50-25-40 something

What a whirlwind of events over the last 50 days…
Evan turned 50 in October.
We gave thanks with family in November.
A couple of days later, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
We could not imagine celebrating this milestone without our daughters.
Dinner at The Roof, overlooking the Temple where we were married.
Followed by lights on temple square until the extreme crowds
overpowered the Christmas spirit.
(Thank you Kylee for the photos!)





I celebrated my birthday with the same great crew, minus one.
Once again, dinner out... a small and quite affair.
(Miss you Tay!)
(Thanks again for the photo Ky.)


In a weeks time, we will all be together again,
preparing to celebrate a wonderful Christmas Season.
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.
I cannot imagine life without them.
I love and cherish every celebration, event, MOMENT with them.

Abundance

I cannot remember a time when we had a small crowd for Thanksgiving dinner.
This year however, marked such a day.

No out of town guests.
Extended family scheduled visits in the other directions.
Our total number was 8 for the day.

As usual. I carefully planned what to prepare,
when to prepare it, and how to present it.

A month of planning, two days of cooking.
It was going to be as perfect as it could be
with 20 missing family members.

We ordered a turkey 10 pounds lighter
and scaled down the size of remaining entree's.

Then, the winds changed.
Two unexpected phone calls made me a very happy hostess.
1] My brother in law and his family had to cancel their travel plans &
2] My husbands cousin Sip, needed a party to crash.

My 8 quickly became 15!

Fortunately, I am an over-planner,
and a recipient of a tender mercy.
Our 15 pound pre-ordered turkey
was 20 pounds when the butcher handed it over.

Needless to say…
We had an abundance of food
and a house full of loved ones.
Just the way we like it!

Quotable

"Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know
are those who are obsessed with themselves;
the happiest people I know
are those who lose themselves in the service of others...
By and large,
I have come to see that if we complain about life,
it is because we are thinking only of ourselves."
— Gordon B. Hinckley