My Baby Turns 19

My baby boy turned 19 today. Where has the time gone? I've been very emotional all day long. The thought that this will be his last birthday at home for two years is hard to think about. My head knows that a mission is the best thing for him right now---my heart however is having a hard time dealing with it. It is a really good thing my sons are about seven years apart in age. I really don't know if I'm ready to send another son away for two years. Selfish I know---but how I feel. Happy Birthday Kade! I am so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to us 19 years ago.

Thanksgiving and Brian's New Calling

Over the river and thru the woods, To grandmother's house we go; The horse knows the way To carry the sleigh, Thru the white and drifted snow, oh! My mom would always sing this song as we drove to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents house. This year we just drove down the round a few miles to my mother's house for dinner and as far as the white and drifted snow goes it was a bust!!!!
I love Thanksgiving! Always so much good food around. Our menu this year was pretty much the same as it always is. My brother Ryan deep-fried the turkey. I'm not a turkey eater anyway. . . .and it looked pretty much burnt to me. . . .but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. My mom always makes ham for me also since I don't eat anything that swims or flies. We had some great salads as well as the sweet potatoes (of which I'm not a fan either!) One tradition our family has for Thanksgiving is noodles. Instead of turkey gravy our family has always put noodles on our mashed potatoes. That may sound a little strange to some people but it actually is very good. My grandma Myers used to make her own noodles. We don't do that anymore. What happens is this. . . .you use chicken bouillon and make a broth which you bring to boiling. You add the noodles and cook until they are done. I thicken the broth and noodles with a little bit of flour and water mixed together. I like to add a little bit of parsley flake to the dish as well. Its yummy! You can make a full meal of this if you just add some cooked chicken to it.
One of the dishes that I provided for dinner this year is the stuffing. Several years ago a friend of mine gave me this recipe for Crockpot Stuffing so this is what I made. It was a big hit.

Crockpot Stuffing
1 cup butter
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/4 cup parsley sprigs
13 cups dried bread cubes
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp marjoram
4 cups chicken broth
2 eggs well beaten
Melt butter; saute onion, parsley and celery. Pour over bread cubes. Add seasonings; toss and coat. Pour broth over cubes. Add eggs; mix thoroughly. Put in crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes and low for at least 4 hours.
I cheated this year and bought onion and celery that was already chopped together up at Walmart. I just used four cups of that. I also grated up one carrot and mixed it it with the stuffing to add color.

Brian was recently called into the Elder's quorum presidency for the Woodruff Ward. The president is Jason Petersen and Monte Anderson is the first councilor and Brian the second. Chevy Huffaker will be the secretary. They set them apart yesterday during Elders quorum meeting. They rounded up all the wives to come in and watch. It was so funny we were sitting there listening when we figured out they had the wrong wife. Brother Hutchinson had gotten Ashley Huffaker to come in instead of Whitney Huffaker. Ashley quickly went and found Whitney so she could be there. It was nice and I think they will do a terrific job.