and she is about a year younger than Reese.  Well we have all became friends.  Kelsey and I started taking our kids to the park together multiple times throughout the week.  Reese and Kennady would play together and Kelsey and I would chat it up.  Well one day we started talking about the holidays and what we were going to be doing.  Thanksgiving came up and come to find out Kelsey was just as scared to make a Thanksgiving dinner as I was.  So we decided to join forces.  We were going to tackle that turkey and all the sides together.

As Thanksgiving got closer we invited a few more families and guess what?  Kelsey and I didn't even have to do the turkey!  We were both relieve I think {at least I know I was}. 

Well yesterday, even though I didn't have to make the turkey, I felt like superwoman.  I have never had to cook any part of the Thanksgiving dinner in my twenty-seven years before {I know I am spoiled}. 

The first assignment I had was to make an edible roll!  I was seriously terrified!  I had only made rolls one other time and that one other time they were TERRIBLE!!  They looked and tasted just like rocks.  But I was determined to master the art of roll making.

First I called my mom and asked her if she had a great recipe.  That was a negative so to the internet I went.  I found a great recipe online and practiced making the rolls for a week.  We have had rolls a lot lately.  Afer having two trial runs I felt like I could produce a wonderful roll.  The day of Thanksgiving came and YES the rolls were beautiful! 

Okay maybe not beautiful but they sure did taste delicious. . . that was all that I wanted!  As long as they didn't taste or look like rocks.

I was also assigned a fruit salad and two pies.  I made a apple and pomegranate salad.  A chocolate pie and a grasshopper mint pie {the pies were AMAZING}.

Everything looked great.  I was really stressed out while cooking everything and trying to get kids ready too.  Thankfully Ben is a great helper because I don't think I could have done it without him.  It kind of made me feel like a real grown-up because I helped create part of our Thanksgiving dinner.

After everything was cooked and ready to go we headed over to the Carter's apartment for the great Thanksgiving feast!  They had a kids table set up and they were all so excited to have table just their size. 

You know your rolls are good when your own daughter is smiling at the yummy deliciousness of that roll.  Her face says it all, "this roll is the BEST mom!"  Okay maybe not but I am just really proud that I produced an edible roll!

Reese was such a good little eater.  She was excited about turkey and Thanksgiving.  We have been having a hard time getting her to eat.  Sometimes she will just look at food and tell us that it looks yucky so she won't eat it.

Maybe it was the thrill of Thanksgiving or maybe she was starving because it was such a late lunch, but whatever it was she was the best eater!  She even had seconds which is truly a Thanksgiving miracle.

Benson was seriously in heaven!  He had a highchair all to himself and then we let him have his own little feast.  And feast he did.  He feasted upon turkey, mashed potatoes, a roll, and stuffing {we might have even given him a little pie}.   He LOVED everything, he even had seconds! 

I was just grateful to get to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner with Ben.   

 After feasting we sat around and talked and the guys turned on Football.  The kids ran around and played and I just needed to relax a little to let me food settle.  I was seriously STUFFED!

 

Jacob became Reese's best friend yesterday.  They were so cute together.  Jacob sat and read Reese books after dinner, seriously so adorable!  We then stuffed ourselves with pie.  Oh Thanksgiving was good to us yesterday!  

We finally came home and put Benson down for a nap.  Reese, Ben, and I pulled all the cushions off of the couch and cuddled up together to watch the movie Brave.

Although we missed our family yesterday we are so grateful to have friends that can be our family while we are so far away from home.  Thanksgiving was wonderful and it was wonderful to spend it with such great people. 

Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!?!  I cannot believe it.  I feel like just yesterday it was Halloween.  November has definitely flown by for us.  Unfortunately November has not been kind to the Call household.

It all started the week of Halloween.  Ben came home with an AWFUL cold and was miserable for about 2 weeks. He was coughing, runny nose, congested, and just hurt everywhere.  Well then he passed it on to me and Reese.  I felt horrible for about three days.  The cold, unfortunately, lasted about a week.  We had been praying and praying that Benson wouldn't catch our cold but he did.  A few days after Reese and I were feeling better Benson came down with a fever and lots of snot.  Reese decided that she needed a snotty nose as well and so commenced "operation snot".  I don't think I have ever been covered in so much snot!  Benson's nose just ran and ran and ran and then he would wipe it all over me.  What can I say that boy loves me and just wanted to share his snot!

