I am SO thankful

that I did not get an email like this:


From: Marney
To: Family

As you all know a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner does not make itself. I need to ask each of you to help by bringing something to complete the meal. I truly appreciate your offers to assist with the meal preparation.

Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task EXACTLY as I have requested and read your portion very carefully. If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container WITH A LID, NOT ALUMINUM FOIL! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for your dish, BRING A SERVING SPOON, NOT A SOUP SPOON! And please do not forget anything.

All food that is to be cooked should already be prepared, bring it hot and ready to serve, warm or room temp. These are your ONLY THREE options. Anything meant to be served cold should, of course, already be cold.

The Mike Byron Family
1. Turnips in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. Please do not fill the casserole all the way up to the top. It gets too messy. I know this may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but most of us hate turnips so don’t feel like you a have to feed an army.
2. Two half gallons of ice cream, one must be VANILLA, I don’t care what the other one is. No store brands please. I did see an ad this morning for Hagan Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream, yum!! (no pressure here, though).
3. Toppings for the ice cream.
4. A case of bottled water, NOT gallons, any brand is ok.

The Bob Byron Family
1. Green beans or asparagus (not both) in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. If you are making the green beans, please prepare FOUR pounds, if you are making asparagus please prepare FIVE pounds. It is up to you how you wish to prepare them, no soupy sauces, no cheese (you know how Mike is), a light sprinkling of toasted nuts, or pancetta, or some EVOO would be a nice way to jazz them up.
2. A case of beer of your choice (I have Coors Light and Corona) or a bottle of clos du bois chardonnay (you will have to let me know which you will bring prior to 11/22).

The Lisa Byron Chesterford Family
1. Lisa as a married woman you are now required to contribute at the adult level. You can bring hors d’ouvres. A few helpful hints/suggestions: Keep it very light, and non-filling, NO COCKTAIL SAUCE, no beans of any kind. I think your best bet would be a platter of fresh veggies and dip. Not a huge platter, mind you (i.e., not the plastic platter from the supermarket).

The Michelle Bobble Family
1. Stuffing in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please make the stuffing sans meat.
2. 2.5-3 qts. of mashed squash in a casserole with a lid and serving spoon
3. Proscuitto pin wheel – please stick to the recipe, no need to bring a plate.
4. A pie knife

The June Davis Family
1. 15 LBS of mashed potatoes in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please do not use the over-size blue serving dish you used last year. Because you are making such a large batch you can do one of two things: put half the mash in a regulation size casserole with lid and put the other half in a plastic container and we can just replenish with that or use two regulation size casserole dishes with lids. Only one serving spoon is needed.
2. A bottle of clos du bois chardonnay

The Amy Misto Family (why do I even bother she will never read this)
1. A pumpkin pie in a pie dish (please use my silver palate recipe) no knife needed.
2. An apple pie in a pie dish, you can use your own recipe, no knife needed.

Looking forward to the 28th!!
Marney

The Holidays!

I have always believed that Thanksgiving is the big kickoff for the Christmas season. We get to ponder on what we are thankful for and then go into the Season of Giving to show Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our family and friends how truly grateful we are for them.

BUT, I try not to listen to Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. Which is hard because two of our radio stations start to play them the day of Halloween!

This year is different. One thing I am thankful for is music. It soothes the troubled soul and can change a mood in just a second.

I am starting this year's Holiday Season by sharing this music clip with you. It was in a ginormous Macy's in Philadelphia. Choir members from many different choirs were scattered throughout the store "shopping". And then someone started to play the organ...

Now that the weather is getting colder...

I thought I would share some summertime camping pix that I am actually just getting around to downloading...umm, so anyway...

My sisters are NUTS-cuckoo-loo loo-crazy-mad-WILD! And every year I seem to get caught up in their outrageous scheme. (Ok, I admit, I am just as nuts as they are!)




They go camping with ALL their children (13 this summer, plus my 3...!) The husbands appear to have some sense and they stay home to "work". hmmm




We load up our vehicles with a week's worth of food, clothes, toys, bedding and camping supplies that makes our neighbors stare and our husbands actually giggle as they wave us off for a week of relaxation "work".

We set up at least 6 tents, two canopies, and always try to get the same very shady campsite right across the trail from the river.

We have been lucky two years in a row and have the best camp spot ever. There is enough room for the little boys to have a "Bat Cave" (ask us about that when you see us); a play tent for the babies; tables for games, food and supplies; tarps for skits; a clothesline for all the swim suits and towels; trees to lean all the scooters, bikes and floaty tubes up against; and 20-something camp chairs that are constantly being moved from here to there.

The food is pretty much free-for-all. You have to get your share early in the game or you might have to share with the little children who apparently like to swish their hands in the dirt...

As crazy as all this sounds, we sisters actually have a great time. The kids run wild for a week, we eat whatever we want, read, play games, cool off with the "Mommy River Run", and VISIT!

This year Melody brought her cute dog, Gracie. Gracie loved floating down the river and she did it so many times it WORE HER OUT!


Sometimes the husbands come up to make sure their children are still alive. Sometimes they come up to play with fire. Sometimes they come up to get/bring food. Sometimes they come up just to get a hug.


This year Meg took the kids on a snipe hunt. I have to say, I was just as disappointed as the kids were when they made it back to camp WITHOUT a snipe.

Mom did not come up this year and we missed her. She was very brave, though, and offered to help watch William. Who was 2. Who loves to run. Who runs fast. Who won't stop. She was alive at the end of the week but I think we need to replenish her duct tape supply...

It was fun to be with everyone and we always hope more people will join us but I think our fanatical ways scare them off. "The more the merrier" I always say!

People?

Seriously?