DELAYED THANKSGIVING BLOG

Thanksgiving was spent in lovely Los Angeles. We drove through snowy slick roads to the airport in Salt Lake, the day before Thanksgiving. Grandma Char, Jocelyn, and I were lucky enough to miss the pat down or the full body scan picture at security, but John did get the body scan picture and of course joked about it and asked if he could get a copy for himself. Even with the weather being cold and snowy in Salt Lake, the flight was smooth which is always a blessing to me.

We arrived and collected our bags and took a cab to Todd and Megan's apartment. Neither was home of course, with their busy work schedule. We made ourselves at home and while John and Jocelyn napped, Grandma Char became an official facebook user. We were lucky enough that Todd and Megan could both be home that evening. We went to California Pizza Kitchen which is one of our favorites. After dinner, Todd and I did a touch more grocery shopping for the big day. Megan and Jocelyn went into Pink Berry for yogurt and Grandma decided to stay in the car. Unfortunately, when Megan and Jocelyn got back to Todd's car, they asked grandma to open the door. This set off the alarm and Todd's car's security setting won't allow you to open the car from the inside after it is locked. I missed seeing the funny scene. Grandma was a good sport about it.

Thanksgiving morning, Megan had to go to the hospital and do her daily rounds. John went along with her and was so impressed with Megan's abilities as a doctor. He met Meg's patients and saw how meticulous she is and the vast knowledge she uses to care for her patients. John came home with a new appreciation for the years of hard work and sacrifices Meg has made as a general surgery/trauma resident.

Thanksgiving day was so pleasant. We all worked together and so the preparations didn't seem hard at all. Grandma Char patiently gave us directions to maker her stuffing for the turkey and Megan and I put it together while Jocelyn wrote down a detailed recipe so we could have it on paper for posterity. We all freaked out when grandma told us that you had to taste it wet (raw eggs included) to see if it had enough sage seasoning it it. She did that tasting for us. The stuffing was perfect as it always is when grandma is in charge. Megan had picked up a honey baked ham to go with the turkey that their friend, Pam provided. Todd ordered yummy Marie Callender pies for dessert. We put the rest of the meal together and it was delicious.

Steve and Pam, Todd's fellow residents shared our Thanksgiving dinner with us. What wonderful people they are. We enjoyed getting to know them.

Steve, Todd and Pam

After dinner, we taught Steve and Pam May I and played cards and watched the traditional Thanksgiving day NFL games on TV. A family from Todd and Meg's ward came over for dessert. We had fun getting to know them and playing with their children.

Melissa, Grace, Andy, and Audrey Erickson

The perfect hosts

Megan had to go to the hospital Friday morning again. When she returned, the girls decided to brave Black Friday at a close strip mall and then a bigger mall, while the boys stayed behind and watched football. The stores at the strip mall were not busy and we got great Christmas deals. The big mall is close by and we have dubbed it the ghetto mall, but the name is undeserving since they have totally remodeled the mall and it is very nice. This mall was PACKED in every available space---in the stores and outside in the wide corridors between the stores. Jocelyn was able to find some lovely Christmas clothes for herself at H & M and Forever 21.

Grandma Char waiting for us in the beautiful sunshine.

The happy shoppers

Later that afternoon, Todd, Jocelyn and Terrence went to the IMax theater to watch Harry Potter. We met them after the movie at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We were able to sit outside on the patio to eat. What a pleasant environment considering the winter cold we left behind.

I love Terrence and can't wait for him to be at BYU next fall.

My two favorite redheads!

We were pretty lazy on Saturday morning while Megan had to go to the hospital. We pampered ourselves with a pedicure and even got Todd to come and participate since John was going too. We have laughed and laughed about the technician that did John's feet. John suffers with ingrown toenails terribly. I have begged him to have them removed. He just uses heavy duty tools and yanks them out himself. Oh the pain! The technician saw part of an ingrown nail and asked John if he had one. John of course answered yes and then she pulled as hard as she could and asked, "That hurt?" Obviously, IT HURT LIKE TOENAILS BEING RIPPED OUT OF YOUR FOOT. She then turned to the gal sitting next to her and kind of smirked, like, good job, it hurt! John laughed the hardest about it. Todd had his own facial grimaces and I hope that he will go back and try it again. We had a good time together.

John smiling before the ingrown toenail extraction

Grandma Char and I went into 7-11 and we didn't care about our funny flip flops.

We were determined to keep those toes looking great.

We watched the BYU/Utah football game that afternoon and of course we were sad at the outcome. We then watched the BYU/St. Mary's basketball game and thank goodness BYU won by 1 point to save our day.

We were able to get some cards played while we visited. We always have a good time talking, laughing, and competing when we are together.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. This will Megan and Todd's last Thanksgiving in California for a long while, we hope. We count our blessings that they are moving back to Utah and next Thanksgiving will be shared with the Grunander's and the Wolthuis'. Thanks Megan and Todd for a wonderful time with you.