Thankfully we are FINALLY all better.  I am so grateful to have a healthy family again!

I am thankful for my sweet little family.  I love them so much!  I am grateful to be Ben's wife.  He is the best thing that ever happened to me.  I seriously don't know what I would do without him.  He is so patient and kind to me.  He is the best!  

I am grateful that I am a mommy.  I love my kiddos.  Some days are hard and I wish I could have a break from being a mom.   But I know I would miss hearing my name called out all day long.  I would miss getting mouth wide open slobber kisses from Benson.  I would miss Reese's cuddles and giggles.  I would miss being climbed on and hearing that I am the best mommy ever.  Being a mom is the best!  These kids are my life!  

We have been blessed in so many ways this past year and I am thankful for to Lord for taking care of us.  I was a little scared to move to Texas and be so far from family for such a long time but the Lord didn't forget about us clear out in Texas.  I am so grateful that He hears our prayers and is always there to take care of us.

Well anyways Happy Thanksgiving!  

November Ramblings

I cannot believe that November is almost over and Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK!  Where has the time gone?  I feel like this past year has seriously FLOWN by.

I feel like this pregnancy has gone by so much quicker than Reese's did.  I can hardly believe that I am 29 weeks already.  I keep thinking that after Christmas I will have about 4 to 5 weeks before this little boy arrives and that kind of freaks me out.  Am I ready to be a mother of two?  It kind of scares me but I am excited at the same time.  This little boy is so different than Reese.  I have felt REALLY good for most of the pregnancy which is a huge blessing.  This little boy moves like crazy.  I thought Reese moved a lot but I was wrong.  This little boy moves 10 times more than Reese did. 

Things that I am grateful for this Holiday Season:

I am thankful to be pregnant and that I can carry my baby to full term.  I think a lot of times I take that for granted.

I am thankful to get to spend a LOT of time with family this holiday season.  Ben has three weeks off from school and I am excited to have 24/7 with him.  I am thankful that both our families live in Utah and we can visit both of them while we are in Utah for the holidays.

I am grateful for a healthy body.  Being pregnant always make me appreciate my healthy body so much more, it makes me grateful for the mobility I have and to be able to run, exercise, and pretty much do anything I want to.

I am grateful for cheap education. 

Applying for grad school and realizing how much we are going to have to spend on education has been a HUGE eye opener for me.  I always knew grad school was expensive but I didn't know how expensive.  So thank you to BYU-I for giving us a cheap education.

I am thankful for Ben.  

 He is such a great man.  I couldn't ask for a better man to be married to.  He is seriously perfect for me.  He is so patient with me and takes such good care of me and Reese. 

I am thankful to be a mother.  

It is not always easy but I am thankful to be a mother to a sweet little girl named Reese.  She brings so much joy to me and I cannot imagine my life without her. 

I have so many things to be thankful for but those are some of the things that I was thinking about today.

Here is a little update on Reese:

Reese has been growing up so much lately.  

She talks like crazy and knows SO much.  I need to be better about taking advantage of this time with her because soon there will be another little babe in our home and I won't have as much time with her.  She is learning so many things so quickly.  We have been working on the alphabet with her and she now recognizes and says all of the upper-case letters in the alphabet.  It is seriously AMAZING to watch.

She is still OBSESSED with Elmo.  We watch Sesame Street a couple of times a week.  She knows everyone's name on Sesame Street but she still loves the Elmo the most.  During her time watching Sesame Street nothing can take her attention away from her furry little friends. 

She is seriously GLUED to the television and will not pull her eyes away from the screen for anything.

She loves shoes right now and loves to have her "shoes on" as she always says.  

It doesn't matter whose shoes they are but she just likes to wear anyone's shoes.  She also likes to help mom and dad on with their shoes.

Reese has also become a really good helper.  She is always wanting to help.  She wants to help cook.  She wants to help set the table.  She wants to help unload the dishwasher.  She loves to help.  I think she will be an excellent helper when her little brother comes along.

I haven't put up any videos for a long time so here are a couple.  

