Thanksgiving 2024

The day before Thanksgiving we packed up and headed to Lake Coeur d' Alene around noon. We stopped at Midtown Market to restock my booth before the big shopping weekend. We also got lunch at our favorite Noodles Express. 

Bryn and I did a little Christmas shopping and we bummed around in CDA for a bit.

We love the house that we sometimes rent for Thanksgiving. It is perfect for a cozy holiday weekend. They had the Christmas tree up again which we loved. The lake was looking gorgeous too. 

We unpacked and got settled. Reilly, Hunter, and Karson weren't coming until the next day so we made homemade noodles, ate my Mom's baked brie, prepped food for the next day, and watched a Christmas movie. We talked to Ailey and Luke. They made it safely to Utah and had good roads.

The next morning was Thanksgiving Day. We slept in, enjoyed a leisurely morning of the Macey's Day Parade and The National Dog Show (the Pug won!!), and ate pie for breakfast! 

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition! Thanks Mom!

Our family group chat was popping off with everyone and their activities and our joy that the pug won The National Dog Show!

Way to go Vito!

Tyler had the turkey roasting and we had the rest of the food prepped. I love having Thanksgiving here because it is so relaxed and enjoyable! I set the table and did a bit of holiday decorating. I brought twinkle lights, See's chocolate turkeys, and some decorations from home with me. LOL. Everything turned out pretty. The lake view out the window doesn't hurt either!!

After setting the table Tyler and I did a two mile walk with Beverly.

After we got back, we got ready, and then it was truly time to get things going for our Thanksgiving Dinner.

Reilly, Hunter, and Karson arrived around 2pm. 

Poor Karson wasn't feeling well and was running a low grade fever. He snuggled with his dad and watched some football while the rest of us got dinner going.

All of the Johnsons are fantastic cooks which is so nice when holidays roll around! Lots of helpers in the kitchen and it is fun to cook together. We had the music going and dinner coming together.

Tyler is very precise in his carving! LOL.

Our 2024 Thanksgiving Menu:

Brined and Roasted Turkey (Tyler)

Killer Mashed Potatoes (me)

Mom's Liquid Gold Gravy (me)

Rolls (Bryn)

Pecan Patties (Reilly)

Noodles (me)

Brussel Sprouts (Reilly)

Christa's Sweet Potato Casserole (me)

Mom's Sourdough, Sausage, and Chestnut Stuffing (me)

Cranberry Dip (me)

Granny's Jello Squares (Reilly)

Relish Tray (Bryn)

Pumpkin Pies (me)

Cherry Pies (me)

Pecan Pies (me)

Homemade Whipped Cream (Bryn)

Bubbly to drink.

Bryn also made chex mix to snack on and she and Tyler helped with all of the chopping, slicing, and dicing! Tyler's turkey was amazing! His special brine makes the turkey SO GOOD! I made two new recipes this time...Christa's sweet potato casserole and my Mom's famous stuffing. Both were fantastic! I usually make my grandma's sweet potatoes but after having Christa's sweet potato casserole last Thanksgiving at Kirk's...that is the one I want from now on. As for my Mom's stuffing...I've never made it before and I have missed it. My kids don't enjoy stuffing but at least two of them admitted that it was really good this year and Hunter was a fan too!

After dinner we facetimed with Kameron and Erin. They had gone to Thanksgiving at her aunt and uncle's house. Her parents and some of her siblings were in town too. They had a good time! We also talked to Ailey and Luke. They had gone to Luke's aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving. Luke's siblings and his dad were all there but not his mom. Luke's parents are getting a divorce and his mom was with her side of the family. Luke's Grandma (the one who just lost her husband) and his aunts, uncles, and cousins were really nice and the kids had fun. Unfortunately Ailey had an allergic reaction to all of their animals and was pretty miserable by the end of the night. They had to head to the store for some Zyrtec. She usually is okay and doesn't have too much of a problem if it is only one dog but I guess they had several at the aunt's house. We also talked to my dad, Tyler's mom and sister, and Kirk and Meki too. It seemed like everyone had a good day! 

