Thanksgiving 2008

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner was had by all. I entertained 21, yes... 21 people at the old plantation. Along with Elmo, we had... (are you ready?), Victor, Emily, Joey, Josh, Sam, Shane, Shawn, Tara, Will, Landon, Tristan, Avery, Preston, Heather, Jaxon, Nan, Pop, Jennifer & Erin. When I say we ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, what I mean is a traditional dinner by our new standards. Turkey, ham & stuffing (donated by Nan & Pop), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, relish tray, (yes, I remembered the olives for Tara), rolls and a little Filipino flavor thrown in there for good measure, Lumpia & ham fried rice. And my girls, Tara brought homemade pecan pies & banana - carmel - pecan birthday cake, and Heather brought cherry-cheese cake & pumpkin pies. It was sooo good! Emily, Tara, Heather, Preston, Jennifer, Erin, Josh & I stole a few hours to ourselves & made it to the movies to see "Twilight". I was a little worried leaving Elmo, Will, Shane & Shawn home to watch the wee ones, but we came home to find the Thanksgiving dinner ready and all 5 children still alive & kicking! I have several pictures of T-bird eyeing the pecan pie, which makes me laugh as he had a full dinner and was already for desert before we were cleaned up! We ended the evening with a birthday party for Jaxon, who turned 2 on November 11th, Tara whose birthday was November 7th & me, whose birthday was on the 28th. I honestly can say, fun was had by all, but when my four daughters left that evening to head home, I was relieved. I believe everyone left here at the plantation was sound asleep by nine.

Although, I do admit by midnight, there were several people milling around in the kitchen in search of leftovers.....

I wanna play tooo!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Raising AZ, no raising 7 kids.... Lindsi graduated in 1998, so she had just married Jake & about this time of that year, announcing her pregnancy with Mickinsi.
2. Tara was 16 and learning to drive, or rather she was driving, she was never afraid to do anything.
3. Heather was in junior high, 14 years old and just beginning to let me know how much like me she was and is...
4. Jennifer was 10, in 5th grade, sweet as rain, just like Erin who was 8, and newly baptised.
5. Shane & Shawn were six & in first grade, long blond hair & pony tails, which they hated.

5 things on my to do list today:
1. give Dr. Patel my days off for my wedding in October.
2. get a decent nights sleep
3. write a grocery list for Thanksgiving
4. feed my twins, they are "starving"
5. talk to Elmo

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. anything with cinnamon on it or in it
2. chips & salsa (must be a Milligan trait)
3. chocolate with almonds
4. soft peanut butter cookies
5. veggies & dip

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. pay off all of my bills
2. take care of my children & grandchildren, Elmo's kids too!
3. invest
4. take a long, long trip with Elmo.
5. fix up this house & sell it.

5 places I have lived:
1. Cottonwood, AZ
2. Roosevelt, UT
3. Niceville, FL
4. RAF Upper Heyford, England
5. Enid, OK

5 places I have worked:
1. Cardiac Care
2. Jackson Hewitt
3. Verde Lea Market
4. La Carousel Day Care Center
5. K-Mart (I was in high school)

5 things I am passionate about:
1. Elmo, enough said...
2. my family, from the oldest, Willie T, Tara, Preston, HoHo, Jenny Penny, Shelly Belly, Dean (Shane), Don (Shawn), Lando Commando, T-Bird, Baby J & the youngest, Miss Avery. And of course, Elmo's kids, Emily, Joey, Victor, Alex, Mindi & Ara.
3. My folks, Bob & Rita Milligan (awesome parents), my sisters, Pat, Elizabeth & their families, Larry, Nicole, Meghan, Thom & Zoe, and even my brother Greg, and his kids, Aaron & Marissa.
4. Elmo.... ummmm.....

4 things I say often:
1. "Let me think about it...."
2. "Maybe.... tomorrow...."
3. "No!" and my favorite,
4. "I don't know"

4 things I want to do before I die:
1. Marry Elmo
2. I want to love myself and see myself as others do
3. I want to watch my children grow up, grow old & flourish.
4. I want to go Hawaii, lay on the beach and watch all those fine dark men walk in front of me.

