Goodbye, Privacy

One of the many things motherhood has taught me is that privacy is short-lived. I appreciate all of you who put up with the inconvenience of my privacy setting by sending me your email addresses. However, the privacy setting proved trickier than I had anticipated for some of my readers, so I decided to discontinue my attempt at restricted readership.

Thanksgiving was so much fun. I prepared my first Thanksgiving dinner the week before Thanksgiving so we could celebrate with my dad and brother before we headed out of town. I was pleased with how it turned out. It made me feel quite gourmet. If I don't survive January's half-marathon, then at least I can check off my goal of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner from my bucket list.

For the week of Thanksgiving, we went down to the beach in North Carolina with Ben's parents, siblings, and the family of one of Ben's uncles. The weather was surprisingly pleasant. We had so much fun hanging out, playing the wii, walking along the beach, driving on the sand near the ocean, reading books, watching movies, and just enjoying life and remembering the many things we have to be grateful for.


Some of the highlights of the trip included Andrew learning to ride a two wheeler, seeing dolphins jumping through waves, and continuing our family tradition of making apple turkeys and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. When I was growing up, we always made apple turkeys using the apple as the body and toothpicks to spear gumdrops, raisins, and marshmallows to make the feathers and legs and head. We also spent many Thanksgivings in New York City watching the Thanksgiving Day parade in person.


Last night we started a new tradition. After decorating our Christmas tree, we used my Grandma Lee's sugar cookie recipe and made and decorated Christmas cookies, watched 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas', and sang Christmas songs. It was a lot of fun.


I think family traditions are important. We try to do what we can to create traditions, memories, and special things to look forward to in our family. Another tradition that we are looking forward to is our annual trip to the Washington DC temple visitor center to see the Christmas lights and all the Christmas trees.

In other news, Ben fell victim to lay-offs at his company the week before Thanksgiving. If anyone knows of a software sales job opening let us know! He's been sending out his resume all over the place and generating some interest from prospective employers. Still, in the current economy and at this time of year where companies are either busy with the end of their fiscal year or in holiday mode, we are afraid companies aren't very aggressive in their hiring process right now. Watching the news reminds us that there are many in a similar situation. We are grateful for loving and supportive families that are eager to help in any way possible. Ben is also fluent in Spanish, and majored in Spanish. So, if you hear of a good sales job, or a job where Ben could use his Spanish, pass the lead our way.