Thanksgiving 2009

It was wonderful to only have to travel 30 feet this year to get to Thanksgiving dinner, and especially nice that the rest of Taylor's family did the flying and driving instead of us. Here's the final pies I did. They actually turned out amazingly well. I followed my mom's recipe for the pumpkin pies (which I actually don't like so I can't vouch for their being good or terrible). Then I made a super easy peanut-butter pie and then followed a recipe out of the newspaper for how to make a peach pie by Obama's "pie master". Apparently the pastry chef in the White House does amazing things with pies so the Obama's have him make one at least once a week. It turned out perfect so I'll definitely be following it again. (email me if you want the recipes)
In the chaos to get dinner ready for 17 people, the kitchen got pretty crowded. Here's Taylor's sister Barb sneaking some pre-dinner goodness. Don't worry- she clobbered Taylor right after she realized he took this picture of her.

This is Sam, Mack's girlfriend. She made the pumpkin roll and oreo bites so we had to throw in the picture.

Everyone gathered around for last-minute prep. L to R: Mack, Jeff (my brother), Barb, Uncle Ken, Grandpa Servoss, Sam, Aunt Deanna, Sonia.

And just a few more pictures for fun. Taylor's dad had this electric knife for carving the turkey which fascinated both our kids as well as all the guys in the room.

We have so many things to be grateful for this year. I'll just list a few so that this blog doesn't last forever.

1. Taylor graduating, getting a job, passing the BAR, enjoying work, having a great golf graduation trip with his dad, running a succesful moot court competition, and learning to use a scroll saw as well as to make homemade wheat breads.

2. Sarah getting to take a quiet trip alone to interview grandparents, having half the family in our tiny apartment for Easter, having such wonderful friends in DC, having help driving across country with 2 kids, having a not-so-eventful pregnancy, getting to visit at the family reunion, having an easy, quick, and safe delivery of the cutest baby on the planet, having a mother pamper me and my family before and after the baby, living so close to family, living in a wonderful ward that went 150% above and beyond the call of duty in helping us before and after Miles was born, and getting to enjoy the cold Utah fall weather, inside, cuddling a baby,
3. Ethan getting to be a part of joyschool and having such wonderful friends, getting to live next door to his Grams, having a dog he can play with but doesn't have to care for, having a backyard, getting to take swimming lessons and play on a soccer team, learning spanish at his preschool, and getting a new baby brother.

4. Isaac learning to kick a ball, run races with Ethan, and learning to talk- yeah!

5. Miles being born healthy and happy and being surrounded by loving parents, grandparents, and brothers.