Well, it’s about time I posted about Thanksgiving, don’t you think? Sorry it’s taken me so long, but it’s been a full week, with lots of food, family, and fun!

Let’s start at the beginning. On Monday—almost a week ago—we headed for Washington to spend Thanksgiving week with Sara and Sean and their family. We took Kona with us, because Sage was stuck in bed for the week under her doctor’s directions.

I was a little nervous about traveling with Kona; I wasn’t sure how he’d handle being away from his mom and dad and flying on a plane, but can I just say that I would take him anywhere! He was an excellent traveling companion, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time with him.

 We were grateful for the “leash.” (I’m not sure if there’s a more acceptable word these days, but that’s what I called it back when the girls were younger.) Kona’s leash doesn’t look much like the ones we had with the girls though; it was a monkey complete with a little pouch for surprises. Without it, we would have been carrying him most of the way, but thanks to the leash, Kona could roam and explore and still be safe. It was definitely a lifesaver.

We kept busy all week long. On Tuesday we had some business meetings, and on Wednesday, Sara and I spent pretty much all our time keeping the kids occupied and out of Dad and Grandpa’s hair—they were busy laying tile in the kids’ bathroom. That was a huge undertaking, but I’m happy to report they finished it—just in time for us to board the plane for our flight back on Friday.

Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner with Nicki and Travis, who are friends of Sara and Sean. It was delicious food and great company, and the table was set nicer than my table ever is! We made six dozen orange rolls for dinner, which is my traditional contribution, along with a myriad of other things. I also enjoyed watching Sidney and Seth make the name plates. They called Niki and got a guest list, complete with correct spellings, and you could see the great sense of accomplishment they felt as they checked each name off the list.

We arrived back home Friday, and Saturday I opened the refrigerator and realized I missed having Thanksgiving leftovers. When Shalae and Sage both called and said they missed my orange rolls, we planned Thanksgiving 2, which we just finished earlier this evening. Besides Shalae and Sage and their families, my dad and his wife, Justine, came, and Grandpa (Sterling’s father) was there, of course. It was a great way to wrap up a busy but wonderful Thanksgiving week!

In case you’re interested, I’m including the recipe for the orange rolls—Thanksgiving and Christmas just don’t feel complete without them.

Orange Rolls (3 dozen)

In a small bowl, sprinkle 2 Tbs. dry yeast in ½ c. warm water and let set during next two steps.

In a large mixing bowl (I use a Bosch with the kneading paddle) combine 1 c. hot water, ½ c. softened butter, ½ c. granulated sugar, and 2 tsp. salt.

Beat 3 eggs separately in a small bowl, and add to slightly cooled mixture in mixing bowl.

Combine all above ingredients.

Mix in 2 ½ c. white flour until smooth. Then add another 2 ½ c. white flour until sticky smooth.

Leave covered in bowl in refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.

2 ½ hours before baking, divide dough into thirds.

Roll dough into rectangle and spread 1/3 of the orange mixture (below) evenly onto the dough. Roll long ways and slice into 1” thick pieces (approx. 12 rolls per roll). Place in foil muffin cups. Repeat for all three rolls. (You may use paper cups, but if you use the foil cups, the rolls—and the orange mixture—don’t stick to the foil.)

Let rise approximately 2 hours and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.

Orange mixture

Combine ½ c. softened butter, 1 c. granulated sugar, and finely grated orange peel of one or two oranges, depending on your taste. (I use two.)

Just a note:

If you want to make healthier (I didn’t say healthy—only healthier) rolls, you can substitute white flour for wheat flour. I used to do half wheat flour and half white flour until my family whined enough for me to relent and go back to completely white flour. They love me again! And it’s only a few times a year, so why not?

Also, you may want to adjust your temperature and cooking time. We are at approximately 5,000 feet and this works perfectly for me; however, when I was in Washington, the tops browned faster and the centers weren’t quite done. They were still yummy, but not as good as tonight’s rolls.

If you really want to impress your guests, add a little more butter and sugar to the orange mixture. I know, I know. . .maybe that’s why we’re not a big Thanksgiving dessert family—the orange rolls are as good as dessert any day!

