"The closest thing to heaven on this planet anywhere, is a quiet Christmas morning in the Colorado snow." --John Denver
Here my girls are, all dressed up in their Thanksgiving best. Somehow I was able to get rolls and green bean casserole made, kids all dressed and out the door to aunt Kathie's on time. Even though Adam's ribs were severely hurt during the morning's Turkey Flag Football game and he spent most the day on the couch entirely useless (how could I help but be slightly grumpy about that, but I got over it and now I feel sorry that he got hurt).
Perhaps you would not let your 6-year-old climb who knows how high to help a grandpa put a cover on his camper. I only did it because he wanted ME to get up there and Sierra became my replacement (because of my "condition"). No, really, I knew she would be fine and she isn't afraid of anything. It was quite an ordeal. Sierra and I were helpful until we needed a snack, then luckily a neighbor stopped by to help so we declared ourselves "off duty". "Why, O, Why, O Why O does your house have turquoise trim?" you are asking. The answer: because we don't own it. In fact there are more than three houses with similar trim on our street. I think there was a door-to-door salesman in the '80s who successfully walked down Dyanna Dr. and suckered a lot of suburbanites into his pukey paint. But we have perfect neighbors so we can't complain.
I was summoned for jury duty on Monday. I'd been avoiding it for years by mailing back excuses, but finally they got me. The night before a scene from "The Grinch" kept running through my mind. The one where he is in the mail room throwing jury duty letters into The Whos mailboxes just to make them miserable. Adam was able to stay home with the kids, with the hope that I'd be home before 11. It was a long process involving some very uncomfortable chairs, but I'm grateful for what I learned. I went into a courtroom with a group of 35 other jurors. The judge said the trial would probably last for 3 or 4 days and I knew I had to get out of there. One mom raised her hand and said she had a kindergartner that she had to pick up and the judge was rather unmerciful. He just told her to find some help. So I knew I couldn't use that excuse, but I was ready with the pregnancy card. I could have lied and said I was ready to puke right there in his courtroom, but I couldn't muster the courage. I just told him I was pregnant and nauseous and he pretty much told me to sit tight. It was horribly nerve racking to communicate with him (me on one end of the courtroom and him on the other, plus my wimpy voice doesn't carry) in front of all those people. Then they called up a group of 25 jurors (luckily not me) and started asking lots of questions. The judge and each lawyer got a turn to drill these people to see if they would be qualified for this particular trial. I sat and listened and wondered how I would respond to issues like illegal immigration, housing fraud, etc. But when they said a juror would have to be able to say "not guilty" if the evidence was not there to prove guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt" (even if you thought he/she was guilty as sin) I wondered if I could really do that. I'm grateful for our legal system but I'm more grateful that I don't have to be there to make those decisions day after day. At noon the judge set me free and I rushed back home to relieve Adam.
We had a fondue party with the Laws and Purcells last weekend. The Laws just got a new puppy and on the way to their house Tristan said his first sentence. He said "I'm excited to see the new puppy." Just like that. We all had a great time. I just can't get enough of the fondue cheese recipe we got from Meagan. We had it a few nights earlier with Gram and Pop (we even set our table on fire that night, but just a little). In fact, I think I'll go have some right after I finish this post (I have some stashed in the fridge...hummmmm).
On Sunday, Mom invited us over for elk chili and a party for Sierra. Last time we visited it was near Sierra's b-day and she was heart-broken that Grandma Shelli didn't have chocolate cake for her. So my sweet mother felt so bad she made a cake and reenacted the birthday. Sierra was blissfully happy.
