Turkey Times

Thanksgiving 2010 was a cold one with temps in the teens and single digits. Most days were clear and cold, but we got 9" of snow on Sunday. We were happy to welcome some hungry visitors...Autumn, Airie and Abram and we're glad Baron could join us on Wednesday night for a Taco Fest and games (Farkle and Uno) and stick around for the Turkey Leg on Thursday morning, plus join us for the new Harry Potter movie on Friday night.

GIVING THANKS is what it is all about and we have so many blessings to be grateful for. #1 is our great, supportive family. We do have lots of fun together and appreciate each personality. Glad we were able to talk to the Hillsboro Barkers via Skype. Sorry we didn't get to see Donette and Brielle and Colby this time.

Last of the autumn colors on a barberry peeking through the snow.

Thanksgiving day we got up early for a light breakfast. Autumn and I did 15 minutes worth of yoga with Rodney Yee (DVD) to warm up. Then it was off to Farmington's Heritage Park/Oakridge Country Club for the 5K Turkey Leg race in temps around 10 degrees. Here we are just before 9:00am...nervous, excited, ready to get this thing over with!!! I'm surprised you can't see our breaths. You also can't see our supportive cheerleaders...Airie and Dad. "Thanks," you two, for being there and for taking the photos!

200 cans of food were collected for the Food Bank.

These are the real runners starting the race.

See if you can find the 4 of us, surging off at the gun.

Abram leading the pack.

Autumn smiling as she sails by.

Mom enjoying the last few seconds of the down hill part.

Baron in a classic pose, pretty proud of himself.

This is serious business for #58.

Maybe not too serious for #9.

This is definitely the fun part for #12...coming up to the finish line.

#10 showing off great form and looking like a pro.

YES! We did it!!!

Back home, missions accomplished, sporting our T-shirts. It was fun to make this memory together.

All smiles...now.

Appropriate graphic...I felt like/looked like the drumstick plodding along.

Making the feast.

This photo says it all about 2 of the personalities...

Devil's Tower and the carving of the bird.

We ate at 7:00pm this year, quite out of the every day. Somehow I couldn't cut back and made the same amount of all the traditonal stuff that I would make when everyone comes. Dad bought a 20+ lb. turkey...same price as a Ford or Chevy. Actually, he said there were no medium-sized turkeys available, only small or large!?! The 5 of us pigged out, of course, and ate leftovers for several days and then there were goodie bags to take back to Provo. YUM! Thanks to everyone for the help with preparation and clean-up. After dinner we watched "The Fantastic Mr. Fox." Well, some of us took a fantastic little nap in our recliners.

Confession: OK, here's the pie story. I thought I had purchased a can of pumpkin, but it was pumpkin pie filling instead. I was a little disappointed and had to adjust the evaporated milk and settle for only one pie instead of two. That was probably a good idea, because I totally blew the crust. I made a very nice one and baked it. But it was supposed to be an unbaked shell and I didn't remember that until it was filled and in the oven! (My excuse is that I had made a Key Lime pie (baked shell) 5 days earlier for our High Priests Group Party and just continued in that mode.) Anyway, the pie was edible, but the crust, of course, was well-done and stuck to the bottom of the pie tin in most places. Oh well, there's always next year and the whipped cream and chopped nuts helped to salvage it!

Friday morning we put up the green outdoor Christmas lights...this headress strand did find its way to a tree.

Wrapping the Bosnian Pine.

Pondering the situation. We decorated 3 big trees and 6 big shrubs, finishing up on Saturday. It was cold out there, but luckily sunny and dry. There's some adjusting to do since the wind and snow arrived.

Mr. Electric testing, testing, testing...

Mr. Mechanic working, working, working...

Abram decided to make good use of the long weekend and change the timing belt on the Jetta. It turned out to be a difficult, labor-intensive, frustration-fraught project. Getting the bolts off was a challenge. Two drill bits and an extractor broke, the hydraulic jack failed, and then a vacuum pump blew apart. (I hope I'm getting these details right, Abram.) Several trips to the hardware store and lots of patience over the course of 5 days and persistence (and maybe a few words under the breath) finally paid off. As Airie would say, "Hazah!" The Jetta is now on vacation in our garage waiting for a new pump later this week.

We used up a sack of birdseed keeping our feathered friends happy through the cold and snow. We suffered through the BYU/Utah football game...rather stressful. Dad stayed in the study. The Cougars lost 17-16, but played a pretty decent game...until their final field goal was blocked. However, they did much better than we were expecting 6 weeks ago!

Sunday morning after church...6" of white stuff. We got 3" more on Sunday night.

Magical front yard...the little green lights are under there somewhere.

The sun has set on the Turkey Day celebration. What a fun, busy, memorable time. (This photo from our deck was taken the week before Thanksgiving.)

Oh, and here is a video of the snowblower in action:

Veteran's Day

It was a gray day, but not too cold. It was great to have a day off. We thought about the sacrifices made by Grandpa Barker and Grandpa Russell (and grandmas) for our country.

The sycamores on Main Street in Farmington.

Yellow trees with fallen leaves on the Frontage Road.

The ornamental pear trees on the other side of our fence on 200 East.

Our Eastern Red Bud tree out by the pond with the bare Red Twig Dogwoods behind.

Close-up of the Red Bud.

We went out to lunch at the In-N-Out. In fact, this was the 4th week in a row that we went out to eat at the In-N-Out! And we take back what we said to you fanatics...they DO have a pretty good burger and fries, especially for the price. Dad is addicted.

In-N-Out has been open in Centerville for a month or two now and everytime we go it is packed with a double drive-thru line. We eat inside and have to wait for an empty table, but we still get our food in about 10 minutes.

Halloween Party

We All had a Ball at the Hardy Halloween Bash...here are the partygoers wearing the prize googley eyes. YES it was a lot of FUN! Thanks to everyone for participating and bringing food and wearing great costumes, etc. Thanks to Autumn for providing much of the Halloween decor and to Airie for fun crafties and games and prizes, etc. She went to a lot work and it was a big success.

The crocheted witch.

Jack o'lanterns at the door.

Spock (live long and prosper) and Uhura our great host and hostess.

The Pumpkin Man and the Dragon Ninja. (We're sorry Colby was sick.)

Ani DiFranco.

Ani showing off her blue locks and tatoo (courtesy of Baron).

Jack & Carolyn Butler...220, 221, whatever it takes.

Jack's button says, "I am not a bum, my spouse works."

Uhura and Moochie.

The wizard.

Lights, candles, balloons, streamers, pumpkins, mummies, witches, ghouls, monsters, skeletons, spiders, rats, bats, cats and so on made for a spooky atmosphere.

FOOD! Great ham and cheese "eyeball" sandwiches from Donette and Baron.

Little monster apple wedges and string cheese witchy fingers from Mom.

Cocktail hot dogs wrapped up like mummies from Airie. Delish!

Airie's yummy mummy chocolate cupcakes.

Autumn's clever cookie & kiss witch hats.

Chowing down.

Craft Time.

Our creations!

Game Time. We played Halloween Bingo with candy corn and did a Halloween Word Search. Autumn finished first even after taking time out to sing and play the guitar! We also played Bean Bag toss into Jack o'lanterns and rolled dice to draw Monster Bert. There were great prizes including Halloween pencils, googley eyes, glow-in-the-dark bracelets, etc.

Thanks again to all for the fun evening.

And thanks for Brielle's 2nd Grade Photo...what a cute girl.