I haven't been doing daily official thanksgiving posts like some do, but that doesn't mean I haven't been feeling grateful...in fact I feel so full of gratitude, and awe at the blessings in my life

every single day that I think I could just burst.  I hope I reflect that in the other posts I make...

 

Yesterday was a lovely Thanksgiving day. I was surely missing Katie and Camille's family though ( Katie went to Camille's this year)  It was Camille's turn to be with Kellen's family...gosh I don't like sharing..they get to have them all the time! waaaah waaah!  OK, I guess that's all I will say about that. (Thanks for the pictures Camille...they got me through the day...

 Candice came over about 10 and we started baking.  I just cant say enough what a joy and delight she is in my life!  She has got to have the most kind, generous, loving heart of anyone I know. She is always thinking of others and is a great example to me.

We decided to start with the pies.  flour, salt, shortening.. .ice water...now shake it back an forth till the little balls form...more water..more shaking repeat then voila!  pie dough.  I rolled them out but Candice make the edges beautiful!  She is so creative.  We decided in honor of grampa we would make a coconut cream pie ( also one of Kelley's favorites)  The last few days of Grampas life, he wasn't eating much...nothing sounded good to him.  Then Chris asked him is there was anything at all that he would like and he said a coconut cream pie, so he went and got him one.  That was the last thing he ate. 

Anyway,  we have been missing him...we've always had his birthday party around this weekend when everyone was in town for thanksgiving.  Gonna feel pretty empty this year without  him.

So anyway, Candice found a recipe for coconut cream pie (I've never made one from scratch before) and we went to town on it.  It's pretty involved making the custard but Candice pulled it off like a champ!  Her first experience tempering eggs and scalding milk went very well.  She even toasted coconut for the top.  I have to say, it was delicious...probably one of the best pies I've ever had.

This is how I like to remember him.  He would always make killer chicken enchiladas for our Christmas eve party.

 Kelley has been over at this dads the past few days with his brothers going through more of grandma and grampas things.  They found her stash of Christmas ornaments and little houses.  She has an amazing collection of real fancy ornaments (she would get a few new ones each year over at ZCMI) and Kelley said about 16 houses (they all lit up too!) We would make fun cause she would get always get a skinny charlie brown tree then load up each branch with so many ornaments they would be bending right down.   

 ha ha they ran across this old picture of Kelley and Pat.  I think Kelley's face looks like KC  without the beard.  Gosh I miss Pat too...he always made holidays fun.   Doesn't seem like just a year ago, him and grampa were at our house for Thanksgiving dinner.

 Anyway, back to Thanksgiving....so we continued baking...rolls, yams, green beans brussel sprouts,green salad, creamed corn ( ooh we tried a new recipe for this too...made in the crock pot with cream cheese and lots of butter...it was delicious!) mashed potatoes and gravy (thanks Kelley!) pumpkin pie,  Oh and the big fat turkey we started baking early in the morning.  Candice made a fabulous cheese ball too!

While we were baking Tiffany stopped by and visited for a while.  She had her little chihuahua dog with her and her and Lizzy had a sniffing fest.  It was good to visit with Tiffany.I could tell she was missing the family too.  We had invited her for dinner, but she said she was going to her sisters.  I'm glad she will stay in touch with us anyway.

At about 4, Curtis, his mom and kids came over.  I was so glad she would come.  This is the first thanksgiving after Curtis's dad had died so I'm sure it was a difficult one.  She was great though...she brought the stuffing and it was just delicious!  Benny played and jumped on the trampoline and Leila sat and visited with us.  She is pretty much a grown up girl now.  Very cute and sweet.

We squished around the kitchen table, but it was fine and cozy.  We all ate till we could bust, then talked a while before pie.   The coconut cream was a big hit and pumpkin is always my favorite. 

KC tried to go take a nap on the couch in the living room, but Benny had found a Nerf blow dart set and was pelting him with them.  We could hear them from the kitchen..."you got me!"  KC was so cute with him...they got out the race track and played cars after that. 

We talked for a while and I hope Curtis's mom had a good time.  Just as they were leaving, Chris and Andrew came over.  We watched some old home movies he had put onto a DVD.  They were of the boys growing up...there were some real good ones of their family.  I seriously don't know how Kelley's mom survived without his dad around much to help raise those 6 boys. I guess that's what made her the awesome lady that she was.  Anyway, it was fun to watch and listen to Kelley and Chris remember and laugh about their younger days.  We didn't want the movies to end.

By the time they left, we were all pooped so we called it a very good day.