Thankfully their bosses were accommodating with work schedules in order to let the travelers go a day early. So Janika and Brandon left Logan on Tuesday around 5:15 p.m and picked up Grandma Jensen in Ogden on their way here. I had brought Jenna and her friend to dance and then shopped at Walmart for Christmas lights in order to finish decorating the house, and then brought the girls home from dance and then stayed up late cleaning the house and changing sheets in the bedrooms for our guests and so I was still awake when they arrived at 11:45 p.m. Jase and Ellen left St. George around 8:00 p.m. to drive to Ellen's home in South Jordan for Thanksgiving. We are grateful that everyone made it to their destinations safely!!
Wednesday morning we started cooking some of our Thanksgiving dinner for the next day (pretzel jello and yams) and then went shopping with the kids. Grandma and I took some of the kids and Janika and Brandon took some of the kids. We let them pick out their Christmas clothes from Grandma Jensen. The kids picked out clothes from H&M and Old Navy. We had to hurry back since Jaiden is singing with a quartet at the Stake Baptism on Saturday and had a song practice.
Wednesday night we had a yummy dinner of home-made lasagna and veggies and salad. The kids played Jack Box while I worked on doing a quick thaw of the turkey in a cooler with ice water, switching out the water every thirty minutes (which was a total pain). We usually buy the turkey several days in advance so that it has time to thaw in the refrigerator, but Rick didn't buy it until Monday night and so I figured I had better apply the quick thaw method. Next year I will make sure we have the turkey by the Saturday before Thanksgiving!
Thursday we cooked our Thanksgiving lunch!! Grandma and all of the girls were a huge help!! Grandma and Jenna helped to finish the candied yams and also made the four-step pudding, which turned out to be delicious! Janika made gluten free stuffing. Jenna helped make the gluten free gravy. Thankfully everything turned out well! We had turkey, candied yams, stuffing, pretzel jello, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, corn, four-step pudding, and pies! Yum!!
We ate our Thanksgiving meal around 1:30 and then cleaned up. I took a long nap while the kids played games. We usually go for a walk to the park on Thanksgiving, but this year it was cold and rainy and so we were stuck inside all day -- playing games and watching shows. The girls showed Grandma the video of their play, Mary Poppins. We also just signed up for Disney+ for an early Christmas present and so the kids have enjoyed watching Disney shows and movies. I worked on gathering pictures for our Christmas calendar and Rick left for a last minute interpreting job.
Friday we all slept in (except for Rick who had an interpreting job again). Grandma and Jenna worked on making a blanket with the kit Jenna got for her birthday. Grandma and Jenna also played several games together. We just ate leftovers all day and did Christmas shopping on-line. We thought town would be crazy because of Black Friday, but Rick said it wasn't bad when he went earlier. Maybe the weather (still raining) and the ease of on-line shopping deterred the usual crowds!
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