Viva Las Vegas Thanksgiving

For many reasons, we decided to do a Toothsome Family-only Thanksgiving this year.  And, since my husband, who rarely closes his dental office, closed his office early on Wednesday, so his staff could go home and start their Thanksgiving festivities early, and kept it closed for the rest of the week, we decided to make it an "away" Thanksgiving.  After some debate, we ended up on Las Vegas at a two bedroom, Marriott that had a full kitchen.

My kids are not big turkey eaters so we did a pared down meal.  I know our meal might have been heresy for some of you but it was well received by the kids.  Jenny-O turkey loaf, green salad, freezer rolls, homemade mashed potatoes and Martinelli's sparkling apple cider.  And, since nobody likes pie at our house, we had candy bars for dessert.  

Later in the day, we ventured out and ended up the Coke store on the strip and tried the "Cokes Around the World".  16 different Coke products from various countries.  

 We all would take a sip and then give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

 Some were not so good, in particular the Beverly from Italy.  Quinine was the main flavor.  (If you have read as many WWII books as I have, you will know that quinine was an antimalarial taken by US soldiers who fought in the pacific.  They hated it then and now, so did our family.) 

On Friday, we went to the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay.  Toothsome #3 LOVES sharks, even decorating his Christmas tree at school with sharks.  He was in heaven.

 After telling the kids no souvenirs, Dentist husband surprised them by getting them shark teeth and these extremely discounted moray eel stuffed animals. 

 We also did plenty of watching TV, swimming in the pool and in my case, standing by the dryer (where it was extremely warm) and reading a book.

 And, because we were in Las Vegas, we drove the kids by the Pawn Stars pawn shop.  (We don't have cable but this show was on a 24 hour loop one of the days we were there.)  

We also took the kids by the various electric signs my husband's grandfather helped create.  He was the main man behind Vegas Vic (the waving cowboy).  

It was a fun trip.  And, yes, we walked in the door from Vegas and my kids went straight downstairs and started getting out the Christmas decorations.  My house is almost completely decorated.  

Thanksgiving Gratitude

I have been reading a lot of blog posts about gratitude.  It got me thinking about the many (almost countless) things for which I am grateful.  And, then I realized there was one piece of advice (big idea really) that I was given several years ago that I use in my life on a daily basis.  It is worth sharing.

I attended a Relief Society Enrichment where the speaker was a friend of mine in the ward.  She started out talking about how when she is pregnant her morning sickness was not just morning sickness but all day sickness.  She then went on to tell a personal life changing story.  When she was pregnant with her third child, her husband traveled constantly and her oldest child, who has autism was struggling.  She also had an active toddler and her morning sickness was worse than it had ever been and she was at the end of her rope.  She called her mom in tears and said, "I don't think I can do this."

Her mom, after listening to her vent, said, "I raised you to know that life was not always going to be easy.  You knew that there would be bathrooms to clean, sicknesses to deal with, heartaches and and other such trials.  You can't avoid them.  But you can control your thoughts when you are going through those things."

She then read this quote: Celebration is the conscience decision to live our lives with joy.  In the midst of turmoil, pain and adversity, in bad times and good, joy is the great companion our Heavenly Father intended us to have.  To feel joy, however, requires a decision on our part--a chosen approach to life, a chosen attitude, a constant awareness . . . To live with real joy we must begin with a personal conviction that we have the ability to change our lives in small meaningful ways.  We must feel we can learn better patterns of thinking, feeling, and doing that will allow us to feel better, accomplish more and rise higher. Elaine S. Marshall

She then talked about when she has to do things she doesn't really like to do (like cleaning a dirty bathroom), she thinks about a favorite vacation she went on as a child.  She said, "I don't even really notice that I am cleaning the bathroom because I am not thinking about that.  I am thinking about this great vacation."

I went home that night forever changed.  Whenever I am faced with things I don't like to do, I think of her advice.

What are some of my tools?

When folding laundry, I often call my mom or sisters and say, "Let's chat while I fold laundry."

I paid $72 annual fee to able to download any of Dr. Laura's radio programs.  I commit that when I am listening to Dr. Laura I have to be cleaning.  It is amazing how easy cleaning my house is when I am listening to Dr. Laura.

I put on the radio (or my ipod) and sing LOUDLY to whatever is on.  If my children are at home, they often join in singing with me.

I give myself a topic and write in my head a speech or talk on that subject.  It forces myself to recall scriptures, conference talks I have heard, etc., as I review that topic in my mind.

I memorize poems.  "If" by Rudyard Kipling is a favorite.  There is so much beautiful poetry out there and it becomes incredibly meaningful when repeated over and over again.

So, in this month of gratitude, I am grateful for the idea of filling my head with good things while I am often doing things I don't particularly like to do.  It has been life changing me.

Thanksgiving at "Home".

For Thanksgiving this year, Dentist husband and I decided it was time for me to go "home"--Boulder, CO where I was raised for the holiday.  We haven't spent a Thanksgiving there since Dentist Husband was in dental school and it has been three years since we as a family have been there.  After this visit, we all realized that it had been way too long.  Boulder is too great of a city to not visit often.  My DNA recognizes it as home and thankfully, my parents still live there in the house I was raised in.  (FYI:  I see my parents about 3 times a year, but for various reasons, it hasn't been in CO in recent years.)  

Here we are on Pearl Street--a famous outdoor walking mall.  

Toothsome #1 in front of the house I was raised in.  My parents still live there.  

The tire swing in the back yard.  I was lucky enough to be raised with a beautiful very private backyard. Growing up I spent hours on this tire swing.  So fun to see my kids doing the same.  

Silly picture taken in the front room of my house.

Me with my parents.  I am the youngest and closet sibling to me is 4 1/2 years older.  I spent a lot of "alone" time with them growing up.  I love and adore them.  

Toothsome #2 with her name sakes.  Her first name is my mom's and her middle name is my Dad's.  

While on Pearl Street, my husband saw this University of Colorado shirt on a mannequin and spontaneously purchased it for me.  The University of Colorado is in Boulder, CO and I was raised watching their games.  They even were National Champions in football my senior year in high school.   Go Buffs!    

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

Dentist husband's brother lives in Wisconsin and this year, we decided to spend the holiday with them. Our kids are all compatable ages and it was a delightful but too fast trip.

We had to get up at 3:00 am (yes you read that right) to be at the airport on time to fly to Minnesota, then to Chicago and then drive two hours to Wisconsin. The trip there was flawless with the exception of me slowly getting sicker and sicker as the day went on. I ended up with the full on flu by about 2:00 pm (Chicago time) and was in a haze for about 24 hours. Fortunately, I felt better about 11:00 am Thanksgiving day and we were able to fully enjoy the vacation. The only casualty was me being too sick to run in the 10K I had registered for.

Hanging out, watching football on Thanksgiving Day. (Earlier, the men had all gone and played football with some friends).

The day after Thanksgiving, we all headed up north to the Wisconsin Dells. If you read Family Fun, you will know what I am talking about. It is basically a whole city dedicated to in-door water parks. We stayed in a very nice 3 bedroom condo.

The men

The women--my sister in law, married my husband's brother, me and dentist husband's sister. She and her husband (green shirt above) live about an hour away and work for Lands End one of my favorite places to shop.

Outside one of the gift shops at "The Dells"

In the water

And, no trip would be complete over this Thanksgiving without going and watching "New Moon". Here we are recreating the cover of this book of my nieces. I got to be Bella since I am the shortest.

Fun, fast trip.