Happy Thanksgiving

The Turkey Trudge

For Thanksgiving break we got a whole week off, plus two days. 

It was wonderful and a very much needed break.  

We got to visit both of our families...that is one of the perks of having both of our families living in Utah.  

While we were visiting my family we had the WONDERFUL opportunity to run a 5k Thanksgiving morning...

lucky me!!

If you know me at all you know that I HATE to run but I promised my mom who had organized the whole thing that I would run it.  Well to make things worse I got a HORRIBLE cold--sore throat, bad cough, and itchy ears--but I decided that I would still run that dumb race because I gave my mom my word. 

Well Thanksgiving morning came along and it was 7 degrees outside.  It was so cold, I thought I was going to die.  I started out running but after a few minutes my lungs felt like they were going to explode and my throat was burning so I stopped running. 

My sister Kaylee stopped with me and soon Ben came back and we walked together.  We were in last place because I couldn't breath at all, but then Ben suggested we cut through a field to catch up with everyone.  It took some convincing but finally we cut through and found out that we were no longer in last place!!

Cutting through the fields rejuvenated all three of us and for the rest of the race we had a great time talking about what other fields we cut through to come in first place. 

After that Ben thought it would be funny to change the arrows on the cones and Kaylee was gathering up the cones along the way.  I had two mischievous children on my hand, so out came my motherly skills. :o)

We did run some parts of the race but for the most part we just enjoyed being together and causing a ruckus! 

One of the coolest things that has happened this past year is Ben's grandparents received their mission call to serve in South Africa.  They leave on December 13th (I think).  We are so excited for them and they will be such awesome missionaries.  Thankfully we got to be there for their farewell address in church and we got to see them one last time before they head out.

Ben was also super excited to get a 5 generation picture!  He has been wanting to take one since Reese was born but we have never had everyone together since them.  So his grandparents farewell created the perfect opportunity to take one.

Thanksgiving was great.  I am so grateful for my family, they are such great examples to me!  I am especially grateful for Ben and the wonderful husband that he is to me.  I am thankful for my little Reese girl!  She brings so much joy into my life.  I am so extremely blessed with wonderful in-laws too.  I seriously couldn't ask for better in-laws. 

The Lord has definitely blessed our family this past year.  

We have so much to be thankful for.

Gobble, Gobble

Our WONDERFUL Thanksgiving break consisted of these things...

Getting rid of this nasty, ugly, mustache

This incredibly ridiculous movie
{but I did have fun hanging out with my siblings}

Yummy homemade doughnuts...I have missed this tradition a lot


Many hours of this ridiculous game...trust me it gets addicting...
Just ask my hubby who played it for 6 hours in one day!Many hours, laughs, and scowls of a game called "Cover your butt"

A FANTASTICALLY wonderful Thanksgiving feast with the CallsBen going out for his first time on Black Friday
{I heard he was a natural}

A very CELESTIAL morning with Calls in the Bountiful temple
{Thanks again Crystal for letting me borrow your dress}


Many funny moments playing this game
{Jan you were by far my favorite to watch}

Watching this wonderful game from the comfort of a couch
Go Cougars!!!

But I think that my favorite thing was spending time with these guys...
Thanks family for letting us bum around your house for over a week. We very much appreciate it and had SO much fun with you all!

Can I just say that I am excited for thanksgiving break!! Not that I am in school or anything but I am so excited for our Thanksgiving feast and to spend time with my family!! We are leaving today in about an hour and that means we have a whole week to spend with our families!!
I am excited to go to the New Moon movie with my sisters and Ben and then go and eat at Five Guys...yummy delicious burgers...both me and the baby LOVE them! I am excited to go to the Temple with Ben's family and see his sister Kallie go through the temple for the first time!
But I am especially excited for Thanksgiving. I LOVE Thanksgiving. These last three days I have had visiting teaching interviews and in between interviews we would talk about Thanksgiving and our favorite parts of Thanksgiving. If you think about it Thanksgiving is really a funny holiday...we sit around and stuff our faces....but man do I love it. I am excited for yummy homemade rolls and stuffing and turkey! My three favorite parts of the feast!
Well happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy stuffing your faces (i know I will)!