I just finished making and shipping off more than a dozen Christmas ornaments to Shanna in Spain. I made the ornaments from Stampin’ Up!’s Country Living Kit, and I had enough stuff left over to make something different, which I wanted to share with you.

Everything I used to make this cute little box came from the kit, except for the White Chunky Glitter and the pine and berries, which I snipped from a garland at our house for a final finishing touch. It took me a little while to figure this out, but now that I’ve made one, I could make more pretty quickly—and so can you! (smile) I had fun playing with the Country Living Kit; there are quite a few different little projects you could make from it.

I think Shanna will love the ornaments—I’m just hoping she can find a tree to hang them from. And even if she can’t, she can hang them around her apartment for a little holiday cheer.

By the way, the last time I posted about Shanna and how much she loves to receive packages, several of you asked if you could send her something. I’m slow to respond, but my answer is “of course!” Like most missionaries, receiving mail is a high point in the week for Shanna. As I thought about this, I had an idea—probably sparked by the ugly cards that Shanna is sending to us for special occasions.

I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don’t think Shanna would be offended by my calling these cards ugly. She knows that we’re all used to handmade, hand-stamped cards, and she knows that we all know that she is limited to sending the cards she can find because she’s there to share the gospel, not to make cards. But can I just tell you, there must not be a lot of cards to choose from in Spain! At least not handmade ones!

So, when I read your offers to send her things, I thought I might take you up on that offer. If anyone would like to send a card to my attention at Stampin’ Up!, I’ll gather them together and mail them over to Shanna in a package (or packages, if they trickle in over time). That way, we both benefit—you don’t have to pay international postage to send her a card, and I can get her a wider choice of cards to choose from to give to others. I’ll make sure she knows the cards are coming from you, and if there are enough, I suspect she’ll share with other missionaries in her area. We can inundate Spain with handmade, hand-stamped cards!

Of course, this is completely voluntary. Please don’t feel like you need to send a card. It’s a busy time of year, and we all have plenty to do. But if you have an extra card sitting around (any card will do—thank you, happy birthday, thinking of you, friend, etc.), send it in, and we’ll get it to Spain.

And thank you for thinking of Shanna. As always, I appreciate your kind thoughts and offers to reach out to me and my family. What would I do without you! 

Well, the long-anticipated family outing to Twilight took place today. As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, my girls have been fans of the books for years, and Sterling and I joined the crowd when we read the book last week in Hawaii. So we were all looking forward to the movie!

We made a day of it. It was Megan’s birthday earlier this week, and her whole family came to town—her to see the movie and then they all went to THE FOOTBALL GAME (University of Utah vs. Brigham Young University, a decades-old interstate rivalry)—so we had a birthday breakfast this morning. We enjoyed the ham, eggs, and French toast (as the birthday girl, Megan got to pick the menu), then she opened her presents. But I have to admit that most of the conversation centered on the movie and game.

After breakfast, we headed off to the movie. There was Sterling and me, Megan (Nate wasn’t invited because he thinks the whole Twilight fervor is silly), Shalae and Jon, and Sage and Jason. (Sara went with friends in Washington, and she’s planning on going again with Sean next week.)

As with most books made into movies, the movie didn’t do the book justice. But really, how could it? When you read a book, your imagination makes it come alive, and it’s almost impossible to cram hundreds of pages of details and images and history and information into only a two-hour movie. While we were a bit disappointed in the movie itself, it was a very fun family outing.

There was certainly plenty of excitement in the theater—thanks in large part to the very enthusiastic, teenaged audience. (Almost all female, by the way; there were only eight men, and three were mine.) The age of many of those in the audience made me think a bit, and I realized some of the subject matter in the book and movie might be more appropriate for adults rather than teenagers.

While I don’t agree with some of the ideas in this work of fiction, the book is very clean—I mean, all they do is kiss! (They don’t even make out!) By the world’s standards, it doesn’t get much cleaner! But the depth of their love and the passion expressed is something that, for me, feels more appropriate in adult relationships, even though teenagers think that love doesn’t get any better than what they’re experiencing.

