Preparing to Feast

Actually the feasting began last night with our gathering. We had a really beautiful moment of raising our glasses and thanking God for some amazing things in our lives. Several of us were moved to tears over our food, remembering Christ and recognizing His goodness to us! I'm positive that this is what Christ meant when He spoke at the last supper - this is true communion.

I'm looking forward to more of that communion this week. Randy & I are hosting our first Thanksgiving. I'm disappointed that more of our family won't be able to be here, but we are excited to celebrate in a meaningful way. We are going all out. I won't spoil all the details but suffice it to say that we are creating ways to truly give thanks besides filling our bellies. There will be plenty of that, though. Here's a look at the menu:

Appetizers
Crab Dip
Veggie Tray
Green Apple Salsa & Chips

The Main Event
Fried Turkey
Ham Rolls
Garlic Three-Cheese Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Smokin' Macaroni & Cheese
Pecan-Praline Sweet Potatoes
Spiced Tea Cranberry Sauce
Green Stuff
Homemade Rolls
Salad

The Sweet Stuff
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Tiramisu Pudding
Espresso Cheesecake with Mocha Sauce
and other desserts from Grandma & Donna

That's just Thursday's goodness! On Saturday, we'll be celebrating in Warner with my side of the family. Mmmmm, Mmmmm Good!

She's a Foodie

On Friday, I served Lola her lunch. I'm ashamed to say that I gave her SpaghettiOs or Chef Boyardee (I can't recall which) Shapes & Meatballs. She picked at it for a few minutes and then asked for more meatballs. I obliged and gave her the rest of the meatballs and told her she should eat everything, pasta too. Lola sweetly gave her response, "But Mom, they're not very TASty!"

It makes me think about the time we went to Deep Fork Grill, a very nice upscale restaurant here in OKC. We ordered fries for Lola. Their fries come with a white truffle cream. The waiter was attentive to her age and brought a bottle of ketchup for her instead. We requested he bring the truffle cream because I wanted to taste it. At the time, Lola detested ketchup but she was scarfing the truffle cream. When the waiter came back around and noticed he remarked, "Gosh, that kid has great taste. Super expensive, the truffles are locked in the safe; but great taste."

That's my girl!

To POPS and Beyond

On Saturday we had the most amazing time with MiMi & ProPro! It was the day before Lola's actual birthday and we were in celebratory mode. We met in Arcadia at POPS which is an ultra cool gas station/diner/convenience store which specializes in pop. They have over 500 varieties. As you can tell from the photos above, there's some cool design involved and I think it is a unique experience that you should definitely make happen. I couldn't believe how busy the joint was. We waited outside in the hot sun for about a half hour only to get a seat on the patio. There was a huge yard where Lola played and got considerably muddy. For some reason they didn't have the umbrellas out and we baked while we ate our food but it still tasted great. Lola actually wanted and ate her first cheeseburger. For some reason, this kid has rejected all kinds of sandwiches. Very rarely, you can get her to eat a bit of a grilled cheese. But since POPS, I think we've entered a new era. I had a cheeseburger for lunch a couple of days ago and she grabbed it out of my hand for a couple of bites. Anyhow, back to Saturday's story...

After POPS we headed down the road to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch. We waited in line and lamented how this would be the last time Lola would get in somewhere free for being 2 or under. But we quickly turned to excitement again as we headed towards all the animals with our bag of feed. Lola swayed from timid with the animals to aggressively demanding to ride the pony. It amazes me how she can be scared of the mechanical car outside of Walmart but not at all frightened by the pony. However, I was horse crazy as a young girl, so I'm relieved to know there's some of me in her after all. She and ProPro animatedly ran us through the corn maze and she picked up all the hidden pumpkins with arrows and threw them. We tried to stop her and return what we could be she was a girl on a mission. No one will probably find their way through there again! Right at the end she led us out the side instead of finishing because she heard the tractor. She was not about to miss another turn on the hayride. She also had fun in the tire swing and the hammocks, climbing on hay bales, and picking out pumpkins. Lola & I were oblivious (or pretended to be) to the other's mourning for OU's loss to Texas. Eventually, we convinced Lola it was time to leave, load up our pumpkins and part ways with MiMi & ProPro.

As we were pulling out on Route 66, we decided to see if one of our old haunts and favorite BBQ places had ever reopened. Praise the Lord, it had. It was yummy food, but ended up a strange experience since I ran into someone I had went to high school with and not seen in 15+ years - a crazy suprise and a long way from Warner.

We hustled back to The Village and threw a spread together for noshing with the Nemcoks and Eric while we cheered the Oklahoma State Cowboys to victory over Missouri. GO POKES!!! By the time we hit the hay, metaphorically speaking, we had no trouble falling asleep.