Week number twelve

Wow, only one more week after this. I can't believe how fast this semester went! I only have a couple more weeks and then I go home for good. And then it's off on my mission I go. I am so excited. I kind of wish it was already February but at the same time there are so many things I need to do and learn before I leave so I'm glad I have some time to prepare.

Now.... This week.... First off:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My family came up to Utah this year instead of all of us going home. It's kind of a bummer not to be able to go home to California buuuuut as long as I'm with my family life is good. W had an absolute BLAST!! We ate so much good food and played so many fun games. Seriously every night was a party. I love my family so much! They are the best.

My mom brought up some crafts and I really took a liking to watercolor painting. I'm not the best drawer or artist, but I have come to find (as of this week) that I simply adore painting! I really love it! I'm not good by any means but let me just say I lost a lot of sleep because of it. Everyone would go to bed but I just couldn't stop painting. I painted quite a few things and my mom had this good idea where we paint something and then you add lace/beads/writing/sparkles/etc. they look awesome and all of the ones I made have special meanings to me so it was fun to create them. Now yes I have painted before so that's not my new adventure for this week. But I will tell you what it was.....

Every year my family makes my grandma Gallacher's famous monkey rolls! Mackenna usually makes them but she lives in D.C. Nw and couldn't make it to thanksgiving this year so my mom put me in charge of e much loved rolls. This wouldn't seem like a big deal but you see, my family adores these rolls. Thanksgiving=monkey rolls. If these aren't good everyone would be sad and upset. You cannot mess them up. They are number one. So the pressure was on. My mom gave me the recipe which honestly didn't have directions but more like just a list of the ingredients and a couple of pointers. well the results were positive! Very positive! I nailed the rolls with the help of my brother in law Brandon who insisted on learning how to make them because he loves them so much! Haha as do we all! They aren't super hard but there are definitely tricks to making them good. For example you can't knead them or mix them too much or else they get too tough. They turned it perfect and we ate the with the homemade strawberry jam I made my family this summer. (my job every summer-- which I love because I love to make jam. It's strangely therapeutic for me)

Thanksgiving was so delicious and I couldn't have asked for a better time! I soaked it up since I won't be here next thanksgiving. Bu I'll be in Latvia so it's okay. :)