Anyway, it was a good day—especially if you’re a Twilight fan and/or a Ute. (I don’t get into football at all, but Megan’s family is happy tonight because the score of THE GAME was 48-24, with the U on the winning end.)

After what seemed like an all-night flight and a day with our grandson Kona, I’m a little groggy, but I couldn’t go to bed without sharing a little bit about our trip to O’ahu (is that how you spell it?), Hawaii. One thing’s for sure, we weren’t ready to come home! It was so warm and relaxing, Sterling and I could have easily stayed for a few more days.

First, we were delighted when we checked in and found our hotel room was a corner room with two different but equally breathtaking views. We enjoyed both, depending on whether we wanted sun or shade or if it was windy or rainy.

So, what did we do all day, you ask? Aside from sleeping in until we woke on our own, eating plenty of fresh pineapple and papaya every morning for breakfast, walking along the beach, watching a few movies, and indulging in spa treatments, we pretty much read. That’s right.

It all started when the girls told me I couldn’t go with them to see the new movie Twilight (coming out this weekend) unless I’d read the book. So, dutifully, I began reading. When we were making our usual trip to the North Shore to attend the temple, I read silently while Sterling drove silently. Occasionally, I giggled, and after he could handle no more silence (I’m always jabbering about something...), he insisted that I read the book to him. That did it! We had both been bitten, you might say, and the rest of the trip was reading—here and there and everywhere!

And we didn’t stop at Twilight either. We read the draft online that describes Edward’s perspective, and then we made sure our Monday morning walk took us to Borders for New Moon! The books were fun and easy to read (sometimes annoyingly so), and now you know why I don’t read novels very often. Once I start, I can’t stop! Sage is bringing the next two books down on Saturday. Maybe Sterling and I can discipline ourselves to read a chapter a night—maybe!

We also stopped in at a quaint little restaurant named Cholos for lunch one day. Notice the cool car to the right of Sterling. I didn’t want to look too obvious by taking a photo of the car itself, but it was a beauty—surfboard and all!

And this photo reminds us of the fabulous flora and the countless waterfalls on the property (we could even hear waterfalls when our balcony doors were open) that muffled the sounds of Waikiki and made us feel like we were on our own little tropical island.

I’m already looking forward to next fall when we have our next trip to Hawaii planned. . .

Well, I pulled another almost all-nighter last night (I did get a couple of hours of sleep), working hard to get everything done before I head out of town yet again. This time, however, I’m not going for work. Sterling and I are headed to Hawaii for a much-anticipated getaway!

One of the things I was frantically trying to finish was a quilt square. Justine’s sister is making a quilt for Dad (the deadline was last week), and she asked family members to make quilt squares. I intended to get it done earlier, but I haven’t made the time to finish it until now, so I have to do what I have to do! (smile)

I did like the way it turned out, though. I wouldn’t normally choose Tangerine Tango (definitely feels like Halloween!), but orange and black are Dad’s favorite colors. I sewed the alphabet letters on (made the letters using the Serif Essential Alphabet dies, of course!), but if you look closely, you’ll see I slipped in some stamping along the side too! I can’t do anything crafty without stamping being involved in some way!

Now upward and onward to Hawaii! It’s been at least a couple of years since we’ve gotten away, just the two of us, and Hawaii is one of our favorite places, so we’ve been counting down the days. I will work a few hours each day (I always do, it seems), but I stayed up all night so I didn’t have a ton of work to do.

I am taking a novel to read, which is kind of different for me. I love to read, but I usually choose nonfiction books. My daughters love the Twilight series though, and we already have tickets to see the movie the weekend it comes out, so the girls insisted that I read it. This trip is the perfect time to do that—I would never make the time to fit it in otherwise.

Other things I’m looking forward to are the warm weather (always a selling point for me), lots of time with my sweetheart, no meetings or appointments, walks along the beach, a few sightseeing adventures, and eight hours of sleep every night!

I don’t know if I’ll be posting or not. I am taking my camera, so if I don’t post from Hawaii, you know you’ll get a report when I come back. In the meantime—Aloha!