Thanksgiving Dinner

There was lots of food and lots of people for Thanksgiving dinner - 35 people to be exact.  Thanks to David and Tricia our gracious hosts for a fun and yummy day.



Before the eating began there was the official weigh- in.  Most of the kids and a few of the adults weighed themselves before they ate and after to see who would gain the most!

I chose not to participate :)!!

There was plenty of food with a ham and a turkey and all the fixins! Pots and pots of mashed potatoes and hundreds of homemade rolls!

Little cousin Carter especially enjoyed his meal!  Aren't those eyes amazing!!



And my cute boy


Here's Logan's plate - he didn't go hungry!!

And of course there was pie - lots of pie!!  Apple, Banana Cream, Key Lime, Pecan/Cranberry, Raspberry Cream, Lemon Truffle, Chocolate and apple dumplings!!




Hope your Thanksgiving was a happy one!!

The Best Part of Thanksgiving

What's your favorite part of Thanksgivng?

I think the best part of Thanksgiving this year was cousins!  Lots of cousins!  The biggest benefit of spending Thanksgiving in Utah is getting to share it with lots of our Wilkes cousins!

Logan and his new girfriend Jacky!

Lots of cute girl cousins!  Cali, Tessa and Eryn

Cali, Tessa, Cece

lia and Mikala

Llittle Miss Jacky

and her handsome brother Ward!

The newly engaged cousin - Eric and his fiancee Diane.  We enjoyed meeting her for the first time!  Way to go Eric - you got a good one!

Some of the college, almost college, and just graduated from college cousins

and some of the boy cousins patiently waiting for dinner.

And best of all we got to see Grandma (and Brendy)

and Grandpa Wilkes!

How to Survive a 13 Hour Car Ride to Utah

Tuesday after school we left for Utah.

Bye bye Portland!

We had been praying all week for good weather and it was a beautiful, sunny day!

Mt. Hood was gorgeous as we headed out of town.  We made it to Ontario by about 9:30 p.m.and spent the night there.  We saw a little snow along the roadside but the skies were clear!!

With all the car drives we have made to Utah over the years we have learned there are some crucial items you must have in order to survive the 13 hour drive!

The first is a sack of good treats!  I made a trip to Trader Joes before we left and we had lots to snack on!  Austalian red licorice and maple cookies are a must!

Tessa had her i-pod and a few new magazines and she was a happy camper.  She also liked the fact that she got the back seat all to herself!

A portable DVD player with a season's worth of Gilmore Girls and the movie Clueless also help!

A book on tape - Twenties Girl - also kept all three of us entertained!

We arrived in Salt Lake about 2:00 p.m., made a quick stop at Tai Pan (I was in and out in about 45 minutes) and then headed down to David and Tricia's where Logan and Cali met us.  Clark worked until 6:00 p.m. and we met him at Cafe Rio for dinner. 

Cafe Rio and all my kids - it doesn't get any better!!!