4 things I want/need:
1. I want to have time to crochet, read, sew & grow a garden.
2. I NEED a Beetle.
3. I want many, many years to travel and grow old with Elmo.
4. I want many, many more grandchildren.

4 places I want to see and visit:
1. I want to go on a cruise.
2. I want to go to Hawaii.
3. I want to go to Alaska.
4. I want to revisit England.

4 TV Shows I can't live without:
1. Any bridal show, I love to see the dresses.
2. Jon & Kate, plus 8
3. I love to watch the shows that interest Elmo, cooking shows, adventure shows, the travel channel...
4. that "disgusting" man who eats grubs, worms & turtles ;)

4 things you don't know about me:
1. I cry, whether happy or sad, stupid things touch me, like movies, silly stories about my grandchildren, old pictures, hugs, saying goodbye to people I love....
2. I pick the mascara off my eye lashes when I am tired.
3. I hate taking a shower and then stepping on hair on the bathroom floor, it makes me feel dirty again.
4. If I am tired enough, I snort when I laugh.

Tag you're it!
I hope Erin reads this, she never blogs anymore.

Happy 27th Birthday, Tara Marie!

Tara, what can I say? I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. Bringing my first born daughter home from the hospital 27 years ago, I never dreamed you would grow into the wonderful, strong woman that you are. You were so beautiful, all 5 lbs 14 oz, big blue eyes & ears that flopped in the wind. You were and are my heart & soul. You make me proud to be your mother, to call you my daughter. We have laughed, cried & grown together. You have supported me, when I couldn't support myself, loved me when I felt unlovable and always given me hope for another day. Thank you for giving me 3 grandchildren, for giving me Willie T and for all the memories. May their be many, many more. I love you. Mom

I'm still trying to figure out how you can be 27, when I am only 35!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jaxon Robert Ruiz!

I can' t believe it has been two years since this sweet little spirit came into our lives. Jaxon has been a great joy to his parents and his family. He gave us quite a scare before he was born, Heather's doctors believed that he would be born with some medical problems. Other then being HUGE, a 10 pounder, he was and is an awesome, wonderful addition to our family. He loves his cousins, follows his older cousin, Landon around, wanting to be just like him.... He loves to play with Tristan, they are great friends and their companionship is amazing to watch, and Avery, being the only girl, gives Jaxon a run for his money, everytime they are together. Being the mother of my own children has been a wonderful experience, but being a grandmother has put a whole new prospective in my life. It is great to see what wonderful mothers, I have produced and now, to watch my own daughters, mother their own children. I am so proud of their accomplishments and I look forward to many, many more grandchildren from these truly amazing children of mine. I love you all, but "muzzes" to our Baby J. Happy Birthday, Love Grandma Ann

I just wanted to take a minute to tell my sweetheart, Elmo, thank you. He is so wonderful with my grandchildren. Without hesitation he drove up to Cottonwood on Thursday night & tended my 2 grandsons, Landon & Tristan for Tara & Will this weekend. Unfortunately, he was sick on Friday, but by the time I got home from work on Friday evening, he was baking cookies for them. He fed them, changed a couple of stinky diapers on Tristan, bathed them dressed them and cleaned up after them. On Sunday, we headed to Phoenix to spend some time with everyone, (except Erin, she was in Snowflake, working) and I have to tell you something that really touched me, and confirmed (again) to me what a wonderful grandfather he is. After arriving at the mall, we decided we needed to take a potty break, Elmo volunteered to take Landon with him into the mens bathroom. I headed to the girls powder room and as I was washing my hands, I heard Elmo's voice... "Landon, come back here, Landon...." I walked out into the hallway where I found Elmo, down on his knees in front of Landon, explaining patiently to him why he couldn't run away from him while he was still in the bathroom. Never did he raise his voice or become angry with him. Landon took this in and stayed very close to Elmo until his parents showed up later. I posted this picture, of Elmo with Landon & Tristan taken at the Verde River last year, but to me it shows the tenderness he has for small children.