a glimpse of my Thanksgiving

We went to my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving and it was great. I really don't get to see my one sister and one brother all that often, so a get together is fabulous! We prepared and ate dinner out in the cabin - it was so cozy and nice! Plus, it kept the mess out of my mom's house! When I say 'we prepared', I mean my sister in law Angie and my mom. I was a little under the weather and napped on the rug for quite a bit of the time. Thanks Angie and Mom!!


Here are all the Chappell grandkids. Tori said it is impossible to get one picture with all of them looking normal and nice. I think she is right, but that is why we love them!

This is me, my bro Glen, and my sis Tori. I love them, they are great.

These are some 'behind the scenes' photos. Glen would not stand up nice and tall so we kept poking and nudging him. He and Tori have a 'who is taller' contest every time we get together! And the top photo, there is no explanation for it, it just makes me giggle.

My sweet little Emmitt and his fabulous blue eyes.

The kids watching CARS after playing outside in the FREEZING weather.

Kelsey and my paps.

Glen and Angie. Angie did Thanksgiving dinner this year and it was fabulous! She did a fantastic job and we all loved it.

Kelsey and Presley learned a few hand clapping games. They made up a few too; I wish I could be 8 years old again.

Matt, Kendal, and Emmitt. Matt had to leave so he could go back to work on Friday. It was nice to have him there for a little while.

Waylon and my dad are playing XBOX in the background thanks to Mark Jones. He donated all the goods needed to play, to the cabin and has therefore been extended a lifetime visitors pass to come and stay in the cabin. My mom is a wonderful grandma that gets down on the floor with the kids and plays with them. My kids love their grandparents.

Oh, and here is Thanksgiving Dinner. Tori and Jared could not make it until later in the evening, so it was a small, nice, delicious dinner with just my brother's family, our family, and my mom and dad.

Here I am, trying to help without falling asleep! I have had a little sick bug and I keep thinking it will get better, but it seems to get worse and worse. But all is well - the fire is roaring and dinner is in the oven! Thanks family for a fun fun Thanksgiving weekend!

American Heritage Festival 2010

How can one possibly blog about such a crazy fun weekend? There is no way to put the great time into words, even the pictures don't do it justice! I shouldn't even try, but I want to share some pictures anyway.



The picture above is a 10 by 13 inch embroidery project Amanda and I made to give to Colonel Scott, the fellow in charge of the American Heritage Festival. After Amanda and I put on the Heber Valley Civil War and Living History Weekend, we realized how nice a little token of thanks can be and how far it really goes. We wanted to make him something, and this is what we came up with . I think it turned out terrific.

A handful of Utah guys went down as Revolutionary War guys. I think they look fantastic!

Our tent and shade fly was the place to be. Amanda and her musically minded friends practiced under our fly and it drew people like crazy. They sounded so amazing, I could have listened all day. Oh wait, I did!

Amanda's father plays a Confederate field doctor and she plays his nurse. She talked me into playing nurse with her. I am not too sure about it, but it was worth a shot.

Here are some of the silly girls that liked to hang around our tent. They were fun girls to get to know.

This is Austin and myself. We had a great time together and he escorted me across the field MANY times! Thanks Austin!!

A nice fellow was there doing wet plate photography, so Amanda and I had ours taken. It took FOREVER! We drew quite a crowd and I must say it was difficult not to smile with so many faces smiling back at us!

Here is Colonel Scott, his wife Lisa, and his lovely daughters getting their photo taken. They make a smashing Revolutionary family!

A few shots of my nursing field action. It was very little. Amanda and our other nurse, Abrianna, were too quick for me and took care of most of the poor wounded men. When I got to this fellow I said "Where are you hurt soldier?" He groaned "I have been gut shot." I said "Oh dear, that is going to be hard for me to wrap." He smiled and then said "Okay, how about my leg." "Perfect" I replied and I giggled a little and got to wrapping.

More music - it was seriously amazing, and everyone loved it.

This one is taken after another battle. I believe the Rebs won this one. It was fun to sit back and listen to the crowd as they watched the battle unfold.

