Pomegranate Salad...

Steve has a Thanksgiving tradition every year in which he makes pomegranate salad. He has consistently kept this tradition every year we've been married, even when we have traveled or been away from home. It's easy and yummy and it is funny how many people we find who either like pomegranates and don't know what to do with them or have memories of eating them as a child.

Steve's memories are of pomegranates growing in his grandma's backyard. This year, we planted a pomegranate tree in our backyard. And it yielded one whole pomegranate. And it went into the traditional pomegranate salad for Thanksgiving.

Steve shelling the pomegranate seeds.

He had helpers--just be careful, they stain! Thus we clothe our children in the "blue jackets".


Kendyl with pomegranate juice splattered all over her face, arms, table, and who knows where else! She called them her freckles. :)


The recipe is...one part pomegranate seeds, one part chopped apple, one part sliced banana and lots of cool whip.

Enjoy!

Turkey Day...

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, good food, good times, good fun! We played lots of Wii and watched the parade and then watched lots and lots of football. The girls even tried all of the food this year--yay!

And not to be left out, Ryder even got Sweet Potatoes and Turkey! :)

Here I am busy making rolls (which turned out delicious by the way) ;-)


Our turkey this year was really good and moist. Don't you just hate it when the meat is dry?


Lots of yummy food...

...and more delicious food.

Brityn couldn't wait to eat--she kept saying she was hungry. Her favorite food was the rolls!

Kendyl tried all of her food this year and her favorite food was the rolls too!

Uh, yea,...Steve had a little mishap while getting some more food. You might have to enlarge this picture to catch all the sweet potatoes splattered on the walls.

And by the time we were finished eating we all wanted to take a nap!

Grandparent's Day...

Kendyl's school had a Grandparent's Day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That turned out to be perfect timing, since Grandpa Jerry came to spend Thanksgiving here with us.

The kids got to have breakfast with their grandparents and then they had a little program complete with the school choir and the man the school is named for. Grandpa Jerry said the room was packed with grandparents and no places to sit and they also ran out of food! At least it was well attended! :)


Kendyl got to show Grandpa Jerry her classroom and he got to see some of their morning routine. He was very impressed!

Kendyl's teacher is wonderful and is great with the kids.

Together they worked on this cute "crazy turkey"!

Things Kendyl is thankful for...my favorite is the one that says, "I am thankful for my mom!" What a fun day! We hope they make this an annual event, Grandpa Jerry says he will be back!

A white shirt and tie...

Ryder was just too handsome in his white shirt and tie today, that I had to share a picture!

Honestly, I haven't been too impressed with the selection of boy clothes available, and when it comes to dressing up, you can't outdo the fancy dresses for little girls...but today, I just couldn't stop smiling at my handsome little man!

Just like Daddy!

Three cute kids.

Citizen of the Month...

We attended an assembly this morning at Kendyl's school to watch her get her award for Citizen of the Month. It was very nice--the kids sang a couple of songs and said the pledge of allegiance. There were two other kids from our ward that were also Citizens of the Month. We are so proud of Kendyl and how good she is. She is always kind to others and is a great helper. The principal said they have an artist who comes in to paint each child's name on pillars at the school so there will be a permanent tribute to our wonderful girl!

Congratulations Kendyl! We love you!!!

Field trip...

We've had a busy couple of weeks and enjoyed having Tutu and Papa Jack come to visit. It has been fun for the girls since they've had some days off from school with lots of fun things to do and friends to play with.

I got to go with Kendyl on her first field trip (including her first ride on a school bus!) to the natural history museum here. The kids were very excited and a little hyper considering it was probably the first time many of these 1st graders ever rode in a vehicle with no seat belt or booster! I just don't see how that is safe.

Kendyl on her first school bus ride!

There were all kinds of animals at this natural history museum, but her favorite picture was in front of the cheetah. :)

There were big animated dinosaurs (but no dinosaur skeletons or fossils--go figure!) and buttons the kids could push to hear the sounds each one makes. A few of the kids did not like the roaring and screeching from the constant button pushing.

They had an area with live aquariums and fish tanks with some cool snapping turtles, and a big tank with sharks and sting rays.

They also had a tank with shark eggs in it. I didn't get any really good pictures, but if you look closely, in this large egg, you can see the dark outline of a baby shark. They were swimming all around in these egg pouches.

After the field trip, we had lunch at the school and I stayed for recess so I could watch Kendyl go all the way across the monkey bars. She has come home every day from school with a new blister, from playing on the monkey bars so much!

Way to go Kendyl!