Sara's making me blog again. That's right. MAKING me.

Well, according to Sara, I have a monthly blog quota of one a month. So here it is 11:50pm on the 30th of November. Met my quota, sucka! She says it doesn't have to be anything lengthy, but it should cover my brother's wedding, his reception, my stay in Utah, the reception here in Washington, the time I spent with my nieces and nephews, and Thanksgiving. So here's my recap, Scott-style.

David and Erin's wedding was beautiful. Erin and her family are truly wonderful. All I can say is: you lucked out, bro. :) For a much better blog on the wedding visit The Waldron Clan's blog: http://thewaldronclan.blogspot.com/

Here's Mr. Fugly with the much-better-looking Happy Couple.

...seriously. How great of a brother am I? I passed up the good genes so my siblings could have them all. I know. I know. I'm a giver.

And now for some super-cute niece/nephew pictures from the temple:

As for our stay in Utah, we came.

We ate.We conquered.Also, Joel is cool.
The reception in Washington was also very nice. Again, for a far superior blog on our trip,the WA reception, and Thanksgiving simply look below this sorry excuse for a blog and check out Sara's pro-style commentary.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, Dallin!

Claire! Aaaaaannnddd....GIRL VS. BEAST!!!

That's all for now folks! Blog finished, Sara appeased, Scott somewhat fulfilled.

FaceBook is a Sign of the Coming Apocalypse

So, I became an uber-junkie, Facebook-freak officially on 11/29/08 at 9:04 pm, when my semi-annoyed husband said, "Why don't you just create your own account," instead of contacting my friends through his account. 'Why not?' I thought - it would be a fun way to keep in contact with old mission companions, long-lost friends, and new friends. What I did not know....could not anticipate....is the addictive nature of the medium. I have literally spent the past hour and a half IM-ing an old mission companion, a friend from elementary school, and a pal from my ward all at the same time, and....wait for it.....I have never IM-ed before tonight. Earlier this evening I swapped emails with a guy from junior/high school who used to 'gleek' on me, and tracked down old friends from Federal Way - oh my gosh, Emily Wade is friends with Tami Hineman who has a connection to Inger Bjorn and she has a connection to Kacie Thiess and she has a connection to.....you get the point.....it's sheer madness. I have resolved to make my Facebook "stops" throughout the day a reward for getting something else done, otherwise there is no hope for me, or for Scott. Also, just a thought, am I wrong or does it seem that having the most "friends" is somehow a status symbol, much like having a bigger car, a bigger house, a bigger stick, etc. Just a thought....but I have already found myself teasing Scott about my rising number of friends - a number that started low from my effort to be discerning, but was quickly swayed and opened ot any-and-all by my own ego (that's right, I'll admit it). Plus, I have noticed that as soon as you join, all these people start 'climbing out of the woodworks', so to speak - I don't know whether to be flattered or frightened - quite a conundrum! But it is fun, I must admit!

http://www.facebook.com/

I feel that you should all join Facebook so that I don't feel so guilty about my guilty-pleasure.

Turkey Day!

I'm sure that many of you can relate to the stress associated wtih preparing a kickin' Thanksgiving feast. This year, I knew that we would have a small group over to our house, but that didn't decrease the pressure at all. I suppose that when I have been exposed to a certain "standard" for Thanksgiving day meals all of my life; seconded by the fact that when I only make the food for Thanksgiving once a year and in between Thanksgivings my mind tends to imagine the "legendary" taste of each dish; and thirdly, my kitchen skills have become rusty from lack of use - I was understandably anxious. That did not stop Scott and I from trying a few additions to our meal - Scott and I love to try knew recipes that we find on the Food Network website, and we love trying them out on our visitors. We found an amazing caramel apple pie recipe that we tried, and it was a huge success - Scott's mom said about the pie: "these apples are perfect, cooked to the right consistency of soft, but firm". If you are feeling up to the challenge, check out the link for the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-challenge/caramel-apple-pie-2003-1st-place-apple-recipe/index.html

In the morning, I knew we needed to get the stuffing started early, but it was difficult getting out of bed. I kept remembering the years of living at home with my parents, when my sister and I were recruited to help my mom in the kitchen while my brothers played games or slept in - the very "50's house-wife" mentality of it used to drive me nuts. But while Scott and I peeled onions and cooked sausage for the stuffing, I pointed to a picture of my mom and told Scott - "it's thanks to my mom that I can even wield a knife and attack these recipes." I really am grateful to my mom that she "insisted" on my Thanksgiving-day-help. This was also the first year that I have ever been fully in charge of cooking the turkey, and I knew the pressure was on. However....Scott and I hit it out of the park with the turkey. My father-in-law stated: "this is the best turkey I have ever eaten - it's practically melting in my mouth." Knowing that turkey has the potential to be disastrously dry, Scott and I did our turkey-research. I credit the turkey-success to several factors: 1) we got our turkey from Trader Joe's (we love that store) and it was an 'already brined turkey'; 2) we decided to brine the turkey again, overnight, and found a great brine at Safeway, of all places; 3) we followed the simple cooking instructions from Alton Brown on the food network website: Check out his video from the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/10-thanksgiving-turkey-tips/video/index.html (look for the video called "Cooking the Perfect Turkey"). Scott and I jokingly referred to our foil shield, recommended by Alton Brown, as the "Breast Plate of Righteousness" - it really did guarantee the successful even-cooking of the bird.

In all, we had a lovely dinner, ate way too much, reminisced about past Thanksgivings, and enjoyed the company of family. Scott and I frequently stopped to acknowledge how grateful we are for each other, and for our numerous blessings. I hope that all of you family and friends had an equally enjoyable day of thanks!A very satisfied bunch: Sara, Mom Hinckley, Scott (in the mirror), Dad Hinckley, Grandma Ruby

After the eating was done, Scott and I "bested" his parents in a hilarious game of 'Turbo' Cranium. Top Left/Right: Mom and Dad Hinckley put their heads together on how to answer a question. Middle: Scott uses his 'mad' drawing skills to help me come up with the answer - and he did it with his eyes closed. Bottom Left/Right: Dad Hinckley had to 'sculpt' Mom Hinckley - the bottom left picture was "Frankenstein" - they not only got the answers before the timer went off, they were good sports about it too!

To cap-off our Thanksgiving weekend, Scott and I got together with our good friends, Brandon and Katie Whitley. I met Katie my first year teaching when we were assigned to be team teachers, and when we introduced our then-boyfriends for the first time, they realized that they knew each other. We have enjoyed their friendship for many years now, through moves, changes in jobs/school, and weddings - just one more thing that Scott and I are grateful for this Thanksgiving season.