This picture shows all the Utah folks except John. We had a great time and hopefully we will be able to attend next year's American Heritage Festival. If only it were closer!! The drive seriously about did me in!

We drew a little crowd every now and then, and just a few minutes before this picture was taken, the blankets were full of period dressed girls looking for some attention from Austin and Caleb. I worked so hard to get this cot quilt ready to take on our trip, and I only got a few rows quilted! It was nice to sit and listen to the music and quilt, but sometimes so nice that I forgot to move my needle!

This is Amanda and her sweet niece Heather. She got to hang out with us all day Saturday and we had a great time. She even helped us with a little prank on some of the artillerymen. I think she had a fantastic day with us.

While the officers had their officer dinner, we all danced. Once again Amanda, Caleb, and all the musicians provided music for the occasion. This fellow here is what we call The Prancing Puritan and he called the dancing. He did a super job and we all enjoyed the dancing.

After the dancing, everyone sang a bit and sat around the fire. It was a nice atmosphere and perfect weather for the evening outside.

Here is another shot of the Revolutionary Utah boys headed off to war. It was fun to hang around with them and get to know them a little more. What a great time we had!

I loved that the little boys were playing war. It cracked me up. Emmitt would have been all over that, and Kendal too if they would have let a girl play with them!

I met a fun gal named Darcy that portrays the California Gold Rush period. She let everyone shoot her bow and allowed me a few quiver fulls also. I got a little lucky a few times and actually hit the dollar bill, but this one was the perfect shot.

Here is Darcy showing Amanda how to let the arrows fly. It was such great weather, a little windy, but so great. Oh Darcy claimed her mother to be the best cook in the west. Well, she may be correct. Her mom made some delicious dishes that we were able to try. I need to see if I can replicate her applesauce dumplings - yummy!!!

A shot of the Confederates in battle.

Oh, I loved the area they had for the kids school. It was such a great idea. They could try their hand with ink and pen and practice their penmanship. They also had chalk and slates. The kids loved it. They could also make a fun little corn husk doll. I think we will do something like this at our Heber event next year. It was fabulous.

Well, that is enough pictures. We had a great time and I have so many memories to hold me over for a bit, but I am afraid I have the bug. I need to do more of this kind of event. Next time Kelsey might be able to come with us, she would love it too! Thank you so much to Amanda, Caleb, Austin, and Gail - what a blast we had!

I went to the American Heritage Festival this past weekend near Phoenix with my friend Amanda and had a great time. My mother in law came up and took care of the kiddos for me, thank so much Ellen! I met some amazing new people and just really had a fantastic time. There were a handful of us Utahans that went down to experience the weekend. I got to know them all a little more and feel very blessed to know such great folks.

Here are most of the Utah group, Amanda, Caleb, Mike, Jared, Kenny, Skyler, Austin, Gail, and myself. We are missing John.

Amanda was asked to arrange some period music pieces with other members that usually attend the festival. It was amazing to hear them. There was the hammer dulcimer, 2 violins, a cello, a guitar, and a mandolin. They sounded sensational and they always gathered a crowd - public and reenactors.

I of course got to meet General Robert E Lee, a highlight of my weekend.

I took hundreds of pictures, I just had a post a few before we ran away for Thanksgiving today. Please take time to count your many blessings.

carpet - we are official!

This is what my basement looked like this morning around 9:00 am.


(new computer room)

(part of the girls' new room)

All the padding was down around 1:00 pm.

And here are pictures of this evening around 7:30 pm.

(The new computer room without the computer yet.)

The love sack has been gone in the darkest abyss of the basement for about 3 years. The girls were more than happy to show it how much it was missed. Yeah, I still need to hang the blinds and make some cute little curtain deal, and hang some pictures, and put the computer in the computer room, and a whole lot of other things. But we are just happy about the new soft floor!

(Part of the girls' room.)

Emmitt loves the fluffy new carpet; he keeps rolling all over it!

The basement project started in June or July of 2009. Now in November of 2010 we are in and loving it. I do have so much moving and arranging to do, but hey, the carpet was just finished a few hours ago!