Christmas Decor

We just barely got our house completely unpacked and in order for our Thanksgiving guests to arrive . . . and now it's time to undo much of what we did in order to redo it with Christmas decorations!

While I was at work Friday (yes, I had to work Friday), Susan put up our Christmas tree and started sorting through Christmas decorations. This is the first time we've had space to put up a Christmas tree without having first to take down, move, or put away something else! We spent Friday night and Saturday morning decorating the tree. We have a pickle ornament (here is the reason) that I hid in the tree, and, despite numerous expeditions, the girls still have not located it! (Can you find it?)

We took a break from decorating yesterday midday to have dinner at Kathy and Pat's home, Susan's aunt and uncle. Relatives there included Tina, Tracy and her boyfriend Tory, Trista, Mary, Laura and her new baby Kaden, Landon, Chantel (sp?) and her new puppy Chuck, and us. Dale, Lee, and Todd were just arriving as we left.

We did a little shopping (have you been to The Village in downtown Dickinson? great store!) and then returned to continue decorating. We stayed up until it was all done, watching the little girls fall off one at a time. Abigail put herself to bed around 10:00; Hillary passed out mid-sentence on the couch around 11:30; and Suzanna stuck it out 'til the end, around 12:30.

Now, all our Christmas decorations are up, all the trees (four of them!) are decorated, all the lights are plugged in, everything that puts out music is broadcasting Christmas tunes, and we're thinking about the next holiday.

Giving Thanks for Family and a Feast

Yesterday was a fantastic Thanksgiving! Susan and I had earlier watched Alton Brown's Food Network show Good Eats, in which he showed how he brines his turkey and then stuffs it with aromatics before roasting it. Susan prepared the turkey the same way, and we placed it in our (brand new!) electric roaster in the laundry room downstairs to fill the house with its aromas all morning. (Having it and the baked goods--cookies by Sandy, krumkaka by Beverly, apple and pumpkin pies by Susan--on a table in another room reminded me of big family get-togethers from my own childhood. My mom and aunts and grandmother all did the same thing!)

Susan and Sandy spent the morning preparing food, and Suzanna and I did little stuff such as preparing the vegetable tray. I also set the table:

When Dad and Beverly arrived (he checked his oil wells early in the morning so they could leave in time to arrive for dinner), we had our meal: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (Stove Top, per my request), sweet potatoes (fresh, not canned), scalloped corn, scalloped oysters, cranberry Jell-O salad with mandarin oranges, glorified rice with cherries (from Beverly), vegetable tray (raw carrots, red peppers, green peppers, cucumbers, celery, and veggie dip), pickles (dill, green olives, and black olives), lefse (made in our kitchen by Sandy), wine (from Oregon, courtesy of Cathy and Kathy), coffee, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. We all gathered at the same table at the same time; no more eating in shifts, as in our previous (smaller) house. It was terrific.

Afterwards, Dad and Beverly napped while the rest of us went for a "constitutional" in Young's Park (a.k.a. Rocky Butte Park). It's a large park atop a huge hill right behind our house. From it, one can look down upon all of Dickinson. There are walking trails among the Ponderosa pines; there's a large collection of boulders for climbing upon and playing secret fort within; there are playground and picnic facilities. The weather was just right for a brisk walk, and we saw plenty of other people who asked about us, "More overeaters?" The girls collected pine cones and ran around. On our way home, we stopped at a war memorial across the street from the park. It features a rebuilt Air Force plane--complete with working lights--atop a brick structure with an outline in metal of the soldiers who raised the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi during World War II. There are marble plaques engraved with the names of Dickinson residents who died fighting in various wars.

I had thought there might be time for us to play cards or board games, but time slipped away. Instead, we visited and picked at leftovers at suppertime (who was hungry??) and enjoyed each other's company. Before Dad and Beverly left, we had to have a family portrait:

Dad and his kids

the biological Mobergs

the whole clan

It was so nice to have everyone together for the holiday and to be able to host everybody comfortably in our home. This morning Cathy and Kathy had to leave early to catch the train in Williston, ND en route to Woodburn, OR, and Sandy left at the same time, driving the opposite direction to return to Omaha, NE. We're still giving thanks for their being here.

The Egrets Regret

(No, there's no reason whatsoever for the title of this post. It's the name of a public television show that Mr. Keaton mentions producing during an episode of the TV show Family Ties. Has nothing to do with anything, really.)

It's almost Thanksgiving! And my sisters are here! Sandy, my sister from Omaha, NE, arrived on Saturday. She drove the 11 or so hours and brought her lefse griddle and used it this morning while we were all at work and school. Sandy has been baking and cooking while here (Mom's recipes: potato salad, barbecue ribs, sour cream cookies), and she stayed home with Hillary all day Monday (a day Hillary would otherwise have spent at daycare). She'll leave again Friday.

Cathy, my sister from Woodburn, OR, arrived today with her roommate Kathy. They took the train to Williston, ND Sunday, then spent the past few days with my dad and stepmom on the farm outside McGregor, ND. They borrowed Dad's car and drove here this morning. They'll drive themselves back to Williston on Friday.

My dad and stepmom will come here tomorrow for "the Thanksgiving feast," as Abigail calls it. It'll be a house full of family and food . . . awesome!

P.S. My sisters and I spent a huge chunk of the evening going through several boxes of Mom's things--things from the farm that were given to us to sort and deal with. Susan spent all evening and night preparing for tomorrow's "feast": baking pies, prepping the turkey in its marinating brine, getting the veggie tray ready, etc.