Thanksgiving

This year we got to have Thanksgiving here is Pittsburgh with our good friends Linwood and Brook. We really had such an awesome day with them. We went to their house at 10 a.m. and started cooking. Brook and I split the menu, but helped each other when we needed to. Brook made the turkey and it turned out so great! We had turkey, stuffing, rolls, peas, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, olives, sweet pickles, fruit salad and candied yams. We had ice water and lime rikki to drink. For dessert we had pumpkin pie and pecan pie with some really delicious whipped cream. We were really excited about how everything turned out. After dinner we played rock band which is always a treat. :)

Darcy decided she didn't want to have a nap yesterday so that was a little bit rough. She was so tired by the time we left last night at 7, she fell asleep instantly in the car. Considering she didn't have a nap, she actually had a pretty good day so that was a blessing. She loved being a part of the action, and she loved taste testing as we cooked.

Here are just some of the things we are thankful for this year:

- Our Savior, Jesus Christ
- Family
- Friends
- The Prophet, Thomas S. Monson
- Plenty to eat
- Warm home and car
- Drew's education
- Drew's job close to our families
- Working with the youth at church
- Nick serving a mission (all missionaries)
- Music
- Modern conveniences (dish washer, washer and dryer, running water, internet, disposable diapers, etc.)

Drew and Darcy watching the cream being whipped.

Me making the fruit salad, Brook entertaining Darcy with olives, and Linwood peeling the yams.

Drew cutting yams, and Linwood peeling potatoes.

Brook giving Darcy a taste of the whipped cream. It really was delicious!

Whipped cream face.

Making candied yams.

Darcy playing with some olives.

Brook and Darcy with olives again.

After Drew attempted to put Darcy down for a nap she was really worked up and willing to snuggle. I really love moments like this!

Brook with her amazing turkey!!

Sitting down for our Thanksgiving feast.

The food. YUM!

Drew cutting the turkey with a little Michael Jordan flair.

Ham Glaze

Once again I need somewhere to save this recipe because I will want it in the future. Maybe someday I will actually put it in my recipe box, but for now I will just put it here.

I love ham and I thought this glaze was so delectable! We just used a little 2 lb. turkey ham, so I halved this recipe and we still had some extra.

HOLIDAY HAM GLAZE

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,2255,153177-229203,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 1/2 cup pineapple juice and chunks 1 cup brown sugar 4 tsp. prepared mustard 2 to 3 tbsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. ground cloves Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender. (If a blender is not available, use pineapple juice without the chunks). Bake ham (half or whole). 30 minutes before ham has finished cooking, remove from oven. Score the top of the ham diagonally in a criss-cross fashion 1/8-inch deep using a sharp knife. Spoon mixture over ham, brushing to cover entire ham. Return ham to oven for final 30 minutes of cooking, basting frequently with mixture. Remove ham from oven and cover with foil loosely. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before carving.

I put a little water in the bottom of the pan because I read on another recipe that that would keep the glaze from burning on the bottom. It seemed to work.

Our ham was little so I cooked it for around 45 minutes total at 350.

A Little Update

I know there are at least two people who check here often for Darcy updates. Not much has been going on around here, but I thought I would post a couple pictures from this week.

We are moving to Washington on December 10th and I am getting SO excited. This last month is going really slow. I feel like I should be doing something to get ready to go, but Drew's company is going to move us so they're doing everything (which is so nice)!There really are a lot of people we are going to miss from Pittsburgh, in fact I try not to think about that too much or I feel like crying, but I just can't help feeling so excited to be so close to our families!! We won't have to miss birthdays, or baptisms, or missionary farewells and homecomings, or reunions, or holidays, or anything else like that. It's going to be awesome!

P.S. We would like to extend an invitation for all of our friends and extended family to come join us in the great state of Washington (preferably in the Tri-Cities area)!! Washington is the best! :)

Darcy's hair is at a weird stage right now. It kind of looks a little bit like a mullet, but I'm waiting until we get to Washington to have Haley cut it for the first time. The other day I wore my hair curly and I decided to do hers the same. It looked so cute on her! It was really hard to get a picture of her, because now she thinks she should hold the camera for some reason. Here she is in the toy box, her new favorite hang-out.

Just another picture of the curly girlie. (I thought of that myself. Pretty good huh!)

Darcy loves necklaces these days. She plays with them a lot. She usually wears them around her neck, but this morning she held one in each hand and walked around the house letting them drag along the floor. She loved the sound they made. It kept her busy for quite a while, until I took out the camera, and she decided she wanted that instead.

15 Months!

Today we had Darcy's 15 month checkup. Here are some things we want to remember about Darcy at this age:

- 25 lbs. (75%) 31 inches (80%). Everyone kept telling me she would slim down when she started crawling and walking. Well now she is running and she still has a nice round belly. We love her chubbiness though. I don't know how big her head is but I know it's around 90-95%. She has a nice big head! :)

- She says "Dada" and "Mama". She says "tickle, tickle." Words we're pretty sure she has repeated once or twice: necklace, bubbles, Jesus, and baby. I am hoping she will really pick up more words in the next few weeks.

- She loves to lift up our shirts and blow on our stomachs. This is a problem when we are in public. :)

- She spins, jumps, and trots.

- She still loves to be outside.

- She loves to play hide and seek with her Dad.

- When I know Drew is almost home I tell her to go look out the kitchen window and when she sees him drive up she says "Dada" over and over until he opens the door and then she runs to the door to give him a hug. It is so cute!

- She had her first babysitter about a month ago. Our friends Rich and Brittany watched her and they all survived!

I'm getting less picky about the pictures I take for these updates. She doesn't really like to cooperate, and it's too frustrating for both of us. So here are just a few pictures I took of her hanging out today.