Tuesday, December 1, 2009

A Branson Thanksgiving!!!

Wednesday, November 25th SDC- Luke's 3oth Birthday!!!!


Me & Mom by the Culinary Cooking School Sign

Debbie & Mary Ann Cooking a Coffee Cake
Mom & Dad

Loved this tree

Pretty Lights

My favorite part of SDC!

Dad, Luke, and a gnarly statue man

Me & the hubby

4 tennis shoes....no boot....and I even ditched the inserts halfway through the park....my feet feel pretty good for being a year off a boot!!!

We went to SDC on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time. Mom and I took a cooking school class which gave us some wonderful recipes and ideas. We snacked around the park and enjoyed the lights. Luke and I even stayed later to soak up some more Christmas spirit.....well and eat nachos and Wassail of course!


Thursday, November 26th.....Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The Festival of Lights

Gotta love the on camera flash in the dark car!

Luke's still watching the road

Christmas lights!!!!

More lights

A town of lights
We went to see the Festival of Lights in Branson on Thanksgiving day. We all road in the Edge and listened to Bing Crosby on our way through the lights.


Thanksgiving Day Shopping:

Mom and I with our deals at Michaels.....

This is what Luke did at midnight, drove around a parking lot!!!

The cars coming into the mall

A completely full parking lot
Thanksgiving Day we hit the Michaels sale at 5pm. When we got to the store, there were women all sitting in their cars waiting on them to open the doors. Mom and I decided to be trend setters and start the line. As soon as we got to the door of Michaels car doors were slamming everywhere! We did get a deal on Cricut stuff though!!! Gotta love sales!
Luke and I went to a movie on Thanksgiving and then onto the Tanger Mall. It was pure madness! I did hit Bath and Body Works though and got some good deals. All Luke did was drive around the lot because there were NO parking spaces. I'm blessed with such a wonderful patient hubby!!!


Saturday, November 28th Branson Landings, Ava, Missouri & Mansfield (a day for No Silly Shananigans- what I told Luke that morning....who knows what I meant!!!)
The White River Fish House

Good food!!!!

More good food!!

Dad & Luke (the pic of Mom and Me didn't turn out so good!!!)

White River Fish House is a great place to eat!

Luke and a very pink 4 wheeler

Me & my girly Ride

Having fun at Bass Pro


Ava, Missouri- the town my dad and his family grew up in!
Heading towards the town square.

Ava High School where Dad went up until the summer before his Senior Year!

Ava Elementary School

The old Band Room where Dad spent majority of his time.

The Baptist Church where Dad got saved!!!!


The Ava Water Park where Dad, Aunt JJ, Aunt Val & Aunt Viv all went swimming in the summertime.

Dad's old house

Where the old barn once stood....the place where Pa shot the musket rifle through the china dishes!!!

The hill they walked down to get to the water park.

The culvert they had to watch out for when sledding down the hill in the wintertime!
Going to Ava, Missouri was really neat. I got a kick out of Dad reliving his childhood memories. It was really neat to see the actual places I had heard so much about in stories! The lady that lived in their old house now actually remembered the Lindley's. Dad was able to go inside and see his old house! It was a trip to remember for sure!
Mansfield, Missouri & The Laura Ingalls House




On our way to Ava, we stopped in Mansfield to see the Laura Ingalls House. It was closed this time of year, but that didn't stop us from taking a few pics. We even made a trip to the cemetery to see the graves. It was a fun trip!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thanksgiving 2009


We had our Thanksgiving Celebration this past Saturday. It was so much fun as usual! I made Corn Casserole and Chicken and Dumplings....which I was so disappointed in because they scorched...oh well! The food was wonderful!

We had: (for future Thanksgiving Reference):

Turkey

Dressing

Broccoli & Rice

Sweet Potatoes

Corn Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Orange Fluff

Apple Salad

Cheese balls x 4

Turkey Cookies

Pumpkin, Chocolate, Apple Pies

Baked Beans

Deviled Eggs

Chicken & Dumplings

Green Beans

Green Bean Casserole

Stuffed Mushrooms

Spring Rolls

Bon Bons

Pickles, Pickled Beets, Celery & Peanut Butter

Oriental Salad

Broccoli Salad



I think that's about it! Whew that's a lot of food!!!!! Afterwards we always end up playing card games. I'm not a fan of cards at all....thanks to Aunt JJ. We did play Mexican Dominoes and Farkle. I had a blast playing with Aunt Linda, Uncle George, Aunt JJ, Donna, and Mom. I even won a game! That's a lot for me! It was a great time of fellowship and fun. I love being with family and hearing everyone laughing and having a good time, it's music to my ears!

Lunch with a Great Lady!


Luke, Ms. Walker, Me

Tyler, Ms. Walker, Me

Ms. Walker, Me

Tyler, Ms. Walker, Luke

Luke and I had the chance to eat lunch with Ms. Walker at On the Border in Bentonville. We hadn't seen her since high school! She was my favorite teacher! She taught me many life lessons, shared many laughs, and said to ALWAYS use a pencil when working math. Her son Tyler joined us for lunch.....he has grown up! We had a wonderful time and of course even had time for a few pictures. Thanks Ms. Walker for meeting us!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Baking Turkey Cookies


This is 3 batches made

Rolled and cut into turkeys

My work surface
It took me a total of 3 hours but I got them all baked. Now Luke and I will probably spend about 2 more hours tonight icing them. Thought I'd share the recipe with ya:
Lindley Family Turkey Cookies
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake them 6-8 minutes
3/4 c. shortening
3/4 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
5 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. salt
Cream shortening, butter, sugar together. Add eggs. Add Flour, salt, powder, & vanilla. Let sit in the fridge overnight. Next day, roll out into shapes....use flour to keep from sticking to your rolling pin and board.
Icing:
1 stick butter
1 1/2 T. flour
1 t. vanilla
1 egg white
dash salt
2 c. powdered sugar
yellow & red food coloring
Very Little Milk
Mix altogether and ice the cookies. They aren't real sweet which is why my family loves them!