Fried Turkeys and little bugs

The one redeeming quality of Thanksgiving is fried turkey. If you have never had this delightfully Southern delicacy for your Thanksgiving main dish, you are missing out. There is nothing better than a deliciously seasoned, brown and crispy outer skin and a gorgeous white and juicy meat that just melts in your mouth. Todd would say the dark meat is more delicious, but I am partial to the white meat. I must admit, when my mom said that we were not doing a turkey this year and were opting for Prime Rib instead, I was not complaining. But when they changed their mind because Joe bought an infrared turkey fryer ( it doesn't use any oil, which can get expensive) we were all very excited and the disappointment about no prime rib was minimal.
The dinner was delicious, as many of you know, my mom is quite the cook and she never disappoints. Our family does not watch football on Thanksgiving but rather, basketball. Gonzaga Basketball to be exact. The Mormons cheering on the Catholics. Seems rather strange but we love our hometown team and John Stockton played there.
I got started with my Black Friday shopping a little early. Michaels' opened at 6pm on Thanksgiving and the cartridges for my Cricut (aka my little bug) were on sale for $30. This was a smokin' deal. At Michaels' they retail for $90, at Wal-Mart they are $70, so you can imagine my excitement. I never imagined the line. It was crazy, apparently a lot of people have nothing better to do Thanksgiving evening. I did end up getting three cartridges I wanted, for the price I would have paid for one, so I was very happy and Christmas came a little early. I bumped into quite a few people I knew and thanks to Joann Maughn I was able to get one cartridge I wanted, but didn't get in time. Luckily she was the first one in and grabbed one too many which she passed on to me. I am thankful for her!!!
And so ends another Thanksgiving, admittedly not my favorite holiday (shouldn't we be thankful all the time, not just one day?) but I survived it nonetheless.

Go Utes!!

Here it is...Todd is the greatest, Todd is the best, Todd still owes me for losing the Christmas Tree bet even though he won the bet for the Utah - BYU game. What was up with my Cougars? Max Hall threw 5 interceptions...he's killing me!!! I will have to listen to the Utah fight song for the rest of my life because of him. (Did you know you can hear it on You Tube?) MH better watch out. If I ever run into him he is a dead man!!! Well, at least one Mountain West team is going to a BCS bowl, unfortunately it probably won't be the National Championship Game. It could be interesting if Utah gets to play Florida and their former coach Urban Meyer. I'll be watching and not just because Todd is making me.

Can you have withdrawl symptoms for this?

I think I am. I am having fly for free, former airline employee withdrawl. I can't say that I had it with any of my other jobs. I certainly don't even miss the apartment manager thing, but I do miss working at the airline. This is the busiest time of year and usually the most challenging, yet at the same time it is very rewarding. Knowing you're helping people to go be with loved ones, or doing something fun for the holidays is great. The best part is that when all the hubbub of the holidays is over, you can load the whole family up and head out without worrying whether you are going to get bumped. I miss it so very, very much. Not enough to go back to work, mind you, but enough to have little worksickness pangs every now and again. I know a quick hop on a flight to Disneyland for the weekend would cure me.....

HOLIDAY GIFTS

Okay, this is my first post on here. I had to get on and let people know a little about our blog site here. If you go down on the right hand side you'll see a link to "Marys Mints", you have to visit. If you are looking for that perfect holiday gift, you can't go wrong with Marys Mints. On the site they offer homemade butter mints that are to DIE for. They are so good. There is also offered Toasted Coconut Chocolate Marshmallows, how can that be bad?? I'm here now to tell you that you can also get Holiday Chocolates shipped!! You name it, you can get it pretty much. She makes turtles, chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, etc. Caramels and the works. I believe any order made before December 20th can probably arrive by Christmas. On the Marys Mints site there is an email address to ask questions or make orders, you can also email Ally to ask questions. This business is just getting started and I'm telling you, you won't be disappointed. You'll get an original, inexpensive gift that people will talk about. This is probably what my siblings are getting for Christmas so.....surprise!! That's all I have to say, if you're having a hard time thinking of that perfect gift for in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, loved ones that live far away, visit Marys Mints, you'll be glad you did.

BYU vs. utah

For those of you who follow college football in Utah, the big game is this weekend. I am asking for predictions. Who will win? The Lord's school or those heathens on the hill? Leave me a post and let me know who you are rooting for. We'll see who wins the Devenish informal game. I got a quick joke for you...Why isn't the U having a nativity this year? Give up? Because they couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. In case you're wondering, Ally is rooting for BYU and Todd (and Ally's whole entire family) is rooting for the U. I'm a little outnumbered here. Show me some love and then pray for those BYU cougs.

Do I have anything to say?

The other night Todd was saying that I had not blogged anything for a long time. I said that I haven't done anything fun lately. He reminded me that I don't necessarily have to do anything fun to have something to say, and that I should treat it more like a daily journal. I think many of the things I do on a daily basis are terribly mundane, I do have opinions and sometimes I wonder if others share (or care) about these things. So here it goes... a couple of Ally musings:

1. Is the decorating talent something you learn or something that is inbred? I know I certainly don't have it, nor did I learn it. Am I going to HE** for that?

2. Why am I, a really not creative person, continually called to be involved on the RS enrichment committee, or in some other capacity involving the enrichment committee? Is somebody trying to tell me something...like I'm not getting it and maybe that's something I should be working on?