We all wrote in our Thanksgiving journal and laughed at all of the old entries especially the infamous one from Reilly from when she was 15 and angrily wrote that she "...wasn't thankful for anything!!" Ha ha! Classic! We played games after dinner and watched the new Twisters movie until everyone fell asleep! We had a great Thanksgiving despite missing some of our kiddos. 

The next day was straight relaxation. We slept in...watched movies and football...the Chiefs were playing! Tyler and I took Beverly for a long walk. 

We snacked on leftovers and pie pretty much all day. Bryn and I worked on some crafts. She was doing some gem art and I was making paper stars and medallions. 

Karson was feeling a bit better! The rest of us relaxed, napped, ate, read, and played games.

We played a lot of Skipbo, Tapple, and Violent Spoons! We watched movies and stayed up late again. Another great day for us at Lake Coeur d' Alene!

Meanwhile in Utah...Kameron, Erin, Ailey, and Luke all went to Kirk and Meki's house for their Thanksgiving celebration.

Kirk did his smoked turkey that I love! He and Meki make a lot of my Mom's recipes so the kids felt like they got to eat their traditional Thanksgiving dinner too. Kirk also keeps my Mom's tradition of eating at night like we do by candlelight. If our kids can't be home for Thanksgiving; they like to be at Kirk's. 

They played Violent Spoons too and LUKE won!!! Not a McClellan??!! Not a Johnson??!! Unheard of!

I'm glad that they were all together! I had a great Black Friday sales day at Midtown Market too!

The next morning Tyler and I were up early and facetiming with Ailey and Luke. They had an appointment to look at a wedding venue in Utah early that morning. They loved it! We were able to book it and they picked out their décor, linens, and flowers. Yay! That is a relief! Venues fill up so fast in Utah especially at the end of April. 

Everyone was still at Kirk and Meki's house the next day including Dwight! Kirk and Meki just got a new puppy too; an Irish doodle named Maple. 

We have the cutest granddog!

The kids had fun at Kirk's watching movies and making homemade noodles. Pretty much the exact same thing that we were doing! We talked to all of them several times. It sounded like they were having fun!

Meanwhile back in North Idaho... it was a spectacular day on Lake Coeur d' Alene. The sun was shining brightly and the weather was pretty warm. Reilly made us pumpkin pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast. I ate mine out on the deck in the sunshine!

Look at that blue sky in November!!!

Karson was feeling much better and chowing down on some bacon.

Tyler, Beverly, and I went on our longest walk yet. The sun was shining and it was too gorgeous not to be outside! I enjoyed the view from the deck and read my book snuggled up in my coat and blanket in the sunshine. I love a sunny Thanksgiving! The rest of the family was on a Harry Potter movie marathon. I worked on my paper stars again. Bryn taught herself to crochet and made a little animal for Karson. Way to go Bryn! She's so good at teaching herself all kinds of things. She just watched some YouTube videos and did it!

Reilly cooked for us all day! We were so spoiled. For dinner she made us burritos with homemade tortillas. Amazing! We played more games...lots of card games. Karson was running around by the end of the night.

It was so cozy and fun to be together. No one was looking forward to leaving the next day. It was another late night and lots of laughs!! Small Business Saturday was also a great sales day for me! It was really weird to have Thanksgiving so late this year. 

The next day we packed up and headed home. It was another sunny day and the water was gorgeous! The kids all left Kirk and Meki's too. Ailey and Luke stopped and had lunch at Kameron and Erin's house before driving back to Rexburg. We facetimed with all of them again. I talked to Kirk while I made turkey stock and got the scoop on Thanksgiving from him too. He loved having the kids there. It sounds like everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! It's hard to believe that it is now DECEMBER 1ST! I was so happy to come home from Thanksgiving and walk right into a Christmas house!

