Blessed Beyond Belief

Thanksgiving day 2008

So this is how our day went - Tim started the morning off by making breakfast and cleaning the kitchen up for me.

Autumn was an excellent kitchen helper all day.  Well, up until dinner that is.  After dinner she announced that her part in helping clean up was to put the whipped cream back in the fridge.

Before dinner we had a friendly game of Apples to Apples.  Will still has a really hard time with situations like these and we lost him several times.  But in the end he came back and 'won' the game. You can see a video of our game on tim's you tube channel.  Link is to the left.

Then Tim decided it was time for a nap - pre turkey.  Must have been the smell of roasting tryptophan that made him drowsy.

Russell decided that he needed to take a shower about 5 minutes before it was time to eat.  So we had to wait on him.

Then we sat down to eat after Tim carved the turkey and we set our feast before us on the table.

But not before we said a prayer of thanks to God for all the blessings that He bestows on us.

Will served himself turkey and mashed potatoes.  He took a couple of bites from each and then wanted pie.  So then he ate two pieces of pumpkin pie.  That's not  the way dessert usually works here, but I had declared this a 'no rules' Thanksgiving.  We did it OUR way. ;)

After dinner we quickly cleaned up and went to see the Festival of trees.  They had disney characters doing mime shows.  They weren't interacting or talking, just moving about.  And then they would 'go to sleep' for a minute, and then come back to life.  Will was VERY intrigued by them and kept trying to get their attentions.

This is the tree I wanted.  Someday I'll have a pink and white tree.

Here's the Peanuts tree.  It was really cute and Will took an extra long time checking it out.

Santa was there and Will just HAD to wait in line to see him and get his picture taken.  He loved it!  The other two wanted nothing to do with pictures with santa.  I guess I'm down to one child who will still sit with santa.  

It was a good day, lots of fun.  I am thankful that I have a family that I enjoy being with.

Thanksgivings Past

2003 -  at mom's house.

2004 - at mom's house again.

The year of the deep fried turkeys.

2005 - took a road trip to Idaho.  Saw Kuna for the first time that weekend.

2006 - living in ID.  Mike, Jayne, Kim, Jordan join us for thanksgiving.  Kim prepares the very NON-vegetarian turkey.  She looks likes she's enjoying it, no?

2007 - Jacob, Jenny, Jaxon, and Emma join us in ID for Thanksgiving weekend.

Today it is just the five of us.  We are roasting a turkey, making stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and marshmallow salad.  All the right stuff for a T-Day dinner.  We already played a game of Apples to Apples, Tim is taking a thanksgiving day nap (pre-turkey, what's up with that???) and after dinner we are jumping in the car and going down to The Grove to see The festival of Trees.  Pictures to come later on.

I should be doing so many other things right now.

But since this is the only way you'll see me dance, I figured I would share with you.  Because I love you - besides, check out my MOVES!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Back to Reality ~ Dead Fish

There's a special surprise at the end for those of you who watch. Will sings a song.

My fantasy world

Tonight is the 2 hour 24 movie 'Redemption'.  Tim and I have watched all the seasons of 24 for the past few months on DVD. Now we are caught up and ready to watch it week by week.  But this is all we get until January.  Just this 2 hour movie. 

 

   Damn it Jack Bauer!!!!

Here's the musical side of Keifer - He owns a record label, Ironworks, that recorded an EP for Honey Honey -my new favorite band.  LOVE THEM!

 

Moving on to vampires (which of course any Kiefer fan knows that he once played a vampire in 'Lost Boys').  Heather got me hooked on the Twilight series.  So I read all four of her books and that wasn't enough.  So now I'm re-reading them as I am collecting them one by one.  Of course the movie came out on Friday - so a group of us got together and went all out with matching tees.

The movie was good, of course the books are better.  Isn't that the way it always is?  I'd see it again....

IRAN ~ my favorite four letter word.

Profile of an Iranian American - My Dad sent me a link to this video.  It's about 10 minutes long, but very worth the watch.  It's funny because I never considered myself an 'Iranian American', just half Iranian.  While I have lived here all my life with the exception of a period when we were living in Iran, I've always very much identified myself with my Iranian heritage.  Even through years of negativity associated with the middle east, I've never been ashamed to say that I am Iranian.  In fact, just the opposite.  Any chance I get I tell people of my back round.  So, even though I am no professor or musician like the lady profiled here, I really liked watching this and hearing about an Iranian American woman who is a positive influence on the world. 

PAAIA- Profiles of Iranian Americans- Dr. Pardis Sabeti from PAAIA on Vimeo. 

Maybe much of the connection I feel comes from the time that I spent living there.  It was short, but the events that take place in those formative years make a big impact.  Learning some of the language (even though it was forgotten when I came back) I'm sure contributed to the connection.

That's me and my Uncle Bruce, and a lamb on the couch.  Think that's funny?  He was dinner.  Just kidding.  well, maybe not THAT nights dinner.....

