Thanksgiving 2009 was a week full of activity.
First, JWU was on 9news.com (Denver’s NBC affiliate) for a help segment on holiday meal preparation. We got there early and stayed until 9am. Four chefs answered the “help” phone lines where viewers would call in with their questions for Thanksgiving. Most of the questions were about when to defrost the turkey and how long to cook the bird depending on how large it was. Some other interesting questions were about brining and what to offer guests who adhered to gluten-free diets or were vegetarians, etc. One caller claimed that we were charging them 29 cents per advice so I had to ensure the morning show producer that we were not doing that. They must have called another number as that notion was preposterous. We had a good giggle about how we would take the 29 cents over the phone and one caller wanted to talk to the chef with hair as the other three were bald – hysterical!
On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we had dinner with our friends Charlie and Carolyn and their three girls. I explained that I volunteer on Thanksgiving morning at 5am at Rosa Linda’s Mexican Café to feed those who otherwise would not have a warm meal. Not only does this family open the doors to their restaurant for free that day, but they deliver meals to the elderly who are homebound or to the infirm. It’s such an impressive operation and this is my third year of assisting. Cassie, their oldest daughter, said she wanted to volunteer. 
So we told her she could spend the night and get up at 4:30am to go to the restaurant with me. And that she did - - all with a smile. She’s practically the only teenager who could wake up and not be cranky! 
She was fabulous to work next to all morning and she had a smile on her face while working to make stuffing for 4,000 people or cleaning the dishes. 
They served roughly 5,000 meals that day before running out of food. They also distributed winter jackets for those in need - all free of charge. I told Oscar, the owner, how amazing it was and he shook his head saying it wasn’t amazing at all. He said the fact that there are so many new people in need isn’t amazing.
It was interesting to view it that way. 
In the early evening, we headed over to the Rehm’s house with our pies in hand for over 30 people. 
Only ten showed up while all the others were no-shows. Chris and Jen didn’t blink an eye with the discrepancy and said they were thankful for those who did show up as they are a part of their extended family. New this year was the fact that Chris cut the turkey utilizing a samurai sword - - I have no idea what prompted this new way of slicing the bird, but it was certainly memorable! 
It was a great time (as always) yet I really missed Jen’s family who were up in the mountains.
One of the highlights was the fact that Eban begged Jen to blow up the jumpy castle in the basement. She did and all the kids were romping together and I headed downstairs with a bag of garbage when all hell broke loose. 
I guess Denny was jumping and then up came his dinner all over the jumpy castle, one other child and then he was heading toward me with his arms extended so I would pick him up and make him feel better! YIKES…I extended my arms and picked him up and then Jen came down to grab Denny from me and then clean up the mess. They laughed it off and said it’s not a party until someone throws up! They really were good-natured about all the little curve balls that were thrown their way that evening. 
The evening also reminded me that Kelsi is a candidate for HOBY for next summer due to the fact that she’ll be entering her sophomore year. I asked her if she wanted an opportunity to interact with other kids her age for an intensive three-day workshop next summer and she was bouncing with enthusiasm with the notion of the idea. I called her school counselor and she signed Kelsi up. It will be neat to see her in action next summer from the sidelines of the camp!
Early Friday morning after the Thanksgiving food coma ended, we headed up to the Keystone cabin that the Rainens let us use for the weekend. What was wonderful was the fact that Jen’s family was up there too and had leftovers which we could happily eat. We invited them over for dinner that evening and it was like another Thanksgiving all over again. We had the same food (plus ribs) and great company. No one threw up this time. Eban loved hanging out of the mini-balcony overlooking the big room and most of all, he loved the bunk room in Bubbe’s “cabin” and he told me it was the coolest room in the whole wide world!
Early Saturday morning, he headed to the slopes for Eban’s first day at ski school. He was such a big boy and was ready and excited to learn. 
There are signs all over the place that say, “NO PARENTS PAST THIS POINT” and they encourage you not to come around. After we dropped him off and we stayed around to watch him get sized up for boots, etc., 
we left for a coffee run. Well, we didn’t pay attention to the signs and we tried to sneak back to the kiddie slope to spy on Eban’s progress and of course, take pictures! Well, it was an epic FAIL as Eban saw us and started to cry to be with us. He wouldn’t stop wailing and the teachers were very nice and reiterated the fact that those signs were in place for a reason. Eban wouldn’t calm down so we had to take him from ski school but Vail Resorts said he could come back for a day of ski school and they wouldn’t charge us. We promised to pay attention to the signs next time.
That .
afternoon, I ate sushi to comfort the feelings of failing and little Eban wanted my sushi! He ate it and dipped it in the soy sauceI couldn’t believe it! Then we headed off to see a movie and Jack didn’t even make it through the previews, so I took him to Target to run around in the aisles.
Eating Sushi
Sweet Video
Eban Trying on the Ski Boots
Jack Jack Playing "Boo"