Bring on CHRISTMAS!!

November 2024

The first day of November hit hard after a long night of Halloweening! We let Bryn skip early morning Seminary but still made her go to school. I don't envy teachers the day after Halloween. Tyler impressed the heck out of me though by getting up VERY early and going to the temple to do initiatories. Wow. That is dedication. But then he took the rest of the day off of work!

It was set-up day at Midtown Market for our Holiday Open House and it was a big one. It's our biggest yearly event... by far! It was pouring rain and I had furniture to move in. Tyler was a huge help and I am so grateful that he was willing to take time off of work to help me. It was an all day process. I wasn't done until around 8pm!

The Holiday Open House was a huge success! My best sales day yet! All of the work was worth it. Reilly met me early in Coeur d' Alene before the second day of the open house to help me fix up my booth and bring in more inventory. We stayed for a bit after the doors opened to do some shopping ourselves. I saw Carl, my friend Pam's husband. Pam was my next door booth neighbor at the store. She passed away last year from cancer. It was good to see Carl, to catch up with him, and to give him a hug.

Reilly and I did some more early Christmas shopping in CDA and then went to our favorite health food market and had lunch. It was so fun to have some one-on-one time with her!

After the show I put away all of the Halloween décor and decorated our house for Christmas! We aren't going to be here for Thanksgiving and I don't enjoy Thanksgiving décor so why not just move right onto Christmas? Plus all of the lights and Christmas cheer help with my seasonal depression that really kicks in after daylight savings. 

Election Day came and went. Trump won. By a lot. Including the popular vote and all the battleground states. The tides have turned in the House and Senate too. I have to stay off social media. People are too much.

Reilly turned 28!

We babysat Karson on Reilly's birthday so that Reilly and Hunter could have a day of fun! They brought him over around 1pm. He is so funny and has such a hilarious little personality now. We were doing yard work and raking leaves and he was a little wild man! He loves being outside and running around. He had fun playing in the leaves. We put him in the stroller and went on a long walk in our neighborhood with Beverly and he loved that too! We babysat him until late that night. He was so good and just loves playing and hanging out with us. No crying for mommy and daddy. He is so loving and cute! It was so fun to get all that time with him and so nice for Reilly and Hunter to be able have some time together too. I remember those days.

Karsy hanging out at Lovey and Pops! Is there anything better than kids fresh from the tub and in their jammies??

The next day we had a family birthday dinner for Reilly. She requested my Pad Thai, Brazilian Limeades, and Cold Stone for dessert. We had a fun time celebrating her with her little family.

Two days later it was Kameron's Birthday! He turned 24!

It's crazy to think that he is a married man with a wife to plan his birthday celebrations! We sent him his birthday gift and we facetimed with him that morning. His birthday is on Veteran's Day so Bryn didn't have school and Tyler took the day off too. Kam and Erin had a fun day planned. I love that Erin is so good at celebrating him! She is a dream! 

We celebrated the glorious day of his birth by going to the movies and out for ice cream...his favorite treat! LOL. We stopped at Baskin Robbins and got the weird ice cream flavor that he told us about...Brie with Apricot and Pistachio...it was delicious! Then we went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I loved that book as a kid and my kids loved it too. It was really cute and it even brought some tears to our eyes!

Happy Birthday Kamers! We had a great day celebrating you! Ha ha!

This month Ailey and Luke were headed to Utah for Luke's Grandpa's funeral. A sad event for sure but Ailey got to meet a ton of Luke's extended family. Including Luke's mom, dad, siblings, Grandma, and all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins on his dad's side. He has a gigantic LDS family. His dad is one of eleven kids. They were able to squeeze in a BYU basketball game with Kameron and Erin while they were in Utah too. Kameron and Erin also got to meet Luke's mom and a few of his siblings. Luke is one of eight kids.

