Nic skis!

Chris took all the boys up skiing this past weekend. Nicholas did well and enjoyed the two runs he got in before the big wipeout. Hot cocoa at the lodge calmed him down and I think he is ready for his next trip. We might need to get him lessons since Chris can't bend over that well anymore. Dang hip!

Zoo and city lights with Mallett clan

We enjoyed a wonderful day at the Zoo (thank you Nina) and wandering around temple square with Chris' family.

The zoo in winter is great as most of the animals are out and very active. Also, it is not as crowded. The kids had a wonderful time running around and visiting the animals.

Temple square was beautiful, as usual. We went the night it "opened" and boy was it crowded. We stopped by to see the Macy candy windows and caught a few displays inside City Creek.

It's wonderful to share these traditions.

Thanksgiving round up

We had an excellent Thanksgiving holiday. We were blessed to have Chris' mom, sister and kids (Nina & Billy Jack) share this day with us. They are out west on a 10 day vacation and are visiting most of the national parks in southern Utah.

This is the first Thanksgiving I have exclusively cooked, from the appetizers, to turkey and sides, to pies. The consumers approved and said I did a great job.

I brined the turkey and used this amazing recipe. It worked great, really easy to do. 

I made most if the sides the day before and got them all ready to cook.  You may recall the sweet potato recipe (here) from a few years ago. I also made quick dinner rolls. So easy. While we did have a few vegetables, I made a "salad", more like a pretzel dessert. But the recipe called it a salad, we are going with it.

We ate, relaxed and enjoyed our great company. We are very grateful for family. 

Happy belated Thanksgiving.

Deck the halls

We did a little decorating (and dejunking at the same time) this week. We got our tree trimmed, stocked hung and house decked out!

I tried to put out all the decorations this year and got rid of anything that we didn't use. It seemed to work and the house feels less cluttered.

I'm taking an online class (12 artsy ornaments) and have made this cool star for our mantel. Nicholas helped and he made this smaller version.