Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was a success...as long as you were a BYU fan that is.

This was my first Thanksgiving as a host. Richard's mom came up from Colorado to spend the day with us. I am always a little intimidated by her...she is a very good mom and I can't think of anyone who has sacrificed more for her kids, so my mom insecurities always flare up a little around her. I find myself whispering to Anna "please don't cry...we want Grandma to think I am good at this!"

Nonetheless, I have much to be grateful for this holiday:

I am grateful first for life and love and happiness. I know we all go through heartaches, but it makes the happy times that much sweeter and deserved. Sunlight and seasons remind me that after each storm comes a spring and a renewing. I am thankful for a husband who still thinks I am pretty on the days I don't shower (and they happen folks!) and who thinks all my eccentricities (and there are many of them) are merely "cute"
I am grateful for this little person. Now that I am a mom of an individual, I know that babies are not just babies, they really are people-- endowed with rights, opinions, and habits. My little girl has a personality all her own. I once called up my mom, complaining that Anna was supposed to be like me, but that instead she was willful....it took my mom a half a second to point out that I was willful too!
I am grateful for Anna's mohawk as well!
I am grateful for food. I always have been, and I always will be! I planned out our Thanksgiving menu for weeks and this was the result:
"Good Eats" Thanksgiving turkey (complete with brining the night before)
stuffing
mashed potatoes
roasted sweet potatoes
wild rice salad
braised mushrooms and peas
homemade crescent rolls (Richard made this.....HOMEMADE!!!)
pumpkin pie, and...
caramelized apple cheesecake with spiced creme anglaise and butterscotch sauce (not shown)

I am grateful that my mom instilled in me a love of left-overs, of which there are no longer any!
Richard's sister Christy got us a University of Utah onsie which we pulled out for the big game on Saturday. Richard listened to it on the computer. When the Utes were winning Richard almost had me take it off of Anna, saying that she was giving them good luck, but then BYU ended up winning anyway.
I am grateful for the AWESOME education I got at both schools. And I will remain a dual fan, my whole life!