Bryn is between sports right now which is a little weird. She decided that she didn't want to play basketball this year. Three sports was too much. It's nice having a break for all of us. It was our week this month to provide breakfast for Bryn's Seminary class. Bryn requested that we bring Krispy Kreme Donuts and Apple Cider. Done. Tyler was best dad/husband ever... he purchased all of the food, brought it to Seminary, set it up, and cleaned it up too. Woohoo!

Ailey also got her second iron infusion. Unfortunately she started having an allergic reaction after she got to work. Hives. She called the office and they told her to take some Zyrtec and to come in the next day. Frustrating.

Reilly, Hunter, and Karson got some cute new family pictures taken! Bryn went with them to help wrangle Karson and it get him to smile. 

I love these!!

Reilly, Hunter, and Karson came over for a bit after their pictures. Karson looked so cute in his pearl snap shirt, cowboy boots, and wranglers.

This month we winterized the boat, deck, and yard. Tyler hung up our Christmas lights. Our house is now fully decorated for Christmas inside and out...all weeks before Thanksgiving. LOL. I got summoned for jury duty...Federal Jury Duty...it was for right after I have my hysterectomy, so thankfully, I was able to opt out.

Tyler was in charge of providing dinner for all of the Stake Council for their giant yearly planning meeting. Good grief. He had David's Pizza (a gourmet pizza place) cater it. It turned out nice but why are we being asked to plan bloody everything these days? We got asked to plan the ward Christmas party and had to say no to that due to scheduling conflicts. Every time I turn around we are being asked to plan large events... how about 2 weddings in 9 months... surely there are other people in our stake/ward who can do things like this?

Kameron, Erin, and I all got new callings. Kameron got called as the YM's secretary, Erin got called to be the ward choir pianist and a missionary mentor, and I got called to be an advisor in YW. Erin and Kameron also had to speak in their ward. Erin's parents were in town and got to go to church with them and hear them. I love that! I am happy with my calling. I enjoy working with the YW and I like being in there with Bryn. She was happy that I was called to YW too although I will be over the littlest girls.

I was busy prepping for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday at Midtown Market. I feel like I am just madly rushing around...barely keeping it all together...and we haven't even hit the holidays yet! Bryn and I have been going to the gym as much as possible and Tyler and I have been doing walks as much as possible. Anything to help keep me grounded and my mood on an even keel.

Tyler had his endocrinology appointment and it went well. His A1C was down and that is good although with the holidays coming it will most likely go up again. He also had an eye appointment and his eyes after his surgeries look good. He doesn't have to come back for another 6 months. Great news! Tyler's mom and sister bought plane tickets to come visit us in February for Tyler and Karson's birthdays. That's not too long after I have my surgery... I hope I will feel better by then. 

We got our first snow. BOO. Bryn also had seminary cancelled for a few days due to icy roads from the snow bomb cyclone that hit WA state. (Where are they getting these names?!) She's been busy hanging out with friends, various birthday parties, and a big service project for FCCLA. She has been awesome helping me prep food for Thanksgiving! Love her! She made all kinds of things to take to the lake.

Thanksgiving is so late this year. Ailey and Luke are driving to Utah. They will split their time between Luke's family and my brother's house. Kameron and Erin will be splitting up the holiday up too. Erin's family will be in Utah so they will see them and then also go to my brother's for Thanksgiving. Kirk has his Thanksgiving celebration the day after Thanksgiving so it works out nicely for our kids to go to all of their different places and celebrations. Tyler, Bryn, me, Reilly, Hunter, and Karson will be renting our favorite house on Lake Coeur d' Alene again. We were there the year before last. We love it! It is such a nice getaway without going too far.

We are already on our Hallmark holiday movie watching kick. They now have Thanksgiving movies and the Hanukah movies are out which we weirdly love. They take me back to my Kansas City days and going to Hanukah parties with my Jewish friends. Good memories!

Kameron and Erin got each other an early Christmas gift! A darling golden retriever puppy named Dwight. He is adorable!! Look at that FACE!!

Onto Thanksgiving!