HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TANYA! HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO READERS in the US!

Today is another double feature, a birthday and a holiday in the United States.  Since we live just 2 1/2 miles north of the US border I leave our Thanksgiving decorations up until today!  Now I can take them down, do some cleaning and start with the Christmas decorating at the beginning of Advent, which is next Sunday.  I usually leave those up until Epiphany on January 6th.

First of all, best wishes to our niece Tanya Ann (Erickson) Howell, who was born on this date in 1975, just a month before Christmas Day.  Tanya grew up on the Erickson farm five miles south-east of Frontier, so we both spent our early years in the same house.  Her room was the east room upstairs while the west room was "the girls room" when I lived there.

I don't have a lot of Tanya pictures on my computer but I found a few to show you.  Here's one with her newborn twins, Macey and Madison.  They were born on February 19, 2002 in Saskatoon.  The Dr. who delivered them was Lorne Hanson, formerly of Frontier, and a classmate of mine.  We started school together, along with his brother Runie, in the fall of 1948.  Lorne got his MD in Saskatoon and went on to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. He became a much sought out specialist in his field and also taught classes in medicine at the U of S.  He had to give up his practice because of hearing loss but is still teaching classes part time. It goes to show what country kids from small town schools have accomplished!

Sorry for that digression, Tanya, but that's what happens when I blog!

Tanya and Jody also have a son, Kelsey who was born on February 4, 1999.  Here's a picture of Tanya and her three taken at Glacier Park, Montana in 2006.  They came by train from Havre, Montana and helped us celebrate our 40th anniversary at the Swantz cabin on Lake Five.  Precious memories.

Our Erickson family has a custom of taking pictures of the eleven cousins whenever there is a wedding or special event. This one was taken at Todd and Kristy's wedding in Brooks, AB on September 27th, 2003.  From left to right are Laurel, Clare, Joan, Jason, Kirk, Heather, Mareena, TANYA, Mandy and Todd.  Tanya's brother, Devan, wasn't able to be there.  They are listed in order of age so Todd is at the end of the line.  Sometimes we do it by height and then he is always at the front!

Tanya and Jody have now bought a home in Moose Jaw where Jody is a salesman for John Deere.  Tanya is self employed and keeps busy cleaning houses.  (Wish you were closer, Tanya!)

Several years ago Tanya gave me a cyclamen plant for my birthday.  It has bloomed ever since and is my favourite plant.  Twice I thought I'd have to throw it out.  The last time it got water logged when one of the grandchildren really gave it a good watering.  (I should know better than to leave a full watering can close by!) But I took it out of the pot, gave it new soil in a new pot and it came back to life.  I expect to see it blooming again for Christmas.

I put three pumpkin pies in the oven and took out a small chicken to roast so that will be our version of a Thanksgiving dinner as we celebrate with our American cousins - Doris, Esther, Myrna, Lorna, Laurel and whoever else reads this blog from the US.  We are so blessed to live in North America.  The timer is beeping so I better get those pies out of the oven.

By the way, don't look for a Friday baking feature tomorrow.  We are off to Estevan to do some shopping and to take part in a program at St. Joseph's Care Home where Aunt Viola lives.  My pumpkin pie recipe is Libby's recipe and the crust is Tenderflake!