Big Burton Thanksgiving 2006

My cousin Lisa and Aunt Janie doing clean-up after the big meal!
Various Burton relatives playing football in Uncle Roger's yard.
Michael, Liam and Dresden playing softball in the background. Various Burton vehicles in the foreground!
Uncle Roger holding Steven. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't work fast enough to get the next pose...Steven holding Uncle Roger!

This Thanksgiving was different from most past Thanksgivings in that my little family celebrated with my bigger extended family instead of with my parents and sisters, like most years. I can't even remember the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving in Kansas City. We missed being with our family in Bristol but also enjoyed the hours with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. There were 20 of us there and we had quite a feast. The table was decorated beautifully and Alley told me later that she thought the turkey was "exquisite", a word we were defining in school recently!

The temperature was in the 70s and my grandma said it was supposed to be the warmest Thanksgiving in Kansas City ever. The gorgeous fall day drove many of us outside. My uncle Ross and Aunt Jane took all three of my kids to the park a few blocks up the street and then several tossed a football in the yard. Liam tried hitting a ball with a bat, a skill he is going to have to work on quite a bit more! Some of us just visited on the front porch and others in the house on the couch. After a cup of coffee and a few pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, Michael and the kids and I headed up to see my Grandma Harrison for a couple of hours. It was a fun day, but as usual, my favorite part was what we did before we left home this morning and that was sharing our Thanksgiving lists with the rest of our family (my parents and sisters and their families) via speakerphone. In the past when we some of us couldn't be there, we sent our lists through email and let someone else read them but with digital phones giving us unlimited long distance, we decided to try calling and it was great. It was a special time of remembering and being thankful together. As always, many things were listed on others lists that I hadn't thought of but for which I am also thankful. I was reminded once again of how truly blessed we are to have a family who takes the time to be truly thankful for as many of the blessings from God that we can conciously think of. I really think Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because of that hour and a half or so that it takes us to share our lists and because our attention is on God and on what HE has done for us, spiritually, physically, financially, emotionally, relationally, and even the smallest things in our lives that He has given us, and on being thankful for each other. I hope your Thanksgiving was as special as ours!

Our 9th Anniversary

The pond at our park.
The sun was starting to go down but this one is of Alley and Liam by the pond.
Alley feeding the ducks.
Dresden pointing at the ducks and below, Liam posing for the camera!
Today was our 9th wedding anniversary. The good news is that we were actually on the same continent, in the same country, state, city and house this year! The bad news is that we will not be able to go out to dinner to celebrate until early next week due to Michael's work schedule and Thanksgiving. And even though it did not much seem like an anniversary, it was still a good day. Alley and I made cranberry bread from a recipe on the back of one of their favorite children's books, "Cranberry Thanksgiving". It is becoming a tradition since we have made it for the last 3 or 4 Thanksgivings. It is very good! I also have the last tray of my second batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the oven right now.

We had another unusually warm, beautiful November day today so after Dresden's nap, the kids and I headed over to a park nearby that we recently discovered. It has a pretty pond with ducks and a small island with a bridge leading to it and lots of picnic benches and a walking trail around the pond. It also has a nice playground and a gazebo and a few shelter houses. We took bread with us today and the kids fed the ducks. They also played on the playground and I walked on the trail a little. Then the sun started going down and it was getting cool so we headed home. It's too bad that it is almost winter and we will not be able to enjoy this park for awhile but we are looking forward to some picnics and walks when spring arrives again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I have made the Taste of Home Pumpkin Chip cookie recipe a few times before and I was planning on making them again this year but I forgot that they called for quick oats and I didn't have any, so.....I went to the internet and found a recipe that didn't call for quick oats and didn't contain any ingredients that I did not already have on hand. I made them and they were really good. I am planning on making another batch tomorrow or Wednesday with the remainder of my can of pumpkin and the rest of the bag of chocolate chips. Yum!

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 c white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup chocolate chips or raisins (might be good with dried cranberries too)
1/2 to 1 cup walnuts or pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I just used my stone cookie sheet and pizza stone without parchment paper). Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, then vanilla, then pumpkin. Add flour mixture and stir until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips/nuts. Drop by TBSP and bake for 12-14 minutes. Bake til lightly browned at edges, but not dark. Cool on wire rack. 3 1/2 dozen.
Note: I had to bake mine a full 15 minutes. I'm not sure if this was due to my oven or maybe the stones, but the first tray I baked 12 minutes and then took them out and realized they needed more time so put them back in for a few more minutes and they weren't as good as the ones I left in for a full 15 minutes.

Stuff

In case you can't see the label very well in this picture, this is Musselmans Apple Cranberry Applesauce and it is very good! I should have taken this picture when the jar was still full (it would have looked much nicer) but when it was still full, I didn't know how good it was going to be! I am going to buy another jar and maybe 2 or 3 more jars while they still have them. I would recommend you get some and try it if you can find it. I got this at a grocery store here called Hen House but I would think it would be in most good grocery stores.

Speaking of food, I have been shopping at Aldi's since we moved into our apartment. It is a different shopping experience, as you have to come prepared to bag your own groceries, including bringing bags. You can buy bags there for 5 or 10 cents, depending on what kind you want or you can use the boxes they put out when they are empty. I started grabbing 3 or 4 plastic grocery sacks from my collection at home and sticking them in my purse but I usually also use some of their boxes for bulky but lightweight things. Anyway, you can't find absolutely everything you might need/want there but it is great for the basics, especially if you aren't picky about brand names. I have bought cheese, hamburger, chips, pretzel sticks, canned fruit, vegetables, beans and tomatoes, milk, eggs, sour cream, tortillas, bananas, tomatoes, cottage cheese, pasta and pasta sauce. This is just what is off the top of my head. I went last week and spent $61.07. I did have to go get a few things at another store, like Belgian waffle mix, and we have needed a few extra things since then but that's pretty good for feeding a family a 5. I know there aren't Aldi's everywhere but if you happen to live near one, I would recommend checking it out.

We have some unusually warm weather here in Kansas City the last few days. Yesterday it reached 82 degrees! We went to the zoo with my grandma. It was the perfect day to go to the zoo. It was not too hot, not too cold, and the zoo was not overly crowded but lots of animals were out. I also love seeing all the leaves on the ground and all the beautifully colored ones still on the trees. I just stepped outside to take the dog out and it feels like its going to be another gorgeous day. We'll have to figure out a good way to take advantage of it while we still can!

I also need to begin writing my annual Thanksgiving List. This is one of my favorite family traditions. My dad called last night to see if we had a speaker phone so we could read our lists over the phone to each other instead of sharing them in person like we usually get to do. We do, so that should work. I hate it that we can't be there in Bristol with my parents and sisters and their families but I am looking forward to sharing a Thanksgiving meal with alot of my extended family in Kansas City and a few travelling in from Arkansas.