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!!!

Fashion Shoot

After church on Sunday we decided to have a little fashion shoot in the backyard. 

Tessa got the camera first and I was the model.  Showing off my amazing purchase I made a couple of months ago.  I have become such the bargain shopper.  Here is my $358.00 dress - except that is not what I paid for it!!  I only paid over $50.00 for it.  Added my $20.00 Target sweater to it and not bad!

I guess Tessa thought his was my best angle!

My new tights looked pretty cute too - don't you think!?

Now it was Tessa's turn.  I am going to take this as the highest form of flattery - when your 16 year old daughter wants to borrow your dress!  Look at the cute outfit Tessa put together with my dress!!

So I did fill it out a little more in certain places but how cute is she!!

She put it on over a vintage petticoat she has, added a black leather belt and a totally different look!

And by the way - it was cold outside!!

Jim was feeling a little left out so we took a picture of him too - his outfit wasn't nearly as cute!

Turkey Bowl

Cali's ward had a Turkey Bowl last Saturday.

The day started out with a little snow!

A little snow was not going to stop the fun though!

Not sure which team won but they had fun! Love the hats girls!

Look at that form - what a girl!! 

The Sensous Sandwich

Saturday night Cali and a group of her roomates and friends went out to dinner.

They had dinner at the Sensous Sandwich in Provo.

They have a special wall there -

this wall is covered with photos of people who have been able to eat an entire 24 inch sandwich in 30 minutes!!

Not only do you get your photo on their Wall of Fame but you also get a t-shirt.

 Everytime you wear the t-shirt to the shop you get a free drink.

Well, Cali and her friends decided they wanted a t-shirt - they wanted their photo on the wall!

Why not - all you have to do is eat THIS!!

No problem!!

Well... they ate....and they ate....and they ate.....

Ok so this picture is before they ate - they look a lot happier in this photo!

Not quite so happy here.

or here....

Well....Cali didn't make it - she did eat 18 of the 24 inches though.

Her roommate Amanda was successful though and two of the guys!  They got the t-shirt!!

Cali said it would be a long time before she was ready to face another sub sandwich!!

Good try Cali!!