THANKSGIVING AND ROB AND EVA'S VISIT

Dear Family,

We had a riotous Thanksgiving Holiday.  Rob, Eva with family, Anna, Julia, Luke and new baby Elena came down from Spokane for a  weekend visit and it was really fun to have them here. Here is Rob with Anna, Julia and Luke stocking up on canned fizzy drinks.  They had the downstairs apartment.

They came in late Wednesday night.  Thursday morning Rob and I got up;and stuffed the turkey with our signature oyster dressing.  It was a two man job and licking the fingers was great.  It was a good oyster dressing this year.  We had three turkeys for dinner; we did a 25 pound turkey with oyster dressing baked in a turkey bag, Doug brought over two deep fried Emeril's Cajun flavored turkeys and there was only a little form one of the deep friend turkeys left after the wave of eaters cleaned up the works.  We had 32 for dinner; Doug and his family, Mike and his family, Emily and her gang were there and Cathy and all her family came down from Bountiful. Paul and Cheryl and kids came for dessert upping the total to 42.

Everyone brought there favorite side dishes and it was a joyous feast.  There were yams of all varities, mashed potatoes, great gravy, vegetables of all kids, Raspberry jello salad which did not last long, dozens of rolls and two varieties of stuffing.  It was great and we thank all those who contributed.

I gave thanks for Family, Faith and the blessing we all enjoy.  We had to set up a long line for the food.  See the video.  This year we had the Moms go through first and the Dad's helped the little one fill their plates.  We used to time how long it took to put away and three day planned and prepared dinner, but this year everyone tool their time and we had an enjoyable time at the table.

There were great desserts with pies of all kinds some made by the grand kids and they were good. There was lots of Oberschlag, Rob and Eva brought apple pies from Washington, famous for their apples.

Following the great meal, they guys went to the park for the yearly football game.  It was the Dad's, Uncles, one returned missionaries against all the kids.  Even with generousness bending of the rules (cheating) those fast little guys whooped the older Uncles.  There were the competitive board games and then a great and totally fun.  Thanks to Mom, all the Moms and all those who brought great treats. Doug has the deep fried turkey down pat.

Friday, Rob and I got up early and took Luke and Johnny to Cabelas for the Black Friday sales.  It was packed.  The kids like going to Cabelas and we restrained ourselves from any big purchase.  We hurried back and I took Rob to the UoU Colorado football game.  We spoke with Elder Oaks who was in the next box.  Utah did terrible and lost.  We hurried home and Mom, Rob, Eva, the girls  drove up to Ogden to see Cheryl's kids, Annabelle, Maryclair, Loren and Olivia performed in a professional ballet, The Nutcracker. They did very well and it goes on for a couple of weeks.

Saturday morning, Cheryl made a big reservation down at the Grand American Hotel for their Xmas breakfast.  It was great.  We did not stay for the photo shoot but here is a picture of Cheryl with here family and Herr and Frau Klaus









We hurried home to watch the Michigan Ohio State football game which is the game of the year for Mightn't fans.  The word fan comes from fanatic and that describes those Michigan supporters. Doug and Douglas and the guys came over and we watched the game on the large downstairs TV.  It was an exciting game and I managed to catch the guys blarbing on the couch.  This is at the point of a Michigan score that was taken back.  Rob went a little nuts. Michigan won for the first time in a few years and there were some happy campers.

Following the game, we headed for the pistol range and had a great shooting  time with the 45's.  Spence had a 22 and did well. Wall to wall fun,

Sunday we went to Doug's ward as he was giving a talk.  He was the last speaker and was left 5 minutes. We went to Cheryl's for a brunch that was tasty. We took Rob, Eva and the kids to the Airport late in the evening.  This was a great Thanksgiving Holiday and it is so fun to be with the family.  This is only a part of having "joy and rejoicing in your posterity".  There is a deeper and more eternal meaning but what we have here is awfully good!

Love, Dad and Mom