Saturday, November 28, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015 in St. George

Our 2015 Thanksgiving Week started with a visit to Denver to attend Kaler’s court-of-honor on Saturday as he received his Eagle Scout award. I’ve been to lots of courts-of-honor, including for my own two Eagle Scouts, but haven’t ever been to one quite as impressive as Kaler’s.  One of his scout leaders drove all the way from Ohio to be there and more than one of his scout leaders became quite emotional in remarks about Kaler.  Jan’L, in her usual amazing way, had a beautiful table display highlighting Kaler’s scouting career, then ended the program with chocolate cake and apples, cut up and dipped in caramel and/or chocolate with lots of different kinds of candy, nuts and/or marshmallow toppings.  It was quite the spread for the 70-80 people in attendance.

We got back to St. George late on Sunday night where we looked forward to being with three more of our kids – Kris and Michael for Thanksgiving dinner at Stacy’s.  We were delighted to have Kris and Erin with us Monday and Tuesday nights, but I’m not sure how excited Kris was when our smoke alarms went off – not once, but twice - in the middle of the night. 

On Tuesday night, Erin, Taisley and Grandma enjoyed popcorn in the dark while viewing “Mockingjay, Part 2.” 

On Wednesday, we got up early for “mystery trips.”  The first was a visit to the newly remodeled downtown Electric Theater, which now also incorporates the two buildings west of the theater and where a dance studio, several small offices for arts organizations, and many classrooms are ready to welcome arts groups of all kinds.  It was particularly interesting to Kris because, having grown up here in St. George where this old movie theater was the only one in town, she remembered it well from her childhood. 

The second mystery trip of the morning was to the Red Cliff Desert Reserve downtown office (the former home of the Five County Senior Corps programs) where Kris and the kids enjoyed seeing all the “critters” who live here in our unique county where three eco-systems come together (Mojave and Great Basin deserts and the Colorado Plateau).

The girls and I then headed for Deseret Industries for a “shopping spree.”  Between the two of them, they found 6-8 t-shirts and 2 pair of shoes, while Grandma found a long black skirt and some socks and underwear for the Spectrum’s Christmas clothing drive.  In total, we spent less than $30.

At home, we introduced Taisley to Phase 10 … and what followed was a fun evening together around the dining room table.

On the Big Day, we all gathered at Stacy’s, which was a beehive of activity – a cooking frenzy – with enough food being prepared to feed both sides of a small army.  After things had settled down but before it was time to eat, Grandma and Grandpa, Michael, Lilly, Taisley and Erin headed out for another “mystery trip” which Taisley later gave “an 11” on a scale of 1 – 10.  First we went to the new WCWCD’s Red Hills Park, which the kids thoroughly explored before moving over to the area by the Dixie Rock.  They climbed and climbed all over those beautiful red rocks, exploring – for nearly two hours - every nook and cranny in their enthusiasm.

We got back to Stacy’s just in time for a delicious – and bountiful – turkey dinner, including candied yams, potatoes and gravy, dressing, homemade rolls, Nana’s green beans, corn, Martian food and two turkeys (one cooked the traditional way and the second deep fried in the backyard). 

It was a fun weekend and in this season of Thanksgiving we are so very grateful for the blessings from heaven which we enjoy every day, including our wonderful family.

PS:  The kids, as always, insisted I make our traditional “ribbon salad” which is normally made with green and red jello, but since it was Thanksgiving and not Christmas, I decided to make the top layer orange.  I wish I had been able to capture the look of shock and disappointment on Stacy’s face when she first saw it … she gasped and protested, noting it was just one more thing she was going to spend years sorting out with her therapist.  It was hysterical!!!

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