The Annual Showdown- Red vs. Blue

It started out like any Saturday morning, until the phone rang and a friend in Utah played the BYU fight song over the receiver. Then the mood changed. Although our new neighbors probably did not understand what Michael was up to, he added this "U" to the lights in the front yard before the kickoff. We all wore red and geared up for a great football game.

Michael threw a great party. There were 20 or more people in the house, all cheering for red or blue. We had red 7-Up, blue Kool-Aid and plenty of red and blue food items.

Despite our spirited efforts, the University of Utah lost in overtime to our rivals, the Brigham Young University Cougars. "Rise and shout" all you cougars, it was your year.

And the Turkeys Came Marching In

My mom is famous for giving me recipes. Almost every time that I have seen my mother in the past 20 years, she hands me a stack of recipes. This year I decided to put one to use and make these turkey favors for our Thanksgiving table.

Sydney actually assembled them while I fought the hot spots in our crappy microwave trying to melt the caramel enough to make them stick together. She gets the credit for pulling this project together, and thanks to Michael for cooking his best turkey and stuffing yet so that I had time to mess with favors and table decorating!

In the end, we fed 23 of us this year. We are truly grateful for new friends who have lovingly befriended our family and who continue to make us feel welcome here. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving despite being far away from the immediate family.