Alicia Daniel

Well this had to be one of the best Thanksgivings I can remember.  The children were all here with me, we have a new family friend that joined us too, and the rest of the family all gathered at Ma-maw’s house through out the day.  Some came for dinner and some just for desert.  It was wonderful.

The kids stayed with Ma maw so I could hit the sales Friday.  I really saved some money and got most of my shopping done too.  I got one of my sons a remote controlled dragon fly.  He’s going to love it.  I got my oldest son a ‘boom box’ I guess they still call them but this one is remote controlled and he can plug his MP3 player into it and play it through it.  Pretty cool I thought.

My daughter is in love with Hannah Montana so I got her several things of Hannah Montana.  I know she’ll be thrilled with them.  I got her the latest CD she has out too.  I’m not finished shopping yet but I’m getting close.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  We’re all getting together at my mothers house for dinner.  Well we’re supposed to meet around 2:00 but I’m sure some won’t be there until around 3:30.  My family has a habit of being late.  It’s almost a family tradition!!

Yes we are even inviting my childrens new ‘adoptive grandfather’ Charlie too.  He’s bringing the turkey.  I’m making a carrot cake and everyone else has a dish they are too bring.  I love carrot cake and have a recipe my great-grandmother gave me a long time ago.  It’s the best carrot cake ever.  In fact, here’s the recipe:

Carrot Cake

2 cups grated carrots
1 small can of crushed pineapple not drained
1 1/2 cups Wesson oil (doesn’t have to be Wesson oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (may use 2 if desired but I use 1)
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Cream oil and sugar together.  Add Carrots, pineapple and nuts.  Add eggs one
at a time and beat well.  Add dry ingredients sifted together.

Bake in 3 layers at 350 degrees approximately 45 minutes or until done by
sticking a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.

Frosting for Carrot Cake

1 8 ounce package of creamed cheese
1 stick of margarine
1 box of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of chopped pecans

Have cheese and margarine soft.  Set out of refrigerator a few hours.
Use electric mixer to mix in powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts.

Put in refrigerator after you frost it to make it set better after frosting.

Enjoy!!!!

Haiti is such a poor country with so much poverty that we Americans could not imagine.  We think we have it bad, we live like kings compared to the people of Haiti.  They suffer every day and then something as horrific as this happens.

“Three days after the concrete building suddenly collapsed during a children’s party, killing at least 94 students and adults and severely injuring 150 more, Capt. Michael Isetan of Fairfax County, Va., said the chance of more survivors was remote. He also said the death toll won’t likely go much higher. U.S., French and Haitian firefighters used sonar, cameras and dogs Monday in the search for victims at a collapsed Haitian school, but as the stench of death rose from the wreckage, they no longer expected to find anyone else alive.” was written on November 10th.

What an awful tragedy. They are not even sure just how many people were in the building when it collapsed, though the school is believed to have had about 500 students. Haitian officials said some had time to escape when it began to fall. Some students weren’t at the school during the collapse because La Promise was holding a party requiring a donation of about 50 cents that poorer families could not afford, said Deputy Steven Benoit, who represents the area in the Chamber of Deputies.

That was one time that being poor probably was a blessing to some of those people because at least their children are still alive. My heart breaks at the thought of all of those children being trapped and killed in a building that should have been the safest place for them to be and yet it turned into a living HELL for the whole community.

Did you hear about the man that came from Ohio to Atlanta Georgia for his fathers funeral and was shot and killed while in Atlanta?  That was absolutely awful.  Someone apparently tried to carjack him and killed him in the process.  Now the poor family is not only mourning the loss of a father but also his son.

What is wrong with this world?  What evil has taken over so much so that innocent people are killed for their vehicle?  Is it drugs or just plain old evil?  I wish I knew the answer so that something could be done about it.  There are so many people suffering because of violence that is senseless.

There was a 10 year old boy that went to a door on Halloween, the light was on so the child thought they were handing out candy.  His parents watched as he knocked on the door and the man inside shot through the door 28 times with an assault rifle thinking someone was trying to break in.  Can you imagine the horror these parents felt watching someone shoot 28 times at their son, killing him instantly.  They don’t want the man put to death, they want him to have to live with what he did to their child.  I can’t say as I blame them.

I’m not that close to my family and am not sure how many people within my family have served in the military but today is the day to honor those that are veterans.  There’s a local steak house that gives a free meal to all veterans that come in.  It’s amazing to see the range of ages of these that served.

In this time of two wars, it’s easy to thank a veteran but there aren’t many left from WWII.  I hope they know how much our country appreciated them.  They fought one of the worst wars our country was ever in.  They fought for people around the world that couldn’t fight for themselves, the Jews.

Let’s all make sure to thank a veteran today.  If you don’t know one personally, it doesn’t matter, find one.  Just look on their cars and you’ll see a Marine Corps sticker or maybe a ‘Retired Army’ sticker.  Go up and tell them ‘Thank you for what you did for me and my family’ and shake their hand.  They deserve to stand tall today and every day.

My children wanted me to put this picture on to honor the soldiers so this is from my children.