Here's one of the camps we lived in while my dad worked in construction building roads and bridges. (mom, correct me if I'm wrong)

Me, posing by another building project.

An old man that used to babysit me apparently.  I think I remember my mom saying that she used to find me sitting in the middle of a table drinking tea with all the camp workers.

This is out front of the house/apartment/duplex in Tehran (I believe) - again with my uncle Bruce.

Chehel Sotoun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that Chehel sotun be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

'Shah Abbas I entertaining guests'. Painting depicting an official banquet at court, with the Shah and his guests enjoying wine, food, dancers, and music. Ceiling fresco at Chehel Sotoun.

Chehel Sotoun (also Chehel Sotoon, Persian: چهل ستون) is a pavilion in the middle of a park at the far end of a long pool, in Isfahan, Iran, built by Shah Abbas II to be used for the Shah's entertainment and receptions. In this palace, Shah Abbas II and his successors would receive dignitaries and ambassadors, either on the terrace or in one of the stately reception halls.

This is when my Grandparents came to Iran to bring me back to the States.  Jacob was in the stroller and I was behind him.

The Caspian Sea - me, my parents and two Uncles and cousin.  

Apadana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Pali texts, see Apadāna.

The Apadana (Persian: آپادانا) is the name of the great audience hall at Persepolis. It belongs to the oldest building phase of the city, built during the first half of the 5th century BC as part of the original design by Darius the Great, its construction completed by Xerxes I.

I've always said that one day I would like to go back to visit.  I don't know if that will ever happen, but it would be an awesome experience.  I believe it would be a sense of deja vu.  A feeling of familiarity along with shock over the difference in culture.  Like going home to another planet.  When I think about it, I have a strong desire to learn more about the history and the culture.  I know that if I don't do that now to pass on to my kids, then it will eventually be lost.  They are one quarter Iranian and know their 'Iranian American' grandpa.  But the further down the generations we get - the further they will grow from that original heritage.  I won't forget though.  And I hope that I can someday get enough of it recorded so that MY great great great grandkids will know it too.

It doesn't happen often...

But when it does happen I'm sure they wished it could have happened to a pot of steamed broccoli instead of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.  

Even though I can no longer indulge in these treats, I still get a high (yes, a true addict talking here) from making sweet treats for others and watching them eat them.  So I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Except I was doing this while making dinner so I did the cheater way and made the whole thing into a big bar pan and baked it up.  The deal was that you had to eat your dinner before you could have a cookie.  Well, that beautiful pan of chocolate chip goodness was just too distracting for Will.  Halfway through dinner he got up, went to the office and came back with a sign that said, 'I want this' pointing down.  He taped it above the cookie pan.

Yeah, cute, right?  So I took a picture.  Point well made.  By then I thought he had earned a cookie.  So I picked up the pan with oven mitts because it was still hot and I went to transfer it over to the island counter.  Now, within those couple of transactions something went terribly wrong.  Funny thing is, I'm not sure what it was.  But that beautiful pan of chocolate chip yumminess went face down on the floor.

Look at Will - he looks so sad.  Look at me - I look so defeated. Look at the cookies - they look so... so... so.... well, it hurts to look at doesn't it?

Now, I'm not one to throw in the towel (literally or figuratively) on something like this.  Too many ingredients, too much time, too many people expecting baked cookies.  So we called the kids and told them that if they wanted a cookie they'd better come look for a piece that didn't hit the floor.

Then I decided that my floor was clean enough that I didn't need to feel bad about picking most of it up and shoving it into a zip lock bag.  Ask this kid if the cookies tasted bad.  I think not.  The bag was gone in less than 48 hours.  Think they would have gathered around a dropped pot of steamed broccoli to eat it off the floor?

What's for Dinner?

Organizing Junkie

I've been weekly menu planning for awhile now.  It helps a lot to know what's for dinner everyday.  So I plan a (hopefully) good balanced menu for the week and write it on the chalkboard on the fridge.  Like this:

Except that's not this week's menu - this was taken about a month ago.  This is the menu for this week:

Monday - marinated bbq chicken legs, roasted sweet potato salad, and spinach salad

Tuesday - spinach, feta, and red swiss chard crustless quiche and butternut squash fries

Wednesday - chicken enchiladas and black beans and spanish rice

Thursday - meatball minestrone soup and bread

Friday - leftovers

I eat everything above except for the rice and bread.  Ok fine - maybe a bite or two.  Some where in there I'll probably make a really yummy sugar free peanut butter pie.

Sunday

It's cloudy and rainy here.  Yesterday we tore out our dead garden and Tim mowed the lawns for hopefully the last time before next spring.  I've been battling a cold all week.  One that resulted in me kind of losing my voice.  It's back now, but the cold seems to be lingering.  I'm behind on all my housework and that makes me feel out of place and disorganized and lost.  No time to do it now though. It's sunday and that means we are working.  So now I'm just waiting for all the kids to get their crap together so that we can go to work. Here's to a new week ... hopefully one that feels constructive and meaningful.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Mike