The Pumkin Cheese Cake

So I have been very busy the last couple of days with shopping, tree hunting, Thanks Giving and day to day stuff(which with twins can really pile up). So is that a good enough excuse for not posting the past couple of day(please be gracious).

So I decided to go with Lacey's suggestion on the pumpkin cheese cake. I found the perfect recipe and embarked on some unknown territory. This was my first cheese cake ever and I was taking on Thanks Giving with it(the biggest feast of the year!!!). Needless to say I followed the recipe to perfection and took no chances on getting this wrong. My little sister(you know the one who makes the killer apple pie) was not supposed to be here this Thanks Giving(spending it with the in-laws). Sad that the whole family couldn't be there but at least I would have a fighting chance at a successful dessert. OK so I finished my cheese cake and it look great. I was super pumped about how people would rave about it and remember this Thanks Giving forever because of my fabulous cheese cake. My big sis comes to pick me and the boys up to head down to Moscow to stay with my parents. I took extra care and carried the cake on my lap for the two hour drive down(again taking no chance with cake). We arrive at my parents and I straight away to the kitchen to put my cake in the frig. As I round the corner to the kitchen there on the counter is beautiful Pear Tart(straight out of Martha Stewart). I said "oh hey mom did you make a tart?" She said oh no honey Shawna made that isn't it lovely!" I am sitting here thinking I had it in the bag and here comes Shawna to shatter my Thanks Giving dreams!!

So the next day we celebrated Thanks Giving. Dinner was great, got to see all grandma and grandpa and all the aunties and uncles. Then came dessert. There they all were lined up on the table looking so perfect(I will say my cake looked pretty good). You know how it is everyone does a sampler plater of desserts on Thanks Giving. We gobbled them up and not a single word was mentioned about my cheese cake. I mean there was enough left for Ben's families Thanks Giving that we were going to celebrate the next day! Whatever! So Ben and I went for a little walk after all festivities. "So Ben what did you think of my cake?" I asked. "Um, it was ok." "What do you mean ok!!" "It wasn't sweet enough." I am sitting here thinking this is coming form the guy who makes a living on counseling people on fitness and nutrition. Well I tried, I thought it was pretty good(thanks Lacey for the idea)

So Thursday Ben and I and the boys celebrated Thanks Giving with the Greenfield family. I got to decorate the table. It looked great but I cannot take all the credit because Pat(mother in-law) came up with the idea. I offered up my cheese cake for the second time and I think it got better reviews with the Greenfields rather than the Casebolt family. The boys refused nap at all that day making it a little tougher day than hoped but they heled up pretty good. It was a lot of fun. The whole family was there and the boys got a lot of loving. We went to Christmas Park down in Lewiston ID. This was the first time that I actually went to this park. It was pretty cool. I had always driven by it but never stopped. The boys loved all the lights and music. It was a lot of fun and about ten degrees warm which was a bonus.

Well thanks family for another great Thanks Giving! Merry Christmas!!

Here are some pics of the whole shebang!

The girls hanging out around the dessert(go figure, ha ha)

The boys with Grandma Anni (first crackers they loved them)

Aunt Natalie snuggling up to Terran