3. What is the infatuation with Twilight? I understand enjoying a book, but I don't understand the total obsession that tons of people have with these characters. I am really not a hater, I just don't get it.

4. I have to confess...I have a strange love/hate relationship with reality TV. I hate it because it's mindless and contrived and I love it because it's mindless and contrived. It's a dilemma that I can't solve. I have to admit that I watch the really "good" ones also like Real Housewives of Atlanta ( These women give *itchy new meaning). I watch Dog the Bounty Hunter and Repossessed and Cops. I laugh at stupid people. It's weird, but I think part of the reason is that I don't have to put any effort into watching. It just goes in and rattles around a bit. Then it goes away. Whatever.

5. Why does the school district still do late start during conference week? If it isn't bad enough that our kids go one hour later on Thursdays, you throw in conferences when they get out at 12:30 and they are in class for 2.5 hours, and yes this includes lunch and recess. You make me get them up for what? What is the point exactly?

6. Why do children think your furniture is a jungle gym? Maybe that's just my kids!!

7. Why can't I ever win anything? I enter all sorts of fun contests. People win, me...not so much. Is my luck really that bad?

So there you have it. I wish I could say I have profound and witty things that I contemplate and then post, but no!! Feel free to comment. It's always nice to get confirmation of my mental illness!!

Dancing Queens?

There is one thing I forgot to mention in my previous post and that was video night. Anthony showed us the most watched video on You Tube, which for some reason I had not seen. It has some great (classic) moves and the middle reminds me of our cruise to Mexico. (It's a long story, let's just say it involves Todd, Freddie, Robert a lawn mower and a dog) Just in case you haven't seen it, I am including it here for you. My kids love it and are trying to master all the moves as we speak!! I hope you enjoy it like we did.

ROAD TRIP

A couple of weeks ago my best friend (and former college roommate) Quinn called and said she was coming to Utah for a visit, all the way from Germany. I have not seen her since before Preston was born and I was very excited because I miss her!! As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend Anita (another one of our roommates) just moved to Seattle. I just so happened that the opportunity presented itsself for Anita and I to hop in the vanagan and take a vacay to Utah for a mini reunion.





Once we were there, it was like we had been together just yesterday. It was like being in college again only add 15 years, husbands', children and all the other fun stuff that comes with growing up. We took the kids to the park to see Deanna (another roommate) and let the kids play while we caught up. We missed Reni though as she had the nerve to give birth an hour after she was supposed to meet us. We decided that we were going to feed our ABBA obsession and go see Mama Mia. We had so much fun. I'm sure our husbands' were relieved that they didn't have to go with us and we had a blast singing, dancing and yelling during the movie. Gusti's 15 year old Kali came with us. I'm sure she was horribly embarrassed by our antics, but if you can't embarass your friends kids, who can you embarass? When we got home, Gusti talked us into playing a video game. Not just any video game but our new obsession:

We played until 2 am. I don't think I've stayed up that late on purpose(unless it's New Year's Eve) for a really long time!! I am really not good at video games, including this one, but we sure had fun trying.

On Saturday, Kelli drove down from Boise and we decided to take a mini road trip all the way to Provo. I had not been to BYU in probably 7 years and we thought it might be fun to go down there and see how much had changed. There were lots of good changes (DT is no longer) and some that suprised us. (Our beloved white, mouse house is gone.) We did feel a little nostalgia as we drove by the former site of the White House. There was a football game that day and parking was insane. We were laughing at how we used to park cars in our field and charge for parking on game days. It helped with the rent, until Steve found out and chose to do it himself!! Landlords!! We spent some time on campus, telling stories and eating at the creamery. It was just strange to be there again. On the way home, Quinn mentioned she was thirsty so I had to introduce her to the Sonic Cherry Limeade. I know they don't have those in Germany!! After Sonic? More Rockband. I said it was an obsession.

We had so much fun while we were there. Gusti took lots of pictures and hopefully will send them to us because I was camera challenged. I also got to see my sister Amanda and my brother Rob and sister-in-law Michelle. I appreciate Manda for reminding me how good Cafe Rio really is and that there is nothing better than cheese fries from Training Table. Yes, we ate, but there are some things you can only get there. I also appreciate her letting us stay at her really cool house. The theater room is truly the best room to sleep in!! Thanks Man!!! I also have to thank Gusti. She fed us and let us stay at her house also, even though she already had a houseful. Thank You!!! We were sad when we had to leave, we had so much fun. Quinn and family will be back next year and we're making plans already. Thanks for the fun girls. I love and miss you. You are truly best friends!!

A week late and more than $1 short...Happy Birthday Robbie!!

OK. I have been very busy and I didn't forget his birthday, I just drove 10 hours on very little sleep on his actual birthday and updating the blog was the last thing on my mind. So here it is...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBBIE!!

Here's to our oldest son. The one that fills our heads with endless amounts of trivia and knows every fact there is to know about wolves, rattlesnakes and dinosaurs that no longer exist. The one that Todd is convinced will be our state champion swimmer and the one who is truly wicked smart. The one who corrects his parents on a daily basis because he is convinced that his 4th grade Central Valley education has made him more knowledgeable than his college educated parents... Rob is the most considerate, caring and helpful older brother that any younger brother or sister could possibly want. Thank you Robbie for coming to our family. We love and appreciate you very much. We hope you had a happy birthday.