I come from a large family with big Thanksgiving gatherings. There are eleven children in my family, and my mom comes from a family with twelve children. All twelve children live in the Sacramento area and also have large families. Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas for us. For twenty-two years we have had our annual Family Turkey Skate. It is where we rent out a roller rink the day before Thanksgiving for all of our relatives. On the day of Thanksgiving after our meals, we meet at a church building for dessert and games. The games are usually slaughter ball and knock out, so it is
definitely an event to look forward to.
With that being said, our Thanksgivings have been pretty small the past two years. Last year we stayed here in Utah. Brendan's mom was in Seattle, because his sister was having a baby, so we had Thanksgiving with Brendan's dad, Brendan's brother, Brendan, and I. This year we stayed in Utah again, but Brendan's parents and brother were in China. So Thanksgiving consisted of Brendan, Hazel, my brother Bruce, and I. Even though it was very small, it was relaxing and enjoyable. Since we were doing our own turkey, we decided to do something different. We fried it. Brendan's dad had a fryer he had never used, so we borrowed it. I usually don't like fried food, but the turkey was very moist and delicious. We had a fourteen pound turkey, and it only took 45 minutes to cook.
Hazel had her sixth month appointent last week and is doing really well. She can sit up now, and is very mobile. She can't crawl yet, but her combination of rolling and scooting can get her to anywhere she wants to go. Here are her stats:
About a year and a half ago I saw this marshmallow recipe in my bon appetite magazine and wanted to try it, but never did. I went to the Beehive Bazaar the other day and somone was selling a little box of ten homemade marshmallows for $5. So I went back to my recipe and decided to try it. They were a lot easier than I thought and turned out delicious. If you're interested in making them, here is the link to the recipe:
While Brendan was passing out candy at the ward Halloween party, our little ballerina fell asleep even with the Moster Mash blaring in the room. 
The bullet trains travel almost 200 miles an hour. We reached Kyoto in 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Outside a Shinto Shrine.
Hazel in her cute giraffe outfit. I love the matching shoes. Hazel spent a lot of time in her stroller on the trip, but she loved it.
Behind us is the Golden Pavilion.
More people admiring Hazel.
This priest came up to admire Hazel.
We walked through a bamboo forest.
A rickshaw going through the bamboo forest.
We climbed a steep mountain to get to a monkey park and we were hot and tired after , but it had a great view of the city and was worth the climb.. 
Walking around near the outskirts of Kyoto. 
We rented bicycles to go around town.
Brendan wore the Bjorn while biking. I was a little worried at first, but it worked out fine.
This is a Buddhist temple.
