Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, it is officially winter weather here, no snow yet, but it is cold.
Wednesday evening we headed up to Brandon's dad's "cabin" to begin the Thanksgiving festivities. We hit a deer! It was horrible. We are all fine. We stunned the deer, Brandon had to drag it off the road, but the next day it wasn't there so it must have recovered (we hope). I was in shock and very upset. Brandon's door wouldn't open and the headlight was broken, etc. but nothing major and we fixed the door. Things got better from there.




Brandon had an obsession with the video camera on Thursday and filmed absolutely everything.



The Thanksgiving meal was delightful. Alan & Brandon fried the turkey and make sweet potatoes in the dutch oven. Linda made the brussel sprouts and the pumpkin pie strussel. I made the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberries n' cream salad. The stuffing was THE best ever created. Thank you to Jen for the recipe.
We played a little Beyond Balderdash, which was amusing. In the afternoon Brandon and Alan had strung lights on the giant pine tree in the field behind the house. It is the envy of the neighborhood (we tell ourselves). We had an official lighting ceremony and then watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the J. family favorite Christmas movie.



On Friday Linda had to leave early to work (boo hoo). Brandon, Jonah, and I met up with my (ex)Uncle Ed and my cousins Helene, Elisa, and Marta and Helene's boyfriend Robert, for a little Park City shopping and sightseeing, which it was way too cold for. Helene lives in Portland and I hadn't seen her or Ed in forever so it was really nice.
Friday night we watched Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Disturbia. My hands were sweaty in Disturbia and I kept yelling at the tv, both signs of a great thriller.

Saturday Jonah woke up way too early. Alan headed off for a guy's day out with his friend, which fell thru when he was pulled over for speeding. The cop was going to let him off with a warning but when he ran his licence he found that he would be arresting Alan instead. Yes, arresting, with handcuffing as standard procedure. Apparently Alan had received a speeding ticket in Sandy a couple months ago which Sandy city has no record of being paid, which suspended his licence, which he didn't know because he hasn't updated his licence with his new(ish) address. And also because he had an outstanding fishing-without-a-licence ticket pending from 1989. No joke. Brandon had to bail his dad out. Alan took it all in stride and I am proud of how calmly he handled the whole fiasco. I wish I could see the mug shots!
Saturday evening Alan made reservations for us at Snake Creek Grill here in Heber. It is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Utah and we were not disappointed. Of our three meals the crab penne pasta was the favorite. It was nice to get a babysitter and eat out. Alan said it was an anniversary present for B and I since our 10 year wedding anniversary is tomorrow.