Greeting Cards Have All Been Sent. Kind of.

#2 Christmas Miracle....

I did Christmas cards.

Hard to believe, I know.

The part that will be easy to believe is that I finished them at 4:00 on Christmas Eve. So for the lucky 3 that had them mailed before Christmas you should feel honored that I have your address memorized. For the rest of you that I still love and adore. Here is the card.Here is what it looked like on the back except it was a cool font with different colors and a little Christmas Tree that matched the Merry Christmas. Just picture it will ya?

Merry Christmas!
It has been another fun-filled, peaceful and perfect year here at our home. Dave and I feel blessed to have such a blissful marriage. The children excel at everything they do and surpass all of our lofty expectations.

Who am I kidding? Our home is filled with 5 rowdy boys who do excel at noise-making and surpass all of our expectations of creating dirty laundry. We have had a lot of fun along the way. The boys continue to amaze, challenge, delight and occasionally frustrate us. We are grateful for the joys that come even amidst the trials. Many of our joys this year came from our associations with you, our friends and family! We are grateful to our Savior, whose birth we celebrate, who made it possible for these relationships to continue into the eternities!
Happy Holidays and Love to you all!

Now don't be surprised if one of these days I look up your addresses and actually get your card in the mail but in the meantime please know that you were thought of fondly during this Christmas season and for most of you all throughout the year. You are loved!

My Thanksgiving Turkey

We had a multi-generational Thanksgiving. My Grandparents and one of my Great-Aunts with her kids, my mother and her sisters and kids and spouses, and my siblings, spouses and kids. All in all about 50 mouths to feed. We couldn't fit in a house. We went to a church which turned out great because there is a room right off the kitchen where we set up tables and chairs and Tricia decorated. Dinner was delicious. Especially the stuffing and pies and rolls and salads and potatoes and the beans and turkey and even the yams if memory serves.

My turkey came a bit later. You see we played Family Feud. I did a survey earlier that afternoon where everyone had to answer a few basic questions. Questions like "Name your favorite dish that Grandma Carter makes".
Or "What is Grandpa's favorite swear word?" I tallied the results and we divided everyone up into teams.

Team Grandpa

Team Grandma

I got their attention and we began the game. I forgot the buzzer so we just had to raise our hands. 50 people surveyed
top 4 answers on the board
Name Grandma's favorite dish.Mitch!
Potato Salad!
Number 2 answer!
And then it went to the team.
Everything going pretty smoothly other than the fact my brothers are all way too competitive! Then we do some actual Family Feud questions. yada yada yada. And then THE question. That will go down in family infamy. Ironically enough Grandpa was the one to be up front to earn the right to answer. OK.
50 people surveyed.
top 4 answers on the board.
What is Grandpa's favorite swear word! Grandpa!
"Hells Bells"!
#1 answer!
92% of the votes
Does your team want to pass or play?
They want to play.
Although nobody wants to play.
Here is Renee trying to get Grandpa to tell her more swear words and he can't think of any. "Rowena, What else do I say?" They want to whisper their answers. The other words were Dam (yep, it was spelled wrong.) Hell and Heck.

So I give everyone a few clues and then there is only one left. Heck. Because it really isn't a swear word at all.
I tell the team that.
I try to help them and the lightbulb comes on for the team and then comes the moment where I made Thanksgiving history.

My Aunt Carrie is my mom's younger sister. She is mentally handicapped. She is having a great time playing this game. It is her turn. Without thinking I ask her "Carrie. What is Grandpa's favorite swear word?"

I think nothing of it. I turn my back to reveal the answer that I feel sure she will get. I have given hints. The team has basically got the answer.

Then Carrie in all her innocence says loudly in her deep voice "SH*$!

Picture it.
Big family.
17 innocent kids under the age of 14 all of whom think stupid is a swear word.
In a church.
Sweetest Grandparents.
Innocent Aunt.
Oh my stars people.
What have I done?

So Mom tells us the game is over and fires me from ever being in charge of games again. The laughter dies down and yet I know this will go on to be a Thanksgiving memory for the ages!

Nice going Kelli. Hell's Bells girl! What were you thinking?!

PS Thanks Alli for the pics!