November

November 1 - Chili

There's nothing better than homemade chili in the Fall. Sometimes I like to add a hamburger patty and top it with cheese, making it a chili burger. So filling and very delicious!

Kelsey makes the best chili I have ever tasted. 

Kelsey's Chili 

1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.) can western beans, drained and rinsed

3 small cans tomato sauce

1 lb. hamburger

celery 

onion

green pepper

season salt

black pepper

1 T. chili powder

1 15 oz. can water

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 brown sugar

1 tsp. cumin

On the stove brown hamburger, celery, onion, green pepper, season salt, black pepper, and chili powder.

In a crock pot combine beans, tomato sauce, water, ketchup, brown sugar, chili powder and cumin (season to taste). Add hamburger. Warm in crock pot until ready to serve.

November 17 - Christmas Cactus

Dad's Christmas Cactus surprised me with a beautiful pink bloom today. It decided to bloom two weeks early this year. The pink blooms brighten up a corner of my home and chases the dark clouds of the approaching winter away.

November 18 - A surprise visit

Marilyn and Cari (Pasket), as I know them, came up and visited me today. What a surprise! Marilyn was thrilled to take a tour of the house and showed a lot of interest in all of Dave's old treasures he's collected. When we were in the basement bathroom she told me she really liked the toilet paper holder. I gave it to her! She was so happy! Funny!! I loved that. 

She also brought me a gift. A painting that grandma Bates had done and given to uncle Frank, Marilyn's father. It ended up in Marilyn's possession after uncle Frank passed away. It was so thoughtful and sweet of her. What a treasure for me!

November 23-25 - Thanksgiving Weekend

What do we do to celebrate Thanksgiving at our house? We celebrate family! We create memories! We eat a lot of food and pies. We shoot off the cannon. We play in the leaves. We play pool. We play games. We watch movies. We do talent shows on the stage. Taking photo shoots in different rooms of the house and around the yard is a tradition for the girls. This year Carson played taps on his trumpet. It was so moving and brought tears to my eyes. Oh... we have so much fun being together. Love, love, love my family!

Cannon

Carson and Riley watching the cannon go off.

Photo Shoot

Savanna, Nicole, Tianna, Morgann, Makaela

Tera

Amie and the girls

Nicole and Savanna playing in the leaves

Feast

Alia and Ben made these cute and clever place cards and centerpiece for our Thanksgiving meal. I love the artwork! We had a traditional meal of turkey (help, help!), mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, green salad, rolls, and a bunch of cream pies. So delicious!

Games and Lularoe

Move on over... mother's clothes! Lularoe took over the closet in my room for a day. Amie had a live sale the day after Thanksgiving and modeled some wardrobe items. She made a few sales. It was fun watching her. Audrey was her assistant.

The kids bought a game to play. Speak Out. You put a mouth guard in your mouth and try to speak the words on the card while the others try and guess what you are saying. Crazy! It looked like it hurt. Ouch.